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Newsletter Fall 2016

USMMA COLORADO PARENTS ASSOCIATION

Congratulations to the USMMA class of 2016 on a job well done!

Weston Iannone

Thomas Hill

Rachel Smith

The USMMA’s 80th commencement ceremony took place Saturday, June 18, 2016. The 229 graduates re-ceiving a bachelor of science and Coast Guard license are off to exciting careers in the military or maritime industry.

Jeremy Guettlein

Kevin McMahan Nathan Robbins

Gus Sawicki

Representing Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming

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Class of 2016 Celebrations!

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Welcome class of 2020!

The annual Welcome Aboard Picnic was held Saturday, June 11, in Aurora, CO. We had 90 people in attendance, including three recent graduates and nine of our 14 plebe candidates.. Graduates Thomas Hill, Weston Iannone and Kevin McMahan and parents of our other graduates each received a mounted antique brass bell symbolizing the bell at Kings Point each rang upon passing the Coast Guard Licensing exams earlier in June. The graduates gave advice and answered questions for the incoming class of 2020. Outgoing Parents Association President, Dainne Iannone was recognized for her hard work and dedication with a spa gift card. Welcome class of 2020: Axel Bonney, Daniel Garcia, Micah Grissom, Keith Heimbrock, JC Hender-son, Gregg Hermanns, Kyleigh Kappas, Filipa Martinovic, Michael Moore, Zachary Polliard, Zac Polukoff, Ricardo Pruneda-Castro, Greg Royal and Mitchell Weller.

JC Henderson. Meeker, CO 4th Company

Izaac (Zac) Polukoff Park City, UT

Band Company

Kyleigh Kappas Parker, CO

1st Company

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Welcome class of 2020!

Ricardo Pruneda-Castro Highlands Ranch, CO

1st Company

Gregg Royal Evergreen, CO 3rd Company

Micah Grissom Parker, CO

1st Company Axel Bonney

Canon City, CO 4th Company

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KP Life!

Congratulations to the USMMA class of 2017! First class midshipmen include: Spencer Blauw, Emily Finnin, Danielle Garcia-Lance, Michael Havenar, Marjan Martinovic and Patricia Ormond. Members of each graduating class design a class crest and ring. During the ring dance, which takes place every year, each senior's name is called and the Admiral (superintendent) dips the ring into a bowl con-taining water from the Seven Seas. In addition to the ring dance, seniors also hold a welcome back luau. This is the first time they all come together since their plebe year!

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KP Life!

The Solar Hydrogen House on Tomb Field provides an outdoor space for a garden that can be created and maintained by students and staff. The USSMA plans to grow herbs, fruits, and vegetables that can be used in healthy cooking classes.

Coloradan Devon Klingman (2019) leads the Vibe Tribe in yoga stretches at Melville Hall. The group meets two to three times per week in the evenings This activity helps midshipmen and plebes reduce stress while improving flexibility, muscle strength and tone, while also increasing their energy.

USMMA sailboats Bandera and Phantom competed in the 40th annual Around Long Island Regatta. The 190-nautical mile race began on a Thursday afternoon off Rockaway Point and had a wide range of sailing condi-tions from the Long Island Sound to the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The Phantom crew, including Coloradan Patrick Lyell (2019), second from the left, finished second in its division after 40 hours of sailing. The Bandera placed fourth. The offshore sailing team practices every day after school.

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Fundraisers

Shop at Amazon Smile and a percentage of your pur-chase cost can be donated to the USMMA Colorado Parents Association, a registered non-profit organiza-tion. Use this link for your purchases: http://smile.amazon.com/ch/45-2485360

The buyer pays the same as when shop-ping at Amazon.com. Amazon will donate 0.5% of the price of your eligible purchas-es to the USMMA

Colorado Parents Association whenever you shop on Amazon Smile. You must establish that you want Ama-zon’s donation to go to the USMMA Colorado Parents Association.

Our biggest fundraiser is the Reloadable Gift Cards from King Soopers and Safeway. Here is how YOU can participate!

