March 2003 Newsletter
March 23, 2003
West Point Parents' Club of Greater St. Louis
February Meeting Notes
The meeting was held at Scott AF
Base in the Officers’ Club on February
23, 2003, with at least 50 members and family members in attendance.
The food was great and plentiful. We all had great discussions about our
cadets, graduates and families.
We are hoping to get the 501(c) 3
not-for-profit status completed and sent into the government by April. This
will provide sales tax exemptions as well as allowing WPPC St Louis to receive
donations which the donor may use for tax deductions.
We approved a $500 stipend for our
new president, Kent, to attend the WPPC meeting in April. The total amount sent
to Tirzah Eskew ’05 on behalf of the club was $320.
Thanks again, Joe & Pam
Sanfilippo
New officers
President – Kent Howald
Pres Elect – Gay
Eskew / John & Judy Liesen
Treasurer – Michael & Sarah
Collins
Secretary – Joe & Pam
Sanfilippo
Cadet Handbooks
Ruth Hemmann brought to our
attention that the Northern New Mexico WPPC has excellent handbooks on their
website.
After reviewing their website at http://www.west-point.org/parent/wppc-nnm/handbooks.htm,
the following are available:
New
Cadets 18 Pages (6 minute
download)
Graduation
Tips 1 Page (30 seconds
download)
Firstie
Tips 53 Pages (12 minute
download) includes pictures, what to do, USMA songs, etc
You will need Adobe Acrobat to view
or print these handbooks.
Graduates in action
Lt Col Mike Edleson ’79 was
assigned to NASD in Washington
will now be teaching Advanced Economics at West Point.
Major Brenda Edleson ’84 has left the service and now works with Performance
Engineering Co of Fairfax, VA
and is installing computers systems worldwide. Mike and Brenda is the son and daughter of Joan Edleson, 314-487-0308, jledleson@aol.com.
Major Chris Ballard ’88 is
currently at Ft McPherson, GA with the Army’s FORSCOM. He plans on obtaining an
advanced degree in computer simulation at Georgia Tech or becoming a Liaison
officer for deployment. He is a Ranger, has obtained an advanced degree at St
Louis and has taught at West Point.
Chris is the son of Lawrence & Marilyn Ballard, 636-463-1717.
Capt Chris Britt ’99 is currently
an MP at Ft Leonardwood and will deploy at the end of March. Chris is the son
of Jim & Carolyn Britt, 573-243-4357, tyjbr549@mvp.net.
Capt James O’Boyle ’99 is currently
at Ft Carson CO and will be deployed to Kuwait
with the 3rd Air Cavalry. James is the son of Michael & Sharon
O'Boyle, 618-664-4570, moboyle@bccu2.k12.il.us.
Capt Matt Powell ’99, who is
currently serving in Germany,
will join the Green Beret and eventually become a teacher at West
Point. Matt is the son of
Bob & Sheryl Powell, 217-285-4960, oldfolks@kcds.net.
1st Lt Bill Kesselring
’00 talked about life after West Point: even though West
Point was hard; he really missed West Point
and the many friends he made, he discussed the impact of mentor families while
there, and he encouraged cadets to visit mentor families and not worry about
being an imposition. Billy was stationed at Ft Bragg with the 307th
Battalion of the 82nd Airborne for the last 2 years; he will be
stationed at Ft Leonardwood with the Construction Engineers where he will train
new recruits. In August, he will be up for promotion to Captain and he will
need to decide on whether to extend his service 1 more year by attending
Captain’s advanced course. Billy can be reached at sapperk@military.com. Bill is the son of
Bill & MaryLou Kesselring, 573-774-6570, kesselr@cablemo.net.
1st Lt Joe Odorizzi ’00
is currently a helicopter pilot will with the 101st Airborne at Ft
Campbell and will deploy soon. Joe is the son of Terry & Susan Odorizzi,
618-635-8432, tersue@madisontelco.com.
1st
Lt George McCullough ’00 is currently XO with
3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 2nd Infantry Division at
Ft Lewis. This brigade will deploy to the National Training Center (NTC) at Ft
Irwin, CA for the final stage of readiness training. Then the brigade will
deploy to the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) at Ft Polk, LA for combat
certification. George is the son of Mike & Marge McCullough,
618-263-3918, nygirl@onemain.com.
