March 2005 President's Corner

Bill Rentz '55, USNAAA Atlanta Chapter President

This letter has started many times with references to our Chapter web site, events schedule, monthly luncheon, and other postings. This month I’d like to call attention to the guy who makes it happen, our grand webmaster, Bob Schultz ’71. Bob puts in a lot of personal time keeping up with all the inputs that go into making this web site the envy of the entire Alumni Association. You would be amazed at the number of comments I get tossed my way about the fantastic amount of great material contained on our Atlanta Chapter electronic newsletter and beacon of things to come. It makes my job of communicating to the Chapter much easier and more successful.

Case in point, those of you who went to our February 26, 2005, Founder’s Day/Dark Ages Party, featuring an inspiring and interesting speech and presentation by the Superintendent, VAdm. Rempt ’66, must have noticed and appreciated the lengthy, lively, and comprehensive write up with 44 photos of the event that appeared on the web site the next day. That took a lot of work.

Bob has served the Atlanta Chapter in about every position available on the Chapter Board of Directors, including President, and he has always given unselfishly of his time and talent to make the system work. For example, every time I am at a Chapter event and have forgotten to get out the Chapter digital camera to record the festivities, a flash bulb goes off to remind me that I don’t need to. You guessed it, it’s Bob with his own digital camera and he has beaten me to it and saved the day again.

Seriously, we owe Bob our gratitude every day for the work he does for this Chapter. I don’t tell him near enough. But I do want to correct one thing he said about me losing my notebook with my notes for introducing the guest speaker on Founder’s Day. Every thing he said about Sue rescuing it from the top of our car is true. But I was in more distress about the slips of paper that I had in my notebook with the two verses of Navy Blue and Gold on it than I was about my introductory speech notes. I could always wing it with my notes, since I wrote them. But I had told the Supe that we were going to sing the right words to verse one, the ones he had changed last year to recognize the fine contribution of women to the Naval Academy and that I agreed with his rationale. I knew that some of our old timers couldn’t remember the new and right words without some prompting and the help of cheat sheets.

So check the web site for our upcoming events. Bob, or some other member of your Board of Directors has put in a lot of effort on your behalf to make these events worthwhile and to your liking. If not, we need to know so we can change them. I could say many more words about the great work of your other Board members, and I intend to before my term is up in June this year. In the meanwhile, I would ask for your support and vote in the currently ongoing election for Eastern Region Trustee.

Beat Army!

Bill Rentz ’55