Category Archives: From the President

Fall Football Season and Class trips to Hawaii and San Diego

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Email sent 14 Feb 2018

Dear Class of ’85,

As some of us are hiding inside and counting down the end of the “Dark Ages” of winter, I thought I would throw a little sunshine into everyone’s life. I have been busy behind the scenes putting together and finalizing plans for the Navy away games at Hawaii against the University of Hawaii on Saturday September 1st and for the Navy vs. Notre Dame game in San Diego on Saturday October 27th. Below is some information about each weekend:

Honolulu, Hawaii Trip August 30-September 2, 2018:
Navy plays the University of Hawaii in football Saturday, September 1 with time TBD. I have reserved a block of rooms at the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort and Spa. The block starts Thursday August 30th and has rooms until Sunday September 2nd at a special group rate of $204.00 per night for Ocean view rooms. As always, we will plan some sort of Friday night event and a pre and post game party. Those are still in the works and I will announce them as plans are finalized. For now, you can book rooms and get your travel arranged now. I will also have a Class of ’85 ticket block reserved and information on that will be put out after NAAA starts selling them to us, but we have a firm commitment on both games for our classmates to sit together, so please do not worry about purchasing tickets. You can reserve rooms at the Marriott by calling: (800) 367- 5370 or (808) 922-6611; tell them you want to reserve in the U.S. Naval Academy Class of 1985 room block for the nights of 8/30-9/2 and make sure you are quoted the group rate.

San Diego, CA Trip October 25-October 28, 2018:
Navy plays Notre Dame at Qualcomm Stadium on Saturday October 27, time TBD. I have reserved a block fo 50 rooms at the Westin Gas Lamp District, San Diego for a group rate of $249.00 a night. The link to reserve rooms is: https://www.starwoodmeeting.com/events/start.action?id=1707110058&key=22EF9EF9
I anticipate we will sell more than 50 rooms and the hotel has agreed to open up more rooms if they have them available when we ask. This is why it is important that if you think you are going, to reserve early. You have until 10/22 at 4:00 pm to cancel without penalty. I have a Friday night Happy Hour event planned at the hotel and on Saturday I have pre and post game events planned at the Quad Gaslamp Tavern along with Bus transport to and from the Quad to the game. The Quad has a nice private room we can use and it is about 200 yards from the hotel. For this of you not familiar with the Gas Lamp District, our hotel is in the heart of a large dining and entertainment district that is quite famous for its restaurant and pubs right in the heart of San Diego; close to the waterfront and to the airport. There is no need to rent a car, as you can walk, Uber or take the local trains to just about anything. I am working on a golf event for Friday, if we have enough people interested to this and we will also have a small get together on Thursday for anyone coming to town that day. As with the Hawaii game, I have a firm commitment from NAAA for a Class block of seats at the game so there is no need to worry about tickets, just wait until I publish this information for purchase.
I am going to have a sign ups for both trips on the Class of ’85 website: http://1985.usnaclasses.net

Please sign up for rooms using the above information and for the events you want to attend on our website; this will allow me to have enough rooms and space at events; and to give NAAA a heads up on the number of game tickets we will be asking for. At some point, I will use the data collected to reach out will collect money for certain things such as the pre and post game parties and bus transport and to order our football tickets from NAAA. For now, I just need to get estimated numbers I can use for planning and will eventually use that to firm up my event numbers and money collection. So, for now, take a look at your fall schedules and make plans to join us in Hawaii or San Diego or BOTH! Get on those hotel sites and on the class website and sign up PLEASE. As always, if you have questions or suggestions, I am available. Email: robertsmith5@att.net or (502) 432-6185.

Stay warm for now!

