Classmates,
We have lots of Class News to share with you.
First, this weekend was one year away from our 45th Reunion scheduled for October 19-22, 2023, in Annapolis. John Cooke has led a team of our classmates to put together this year’s schedule of events. The reunion headquarters hotel will be the Annapolis Westin, and we should be able to make reservations for our block of rooms early next year. Our planning committee is still working on the schedule of events, but I can share with you that they are planning for a “Welcome Reception” on Thursday evening and Friday evening will be reserved for company get-togethers. On Saturday, the tailgate will be in the stadium banquet room when Navy plays Air Force. I hope you all will mark your calendars, save the dates, and join us next October in Annapolis. Stay tuned for follow-up emails, watch for announcements in Shipmate, and please update your contact information at usna.com, our class website usna1978.org, and with your company rep.
We have been working on a couple of initiatives that affect the Class. First, a team of nine of our classmates led by Matt Elias worked most of the summer putting together Distinguished Graduate Award packages that were submitted on October 15. The DGA Selection committee will meet on December 3 and a DGA ceremony will be held in Spring 2023. Hopefully, we will hear if any of our nominees were selected in late December or early January. We will keep you posted on the results.
The second initiative we have been working on has been to select and write narratives for Class of ’78 “Sports Legends” for the Naval Academy Athletic Association. Rusty Cone has led this initiative pulling together great stories that will be displayed in the Terwilliger Center which is the new athletic facility added on to Rickets Hall. We are on track to submit our narratives in January to NAAA for their review. These stories should be available during our 45th Reunion for you to read while you explore the new Terwilliger Center. We plan to also post our Class Sports Legend narratives on our Class website. I will let you know when they are ready for your reading enjoyment.
Class elections will be held next year for all class officer positions: President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, and five Members-at-Large. We will announce the establishment of a Nomination Board in January and provide instructions on how you can nominate yourself or another classmate for any of the class officer positions. If you nominate someone else, please discuss with them if they will accept the nomination and would serve if elected. Additionally, early in 2023 we will publish the time period for making nominations and when the elections will be held. The results of the elections will be announced at the Class Meeting during the 45th Reunion.
Finally, the USS Porter (DDG-78) has returned to Norfolk after 7 years forward deployed to Rota, Spain. Joe Martin is our Class liaison with the ship, and we hope to return to in-person support for the Arch Griffin and Terry O’Brien Memorial Leadership Awards soon. If you are interested in joining the liaison team, please let me know.
Wishing you all a peaceful and joyful holiday season.
Fair winds…
Glen
Glen Woods
President, USNA Class of 1978