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June 2022, Volume 1, Issue 7
06/20/2022
President's Message
WELCOME ABOARD CLASS OF 2026! We are so excited you are here! You are just a few days away from an amazing four years and we are so excited to be able to support you and your Mid on your journey. For those who are new, my name is Nancy Davis and I am very proud to be president of this amazing organization. The Maryland Parents Club has a long tradition of great support for USNA, and after a two and a half year- shuttering of the Club, I am so happy to say that as of last Fall, we are back with a great group of parents, sponsors, and community members and going full force on MANY exciting initiatives. To name a few projects:
- We provided snacks to 13th Company in preparation for their 40th Army Navy Ball Run. The Army Navy Game ball was run from Annapolis to East Rutherford, NJ, the location of the 2021 Army Navy football game.
- During the December 2021 holiday break, our Midshipmen Express provided free rides to BWI for 240 Midshipmen.
- We conducted an online popcorn sale to support our 2022 Midshipmen Express and support holiday travel for one international Midshipman who, without the help of MDPC, would not be able to afford the trip home during the holiday break.
- Our Fall Ball will be held on September 17th at the Graduate Hotel. It will be a wonderful event designed to bring parents, sponsors, and Midshipmen together for a beautiful evening of dinner and dancing. It will also be a fantastic fundraiser for our Parents Club with the proceeds being used to support a variety of our initiatives.
Our Welcome Aboard Picnic was a huge success
with almost 145 attendees that included 27 plebes-to-be and their
families. BIG thanks to our amazing Sponsors FIRST COMMAND and USAA, as
well as Sweet Kiss Cupcakes and PowerHouse Motivations for their support
of our Picnic.
*We will have a table set up at Hospital Point on June 30, 2022 for
I-Day. There will be giveaways and an opportunity to enter your name in
our Notre Dame Football Game Ticket Raffle!
*We are looking forward to the start of our Plebe Parent Mentoring Program (see the Mentoring Program article below).
*And, of course, the MDPC Fall Ball. Ticket sales will end on June 30th!
See the Fall Ball article below for more details and information on how
to get your tickets!Today, Monday, June 20th, is the public
holiday for Juneteenth. While just becoming a federal holiday in 2021,
this day (June 19th) has been celebrated in various parts of the U.S.
since 1865. June 19th (known as
"Juneteenth") celebrates the date (more than 2 years after the
Emancipation Proclamation) that the news finally made it to Texas
informing all that slavery had been abolished. If you aren't familiar
with the origins of this important day, check out information online at https://www.juneteenth.com.
Class of '26 Welcome Aboard Picnic
Class of '26 Welcome Aboard Picnic
On Sunday, June 12th, the MDPC hosted the Welcome Aboard Picnic for the Class of '26 Plebes-to-Be and their Families (as well as incoming NAPS and Foundation Families!). The last time the Maryland Club hosted this event was in 2019. MDPC considers this to be one of its most important initiatives, so it was great to have this event back up and running!
The Heron Pavilion within Sandy Point State Park was the site of this year's festivities, with attendees enjoying a beautiful view of the water and the Bay Bridge. And although the forecast was for potential severe weather, after a bit of a cloud-covered start, the day turned sunny and beautiful.
Over 145 people attended the event, including 27 Plebes-to-Be and their families. Special guests included "A Link in the Chain" speakers Ed Riehl ('76), Chris Lare ('01), and Beth Dixon ('01). Speakers from our event sponsors included Chuck Dixon ('79) and Swede Hansen ('90), representing FIRST COMMAND Financial Services, the top-tiered sponsor of the event, and Paul McElroy ('85) representing our other major sponsor, USAA. Derrick Cogburn addressed our crowd to share information about being a sponsor parent. Nancy Davis and Kristina Harwood shared information about the MD Parents Club and being a Maryland parent.
Mission BBQ (sponsored by FIRST COMMAND) rolled into the Park in their famous Bam Bam truck, and desserts were provided by Sweet Kiss Cupcakes and PowerHouse Motivations. There was a MIDSIB table, tons of giveaways, and lots of great conversations all around. Oh, and we even practiced "Go Navy! Beat Army!" a few times!!
MDPC started planning this event in January, and it was great to see such an amazing turn out. This event will continue to be a high priority event for our Club. Thanks to all who helped make this happen and to all of those who attended!
Thank you to our sponsors!
Thank you!
In
addition to thanking our amazing Welcome Aboard Picnic Sponsors, thanks
also to our great Picnic Team led by Kristina Harwood. Thanks to Nancy
Davis for her amazing Club leadership and support of her teammates(!), huge thanks
to Cassandra Shieh for her many, many donations to the picnic, ideas,
brainstorming, and attention to detail on the event. And thanks to Ellen
Sun for keeping our finances under control!
Thanks to our Midshipmen who volunteered their time to come mentor their soon-to-be shipmates.
Thanks to our MDPC volunteers who showed up early and stayed late to make the day a success (in no particular order):
Mei
Tang, Emily Bonham, Jacquie Forbes, Nancy Deprey, Kelly Jeletic, Amy
Blank, Derrick Cogburn, Chris Gilligan, Mike Shieh, Rodney Armero, and
also to Mike Ngo who has been hugely helpful in getting the info out to
our new families.
Thank you to our other MD Parents who were able to join us and share their experiences with our new families.
Thank you to Kathy Prigmore for completely initiating and running with our Adopt a Plebe Parent program!
And if we didn't recognize your contributions, we sincerely apologize. It really does take a village. We are grateful for everyone's help to make the Picnic a great day!