The traveling exhibit, So Ready for Laughter: The Legacy of Bob Hope has arrived at GulfQuest and will be docked on Deck 1 through 7 March 2022. Credit for this enjoyable display goes to the National Touring Sponsor: The Bob & Delores Hope Foundation. It is presented by The National WWII Museum and hosted by GulfQuest, the National Maritime Museum of the Gulf of Mexico, and our local sponsors: Mobile Council of the Navy League of the United States, Page & Jones, Mama’s on Dauphin, and the Community Foundation of South Alabama. Admission to the Museum including this exhibit is free for Veterans and Military Families through the month of November.
[July 2, 2020] Today, the Mobile Area Chamber and its Military Affairs Committee presented five awards during the broadcast of its 33rd annual Military Appreciation event, and recognized 14 Junior ROTC cadets from area high schools. “As so many of you know, the Mobile area boasts a high concentration of veterans and veterans are an integral part of business in Mobile,” said Bill Sisson, the Chamber’s president and CEO.
On Oct. 14, the Navy League scholarship application period is opening for the 2020-2021 school year. These scholarships are available to children and grandchildren of veterans or active-duty sea service men and women, as well as members of the U.S. Naval Sea Cadets Corps.
We also have a new $10,000 scholarship, the Gloria and J. Michael McGrath Scholarship. The purpose of this award is to honor Gloria and J. Michael McGrath and to provide financial assistance to children and grandchildren of sea service personnel who properly enroll in an accredited institution of higher education.
Please note that to qualify, applicants must be high school seniors who will attend college in fall 2020. For more details about the scholarships and to find the application, please visit the scholarship page of the Navy League website after this date.
Happy Fall to all of our Mobile Council Navy League Members.
We held out annual Fish Fry and Awards Dinner at the Mobile Yacht Club on June 11. We had several members of the crew of the USS CINCINNATI (LSC 20) at our dinner. Naval Sea Cadet Price was awarded the Theodore Roosevelt Award for outstanding Sea Cadet. Navy JROTC Cadet Potts was awarded the RADM Stewart scholarship.
Austal hosted the keel laying ceremony for the USS SAVANNAH (LCS 28) on September 20, 2019. Mrs. Dianne Isakson is the ship’s sponsor.
We try to host a BBQ for each departing ship. The USS CINCINNATI is scheduled to depart at the end of September and we plan on serving a dinner on the ship on September 27. If you want to attend let us know. It is a great chance to see the ship and meet the crew.
The USS CINCINNATI will be commissioned in Gulfport, MS on October 5. If you are interested in attending, let me know and I can try to get you tickets.
Our annual Navy Day dinner will be on October 10, 2019 at the Mobile Country Club. Lynne Price will be getting out the invitations in the next few weeks. Our speaker will be CDR Michael Meno, Commanding Officer of the Naval Mobile Construction Battalion One in Gulfport, MS.
We have the annual Mobile Veteran’s Day luncheon on November 11 at Fort Whiting. We have reserved two tables for Navy League Members. Let Lynne know if you want to attend.
Our Annual Meeting will be held on December 3, 2019 at the Battleship Alabama Aircraft Pavilion. Details will be coming soon on that event.
On Friday, December 13, 2019, Davidson High School NJROTC will be hosting a reception to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the NJROTC at Davidson High School. The reception will be at 1:30 PM at the Lewis Copeland Auditorium on the campus at Davidson. Please RSVP to CAPT Tom Daniel (Retired) at tdaniel@mcpss.com.
The USS MOBILE (LCS 26) is currently under construction at Austal in Mobile. It looks like they will have the christening sometime in late November/Early December. We will keep everyone up to date on that event. The commissioning will be in Mobile sometime spring/summer of 2021.
Mardi Gras Events
The Alabama State Port Authority will be hosting another Navy vessel for 2020 Mardi Gras. The ship will arrive on Friday, February 21, 2020 and remain until Wednesday, February 26, 2020. There may be some opportunities for a ride up the bay on the ship. If you are interested in riding the ship, please contact Bill Haffner at (251) 421-2033. There will be daily public tours of the vessel while at the State Port Authority.
The Mobile Council of the Navy League will hold our Annual Mardi Gras party on Friday, February 21, 2020 at the Chamber of Commerce on Government Street in Mobile. We will post information on making reservations for this event on our webpage.
If you have Navy League news you would like to share, please email us at tdgilb@gmail.com or lpricenavyleague@gmail.com
We will continue to move toward the use of our website for getting information out to our members regarding upcoming events and paying dues. We will also be working toward allowing members to RSVP for events and pay for the event using a credit card online. We hope to eliminate our use of paper mail outs and to exclusively electronic notifications in the near future.
