Author Archives: 1985

Class of ’85 Opening Tailgate/Bianchi Memorial Golf Tournament

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Email sent 9/5/2017

Class of ’85,

I am proud to announce that we are on track for a great tailgate this Saturday for the game against Tulane. The game kickoff is at 3:30 pm and the tailgate kicks off at 11:30 am. We are expecting at least a 100 people this Saturday and I have ordered catering from Bo Brooks for that many. We will have Beat Army Lager from the Chesapeake Brewing Co. on tap, wine and non-alcoholic beverages available. This will be the debut of our new Class of ’85 tent that many of you helped to fund. We will also unveil our new Class of ’85 tailgate trailer along with live TV at the tailgate for the first time.

I want to thank Frank Proctor, Marty Medve and several other classmates who are putting on a Memorial Golf Tournament in honor of fallen Classmate Kevin Bianchi this Friday. This is a charity event raising money for the Bianchi Family and for other military families who have lost a spouse/parent. Many of our 40 plus classmates participating in the golf tournament will be attending the tailgate this weekend and I ask you to thank them for all they have done in putting on this event. I have attached a flyer for this event for you to see what they have done and perhaps support this event. We stand by all our fallen classmates like Kevin and his family and always will; something ’85 takes pride and honor in doing.

Looking ahead, I have asked Dave and Carolyn Marquis to open up their Brewpub, The Chesapeake Brewing Company in Annapolis, the evening of October 20th from 6:00-9:00 pm so we can have an official Class of ’85 32nd Reunion party on Homecoming weekend. I will soon post a link for registering for this event on the class website and we will use that to get a count of those attending both the Friday night event and Saturday tailgate. I hope for a good turnout for this Friday evening event as well as for our catered tailgate the next day at the UCF game. Mark your calendars and stay tuned for more details as we get closer to that event. For now, come and join us this Saturday, please be generous in helping me support class tailgating by donating to the Class of ’85 tailgate fund donation box. Come ready to see Navy kick some Green Wave butt this weekend and Go Navy!!  Regards,  Bob Smith ’85

’85 Opening game tailgate this weekend 9/23

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It’s the start of the home game season at Navy-Marine Corps stadium and that means it’s time to start the ’85 tailgates!

Join the class and the new tailgate setups to cheer on Navy to a victory against the Tulane Green Wave!

This tailgate will be catered by Chris Hannan ’94 (owner of both Bo Brooks Catering and McGarvey’s) with a Place Kick menu of:

  • Grilled ½ lb. Hamburgers
  • Grilled ¼ lb. Hot Dogs
  • Power Blend Cole Slaw
  • Potato Salad
  • Old Bay Chips with onion dip
  • Chocolate Chip Cookies
  • Chocolate Chunk Brownies
  • Rolls and Condiments

Beat Army Lager served courtesy of Dave and Carolyn Marquis (The Chesapeake Brewing Company).  Limited non-alcoholic beverages will also be available.

We ask that those in attendance to donate at least $25 per person to the class donation box if you choose to eat and drink that day.  For those that also wish to contribute towards the costs of the new Tent/TV/Trailer/Sound System/Tables, please feel free to throw extra money into the class donation box.

If you plan on going, please shoot Bob Smith a text (502-432-6185) or email (robertsmith5@att.net) with the number attending.

Take plenty of pictures and share so that we can share our class spirit with all!

Go Navy!  Beat Tulane!

 

Kickoff the Season with ’85

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Sent 8/30/2017

Classmates,

Navy Football kicks off the season with the first game against FAU this Saturday at 8:00 EST on ESPNU. We will kick off the tailgate season in Annapolis on Saturday September 9th against Tulane at 11:30 am at NMCS in our usual Tailgate spot. This is a catered tailgate and I have asked for those attending to please email or text me with RSVP. If you have not, please do so which allows me to order the correct amount of food for those attending. As always, I will ask all of you attending to drop around $25 in the donation box to cover food, beer and wine which we are providing (That is a cheap afternoon to say the least!). We will be introducing our updated tailgate experience with the new Class of ’85 tent, trailer and TV system. Beer on tap will be Beat Army Lager provided by classmate Dave Marquis. If you are in town that weekend, please stop by and say hi to Dave and Carolyn at the Chesapeake Brewing Company located at 114 West Street Annapolis. Good food and brews on tap….the Class of ’85 Bar!

I want to once again thank and congratulate the Class of ’85 Officers:

We will be working hard to keep the GREAT Class of ’85 tops across the board. Angela has updated our class website, so please favorite our site: http://1985.usnaclasses.net. I will continue to use this site as a tool to keep all of you informed on all things ’85. This includes information about tailgates and class gatherings. For example, we have the registration link for the Class of ’85 weekend in San Diego in 2018 for the Notre Dame game. I will use our class site for registrations for tailgates to help us get accurate head counts.  Please take a minute to visit our site and update yourself on class happenings. Going forward, I will use less emails and more communication on Facebook and via the class website (hint!). For the Tulane game, still contact me. But going forward we will have sign up information for our home tailgates on the class site. Looking ahead, we will do a “Bring your favorite Fried Bird” (and sides) for the Air Force game on October 7 when we roast the Falcons; and the Homecoming game will be fully catered on October 21st. We have purchased a grill and will debut that at the Cincinnati game on Sept. 23rd. That will be a “Bring your own meat” tailgate. We are rolling out updates to how we tailgate, so more info will be put out as we get more content online.
For now, let me know if you are coming to the Tulane game: robertsmith5@att.net or 502-432-6185. Go Navy and Beat FAU. See you all soon.
Regards,  Bob Smith ’85

