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United
States Military Academy
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November 6, 2000 |
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Dear Select Few of USMA '82: 6 November 2000 Class Gift We are moving ahead toward our goal of our $500,000 gift. Although Phil Connolly might fuss at me for saying so, I'd rather have each of you give a few dollars to move our Class toward 100% participation than to meet the half?million target with 20% of the Class contributing. Think of it as you did when you put a dollar of your cadet pay in the pillowcase for the Class goat??just use bigger bills this time. Any amount helps; designate your contribution to the Class of 1982 Campaign. The current truth is that we have 118 Classmates who have pledged $292,513 to the unrestricted gift that we'll hand to the Supe in 2002. Hey, that's only two years from now. About a third of those pledges??$ 100,713??has been added to our gift account. To be a part of the (Half) Million Dollar March, see the enclosure. Reunion You know our 20' Reunion celebration occurs in October 2002. Which weekend is not yet determined, since we'll be basing it on the Conference USA football schedule. As soon as we get a decision, we'll pass the information out. We trust that you will plan on coming, whichever weekend it is. A few of the Select Few got together in September for a 15?mile foot march. We came back with the New Cadets on their march?back. Listen to this: reasonably intelligent West Point Graduates, many (well) past the age of impetuous youth, paid $75 to march, wearing khakis, in the dark from Lake Frederick to West Point - the long way. And the rains did come. Holly (Getz) Grange traveled 800 miles to trip on roots in the dark. Your Class VP, Ellen (Groschelle) Houlihan traveled 250 miles to get to be wet, cold, and hungry. Chris Adams came from 175 miles away to get soaked and eat soggy fruit while standing in mud. Paul Merritt, Larry Tosi, and Mike Schwed also had no excuse. Only Lindy Buckman had to be there; she was on duty as a Regimental Tac. Somebody had to be there to supervise and carry the chow, so I went, too. Since I came back to USMA, I have seen dust and digging near or in every building on post. New South really is new. And there's a new PX up by Stony Lonesome Gate. At least three of the six buildings that make up Arvin Gym were surgically crushed and hauled away, ten tons at a time. They pulled all the plaques off the wall in the Cullum Hall ball room, and moved the wrestling mats in there wall?to?wall where you used to stand around at Plebe Hops. Gymnastics is supposed to go up to the new Tennis Center and Shea Stadium got a serious facelift, plus artificial turf. I would say the Corps has, but the destructors left Hayes Gym and the Indoor Obstacle Course intact. And with the increased dust, it may be more of a hack?producer than when we ran it two decades ago. Class Ring Memorial Program Fred Rice '88 (2002 Class Advisor) and Cadet Jeff Stone, Class representative for USMA 2002, showcased a new AOG program. Graduates and their descendants may bequeath or donate West Point class rings for the specific purpose of incorporating the gold into the class rings of future graduates. As Rice put it, this program is a tangible means of connecting the Long Gray Line. Cadet Stone wholeheartedly endorsed the program, saying that cadets are very excited, and very moved, by the prospect of having a part of the Long Gray Line in their own rings. AOG currently has twenty-seven rings donated to this program, and enthusiasm is growing as more folks find out about it. For the full story check out http://www.aogusma.org/Class/classringmemprog.htm. I intend to melt my ring in with my son's class (he said, optimistically). AOG-sponsored Class Web Site: http://www.west-point.org/class/usma1982 Ellen Houlihan has invoked her considerable authority to see that all 36 cadet companies now has a company rep. (Did you know that with recent cuts in the size of USCC, there are only 32 Cadet Companies currently in the Corps?) You can send messages to the entire class (ensure your messages support the class information efforts in some way). distro82@aogusma.org will go to electronically affiliated members of 1982. Send a message to members of a company through 1982-B2@aogusma.org (insert the appropriate company). With respect to the Class web site, John Hill has assumed the mission (or was that position?) from the dutiful Chip Jones. He would really like to get information and images from our classmates of class events or get-togethers, past, present and future. John wants to turn the web site into an archive of everything that happened to our class. Let's help him make that scrapbook work. Send stories, pictures, and video clips from the reunions or any other events ("there we were in Saudi Arabia..."). He would prefer electronic submissions, but he can easily convert physical media (letters, photographs, videotapes) into electronic media. We may eventually post a calendar of events before they happen (for instance, John Hill's having an Army-Navy Football Game party at his house in College Station, and Jan Afridi has moved a portion of the annual 1982 Golf Extravaganza to the east coast). For you folks who need closure, an AAR with pictures/videos would be included. We are also building company web sites, based on the interest from each of the companies (like usmal982-bl, and others, run by individual company reps). 1982 Class Listserver: usma1982@west-point.org A single e-mail address allows you to send a message to every classmate that is a participant of the list. In order to post a message, you have to be a member of the list, currently about 340 Classmates [webmaster note: 518 as of 11/11/2000]. This is an '82 Class listserver, different from AOG's, for Class communication and contacts, not for the sole purpose of fund-raising (although we do need your money). Steve Kalish, our Reunion Chair, tells me the class web site will have more on reunion plans in the near future. Surf to http://www.west-point.org/class/usma1982/join.cgi to join us on the Class page. So, I asked you for money, I gave you some updates, and I linked you up with your classmates. You were expecting an essay assignment? Perhaps next time. The Web Master has asked me to do a regular note on the Class web site, so look for more news there.
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