The cocktail hour started at 6 p.m. everyone gathered and mingled. Some people that had driven in that afternoon were seeing classmates for the first time, so energy was high. The ladies were presented with a rose tied with blue/gold or red/gold ribbon to represent their own or their husband's military affiliation.
At 7 p.m. we hear the sound of the boatswain's pipe calling us to dinner. Though there was no parading of the beef the evening did have some resemblance to a Mess Night. Chris Paddock was Master of Ceremonies and did a fantastic job. I can't thank him enough for orchestrating such a fun evening.
Though I would have loved to have the Color Guard from the UR NROTC Unit, that was not feasible. Instead, five Midshipmen from George Washington University presented the Colors. I'm sure the men brought back memories from our drill days at UR. I hope that those young men were able to get a sense of the possible depth of the relationships they are building today. They could be us in another 30 years.
Chris Paddock had come up with the idea of a 50/50 raffle to add a little excitement to the evening. We discovered that the UR NROTC unit was in need of basketball jerseys to wear when they play against other ROTC units . . . a purchase that could not be covered by OPTAR funds. So that became the charity of the evening. Janny Cunningham did a great job of selling tickets during the cocktail hour, bringing in about $400 dollars. That meant at the end of the night one lucky winner would go home with nearly $200. Additionally, throughout dinner, numbers were picked and prizes were distributed. Anne Shields, UR Alumni Relations, had brought about 12 items that were given as door prizes: travel mugs, t-shirts, banners, books, travel blankets.
And, of course, it would not have been a reunion without the customary acknowledgement to the class mate that traveled the longest distance. In this case, that distinction went to 3 people, all of whom came from the west coast, southern CA, northern CA and Pac Northwest. And, although, it would have been possible to calculate the absolute farthest distance we went with order of magnitude, figuring they they all came more then 3000 miles. Paul Stryker '81 came from Solana Beach, CA (near San Diego), Ken Campbell '77 came from Mountain View (south of San Francisco) and Charlie Cunningham '79 from Bellingham, WA . . . about as northwest as you can get! Chris Conlin '81, is stationed a MCAS Miramar, in San Diego, but he only attended the Friday reception and Saturday Breakfast, else he would have gotten a prize, too.
So, at the end of dinner, the lucky number was drawn and Anne Erickson, held the winning ticket. Anne is a member of the Class of '83 but she was not in the NROTC program. Anne was friends with several midshipmen that sort of adopted her and included her in many activities. I'll bet each class has at least one of these honorary midshipmen. Anyway, Anne demonstrated her support of the midshipmen by donating her winnings back into the pot! Captain Jeff Bartkosky was able to return to Rochester with enough money to buy the basketball jerseys.
Speaking of Captain Bartkosky . . . I was glad he was able to join us for this reunion. I hope many of you were able to speak with him. Several people commented that they would have liked to have heard from him, possible with a "State of the Unit " address. He was interested in meeting many of us since he is constantly on the look out for former UR NROTCs to participate in a panel discussion that is now being held each Meliora Weekend. For the past couple of years, NROTC midshipmen and their parents are invited to attend a discussion about possible career paths that may be taken upon graduation. The Unit CO looks for people who made the Navy/USMC a career, others who retired via a path that included the Reserves, those who did their payback and got out, etc. Maybe you would like to be on the panel next time you go for Meliora Weekend?
As part of the evening, we also heard from the senior active duty officer present. That was RADM (Sel) Dave Duryea, Class of '83. He gave a very enlightening perspective of the Navy "then" and now. Since most of us were commissioned during the build up to the 600 ship Navy it was interesting to remember how many ships there were in the 80's and how many Sailors there were. Now, after winning the Cold War and the subsequent downsizing, the smaller numbers are quite astonishing. Thanks, Dave, for your comments.
And then there were the Class Pictures! Thanks to Chris Kyrios for taking on the job of herding cats. Everyone was enjoying the post meal socializing when sudden Chris went to the podium and started requesting members of individual classes. Thank goodness for his efforts. The result are contained in other postings on this site. There are also photos posted at www.flickr.com/groups/ur_nrotc.
I think that pretty much covers it. I have probably forgotten something or someone . . . but when I remember, I'll add a new post. It was a great reunion. I loved planning it . . . so much so, I'm already starting to think about the next one.
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