NOTE:  Pages for the various registrations should be up by 9/4/17.  I will be posting a note regarding those as well as soliciting pictures, information for a class business directory, and any other suggestions you may have.  Please feel free to email me directly angela.orlando@1985.usna.com !  Thanks all – Angela

Class of 1985 Class Elections

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Sent 8/22/2017

 

Classmates,

I am proud to announce we have an official slate of officers for our Class of 1985 Election. Classmate Tom Plofchan has confirmed our list of nominees to all offices and they are as follows:

  • President: Robert Smith
  • Vice President: Steven Pimpo
  • Treasurer: William Ridings
  • Corresponding Secretary: Victor Otero
  • IT Secretary: Angela Orlando

In consult with Tom and the USNA Alumni Association, since every officer was nominated and seconded by another classmate and all offices are unopposed, we will declare that each of these nominees has been elected to the office for which they were nominated. I appreciate your confidence in these nominees, and now officers, and I appreciate your confidence in me as well. We will continue to work as a team to provide the GREAT Class of ’85 with best of tailgating, travel, fundraising in support of USNA and Class projects, and our Class support of the USNA Mission. I will ask my new treasurer to put out of a Class financial statement in short order so that you can see our current finances and we will put forward some of our goals moving ahead. For me, that is taking the Class tailgating experience to a new level of excellence this season and building upon that each game and each season, successful planning and execution of the Hawaii and Notre Dame away games next season and putting together another great reunion in 2020 for our 35th Class Reunion. What do we need from you?  Continued support on the attendance side of things as well as financial support both for the Class and for our support of the USNA Mission. I know you will step up as you always do and once again thank you for taking part in this process and making these nominees official in their positions. If you have questions about Class business, feel free to contact me: 502-432-6185 or Robertsmith5@att.net. If you have questions about the election process, please email Tom Plofchan at: tplofchan@aol.com.  Go Navy, Beat Tulane and Beat Army!!  Bob Smith ’85

Passing of Classmate Dan Matzke, 32nd Company

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Sent  8/9/2017

Class of ’85,

I received some sad news from classmate Duncan Simms regarding our classmate and his 32nd company mate Dan Matzke. Here is the email that Duncan sent to me:

32nd Company Classmates,

Over the weekend I received news from Dan’s ex-wife Angela.  I am sad to convey the news that Danny passed away peacefully this past Saturday morning around 4:30am.  As many of you know, Dan was diagnosed with Huntington’s Disease approximately 10 years ago.  Huntington’s disease is a genetic disorder that causes both physical and mental deterioration over time.  At the time, Dan was given approximately 5 years – he stuck it out for 10.

I (among others) had been keeping in touch with Danny through the years, and I tried to visit him in Denver when I could.  My most recent visit was in May of this year.  Despite his condition, Dan always had a terrific outlook on life.  He introduced me around to his various caretakers, and he talked about how good the food was at his living facility.  We went to a Colorado Rockies game along with his 2 sons.  He seemed remarkably content.   I didn’t notice any significant change in his condition as compared to the previous couple of years.  Shortly after I was there Dan caught a bad flu which ultimately pulled him down.  He was in hospice care and had sufficient pain medication to keep him comfortable during his final days.

I don’t have many details from Angela, but here’s what I know:  Danny’s body will be cremated and his family will spread the ashes in either Annapolis or San Diego.  There will be no funeral.  Angela is going to organize a small celebration of life ceremony, but it sounds like attendance will be for family only.  The Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Huntington’s Disease Society is organizing its 13th annual ‘Heroes Vs. Villains’ Team Hope Walk & 5K on Saturday, September 9th.  Angela has created a “Team Dan Matzke” in this event to raise money in Dan’s name for the fight against HD.  I will pass along a link to a website where donations can be made in Danny’s name as soon as I receive it from Angela.

Despite the ugly, debilitating effects of his disease, Danny had an unfailingly positive attitude.  He always impressed me with his joyfulness and embrace of life.  He never stopped loving a beautiful day, an action movie, a baseball game, and his 2 sons.  He looked back fondly on his time at the Naval Academy and the friends that he made there including all of you.  Attached is the most recent photo I have of him.  I will miss him.

I thought it was appropriate to notify this group first of Danny’s passing.  Please pass this news along to the other 32nd company classmates who are not copied here.  Later this evening I will post a notice to the Class of ’85 page on the USNA Alumni Association website.

I regret to have to pass this sad news along at the beginning of a new week.  I hope you are all doing well in your lives, families, and careers.

Fair winds and following seas to Danny.  Best wishes to you all.

The Class of ’85 will support his family in any way we can and I ask all of you to keep Dan and his family in your thoughts and prayers in the days ahead. Thanks very much.  Bob Smith ’85