Cadets in action
Steve Hemmann ‘03 has posted to Germany
after he graduates. He also is on the short list for grad school. This March he
will present a paper in Washington DC.
Steve is the son of David & Ruth Hemmann, 314-822-8540, dhemmann@anet-stl.com.
Adrian Zdazinsky ‘03 has posted to
Ft Irwin CA (near LA) after he graduates. This is the Army’s National Training
Center (NTC). Adrian is the son of
Chip & Peggy Zdazinsky, 314-863-8202, zdazinskystl@hotmail.com.
William Harryman ‘03 has posted to Hanau-Babenhausen, Germany
with the Patriot missile defense 5th Battalion, 7th Air Defense Artillery
Brigade. William is the son of William & Susan Harryman, 618-997-7848, susanhman@aol.com.
Joseph
Sanfilippo ’06 made the dean’s list last semester and he is a member of Company
G4. Joe is the son of Joe & Pam Sanfilippo, 314-385-2714, sanfilippos@prodigy.net.
Tirzah
Eskew‘s’05 brother, Samuel is leaving for Iran
with the 1st Calvary. Samuel received his
commission from Kemper Military
School and then finished college at
Central Missouri
State in 2002. Tirzah has an older sister Elicia is married to Ali Abdolhosseini
and is currently pursing a degree in accounting while working for MiTek Industries. Tirzah also has three younger sisters are
Sarah (18), Sharon (16), and Gabrielle (13) and a younger brother is Steven
(14). All attend McCluer High School
and while Gabrielle attends Ferguson Middle
School, where Gay Eskew
teaches science. Tirzah is the daughter
of Gay Eskew, 314-524-6304, geskew19@yahoo.com.
New cadets in action
We wish to welcome Jim & Paula
Sanders of Benton, IL who attended our meeting. Their son James was recently
accepted into the Class of 2007.
Care packages for Troops
With many our troops being
deployed, we are asking the parents once they know their son/daughter APO address to please email this
address to Mike McCullough (ama@onemain.com)
or Kent Howald. (J._Kent_Howald@osca.state.mo.us).
We will then maintain a list so we can send care packages to them.
Next Meeting - April 6
WPPC
meeting will be held at Concordia Lutheran Church 505 South Kirkwood, Kirkwood
MO, 63122
314-822-7772, 2 miles north of the Viking Holiday Inn. The club will provide
chicken and the members are asked to bring a dish to pass (deserts, salads,
vegetables, pastas, breads, etc.) and to please bring drinks and table service
for yourself. Meeting and lunch starts at 12:00
pm (so the food doesn’t get cold). 2005 parents are responsible for
gifts. Visit our web site for a map of this location I44 and US61.
Please call (573-775-2352) or email
(J._Kent_Howald@osca.state.mo.us) Kent Howald for your reservation. We need
to know how much chicken to purchase.
Annual New Plebe Meeting - June 8
WPPC meeting will be held at Viking
Holiday Inn Southwest, 10709 Watson Rd (Watson & Lindbergh), Sunset
Hills, MO 63127,
314-821-6600. This is our meeting to introduce new cadets and parents to the West
Point process. Please ask your cadet to attend and ask them to
wear white over gray uniform with white hat. New cadets will benefit from some
of the heads up information on what to expect. Cadet luncheon cost is paid for
by the club. Visit our web site for a map of this location I44 and US61.
50/50 Drawing
It was decided this month that our
50/50 drawing would be given to the family of Gay Eskew.
Gay is our treasurer and is currently in hospice. She has a daughter at West
Point, Tirzah ’05 and a son at the in ROTC at a University. She
also has 2 children at home 14 and 17. Our normal 50/50 amount is $100 but all
members donated more than $300. Our prayers and best wishes go out to Gay and
her family.
2003 Howitzer Yearbook
Last year
our club sponsored an ad in the 2002 Howitzer yearbook. We will need the
pictures of the St Louis seniors
for this ad. Please mail your cadet’s senior picture to Mike McCullough, 11754
Sugar Creek Ave, Mt
Carmel IL 62863.