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Email sent via Classmail 7/13/2021

’96,

Several things to update everyone on

CLASS ELECTION

First off, I would like to announce the results of our Class Election!

President- Bill Pennington (Current VP)
VP-Ghislaine Stonaker
Secretary-Cara Albright (Current Secretary)
Treasurer-Nikki Battaglia (Current Treasurer)
I appreciate everyone taking the time to vote.  I also want to thank all 8 classmates for raising their hand to volunteer for the Executive Committee.
They will take over starting at the 25 year reunion.  I’ve enjoyed the last 5 years and I appreciate all the support I have gotten (but I also look forward to BP taking the reigns for a bit)  Congrats!
REUNION
A few important points:
  1. Westin Room Block– Our room block at the Westin is full.  The committee tried to hit the sweet spot on reserved room and not incuring financial responsibility for unbooked rooms.  (There have been stories of reunions having to cover empty rooms)
  2. Online store– It will close Sun July 18th.  This will ensure all items are received by the reunion.  Based on feedback, Tony Yanero will evaluate the cost, quality, and availability of items to determine if we will stick with the same company. Go to http://www.usnaclasstore.com/96store.html to order your ’96 Gear!  
  3. Sponsors– If you know of any classmate, their company, or some other company that might be interested in sponsoring an event, please reach out to Thomas Leahy.  There is the networking event, tailgate, fun run, etc… They have not worked out the actual mechanics yet but are exploring how we might be able to make our event even better with some sponsors. We might do signs, or something like “This Tailgate is brought to you by COMPANY X”.
  4. Fun Run– We had a much larger level of interest in this than we expected.  The Committee is working with USNA on options.  Considerations are weekend traffic, safety, getting on base, parking, and so on.  Stand by for more information.
  5. Schedule update– Please note that a few things have moved in time and location.  They will continue to update the SOE on the registration site.
  6. Registration– It is still open.  At the moment, there is a planned price increase on 1 Aug.

https://www.signupnow.events/Default.aspx?OrgId=1041&OrgName=USNA1996&eid=1060

CLASS GIFT

We are doing fairly well on our class gift and will continue raising funds through this reunion out to our 30th reunion.  If you would like to setup a monthly donation, reach out to Brian Reardon to get details.  bpreardon96@gmail.com

As you retire

Go Navy!

Nagel Sullivan

Email sent via Classmail 7/1/2021

Classmates, the USNA Athletic Department is asking me to submit our ’96 Athletic Legends (see memo for details). Looking for 5-8 submissions. I need a name and a write-up (don’t worry too much about the photo).  I’ll throw a dart at 15 July for submissions. Don’t be shy….Submit that friend / roommate of yours!!

Nagel Sullivan

GO NAVY!

Happy June everyone! Hope everyone had a safe and memorable Memorial Day Weekend. I live close enough to hear the memorial gun salutes at Arlington, which was a wonderful reminder to pause and pay tribute to those who have gone before us. As of today, we’re in the June price zone for reunion registration, so if you have not made your plans yet to join us in September, now is the time to do so! The next incremental price increase occurs on 1 July. The tiered pricing is designed to incentivize early sign up. This allows us to put down deposits and lock in the best pricing, which is largely dependent on how many folks we can muster. There is an option during the registration process to break up the payment. Please reach out to Thomas Leahy directly if you are have a financial hardship (leahyt@gmail.com) and need assistance. This is a come one, come all event – and while the committee has done their best to keep costs low, the reality is things do not come cheap in Annapolis.

REGISTRATION SITE (EXTERNAL)

A few other reunion notes —

  • The online merchandise store will reopen on 13 June. Items ordered this summer will arrive prior to the reunion. Contact Tony Yanero with questions.
  • There are still rooms available in the hotel block. We will start dialing back the room numbers to remove risk of us having to cover unbooked room.
  • There will be some slight schedule tweaks coming out (networking event and Class Business meeting times/locations).

Hope to see you in September!

 

From the USNA Alumni Association and Foundation: The 2021 All Academy Challenge has begun! Despite the challenges of 2020, last year, you all came together for our best year of the All Academy Challenge to date. Nearly 6,000 alumni and several hundred parents and friends showed up for the five day competition bringing in over One Million dollars in support for the Academy. Remember, this challenge is about participation, and beating the other service academies. To make a donation count, follow this link from 16-20 May 2021 https://navy.allacademychallenge.com/pages/usna-home Go Navy! Beat them ALL!

