30th Reunion Recap – 2013

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Homecoming Schedule of Events

FRIDAY – September 27, 2013

0730-1530: Seafarer Restaurant Open
0800-1700: Navy Exchange Store Open
0800: Reunion Class Registration Commences (Barney Square Tent)
0800-1200: Tours of the Academy from Barney Square
Barracks are closed.
1200: Lunch with the Regiment (Delano Hall) $10/person
1400: Academy Briefing on “State of the Academy” and Q & A (Ackerman Auditorium)
1500: Midshipman Life Panel
1630: Formal Parade (Tomb Field – Weather Permitting)
1700: Jewish Services at Mariners Chapel
1700: BBQ Dinner in Barney Square Tent (Continues until 1900)
Price is $28/person – *Note: No tickets will be mailed for this event.
Your name will be on a list at the door.
1800: Athletic Hall of Fame (Melville Hall) Price is $TBD/person – *Note: No tickets will be mailed for this event.
Your name will be on a list at the door.
1900-2200+: Informal “Icebreaker Reception” in Champs Sports Bar,
at the Marriott – BE THERE!  
1930: Candlelight Ceremony Honoring the “142” by Class of 2017
World War II Memorial or Mariners Chapel depending on the weather
Alumni are invited to participate.

SATURDAY – September 28, 2013

0730-1400: Seafarer Restaurant Open
0800: Colors on Powell Oval
0800: Class Registration Commences (Barney Square) 1983 may register at Lerner House
0800-0930 : Barracks are open to the public.
0800-1700: Navy Exchange Store Open
0815: Homecoming 5K Run Starts Registration is on Tomb Field 0745-0800.
Race Starts on Steppingstone Lane adjacent to Lower Roosevelt Field. Race awards completed by 0915.
Price is $10/person – *Note: No tickets will be mailed for this event. Your name will be on
a list at registration.
0830-1100: Coffee, Bagels & Class of 1983 Check-In at Lerner House.
(see map below)

1100-1300: Tailgating, Lunch & Beverages at Lerner House  
Pay Now

0930: “Beat Retreat” by the Regimental Band (O’Hara Hall)
Class Fund Raising Chairmen will present class checks during second intermission.
1100: Tailgating Begins (McNulty Campus)
1115: Memorial Arbors Ceremony (North Arbors) The ceremony will not start before this time
but may be later depending on the completion of “Beat Retreat;” anyone arriving by 1115 will
not miss the ceremony. (Names of those whose plaques were installed since the previous
Homecoming will be read by the Alumni Association and Foundation Chairman.) In case
inclement weather the ceremony will move to O’Hara Hall at the same time.
1130-1300: Lunch (Barney Square Tent)
Price is $18/person. *Note: No tickets will be mailed for this event.
Your name will be on a list at the door.
1230: Alumni Soccer Game on Lower Roosevelt Field
1300: Anniversary Reunion Classes Muster for “March-On” (Steamboat Road starting at
the Midshipmen Monument)
1330: Pre-Game “March On” by Anniversary Reunion Classes (Tomb Field)
1400: Football Game – Kings Point vs.Hobart (Tomb Field)
1700: Catholic Mass (Mariners Chapel) Counts for Sunday
1900: Reunion Class Dinner at Marriott  
Pay Now

SUNDAY – September 29, 2013

0800-1100: Class Farewell Brunch at Marriott (buy your
own breakfast)
1000: Roman Catholic Mass (Mariners Chapel)
1000-1230: Farewell Brunch (Delano Hall)
Price is $16/person – *Note: No tickets will be mailed for this event. Your name will be
on a list at the door.
1000-1600: Navy Exchange Store open
1115: Protestant Worship (Mariners Chapel)

All event times and locations are subject to change. Check back for updates.

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10/25/13: KP83 Homecoming Recap & Photos

Greetings ’83 Classmates and Friends…

It’s been [four] weeks since many of us gathered and celebrated our 30th Reunion and 30 years since we graduated from Kings Point. Between the Reception on Friday night, our Saturday Tailgate and our Class Dinner on Saturday night, we had over 60 classmates attend with spouses, family and friends. The weather was sensational and the Lerner House was a perfect place to gather, renew friendships and say hello to classmates some of us had not seen in 30 years!