Everyone buys groceries and gasoline, so please consid-er purchasing Reloadable Gift Cards from the USMMA Colorado Parents Association. These prepaid cards car-ry no additional cost to you, yet the Parents Association receives 5% or 3% of each card’s value for our fund raising efforts. Gift Cards are an effortless way to give to the Parents Association. We use these funds for our Midshipmen.

We have the following Reloadable Cards available for purchase:

$5 King Soopers (5% back)

$5 Safeway (3% back)

The $5 fee shows up as credit on your card.

The Reloadable Cards must be purchased from us. After that, the cards may be reloaded at the register or Cus-tomer Service Desk BEFORE checkout. Any merchan-dise (except other gift cards) may be purchased with a Reloadable Card. You can also use it to buy fuel. You must continually reload your card as the balance gets low. The Parents Association earns 5% or 3% every time you reload.

Please see order form in this newsletter.

Membership Dues AmazonSmile Grocery Store Reloadable Gift Cards Spyderco Knives Acta Non Verba Book USMMA Flags Jewelry and Keychains Christmas Ornaments Please check the order form in this newsletter, and our web site for prices. http://www.usmmaparents.com

Spyderco Knives is another one of our fundraisers. The knives are made right here in Golden, Colorado. They make a great gift for your midshipman who is headed out to sea. Their knife sharpening system is ingenious and is the best way I know to put a new edge on kitchen and hunt-ing knives, as well as scissors. Please check it all out at the Spyderco web site: https://www.spyderco.com/ and then order through the Colorado Parents Associa-tion. http://www.usmmaparents.com

Acta non Verba book by Mary Jane Fuschetto is a beautiful coffee table book with full page photo-graphs from the Merchant Marine Academy.

Flags We have USMMA flags in stock, 2’x3’ and 3’x5’ with grommets. They will ship immediately. Please check the order form enclosed in this newsletter for prices.

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Parents Association Annual Dues

If you haven’t paid your membership dues for 2016-2017, please check the order form in this newsletter to determine which membership group is appropriate for you. Your dues pay for 3 boodle bags filled with goodies through-

out the year, one for each finals week of each trimester.

birthday card and a holiday card. Plebes receive one ticket to CASAB, Seniors receive a commemoration bell fol-

lowing graduation Please mail payment to:

USMMA Colorado Parents Association Attention: Chris Simoneaux 3064 Madison Ln Broomfield CO 80023

Wooden Ornaments This is our newest fundraiser, an any occasion ornament designed by Jean Larson, Kevin McMahan’s (2016) aunt and arranged by Su-san Wolbrueck. They are cut from balsa wood and are laser engraved. Choose from three dif-ferent designs, anchor, propeller design or a combination of the two.

Price is $12.00 + $2.95 USPS shipping. They will be available for purchase at the June Welcome Aboard Picnic. Pictures by Glant Havenar.

Anchor

Propeller

Combo

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Announcements

Next CASAB meeting:

Sunday, Sept. 25, 2016

1-3 p.m.

Jeff and Bernece Johnson's home

9952 Strathfield Lane. Highlands Ranch, CO 80126.

Phone: 303-471-5630.

Board and Chairs 2016-2017 Academic Year

President: Susan Wolbrueck, susan@caferace.com, 719-685-2475

Vice President: Wenonah MacDonald, wenonahm80127@gmail.com, 303-933-7997

Treasurer: Chris Simoneaux, chris.simoneaux@gmail.com, 720-245-5941

Secretary: Glant Havenar, realtormomrocks@gmail.com, 303-246-4552

Committee Chairs:

Cards-

Newsletter-Lynne & Kelly Lyell, lynnelyell@yahoo.com, 970-214-1338

Boodle Bags-Jeannette Jones, jeannetteajones@comcast.net, 303-618-2413

Cookie Café-Dede Ormond, ormondll@gmail.com, 303-972-2551

Facebook-Lynne & Kelly Lyell, lynnelyell@yahoo.com 970-214-1338

Webmaster-Regina Miller, mregina@comcast.net, 303-484-8744

Recruitment Chair–Robert Miller, robxmiller@comcast.net, 303-484-8744

Colorado All Service Academy Ball (CASAB) Point of Contact (POC)- Karen Heimbrock, five5ks@aol.com, 303-931-3113