Regards, Bob Smith ‘85

Beat Army Week

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Email Sent 4 Dec 2017

Class of ’85,

Greetings again and it’s time for the Beat Army week news. For those of you who signed up for Frank Proctor’s event at the Pyramid Club, you know who you are and know the details so I will not put them out again. If you did not sign up, the event is “sold out” and no extra space last minute is available. (We’ll try and do this again next year or expand on it). Contact Frank with any questions, there is also info on Facebook. Now, for those of who are coming to the game who want to get together ahead of time, I could not a obtain “reservation” at the Stadium Sports bar located inside the Holiday Inn at 900 Packer Ave (our location on several previous pre-game tailgates). So, it will be “first come” on space as per the new manager. I cannot attend this year due to a last minute work conflict, so I will ask that those of you who are going to ARRIVE EARLY. They open at 11:00, so those arriving near opening please tell the hostess you have a large group of 30 or more coming and see what they will give you for space. I am sure it will turn out great and Class of ’85 will have a large gathering once again. It be in the low 40’s, so I am sure an indoor venue will be nice for this gathering yet again. I will post this information on the USNA ’85 group on Facebook and let you rely on each other to get this indoor tailgate done. I will be watching from afar and like you, SCREAMING like crazy for a Navy “upset” and to bring the CIC trophy back to Annapolis and revenge for last year’s loss to the Black Knights.

After the season, we will start concentrating on next year’s events: The Notre Dame Game in  San Diego and the away game in Hawaii. So, for now, concentrate on a Navy win over Army and enjoy the Holidays. I will be back in touch early next year and we’ll start gearing up for future ’85 events.

Happy Holidays and BEAT ARMY SIR!!

Bob Smith ’85

Tailgate Update for Homecoming Game

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Email sent 10/18/2017

Class of ’85,

Thanks to those of you who have signed up for coming to this weekend’s game and tailgate. We are around 60 people signed up for the tailgate Saturday. We could use a few more volunteers for bags of ice and a few more volunteers for tear down duty. This is a catered tailgate, so if you are coming and have not signed up at:

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080a48abab28aaf49-navy1

PLEASE PLEASE go and sign up right now! If you want to bring some food, go ahead please, but we will have a full catered BarbBQ menu from Mission Barbecue as well as beer and wine. Set up at 11:00, tailgate starts at 11:30 with food around 12:30. The tailgate will go for an hour or so after the game as well. As always, we will have our class donation box, to help us cover this weekend’s catered event, I am suggesting a $25 per person donation to the box (Thank you!) We look forward to seeing everyone again this week as Navy Football attempts to rebound from a tough loss at Memphis. UCF is a good team, so I am sure Navy will be ready for redemption and prove their toughness for the home crowd.

Friday night is our Class 32nd Reunion party at the Chesapeake Brewing Company. 114 W. Street, Annapolis. We will gather there at 7:00 pm and have our own area reserved for the rest of the evening. If you can come, that would be great, we hope to have a good crowd that evening as USNA ’85 celebrates another year in the books after graduation. We thank Dave and Carolyn Marquis for hosting our class, they will have some snacks, food items from their menu and beers and drinks available from the Beat Army Bar. If you have any questions about this weekend, please text me at: 502-432-6185 or email at: robertsmith5@att.net

Go Navy and Beat UCF and Army (Air Force taken care of!)

Regards and safe travels,

Bob Smith ’85

Classmate Rick Campbell at USNA Book Store Homecoming weekend

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Email sent 10/10/2017

Classmates,

For those of you who do not know this, our classmate, Rick Campbell, has become a best-selling author of military thrillers with favorable comparisons to Tom Clancy. I have now read his latest Book Blackmail and can tell you, it is perhaps his best in a list of really amazing books (I have read them all!). I pick up one of his books and cannot put it down… PERIOD! Rick will be at the USNA Midstore from 19-21 October doing book signings and as he has done in the past, he will donate a percentage of the proceeds to our Class of ’85 Fund. Last year, that was over $600 and was very much appreciated. Here is some info on Rick’s books:

