NLUS 1997 Boston: A constitutional convention

Sea Power, Aug 1997

Kennedy Succeeds Mayberry as National President;

Three New VPs Elected; Brango Joins NLUS Hall of Fame;

Calliham, Nieves Honored; Navy Leaguers Garner Awards From Navy, MARAD, Coast Guard, Navy Recruiting Command

Hugh H. Mayberry, national president of the Navy League since the League's 1995 national convention in St. Louis, has turned over the NLUS helm to Jack M. Kennedy, who was elected senior vice president of the Navy League at the League's 1996 Winter Meeting in Cincinnati. Mayberry succeeds Evan S. Baker, his predecessor as national president, as chairman of the League's National Advisory Council.

Also elected at this year's NLUS National Convention, 24-29 June at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel in Boston, Mass., were three new national vice presidents, a new corporate secretary, a number of new region and state presidents, and the League's 1997-98 Board of Directors. (See page 60 for the list of the 1997-98 Board of Directors and region and state presidents.)

Among the other highlights of the 1997 National Convention were:

-The announcement that Hector I. Nieves, a perennial top NLUS "membergetter" from the Caribbean Region, had been selected to receive the League's 1997 Distinguished Service Award, the highest honor the NLUS bestows on one of its own members.

-The induction of former Corporate Secretary Nicholas Brango (who also has served three national presidents as interim national executive director) into the Navy League Hall of Fame.

-Presentation, by Mayberry, of the 1997 President's Award to National Treasurer Edith E. Calliham.

-Adoption, at the 28 June Annual Meeting of Members, of the 1997-98 National Resolutions (see pages 49-50) which, in Kennedy's words, "will serve as the Navy League's policy guidelines for the coming year."

-The unveiling, aboard the USS Constitution-which celebrates its bicentennial this year-of a painting by Navy League staff artist John Kaljee of Old Ironsides underway.

-Presentation of top-level Navy, Coast Guard, and Maritime Administration awards to Mayberry and a number of other Navy Leaguers.

-Bestowal of the National Director Emeritus designation on 11 NLUS members in recognition of their long years of service to the Navy League and the nation's sea services.

Pride*Service*Patriotism

Congratulating Convention Chairman Ivan R. Samuels and his committee for their efforts in planning and producing "one of the most enjoyable, as well as one of the most successful, conventions the Navy League has ever had, and one that truly echoed the spirit of Pride, Service, and Patriotism that are the hallmarks of the Navy League," Mayberry said that the more than 700 attendees at the 1997 NLUS convention "carried out all of their assigned missions, and set a course for the Navy League that will carry us forward into the 21st century. We heard from some wonderful speakers and had the chance to participate in several extremely wellplanned workshops. The incoming and outgoing Board of Directors both had very productive meetings. The Steering and Executive Committees, and all of the League's other national committees, also held very successful meetings and developed plans not just for the coming year but for the long term as well. I congratulate all of our fine committee chairmen for their efforts over the past two years and for the work they have done at this convention. I know they will join me in providing Jack Kennedy the support he needs and must have from all Navy Leaguers - during the next two years."

Kennedy described the convention as "an outstanding success" and said he looks forward, "with optimism as well as considerable enthusiasm," to working with the newly elected NLUS national officers and Board of Directors "to make our already outstanding organization even more so as we continue to carry out our educational mission of support for the sea services at the local, state, and national levels." The U.S. sea services "need our help more than ever before," Kennedy said, "particularly in this era of defense downsizing and budget restraints when so many Americans have forgotten the need for a strong U.S. defense establishment."

Among the new national officers elected, in addition to Kennedy, are National Vice Presidents Norman L. Beal, William J. Evanzia, and T. Cole Hackley. They join incumbent National Vice Presidents Burton Lee Doggett Jr., John R. Fisher, Glen J. Huber, Walter H. Reese, Ivan R. Samuels, Robert W. Saul Jr., and Keith T. Weaver.

Outgoing National Vice President Jerome Rapkin was elected to be the League's new corporate secretary. National Treasurer Edith E. Calliham and National Judge Advocate Ward A. Shanahan both were re-elected to their posts. Michael Ford and William G. Sizemore were appointed by Kennedy to be national assistant treasurers.

Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research, Development, and Acquisition) John W. Douglass presented Mayberry the Secretary of the Navy's Distinguished Public Service Award at the Saturday evening Dinner-Dance that marked the official close of the 1997 National Convention. Douglass presented SecNav Superior Public Service Awards to outgoing National Vice President John R. Anderson IV and to Edwin L. Carter, John R. Fisher, and John J. Schiff. He presented Meritorious Public Service Awards to Convention Chairman Samuels and to T. Cole Hackley, Robert W. Saul Jr., Gregory T. Vistica, and Roy J. Yee.