See Brian’s remarks as well, on our class Giving page.

We’ve certainly been blessed with an increase in virtual/live-streamed events over the past year, which in some cases allow us to connect for events we might not otherwise have been able to attend. Retirement ceremonies are no exception. All are welcome to join us online on Thursday for Col. Shane McDonald’s retirement ceremony, which is being live streamed from the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency out in St. Louis. The ceremony begins at 1430 EDT (1330 local/central time) and will be accessible live using the event link below – as early as 1420 Eastern so that the ceremony starts on time. Please tune in if your schedule permits as we wish Shane fair winds and following seas into his retirement from the great Class of 1996!

Date/Time: Thursday, 01 April 2021 @ 1420 EDT

Event link: Join live here

Attention to announcements, ’96! Ticket sales for the reunion weekend game vs. USAFA have gone live on the NAAA website. If you would like to reserve seats for the game within a special Class of 1996 block, either for an actual seat (end zone) or standing room only (the hill), you may do so here. The promo code you need for ordering is 1996. Please note, these block ticket sales will close on 11 May for reserved (end zone) seats and on 01 July for SRO (hill).

Full reunion schedule and details on the reunion page, as well as Nagel’s most recent class email blast. As a final reminder, our 25th reunion tailgater is outside the stadium in the vicinity of the water tower. Therefore, you only need a game ticket if you want to be inside the stadium for any portion of the game. We plan to have TVs set up inside the tailgating tent at the reunion in order to support maximum socializing for those who are happy to stay outside the gates. Party on!

BEAT CHAIR FORCE – TIME TO MAKE THAT FALCON SOUP!

Email sent via Classmail 1/31/2021

The Class of 1996 Merchandise Store is open with ’96 gear available for “Early Bird” orders now through 7 March. Fill those shopping carts, ’96! In advance of our reunion later this year, the store has been open for a spring ordering period and will be open again this summer. Orders placed during the current period will ship on 5 April.

See yesterday’s email blast for more details and contact our merch POC Tony Yanero with questions or suggestions. BZ, Tony! Thanks for keeping us all stocked.

 

Email sent via Classmail 12/24/2020

Classmates,

Due to the recently updated football schedule, the USAF game has moved from to Sep 11, 2021 to align with the 20-year Remembrance of the 9/11 attacks. At the moment, there is no scheduled game at USNA 3 Oct (a location and opponent are TBD).

We have considered several options and decided to move our 25-Year reunion to align with the USAF game 10-12 Sep 2021.

We all remember the heat from the 20th reunion and attempted to avoid the same risk this time. Our Friday venue will be much larger to accommodate the crowd and will investigate options to cool people down at the tailgate.

The attached Schedule of Events goes into more detail on the weekend. Standby for event registration to go live around Memorial Day. Based on feedback from last reunion, we will be doing á la carte registration fees.

Here is the link that will take you to our Westin room block.

** I will also remind everyone that given our current status, making any non-refundable deposits or bookings is done so at your own risk. While I hope we are back to normal by the fall, anything is possible.

Our reunion committee (led by Thomas Leahy) has scrambled this week and done a great job at rebooking and coordinating the switch. Thank you all very much.

GO NAVY! BEAT ARMY!

Nagel

(301)904-1526

nagel.sullivan@mac.com

Military Veteran and Gold Star Family Free Access Program

Starting Veteran’s Day, all Veterans and Gold Star Families are granted free access to over 2,000 federal recreation areas – including national parks, wildlife refuges, and forests. The result of a 28 October Secretarial Order (DOI), this benefit will continue indefinitely. To gain free access to sites included in this program, use one of the acceptable forms of identification at the entrance (CAC, Veteran designation on driver’s license, DD214, among others. Link to NPS press release and more details here.

This benefit is somewhat of a program expansion to the existing benefits for active duty and disabled veterans, although executed in a slightly different manner. If you’re still active duty, or if you’re retired with a disability, you are eligible for a free annual pass through the America the Beautiful National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass Series. These passes are issued to US military members and their dependents in person at participating federal recreation sites (PassIssuanceList).