Hello Blue Angels Alumni Family,

We hope everyone has had a great summer! It’s hard to believe we’re already approaching Labor Day. Many of us have children and grandchildren heading back to school, summer vacations are winding down, and before we know it, November will be sitting directly off our nose.

Which means one thing:  Reunion season is coming in hot!

80th Anniversary Alumni T-Shirt — Help Us Pick It

We are also working on our 80th Anniversary Alumni T-shirt, and this time we want everyone to have a voice in what we produce.

There is a poll below where you can let us know:

• Your preferred shirt color

• The size(s) you would likely order

• The quantity you may want

We intend to land on one final shirt color, so please participate if you are interested in purchasing one.

This is your opportunity to influence the decision now — rather than waiting until November and telling us in the hotel lobby that we obviously picked the wrong color.

Scholarship Program Update — Currently on Flight Hold

We are also awaiting the announcement of this year’s Blue Angels Alumni Scholarship recipients.

At the moment, our scholarship program is on a temporary flight hold while we await confirmation and receipt of funding from our partners. Our hands are somewhat tied until the guaranteed funding amount has actually been finalized and presented to the Association so that scholarship checks can be issued responsibly.

Once funding is confirmed, we look forward to getting airborne again and announcing this year’s scholarship recipients to the Alumni community.

We appreciate everyone’s patience while we work through those final details.

A Major Milestone — 501(c)(19) Status

We are very pleased to share another piece of great news:

After many years of work by your Board of Directors, the Blue Angels Alumni Association has officially achieved 501(c)(19) status. This is a significant milestone for the Association and the result of a tremendous amount of work behind the scenes over the years.

More information will follow regarding what this means for the Association and how it benefits our organization moving forward, but for now we wanted to make sure our alumni knew that this long-running effort has finally crossed the finish line.

Or, perhaps more appropriately… We finally trapped aboard.

Before You Head Back to the Beach…

A few quick reminders:

• Take the 80th Anniversary T-shirt poll if you are interested in ordering one. Your color, size, and quantity feedback will help us determine what we produce.

• Check out the new 80th Anniversary Alumni Coin now available through the Alumni website.

And keep an eye on your inbox for a dedicated Reunion Newsletter as soon as the final schedule, transportation, VIP seating, activities, costs, and registration instructions are complete. November will be here before we know it, and we are looking forward to bringing everyone together again to reconnect, swap stories — some of which have probably improved considerably with age — celebrate 80 years of Blue Angels history, and enjoy another great weekend with the Blue Angels Alumni Family in our hotel on Pensacola Beach.

Enjoy the remaining weeks of summer, take care of yourselves and your families, and we’ll see many of you soon.

Be safe, keep your interval, and Blue Skies!