Author of military thrillers published by Macmillan / St. Martin’s Press.  Find out more at –  rickcampbellauthor.com
PRAISE for Rick Campbell books — Barnes & Noble Top-20 Bestsellers!
— TRIDENT DECEPTION:  “The best submarine novel since Tom Clancy’s classic The Hunt For Red October.” — Booklist
— EMPIRE RISING:  “Another riveting thriller by Rick Campbell. A MUST READ!” — Publishers Weekly
— ICE STATION NAUTILUS:  “Exciting and intense! When I finished, I realized I’d been holding my breath for way too long.” — BookLikes
BLACKMAIL – on sale June 27th, 2017 at bookstores everywhere (hardcover, eBook, and audiobook).  
— Available at Barnes & Noble, select COSTCOs, Books-A-Million, Amazon, Apple iTunes, GooglePlay, and many more!
— “The submarine and surface-ship battles are pitch-perfect, and readers will shudder with every missile strike and exploding depth charge.” — Publishers Weekly
As you can see, his list of books is growing as well as his accolades. Like I said, if you have not read any yet, go ahead today and buy them or download them. If you do not enjoy any of his books, I will refund your money myself, as I am a HUGE fan of Rick’s work. As notable, Rick has been very generous with the proceeds from his books donating to many groups supporting our soldiers, sailors and marines. Thanks Rick and we look forward to seeing him in Annapolis. He will be join us for the Homecoming game class events.
Get out there today and support a great classmate, better yet, get some reading that you will truly enjoy no matter what your military background is or was and have some of your proceeds go to great causes. Go Navy and support Rick today!!
Bob Smith ’85

Weekly Class Tailgate Update

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Email sent 10/10/2017

Greetings ’85,

After what turned out to be a spectacular tailgate and an even better game against Air Force this past Saturday, we are 5-0 and setting our sites on American Athletic Conference foe Memphis in Memphis this weekend. Classmate and FedEx Pilot Dave Island will be hosting an away tailgate at his truck in the Tiger’s stadium parking lot. He will establish himself in the parking lot that morning and you will have to text or call him at: 214-912-4848 to get that location, or email him in advance and coordinate at: disland31@yahoo.com Please offer to bring some food or beverages and help Dave out for this tailgate. I think Dave will have cold beers and I thank him for doing this and hope some of you can make this game and cheer Navy on to a key win in our conference and quest for an AAC western title.

We are getting ready for the UCF game on 10/2, our Homecoming weekend. We will be at our usual spot tailgating for the 1530 game. This game is a fully catered tailgate, but we still need volunteers and people to bring a few items such as drinks and ice. Please sign up no matter what, if you can bring something or volunteer or just “I’m coming”, so we can get an accurate head count. Here is the Sign up link: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080a48abab28aaf49-navy1 We will have Mission BBQ providing food for us (pulled pork, brisket, chicken, smoked sausages and sides). We will have beer on tap and other drinks as usual. The suggested donation is $25 per person to help us cover the cost of food and beverage, our donation box will be by the beer tap and we appreciate everyone attending helping us to pay as we go.

Thanks again to Charlie and Kathleen Smith for being amazing tailgate hosts, thank them if you get a chance for all their hard work in setting this up, storing and stocking our tailgate trailer and cooking food. Remember to go to the USNA ’85 website at: http://1985.usnaclasses.net to reserve your room at the Westin Gas Lamp District San Diego for the Navy v. Notre Dame game 2018 on Oct. 27. We will have a full weekend of events and an amazing tailgate. For now, get your room and I will be putting up sign ups for the golf outing, Friday cocktail reception, tailgate, tickets and bus transportation by the end of the year. If we sell out our 50 room block early enough, I can get more rooms. So, if you know or even think you are going to San Diego, get a room now. You can get a refund if you to cancel up to a month prior or transfer to another classmate. I have also entered into an agreement with the Marriott Waikiki Beach for the Sept. 1, 2018, game against Hawaii in Honolulu; I will soon have a link for room reservations and some classmates are staying the Hale Koa, these hotels are not far apart and we will most likely have an event at the Hale Koa Tiki bar on the beach the night before the game. Stay tuned but start clearing your calendar. Several of us will be leaving the Sunday after the game for a Marriott Resort near Barber’s Point for a few bonus days, so we will announce this as well.

Wow, a lot to digest, but all good! So, get in touch with Dave Island if you are going to the Memphis game for his tailgate. If you are coming to the UCF game, please sign up today. If you have any extra tickets, please contact me and I can hook up classmates in need of tickets. That is all for today, have a great week and I will do an update next week after we beat Memphis and prepare for UCF. Go Navy, Beat the Tigers!  Bob Smith ’85  robertsmith5@att.net or c:502-432-6185

PS: Did anyone see a small hearing aid that was lost this past weekend? Let me know if you did. We sill start having a lost and found box for future games for items left behind by accident.