USMA Class of 1959
Minutes of Class Committee
19 May 2000
1. The Class Committee met at the Comfort Suites in Carlisle, PA during the
Class Mini Reunion on Friday, 19 May from 1508 to 1713 hours. Present were
Sandy Beach, Pete Dawkins, Bill Fitzgerald, Roger Gaines, Mike Gillette,
John Gurr, Jerry Hilmes, George Kleb, Bob McDonald, Bill Murry, Ed Robinson,
Bob Roth, Tom Russell, Skip Schow, and Jim Walsh. Art Griffin arrived
after the meeting and turned in his Treasurer's Report.
2. Opening Remarks: Pete Dawkins called the meeting to order and Jim Walsh
handed out the agenda. (Enclosure 1)
3. 16 February Minutes: Minutes of the 16 February meeting had been sent to
everyone on e-mail and were approved.
4. Class Fundraising Effort: Jerry Hilmes quickly reviewed the progress to
date. The effort remains on track: $1,064,000 in 151 pledges with 36%
participation. Jerry handed out a status report with the breakout by top
Cadet Company as of 17 May 2000. (Enclosure 2). Jerry stated that the
Company CQ's need energized. Updates to the CQ's will be provided on a
monthly basis. The end of November 2000 is the target date to make our goal
of 1 & 1/2 million dollars. Pete, once again, commented that we want to make
our goal and have MAXIMUM participation.
5. Thayer & Distinguished Graduate Award: As a result of e-mail traffic,
and discussion with the Class Committee, it was felt of all who had been
mentioned for the Thayer Award, Bob Dole and John McCain appeared to be the
most deserving. There has been no discussion of a nominee for the
Distinguished Graduate Award. It is not required that a nomination be made
in either category. It was decided that the Class Committee would not
develop any nominations this year. Jim Walsh will send a message to the
Class and see if any Class member wants to develop a nomination and have the
Class endorse it.
6. Class Ranger Memorialization Project: Bill Schwartz provided an update
on this project. (Enclosure 3) A total of $3865 had been collected from 47
Classmates. $2500 was sent along with $2500 from the Class Fund (Total =
$5000) to pay for the project cost. The balance ($1365) will be used for a
reception and memorabilia for NOK at a ceremony to be held at 1000 hours, 4
October 2000 at the Ranger Memorial at Fort Benning, GA. Bill Luther is
coordinating the details with the Benning Protocol Office, 75th Ranger
Regiment and RTB.
7. Future Class Functions: Jim Walsh handed out a list of class functions
for 2000 and others known at this time to include an alert for the 45th
Reunion in 2004. (Enclosure 4)
8. ARMY-Houston Game: Sandy Beach outlined the activities that would be held
in conjunction with the ARMY vs Houston football game in Houston, TX on 16
September 2000. More information will be provided to the Class via e-mail
and snail mail.
9. 2004 Reunion: Tom Russell reported the challenge of picking a home
football game weekend with Conference USA NOT publishing their schedule this
far in advance. Air Force will be a home game on 6 November 2004, but
initial reaction indicated this would be too late in the season. This item
will be discussed at future meetings with the goal of picking a date as soon
as possible so planning can begin.
10. Remembrance Mementos: Tom Russell reported he had the Glass Potpourri
Jars ready for shipment and good addresses for 38 class widows. Pete Dawkins
had a DRAFT note from Mary Clare Haskin (Enclosure 5) ready to be finalized
and sent to all class widows with good addresses.
11. VERSACE COMMEMORATIONS: Pete Dawkins provided a letter (Enclosure 6)
which was read at the Class Dinner Dance on 19 May and at which time a
memento was given to John Gurr for his efforts in working with the "The
Friends of Rocky Versace" to get recognition and the Medal of Honor for our
classmate, Rocky Versace. (Note: An outstanding TV spot on the NBC Today Show
supporting this effort was aired on Monday morning, Memorial Day, 29 May
2000.) In addition John Gurr recommended the class express appreciation to
all seven of "The Friends of Rocky Versace." (Enclosure 7). John Gurr has
had the Class letters of appreciation to each of the Friends of Rocky Versace
nicely framed and he presented them to five of the seven Friends at an
informal dinner at his home on Thursday June 8. (Samples at Enclosure 8)
Frank Besson and Mike Gillette attended and added their voices to John and
Pete's in expressing our Class' appreciation for what they have accomplished
for Rocky. A sixth letter was sent to the Friend in Ohio and has been
acknowledged with profuse thanks. John's presentation of the letters was
delayed a week by the untimely death on May 27 of one of the Friends, Tony
Heisley. The letter to Heisley will be presented to his widow in due course.
12. Class Scholarship: Powell Hutton provided a letter (Enclosure 9) to
the Class Leaders reporting on the findings of the Class Scholarship
Committee (Besson, Welch, & Hutton). There were two candidates, Molly Dyer
and Greg Stiles. Based on merit, Molly was awarded the $2000 scholarship for
the 2000-2001 academic year. It was recommended and approved that our Class
President, Pete Dawkins, be the one to send the letter to both applicants and
notify Molly Dyer of her award.
13. Treasurer's Report: Art Griffin arrived too late to attend the meeting
but gave me two memorandum. One dated Jan 10, 2000 (Enclosure 10), which
itemized income and expenditures for all of 1999, showed a Balance of the
Class Fund as of December 31, 1999 of $28.448.03 and a Balance of the Class
Gift Fund at USMA as on November 15, 1999 of $61,775.31. The second
memorandum dated May 19, 2000 (Enclosure 11), which itemized income and
expenditures for this year, showed a Balance of the Class Fund as of May 17,
2000 of $24.114,77.
14. Class Committee: Sandy Beach and Mike Gillette raised the question of
who is the Class Committee and who are the Class Officers. Pete Dawkins
answered this question with a brief discussion of the history of how we got
to our current situation. It was proposed that this be formalized in a
statement outlining the makeup of the Class Committee to include an update of
the Class Constitution. This was taken on as an item to be developed and
presented at our next Class Committee meeting.
15. Class Organization: It was also recommended that Nick Krawciw, Class
Vice President, who is looking at and supervising the Regional Organization,
also be responsible for updating and maintaining the Battalion and CQ
organization.
16. Next Meeting: The next Class Committee meeting will be held at the
Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) on Monday, 16 October 2000. It will be
an afternoon or evening meeting.
JAMES E.
WALSH, JR.
Secretary
11 Enclosures/AS
Incl. 12 - March 2, 2000 Class Letter