From the Bridge--

Greetings All,  

            WOW.  What a super turnout for the May 21 dinner!!  Over 100 people were in attendance to honor the sea servicemen of the Year from the Navy, Coast Guard and Marines.  The audience also included many uniformed service personnel from the various commands of these outstanding awardees.  The individuals recognized were: MSTC (Chief Frockee) Beau Vallier, USCG; SGT Shaun Beebakhee, US Marine Corps; AM1 William Hughes, USN (Wing SOY); FC1 Jeremy Rasnick, USN (Sea SOY); and

EN1 Gerald Watkins, USN (Shore AOY).  Congratulations to all for a job well done.  Keep up the great work and we are proud of you.

Our guest speaker, Colonel Haviland from Blount Island Command, took us down memory lane with a list of events that occurred on May 20^th; to blend in how historic feats by past heroes shaped our current history.  He discussed how feats such as Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart’s historical flights contributed to today’s development of long range aviation.  Without the courage of these heroes, the makeup of our nation would be significantly different.  He went on to challenge the awardees to continually contribute to the strength and prosperity of our nation.   

            A very special thanks is in order to Betty Howard, who singlehandedly solicited numerous area small businesses for donations for these fine young men.  The donations that she obtained left the awardees and audience in awe.  Her herculean efforts showed the commitment the Northeast community has for the men and women in uniform.  We cannot say enough about Betty’s efforts.

Along these lines, we also welcomed aboard a new Community Affiliate; the Renaissance Resort at The World Golf Village.  The Resort staff donated a 3 day/2 night stay for each awardee.  We look forward to working closely with the staff in the future.

We also had the pleasure of watching a flawless, special performance by the Mayport Sea Cadet Silent Drill Team.  In the few short months of practice, these young men and women are truly on their way to stardom.  Francis, Sue and staff have done an extraordinary job of molding the Sea Cadets into a crack unit that no doubt will be honored in functions similar to what we just attended.  We look forward to their next performance with Sue walking the “Suicide” maneuver with fixed bayonets!

June is the last dinner meeting before the summer break.  It will be an informal, casual, Southern BBQ at Captain Bowman’s ranch!!  This affair is a great opportunity to meet Navy League members and guests.  Feel free to invite potential new members.  We will award Sea Cadet medals and other goodies.  I urge you to attend and enjoy the fun before we take off for the summer.

I hope that you all have a great month and see you soon.