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April 2004 Newsletter

West Point Parents' Club of Greater St. Louis

April 26, 2004

 

In this issue:

Minutes – old & new business

June 13 meeting location

Treasurer’s Report

2004-2005 Dues

All Academy Ball

Brag News

 

Minutes

The April meeting of the West Point Parents Club of St. Louis was called to order by President John Liesen at 12:30 p.m. after a half-hour social time. The Pledge of Allegiance was said and an invocation was said by President Liesen. This was followed by the pot-luck dinner. The Club provided the fried chicken for the dinner. President Liesen then thanked Ruth and Dave Hemmann for arranging the meeting at Concordia for the second year in a row. The minutes from the February meeting were posted in the newsletter on the web site. There were no comments or changes, so they were approved as posted. Past-Treasurer Mike Collins read the Treasurer’s Report. President Liesen recognized past-president Kent Howald who was in attendance. The meeting was adjourned at 2:15 p.m., followed by the 50/50 drawing and attendance prizes. Respectfully Submitted, Pam Sanfilippo, Secretary

 

Old Business

  • NCAA Wrestling. At the last meeting it was approved that Mike Collins would welcome the two members of West Point’s wrestling team who would be in St. Louis over spring break for the NCAA finals. He presented Luke Calvert ’06 and Phil Simpson ’05 with boodles boxes. Phil Simpson finished 8th in the nation, after jumping two weight classes since last year. Luke was out earlier, but also did well. The NCAA wrestling finals will be in St. Louis again next year, so Mike invited members to attend any or all of this exciting event.
  • Tax Exempt Status. Kent Howald reported on the tax exemption status. We received the IRS tax exempt status, but were denied status from Missouri. An appeal has been filed, and we are waiting for a hearing to be scheduled. Kent found that the Missouri revenue department felt the IRS was being too generous in awarding 501(c)3 status, and so they are denying all requests initially.

 

New Business

  • Term End Exams. TEE’s. are coming up May 17-21; parents may want to send boodles.
  • Plebe Recognition. May 21 is also plebe promotion/recognition, and plebe parents may want to recognize this for their plebe as well.
  • Grad Week. Graduation week is May 24-29. Rhonda Penn stated that the graduation luncheon will be on Wednesday, at 11:30 at the West Point Club. She will provide centerpieces. 25-30 are expected to attend. Reminder that parking will be limited since it is a weekday.
  • Grad Tips. Mike McCullough noted that he will be posting tips for grad week on our web site that he has pulled from other sites. He called several hotels in the Westchester County areas and found that there are plenty of rooms available, at reasonable cost, and not any farther away than rooms in the Newburgh area or Nyack. It is just as easy to get to West Point from the $1.00 Bear Mountain Bridge as the $7.00 Tappan Zee Bridge.
  • All Academy Ball. Sarah Collins reported on the All Academies Ball which will be held at the Radisson in Clayton on Sunday, December 26, beginning at 5:00 p.m. She is working with the Association of Graduates to increase Army attendance this year.
  • Cadet Tax Preparation. A question was asked about preparing taxes for the cadets. The Adjutant General’s office provides free tax services. June Meeting. The June meeting is where we will welcome new candidates. We need to have ’07 cadets there, in white over grey uniforms, to speak with the new candidates. The meeting will be June 13 at 1:00 p.m. at the Viking Conference Center in South St. Louis County.
  • Howitzer Ad. It was approved that we would sponsor a ˝ page ad in the Howitzer again this year ($385).
  • Cadet Car Insurance. The issue of cadet car insurance was discussed. It was mentioned that cadets may want to check into the USAA financial services for car insurance, helping with cow loans, etc.

 

Treasurer’s Report 3/31/04

Treasurer Mike Collins read the Treasurer’s Report. There was a previous balance of $1,561.16. Expenditures since the last meeting totaled $1,081.41; receipts were $782.00, leaving a balance of $1,261.75. The Treasurer’s Report was approved as read.

 

2004 All Academy Ball

Sarah Collins reported on the progress for the All Academies Ball. Army will serve as host this year. Sarah, Susan Mueller, Leann Roehm, and Kathy Hotz are members of this committee; however volunteers are still welcome. They have recommended the Clayton Radisson for the location and have reserved the ballroom for Sunday December 26. Please mark this date in your calendar. We hope to get the Association of Graduates involved, to improve the turnout for Army and also assist in selection of a speaker.