For those of you who made it…thank you again for coming. I hope you thoroughly enjoyed the few days together and I do hope everyone will stay in touch. Your Reunion Committee (Lisa, Ray, Chris, Scott and myself) spent quite a bit of time planning all the details in the hope that your brief “time back” would be both enjoyable and memorable. We know there is always room for improvement so please reach out to any one of us and give us your feedback on what you thought went very well and what could use some tweaking for 2018. BTW…this is a PERFECT opportunity for me to formally congratulate and thank Chris Cioni for “stepping up” and offering to be the Chair of the 2018 Reunion Committee. Thank you Chris! Chris will be assembling his team in the coming years and would certainly welcome hearing from those of you who would like to help. It is work but a LOT of fun!

For those of you unable to attend our 30th, we certainly missed you (and talked about you!). Please be sure that “Webmaster Ray” has your current email address. Email Ray at . Also, please join our ’83 Facebook Group as this site is growing in popularity and you just never know who’s going to chime in. Lastly, you can get all the information “you can handle” about our class at our web site: http://www.kp83.org/. It is extraordinarily well-done and Ray keeps it up to date with pictures, class news and KP news, with links to the Academy and most importantly the USMMA Alumni Association and Foundation.

Included with this posting are some of the MANY pictures taken by classmates at the Reunion. We are able to provide pictures from all our events, including the Icebreaker Reception, the Tailgate Party, the March-on, the football game (many of us found out later we lost – just like old times!), and the Class Dinner back at the Marriott. We hope you enjoy them!

One more thing…MANY THANKS to our classmates who clearly stepped up with sponsorship to help offset our many expenses. We recognized their sponsorship at every event but it is worth recognizing them again here: Jon Kjaerulff; George Toma; Scott O’Connor; Rick Wood; Randy Johnson; and Ray Christensen. You can also find them on our web site. Special thanks also to Lisa Fields who made all the complicated things go smoothly. She handled making all of our name tags (using our Yearbook pictures), ordered all the beautiful souvenir glasses and donated the KP ’83 beer cups (we have some extras and we may order more as they were a hit!). She also coordinated our dinner slide show featuring classmate pictures from the past and present and she and Bill Rupy combined to make sure that we had classic tunes from the 70’s and 80’s to enjoy all evening. Talk about CLUTCH. Thank you Lisa!!!

Lastly…I just want to mention that it was a privilege to serve as a Reunion Chair. I think I speak for Scott, Chris, Lisa and Ray when I say that we had a lot of fun in putting this together. It was a TEAM effort. What was most amazing to me at the Reunion was what happened on Friday night. If you were an outsider, you would have thought all of us just graduated a year ago. We picked up as if we never left off – good times!

See y’all in 2018!

Brian

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Class of 1983 Alumni Award Winners

Congratulations to our Fellow ’83 Classmates who were selected for Awards at this Year’s Homecoming! They will be recognized at the Alumni Awards Banquet on Thursday, September 26, 2013 at Melville Hall.

Outstanding Professional Achievement Award
Michael J. Donnelly
Jonathan E. Kjaerulff
George L. Toma

Meritorious Alumni Service
Brian O. Foy
Scott W. O’Connor

Special Award
Craig S. Laurent

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9/13: Reserve Hotel Now!   Register for Tailgate/Dinner Now!

Marriott Rooms: If you have not yet reserved room at Marriott, but want to, contact Brian () before Monday so see if he can get you in at our group price of $169/night. We’ve already used up our room block and there are few remaining rooms available at all. Individuals should get in touch with Brian or myself to let us know if you’d consider sharing a room with a classmate, not just to save $$$$ but to allow as many of us as possible to stay at the hotel. Hotel location & info is on our site.

Register (pay) now for our tailgating and/or dinner: Pay online or download form to mail check at www.stillconnected.com/kp83/registration13.php – we have to know who’s coming to what for accurate final food/beverage counts!

Pass the word to other classmates: Please help us get the final word out to classmates who may be out of the loop. Look at “Need Current Contact Info” list at www.KP83.org and please ask someone on it to at least visit the site & fill out our Homecoming Survey link.

Send photos: Email any pictures from KP years or since to Lisa Fields at
We look forward to seeing many of you quite soon.

