June Presidents Corner

It is great to see the weather warming up and the sun coming out again. I hope everyone had an opportunity to see the Northern Lights last weekend. What a spectacular show! 

I want to thank everyone who donated to our council during the Kitsap Great Give. We brought in over $4,600, which will go a long way towards support of our adopted unit programs and council operations. 

I want to give a shoutout to our Youth Program Chairman and Vice Chairman, Ron Kirkland and Jim Christie, respectively. Both are doing a great job supporting and keeping us connected with our six adopted NJROTC and three adopted Sea Cadet Units. 

I had the opportunity to join our newest adopted unit, the Wolf Squadron Sea Cadets, at their Sea Cadet Ball and Dining In on May 4th with Jim Christie and board member Rusty Staub. Rusty was the guest speaker. It was a well organized event and based upon the professionalism and the quality of the event one would never know that it was the first ever ball for them and that the unit had been in existence for only a year. The POW/MIA Missing Man ceremony they performed was the most moving that I have seen. I look forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship between our council and the Wolf Squadron Sea Cadets. 

I also attended the Bremerton High School NJROTC awards ceremony last week with Ron Kirkland and Gary Simpson. Ron presented several Navy League Council awards and a small scholarship to the students. I also plan to attend the South Kitsap NJROTC awards ceremony with Ron and Gary on May 15th, and everyone is welcome to cheer on our future sea service leaders. I’m glad our Council is able to adopt and support these youth groups. Thank you to Ron and Jim for their support of our youth programs. 

I hope you are able to join us aboard the USS Turner Joy (DD 951) U.S. Navy Destroyer Museum on Memorial Day, May 27th at 10:00 am as we honor the men and women who lost their lives while defending our country. 

As always, I’d like to welcome aboard our new members Rick Snodgrass and Eric Younger; and invite them to join us in our many activities and programs. 

I look forward to seeing you at our upcoming events. 

Tom Zwolfer, President