From the chapter president, Chris Havenridge, Class of 1984 I'm very excited to introduce you to your chapter of the USAFA AOG! How this chapter came to be: I moved my family to OKC in 2016 to work at Boeing. The area we moved from had a very active AOG chapter. Some of their activities: - yearly softball games against Army and Navy grads - annual flag football games - watch parties for many Falcon sporting events, especially the AF-Navy and AF-Army football games - a Founders Day banquet featuring a speaker from the academy - support for homeless veterans - coordination with parents clubs to support cadets and appointees Overwhelming? Don't worry, most people can't participate in everything. Well, after we moved to OKC, I was sort of waiting for my phone to ring. Where were the watch parties and other events? Finally, after 2.5 years, I contacted the AOG and the conversation was something like this: "There is no Oklahoma AOG chapter, thank you for volunteering to build one!" After several web meetings and phone calls, we are ready to launch the chapter with our inaugural Founders Day event. (You should be receiving an email invitation directly from the AOG). If you are a graduate residing in Oklahoma, this is for you. Also please join us if you are otherwise associated with the Academy. For example, a parent of a cadet or graduate; or spouse, parent or child of a graduate.
We need plenty of help to get this chapter off the ground! By the way, we named this the "Central Oklahoma Chapter" to represent the OKC area, but we are not excluding the grads from any corner of the state. On the other hand, this chapter does not claim the entire state; it's not the "State of Oklahoma Chapter." Therefore, if the grads in Enid, Altus and other areas are up to the challenge of starting a local AOG chapter... (Gauntlet thrown down!) Go Falcons! Chris Havenridge De Facto President, Central Oklahoma Chapter Many Thanks to: -Bill, Karina and Michele (AOG) for the coaching and ideas, -Devin (AOG) for the website -Tracy and Kerrie (OK USAFA Parents' club) for outstanding planning assistance, -Tina, my wife, for never-ending help with everything.
7 Comments
JEFF KINDSCHUH
4/13/2019 06:02:45 pm
Great job with the Central Oklahoma Founders Day event on 13 April! I look forward to seeing all the pictures that were taken at the event! Jeff Kindschuh, Class of '78
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Havenridge
4/16/2019 02:13:25 pm
Jeff:
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Matt Waldron
4/19/2019 11:13:23 am
Really great initiative and spirit of Chris to set up the Chapter.
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Chris Havenridge
4/22/2019 08:01:35 pm
Thanks Matt! Let's keep it going!
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Walt (Mike) Givens
5/28/2022 10:44:12 am
Chris, our 5/26 meeting was attended (in person) by only 2 members. I believe our officers should plan ahead and attend in person. (And, if we want to reserve (our) room, we better be there.) Thanks for all you do. Mike
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Ronald W Murray
4/5/2021 12:58:57 pm
Chris or Matt,
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5/12/2023 05:07:57 pm
On the other hand, this chapter does not claim the entire state it's not the state of Oklahoma chapter. Thank you, amazing post!
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AuthorThe author graduated from USAFA in 1984, served as a tactical airlift navigator until 1996. He is currently a systems engineer at Boeing in OKC, on military aircraft programs. Archives
November 2019
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