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July 8 Homecoming Update Message from Brian Foy

Dear ’83 Classmates…
It is hard to believe but we are now within 90 days of our 30th Reunion – set for September 27-29, 2013. I hope you are planning to attend! A lot of planning has been underway for months and I cannot say thanks enough to our 30th Reunion Committee: Scott O’Connor; Chris Thayer; Lisa Fields and Ray Christensen. It is a great group to work with!

So let’s get right to it. If you are planning to attend any part of the reunion activities and have not already done so – PLEASE let us know! The easiest way to do this is to go to our Class of 1983 Reunion Homepage at http://www.kp83.org, complete the survey and/or email Ray Christensen at . Ray has done this for previous reunions, the schedule of events for this year, testimonials to our fallen classmates, etc. It is first class all the way. While you are there, book your hotel room at the Long Island Marriott. The survey is very important as we have not finalized all of our plans for the Reunion events and want your feedback. Please respond to our survey now.
Shortly thereafter, we will post the online registration, costs, final schedule of events, etc.

Help us reach ALL of our Classmates – please look over the “lost contact list” on our Homepage and if you are in or have had recent contact with anyone on the list, please reach out to them and encourage them to complete our suvey asap!

Our Reunion will “officially” kick off with an Icebreaker Reception at the Marriott on Friday, September 27, at 1900. I have reserved an area in Champs Sports Bar for us all to congregate, enjoy a few cold ones, and catch up. The next morning, September 28, beginning at 0830, we will have coffee, bagels and registration at the Lerner (Alumni) House on Campus at 8 Elmridge Road, just a few houses up on the left near the entrance to the McNulty Museum. Our Tailgate “officially” begins at 1100 and we have reserved a tent for the backyard, plenty of food, beer and other beverages. As I have mentioned before, we have the premiere tailgating spot this year as we are not subject to any of the USMMA Campus restrictions on consumption of alcoholic beverages as long as we are on the grounds of the Lerner House, which is owned by the Alumni. Even better, we have the Lerner House all day and there are no scheduled events there that evening so we can extend our Tailgate to about 1700 or so, when most people will want to start heading back to the Marriott. “Stay Thirsty my Friends.”

We have a buffet dinner planned that evening at the Marriott – open bar will start at 1900; buffet dinner at 7:30pm.

We also have entertainment planned – classic tunes from the 70’s and 80’s. Oh…and please bring a few of your FAVORITE (or not so favorite) pics from your years at KP as we plan to have a bulletin board for posting all of them. You can also email them in advance to Lisa Fields at and we will print and post. Lisa is also planning to have our official yearbook pictures on name tags at registration so we can all remember what what we once looked like. We may even add nicknames if we get enough feedback. Oh…and Lisa has some additional goodies planned for give-aways at registration. Can any of you remember our senior class shirt…just a hint.

So far, I have had two of our classmates indicate interest in being a Reunion sponsor. Sponsorship will significantly reduce our overall expenses, lower our registration fees, and is greatly appreciated. For those of you thinking about this or who want more information, please contact either me () or Chris Thayer () so we can match your interest with an event or item. We will also recognize all sponsors on our web site and at every possible opportunity during our Reunion activities. Personal or corporate sponsorships welcome. Thank you!

Lastly…I cannot overemphasize the importance of our Class Gift, especially in light of all that is going on with our Alumni Association. I can assure you that we are well-represented on the AAF Board by Scott O’Connor. I speak regularly with Jim Tobin ’77 (AAF President) and Charlie Hill ’65 (AAF Board Chair), who happens to be a member of my Mid-Hudson Alumni Chapter. Although the AAF is now operating out of the Lerner House (having recently vacated the Babson Center), they are still providing all the support and services they were giving to the midshipmen and our Reunion Class Gift is a big part of continuing this mission. If you have not already given this year, please consider doing so. You will no doubt be hearing more from Scott about the AAF and his Committee about our Class Gift. Every little bit helps.

That’s enough out of me. I hope you and your families had a wonderful 4th. I look forward to seeing many of you in September!
Brian Foy

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May 2013 Email: Class of 1983 Homecoming Awards

Hi Everyone,

I hope things are well with you!
1. Please read Chris Thayer’s note below and take action as noted. No calls to Congressmen needed 😉

2. If you haven’t completed the very brief Homecoming Survey at www.KP83.org, I’d really, really appreciate it (60 responses so far and we’ll soon list the likely Homecoming attendees on the site).