 

June 13 Meeting

At the Viking Holiday Inn Class of 2007 will be responsible for door prizes.

The meeting will start at 1:00 pm.

 

Reservations are required (for meal planning)

Cost is $16.00 per person

New cadets and Cadets will be free

 

We depend on cadets to attend this meeting where they can talk with incoming new cadets. They should wear white over grey uniforms. Please order or convince your cadet to attend this meeting.

Please send an email for RSVP

hotz104@aol.com

Or send payment to

 

Bob & Kathy Hotz

104 Lotus Drive

Edwardsville IL  62025

 

618-656-3041

 

2004-2005 Dues

July 1st is the due date for the year 2004-2005 club dues. Costs are $35 for Cadet parents and $20 for Grad parents this cost includes the annual membership directory. Please mail a check to our new treasurer Bob & Kathy Hotz. Invoices will be mailed.

 

Ben Smith ‘99

Bill and Kathy Smith sent a thank you for the flowers and prayers from our club in memory of their son Ben. Capt. Ben Smith ’99 was from Monroe City, Mo and was killed in Iraq as the pilot of a Blackhawk Helicopter.

 

Brag News

 

Capt Erica Choi ’00 is deployed in Iraq and recently received an Easter Banner from her mom’s school. Erica is the daughter of Ken and Connie Lamb. (The picture is shown http://www.west-point.org/parent/wppc-st_louis/ClassOf2000.htm )

 

Lt Adam Brink ’03 has completed ADA OBC and graduated from Mechanized Leader Training. He is assigned to Ft Lewis, WA 25th Infantry Division, 1st Brigade, as an Avenger platoon leader. Adam is the son of Bill & Judy Brink.

 

Lt Steve Hemmann ’03 is planning to travel to China to teach English in elementary schools to full fill his 100 hours of community service required by his fellowship. He will continue his study of Chinese with a tutor for the remainder of the summer. Steve is the son of Dave & Ruth Hemmann.

 

David Howald ’04 is scheduled to go to Prague in June for Orienteering competition after winning national competition; then in July he will start Airborne training. David is the son of Kent and Betty Howald.

 

Sarah Penn '04 recently participated in the first annual West Point Law Department Conference on Law and Terrorism. Several colleges and the other service academies sent students to the two-day conference.  Sarah is the daughter of Dale and Rhonda Penn."

 

Reid “Huck” Finn ’02 is currently serving in Afghanistan; Huck is the cadet on the front cover of the book Absolutely American. Huck is a good friend of Dale, Rhonda, and Sarah Penn.

 

Jeff Weaver ’04 is a member of the USMA track team (Long Jump) and is scheduled to compete in the NCAA finals in Florida on May 28 (the same day as graduation). He has a tough decision we wish him the best. Jeff is the son of Steve & Caryn Weaver.

 

Justin Liesen ’05 is part of the Crew Team and who are expected to go to the nationals. If not he, he will observe the German Army in Germany; and then he will continue with CTLT (Cadet Troop Leadership Training) with the 3rd ACR at Ft Collins CO. Justin is the son of John and Judy Liesen.

 

Mike Collins ’06 is scheduled for Sapper Leader Course at Ft Leonardwood MO and will last 4 weeks. Out of 4,000 cadets only 30 are selected for this, the physical requirements are very demanding. It is designed as team building course to build leadership skills and learn specialized engineer techniques (http://www.wood.army.mil/sapper/SapperPage_files/SapperLeaderCourse.htm). Mike is the son of Mike and Sarah Collins.

 

Joe Sanfilippo ’06 is scheduled for Airborne training at Ft Benning GA in July. Many Cows, Firsties and grads take this course as part of Army combat training. Soldiers are required to jump out of a perfectly good plane 5 times with possibly one at night. Joe is the son of Joe and Pam Sanfilippo.

 

Matthew Roehm ’07 has received recognition as the Soldier of the Quarter for the plebes in his Company D1.Matt is the son of Chuck and Le Ann Roehm