Nominations Chair- open

BOLD=board member (4 officers, Nominations chair and 4 committee chairs)

Colorado Parent Association Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/USMMAColorado?fref=ts Colorado Parent Association Web Page: http://www.usmmaparents.com CO USMMA Parents Association Membership: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1672451942974399/ USMMA Parent, Alumni, Friends Information Page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/usmma.parents.class.of.2018/ 2016 Colorado All Service Academy Ball https://www.facebook.com/groups/1557770654514632/ Kings Point Cookie Café: http://kpcookiecafe.com/ Long Island Railway/Bus reloadable card: https://www.easypaymetrocard.com/vector/static/accounts/index.shtml Ship tracker: http://www.marinetraffic.com USMMA: http://www.usmma.edu/ USMMA Alumni Association and Foundation: http://www.usmmaaf.com/s/1175/hybrid/start.aspx

Useful Links

Parents Weekend: Thursday, Sept. 1, 2016 USMMA Day at the Mets @ 7p.m. FRIDAY, Sept. 2, 2016 7:20 a.m. Colors formation at flagpole 7:30 a.m.– 4 p.m. Land Hall open. 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. Waterfront open for general visiting 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Mariners’ Chapel open for general visiting 11 a.m.– 1:30 p.m. Pick up boxed lunch at tent on Barney Square Noon – 12:10 p.m. Lunch muster and regimental march-in 1-2 p.m. Midshipman life panel 2-3 p.m. Superintendent’s forum 5-7 p.m. Dinner in Delano Hall 7:30 p.m. Beat Retreat at O’Hara Hall SATURDAY, Sept. 3, 2016 8 a.m. Colors formation at flagpole 9 a.m. Formal parade at Tomb Field Liberty will commence (at 11 a.m.) for all eligible Midshipmen at the completion of the parade. Dress for Friday and Saturday is casual. Low-heeled shoes are recommended. Meals for Friday should be purchased through Crystal Enterprises and must be purchased in advance by Friday, Aug. 26.

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Greetings, and welcome to the 2016-2017 academic year for Kings Point! Our parents’ association is proud to represent more than 40 students this year, from Colorado and surrounding states. I am slowly building my email lists, and I appreciate your patience as I get more organized for regular communication. You can always reach me by phone, 719-685-2475, or email, susan@caferace.com. And of course, you can message via our Face-book group, https://www.facebook.com/groups/1672451942974399/ When I took over July 1 as the association president, we were almost three weeks into the sea year stand down, and the accreditation report from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education was just beginning to come to light. These recent developments have been shocking, disappoint-ing and frustrating. Suddenly, I found I had to make time to do a large amount of “light reading” as I like to jokingly call it. I have read and reread the MSCHE report and a litany of Senate and House bills that deal with defense, transportation and maritime funding. As news broke of the stand-down, social media and other communications exploded with emotions, facts, and conjecture all mixed to-gether to create the perfect storm of discontent. By now, you know that USMMA leadership has not exact-ly quelled this storm with clear and meaningful communications. It occurred to me that I could throw in the towel. But I didn’t get far with that contemplation. Because as all the bad news poured in, and with it all the unanswered questions, good news came, too. Creating this newsletter, we have shared heartwarming and cheerful photos and stories of your plebes and midshipmen. Are many of our children worried about graduating on time? Of course they are. Are the 2019s and 2020s worried about getting an accredited degree? Of course. Has it stopped them from pursuing their education and goals? Absolutely not. How inspiring your children are, and I am so grateful and fortunate to know them. I have also had the joy of working with Glant Havenar (secretary and CASAB co-chair) and so many of you on the Colorado All Service Academy Ball (CASAB) committee. We are hosting this event along with Coast Guard this year. Yikes! Surrounded by these smart, funny, and hard working parents has certainly helped me to garner some control over my concerns. No wonder your kids are so smart, hard-working and have so much integrity! The apple does not fall from the tree, for sure. Lastly, our treasurer Chris Simoneaux keeps sending me orders for flags, knives, ornaments, and books, which means there are plenty of folks out there who love and support KP. That is the clear message across all platforms. While we might all have a different idea of how to solve these recent challenges at KP, we all agree that we want them resolved as quickly and correctly as possible. I am working on that every day. Would I rather be only focused on planning a potluck? You betcha! Which reminds me, stay tuned for an-nouncements on the dates for our September meeting for board and committee chairs and general meeting in October. I hope to see you all at Parents’ Weekend and look forward to your continued inspiration. Please contact me with any questions or concerns, and I will give you my best. Warmest regards, Susan Wolbrueck (mother of Devon Klingman, Class of 2019)