3. AF would like to know of any Kings Pointers with family members in the incoming class of 2017, so reply to me if applicable.   —- Smooth sailing!
Ray Christensen 302-633-1482 (Wilmington, DE)

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Dear Classmates,
By now you should be inundated with Class of 1983 30th Reunion information! At least, I hope you have! It is going to be a great event.

A very special part of Homecoming weekend is the Alumni Awards dinner where the Alumni Foundation recognizes the amazing accomplishments of our fellow alumni. In order to be recognized, one needs to be nominated. It is a simple process and I ask each one of you to make the effort to nominate one, or more, of our most deserving classmates.

Go to usmmaaf.com and click on the Alumni Services tab and then on the left side click on Alumni Awards, then click on Homecoming Awards. The banner on this page says awards should be submitted by June 1st. Do not let that date discourage you from submitting award nominations. I have served on the Foundation Awards Committee for many years and we don’t finish our work until late July/early August. That being said, please make your nominations as soon as possible. Focus on the Outstanding Professional Achievement and Meritorious Alumni Service awards. I am sure that we have many classmates that are deserving of one of these, or both, awards. But, don’t limit your nominations to only these two awards. Review each of them for our highly deserving classmates.

One last piece of advice for award nominations. Contact the person you intend to nominate and gather as much information as you can. Don’t just fill in the form. Include a bio, resume, published articles, etc. Anything and everything that will tell the whole story. This makes it much easier for the Awards Committee and will result in better success in ensuring that the Class of 1983 has the most awardees at this year’s Alumni Awards Dinner!

See you in September!
Fraternally,
Chris Thayer ’83

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March 2013 Letter to Class:   30-Year Reunion: September 27-29, 2013

Mailed Letter from Class of 1983 Reunion Committee

Dear Classmates:
Greetings from your Class Reunion Committee! We are looking forward to a great turnout for our 30th year Anniversary Reunion. Time sure flies and we have all travelled great distances in life since June 20, 1983; however, what keeps many of us close to this day are the friendships we forged and the experiences we shared over 30 years ago at Kings Point. While many of us don’t get the chance to see one another very often, it is always great to come together every five years and reminisce, share stories and renew friendships. While we have not finalized all the plans for the weekend as yet, we do have some specifics to share as you consider making your plans to join us.

Our Reunion hotel will be the Long Island Marriott in Uniondale, NY. The address is 101 James Doolittle Road (next door to the Nassau Coliseum) and it is approx. 15-16 miles (30-minute car ride) from Kings Point. We have blocked rooms for the evenings of 26-29 September at a special rate of $169 per night. We will be posting the reservation link on our Class Reunion Web Site at www.kp83.org (click on Hotel Info); or, you can contact the Marriott at 1-800-228-9290 and ask for the Merchant Marine Class of 1983 room block. Be sure they confirm the rate.

On Friday evening, September 27, we are planning an informal “Icebreaker Reception” in Champs Sports Bar, which is in the Marriott. This will make it convenient for all those staying in the Hotel and we hope to draw many others not staying in the hotel who want to “re-connect” with Classmates before Saturday. Additional information will be provided once we have made final arrangements.

Our first “formal” Reunion activity will be the traditional tailgate on Saturday, September 28th, starting at 0900. We are very pleased to announce that we have reserved the Academy Alumni House, which is located on 8 Elm Ridge Road. As many of you know, this house was purchased by the Alumni Association and Foundation a few years ago and is in a superb location, just a few steps up the road from the entrance to the McNulty Museum grounds and not far from where we had our 25th Reunion Tailgate. Once again, this is prime real estate! Our tentative plan is to have a continental breakfast and all our registration materials starting at 0900 so plan to come early and get a good parking space! We will have traditional tailgate fixings beginning no
later than 1100, including appropriate cold beverages suitable for adults and children, snacks, and light lunch fare. Once again, all these details are in the works.

