July 2007 President's Corner

Mitch Rowland '71, USNAAA Atlanta Chapter President

Welcome all Atlanta Chapter members. If you aren’t yet a member, shame on you. Go back to the home page and you can join from the comfort of home. More on that later.

This is my first time to write this column. June is our annual business meeting where we elect officers. The officers are Mitch Rowland ‘71 Pres, Erik Busko ‘88 Vice Pres, Ples Bruce ‘77 Secretary and Pete Knoetgen ‘77 Treasurer. Our appointed general directors are Jim Slemenda ‘66 and Jay Wicklund ‘97.

So, here I am, writing my first column 40 years to the day after I was sworn in as a midshipman. I consider it a honor to get a chance to serve this chapter. There have been great leaders before me, and I just don’t want to mess it up. I have great people on the board with me, and I’m sure they will keep me on the straight and narrow. Just remember that these columns will not be works of great literature. I was one of only 18 members of the class of 1971 to fail E 101 English Composition and Literature. I’m writing this late at night, just before the dead line, and I’m leaving tomorrow on vacation.

Our guest speaker for the June meeting was Bruce Latta ‘78 Dean of Admissions. Bruce brought us up to date on the latest classes. It seems that midshipmen are getting smarter, now about 85% of the incoming classes graduate as opposed to only 66% in the 70's and 80's. Bruce spoke of the difficulty of getting the classes to reflect the population at large and the Navy enlisted corps in particular. Each congressional district is represented, that helps in diversity, but not as much as needed.

We had a good turnout for our June meeting. We hope to keep meeting at the Sheraton Galleria. Hopefully with a regular meeting place, we can keep attendance up. Those attending the June meeting were Bill Rentz ‘55, Bruce Latta ‘78, Jerry Makey ‘54, David Hummell ‘00, Roberto E. Leon ‘47, Robb Wetzel ‘89, Les Gable ‘70, Ned Hunter ‘81, Cindy Miller ‘90, Jan Milligan ‘71, Mario Maddox ‘88, Michelle Maddox ( ‘12 hopefully), Clint Johnson ‘60, Doug Fuge ‘64, John Stark ‘51, Bill Williams ‘65, Chuck Penme (Blue & Gold Officer), Lee Whitfield ‘71, Bob Shultz ‘71, Bill Holmes ‘64, Gary Hoy ‘84, Jon Barton ‘66, Jim Slemenda ‘66, Rick, Haley ‘72, Phil Polefrone ‘74, Al Hochevar ‘77, Michael Lores ‘74, Greg Morrow ‘85, Pete Knoetgen ‘77, John Morrow ‘84 and Karlton Holston ‘02.

We also held our signature event on June 9^th. This year we had almost 250 people in attendance who ate 400 lobsters, 60 pounds of mussels, corn on the cob, salad and dessert. It seems to get better each year. This was our 34^th annual lobster fest. One of the founders of this event was unable to attend. Carl McCallum was in the hospital, but his beautiful bride was there. Carl was there too, just by cell phone. Carl called many times while we were setting up. Even in the hospital he was worried that something may get overlooked. We missed having Carl there, but look forward to having him there next year.

This year is the year that the National Alumni counts members to determine which local chapters get representation on the Board of Trustees. We have been extremely lucky the last 3 years to have Carl McCallum as our chapter rep and Bill Rentz, chapter member as the Eastern Regional member of the Board of Trustees. If you’re reading this, I’m sure you know someone who is an alumnus that is not a member of the local organization. Talk to them, twist their arm, do whatever it takes to get them to join. We need at least 75 more members to continue to have a chapter representative. So, we need everyone’s help in rounding up more members. You can sign up and pay your dues online at the Chapter’s web site www.usnaaaa.com. Just click on the link on the home page that says Pay your 2007 Dues Online.

We would love to have new members attend one of our events. We try to have interesting speakers (July is Rear Admiral Peter Booth, to talk about his second novel). Our goal is to have at least a quarterly social get together in the evening so that those who can’t get away for a luncheon meeting can still enjoy the camaraderie.

I’m looking forward to meeting more of you at our local functions.

BEAT ARMY!

Mitch Rowland ’71
Chapter President