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USMMA Students: CO, NM, UT

Class of 2017 Hometown Co. Major Split Sports/Extracurricular

Blauw, Spencer Strasburg, CO 3rd

Finnin, Emily Littleton, CO 3rd Engine B Lacrosse

Garcia-Lance, Danielle Evergreen, CO 1st Deck B

Havenar, Michael Palmer Lake, CO 1st Deck B

Martinovic, Marjan Aurora, CO Band A

Ormond, Patricia Littleton, CO Band Engine B Track & field

Class of 2018

Barton, Alexander Centennial, CO 4th

Dietz, Kyle Loveland, CO 1st

Gramer, Emily Denver, CO 3rd Deck A Volleyball

Groen, Alexander Arvada, CO 1st

Haire, Austin Ignacio, CO 2nd

Hartman, Tyler Washington, UT

Hegarty, Patrick Parker, CO 4th Deck B

MacDonald, Douglas Littleton, CO 2nd

Martin, Justus Eaton, CO 3rd

Milafsky, Sarah Aurora, CO 2nd

Strand, Charlie Boulder, CO 1st

Class of 2019

Baer, Henry Santa Fe, NM Band

Blauw, Tyson Strasburg, CO 2nd A

Bouchot, Andrew Castle Pines, CO

Dubois, Martin Longmont, CO 3rd Crew

Klingman, Devon Manitou Springs, CO 1st A

Lyell, Patrick Fort Collins, CO Band A Sailing

Simoneaux, Corey Broomfield, CO 4th Sandhurst, Praise band, CFC

Sucher, Christian Colo. Springs, CO 4th

Class of 2020

Bonney, Axel Canon City, CO 4th

Garcia, Daniel Albuquerque, NM

Grissom, Micah Parker, CO 1st Deck Pistol Club, Sailing, Christian Fellowship

Heimbrock, Keith Littleton, CO 3rd Engine A Football

Henderson, John (JC) Meeker, CO 4th Engine Wrestling

Kappas, Kyleigh Parker, CO 1st B Volleyball

Martinovic, Filipa Aurora, CO

Polliard, Zachary Brighton, CO

Polukoff, Zac Park City, UT Band

Pruneda-Castro, Ricardo Highlands Ranch, CO 1st Engine

Royal, Greg Evergreen, CO 3rd Deck A Football

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Midshipmen Leadership Roles First Rotation

Garcia-Lance, Danielle 1CHRO 1st Company Human Relations

2PC3 2nd Company Platoon Commander Flight Deck

4CWO 4th Company Company Watch Officer

BAO Battalion Academic Officer

BC Battalion Commander

BOPS1 Operations Officer

BX Battalion EXecutive Officer

CAO Company Academic Officer

CC1 Company Commander 1st. Company

CHBC Company Honor Board Chairman

CTO2 Company Training Officer 2nd Company

Ormond, Patricia CX Company EXecutive Officer

EMS Emergency Medical Services

PO Petty Officer

RAO Regimental Academic Officer

Martinovic, Marjan RBM Regimental Bandmaster

RC Regimental Commander

RCGC Regimental Color Guard Commander

REO Regimental Evaluations Officer

RESCO EMS Commanding Officer

RESOPS EMS Operations Officer

RTO Regimental Training Officer

RTOA Regimental Training Officer ’s Assistant

RWO Water front Officer

RWX Water front Executive Officer

RX Regimental EXecutive Officer

SEAL/EOD

SEa Air Land / Explosive Ordinance Disposal Club

SSO Strategic Sealift Officer

STCW Standards of Training, Cer tification and Watch-keeping

Zombo Midshipman Ensign