At the approximately 1300, we will proceed to muster for the March-On in advance of the football game. The Alumni House is a stones-throw from the March-On! Families, friends and guests are all welcome as we gather on Steamboat Road and head toward Tomb Field. (Please note that we will not have access to the Alumni House for “in-game or post-game” tailgating as they will be breaking down our event and preparing for a separate class event that evening).

The football game vs. Hobart College begins at 1400. No tickets are required and everyone is welcome. We will try to reserve an area in the stands where we can all sit and catch up…and maybe even watch some football. There are no other Reunion events planned that afternoon on campus. The Navy Exchange (Ship’s Store) will be open from 0800-1700 for those who want to get started early on their Christmas shopping.

Our Reunion Class Dinner will be held back at the Long Island Marriott commencing no earlier than 1900. This should give everyone sufficient time to “hang out” at KP or head back early and relax a bit. While we have much to still plan in this regard, you can expect cocktails, a buffet dinner, some form of entertainment and some other surprises. As we put this “celebration” together, we would certainly appreciate your input! Please contact either myself or
Lisa Fields.

The Reunion Committee will be working hard to make the whole weekend both enjoyable and cost-efficient. Once we have a final cost for all events and memorabilia, we will post it to www.kp83.org and send you an email. In fact, this site will be your go-to place for everything you want to know about our Reunion and will be updated on a regular basis. The site will also include other events the Academy and the Alumni Association & Foundation will be sponsoring independent of our Class Reunion and give you the opportunity to sign up and pay for those events as well. At this point I want to thank our Class Communicator and Webmaster, Ray Christensen, for volunteering his services in creating this fantastic web page. Thanks Ray! If you haven’t been receiving Ray’s quarterly emails requesting “class notes” input, please send him your email address!

To help offset our overall expenses and keep the cost/person as low as possible, we are once again seeking Corporate Sponsors. Sponsorships will be targeted toward the tailgate, our Class Dinner, reunion memorabilia (i.e. hats/mugs/other), entertainment, etc. We hope that those of you who are still working in or connected to the maritime industry, and those in other industry sectors, will be able to persuade your respective companies and contacts to participate as a Corporate Sponsor. Appropriate recognition will be made at our reunion and in the Kings Pointer magazine. Corporate sponsorship will be greatly appreciated and can significantly help to make all reunion events affordable for all of our classmates. Please contact either myself or Chris Thayer if you have any suggestions, ideas or recommendations.

Speaking of money, and with the idea that we will be able to keep our Reunion Event expenses to an absolute minimum, we hope you will participate in our 1983 Class Gift. In a separate letter, you will hear from our Reunion Co-Chair, Scott O’Connor, Chair of our Class Gift Campaign, about opportunities to give generously toward our “Class Gift” to the Alumni Foundation. I won’t take away Scott’s thunder here but please pay close attention to Scott’s request!

Also, please don’t forget to nominate classmates for awards for which they may be eligible. Visit the USMMA Alumni Association & Foundation website: www.usmmaaa.com/awards for more information on alumni awards. Also, see pages 23-24 in the winter 2012-13 Issue of the Kings Pointer. Nominations for awards must be received by the AAF no later than June 1, 2013!

One more thing…as many of you know, we sadly lost three more of our classmates since our 2008 Reunion: Vivan Ragusa; Michael Alston and Dennis Gault. Lisa Fields, working closely with Chris Thayer and Ray Christensen, will be letting you know more about how we plan to recognize and remember our classmates and how you can participate. In fact Ray would like to create enduring memorial pages on our Class web site for all the classmates we have lost since graduation – now totaling eight – and would appreciate any information or personal stories and pictures you are willing to share. You can contact Ray directly about this at . Visit www.kp83.org and click on “In Memoriam” at the top of the home page to see what we have in mind.

Should you have any questions concerning anything about the reunion weekend, please feel free to call or e-mail me or any member of the Committee. We look forward to seeing all of you in September!
Fraternally Yours,

Brian Foy, Co-chair – Reunion Activities
    405-850-8367 cell

Scott O’Connor, Co-chair – Class Gift Campaign
    904-545-3179 cell

Ray Christensen – Communications and Marketing
    (302) 633-1482

Chris Thayer – Awards and Sponsorships
    202-236-6553 cell

Lisa (Barcus) Fields – Events and Memorials
    410-708-1554