July 2008 President's Corner

Mitch Rowland '71, USNAAA Atlanta Chapter President

June has been an eventful month for the Atlanta Chapter. June is the month we host our signature event, the Lobsterfest. This year we held the 34^th Annual Lobsterfest on June 14^th at Redtop Mountain State Park. We had about 200 in attendance and feasted on almost 300 lobsters, 40 pounds of mussels, 300 ears of corn, salad and three large cakes for desert. And of course, we had beverages of choice to go along with the lobsters. We didn’t want anyone to go home hungry or thirsty.

This year we had a large crew of helpers. Tom Galloway ‘71 brought in a whole gang of folks to help. And what helpers they were. Usually the setup isn’t complete until 1430 or later. This year, all the tables and chairs were in place before 1300. Everything was completed way early, so we had to sit around and tell sea stories. I’m not sure what happened this year, but everyone that showed up wanted to help. What a pleasure it was to have all hands pitching in to get things done. Jerry Mackey ‘54, had just returned from the 54^th Reunion of the Class of ‘54. He brought some goodies from USNA to give away in our raffle. We normally just raffle USNA signature wine, but this year there were Jerry’s goodies also.

This Lobsterfest was not all fun and games. Carl McCallum ‘60, one of the two founders of the Lobsterfest lost his oldest son, Kevin (USNA ‘84), the week before our annual celebration. This year we honored Carl and his beautiful bride, Marilyn, by wearing blue and gold ribbons in memory of Kevin.

The greatest part about lots of volunteers is the clean up. This year there were ample hands and the task was completed very quickly. I would like to thank all those who helped. There is a lot of good times to be had while lending a helping hand. Thank you, and we expect to see you back next year.

The following Friday we held our annual business meeting. We had a smaller than normal turnout, but that was probably because I was the only speaker. Not much star power in just having the president as the speaker. Those in attendance were:

Paul Borer ‘70, Tom Galloway ‘71, Ed Hux ‘61, Reggie Vachon ‘58, Steve Weise ‘72, Jack Clay ‘56. Greg Morrow ‘85, Bill Rentz ‘55, Wayne Millsap G, Lee Whitfield ‘71, Jon Barton ‘66, Ples Bruce ‘77, William Washington ‘94, Mario Maddux ‘85, Michelle Maddux ‘13 and Brittney Woods G.

We elected officers for 2008-2009. At the local level there didn’t seem to be a problem with only a single slate of candidates. The officers for next year are:

President - Mitch Rowland ‘71, Vice President - Mike Herger ‘90, Treasurer - Pete Knoetgen ‘77, Secretary - Ples Bruce ‘77, General Directors - Stew Caldwell ‘65. Jim Slemenda ‘66, Ed Brownlee ‘80, Eric Busko ‘88 and Dan Branch ‘96. Taking direction from National, we also amended our Bylaws.

Our next meeting is July 18^th. Our speaker will be Hunter Hill USMA ‘00. See the Monthly Luncheon page on the Chapter web site for Hunter’s bio. This meeting will be a joint meeting with USMA AOG since Hunter is a USMA alumni. Hope to see a large crowd. We don’t want to be out numbered by our guests!

BEAT ARMY!

Mitch Rowland ’71
Chapter President