Archive for June 2013
MAD 8 Morehead City
|
Amazing! Spectacular! Record Breaking! All are terms that have been used to describe MAD 8 events! Because of the tremendous support and generosity you have shown, 2013 will go down in history as a year in which every record that is kept by MAD was not only broken, but obliterated! |
|
|
MAD 8 Morehead City was held this past June with spectacular weather, tremendous fishing and record shattering attendance. Thanks to everyone who volunteered or donated, MAD was able to host close to 600 active duty servicemen, guard and reservists on 117 fishing boats. To put this in perspective, because of you we were able to increase the participation of our service members and their families by adding 150 more fishing spots and over 300 family activity spots! In other words, MAD 8 Morehead City was nearly 40% bigger than any event we have ever done and is the largest, all volunteer run, “Take Our Troops Fishing” event in the world! To pull off this herculean effort 117 boats participated in fishing activities including 114 volunteer provided and three chartered vessels. While our guests were out filling coolers with fish under sunny skies and lake like seas, over 600 of their family members were entertained with some of the finest food and entertainment MAD has ever been able to put together. With a record showing of volunteers, guests, dependents and donors, MAD 8 MHC had participation of nearly 1400 people! Thanks to the volunteers from Murphy Brown LLC, Walmart and of course the Hobo Junction team, nearly 2000 plates of food were served over two days! While the Morehead City event broke every record kept, our fall event in Southport followed suit as well with a record number of boaters, donors, volunteers and guests. MAD 8 Southport also had incredible weather and superb fishing. When the fish cleaners started at 2:00 PM they had no idea that they would still be cleaning fish past 9:30 that night. The record shattering 60 volunteer boats showed over 200 of our heroes a great day of fishing and returned to the docks with thousands of pounds of fish including wahoo, mahi-mahi, triggerfish, grouper, snapper, sea bass, flounder, trout, redfish, Spanish mackerel, bluefish, king mackerel, amberjacks and even more stories of the “one” that got away! The Food and Beverage crew at Hobo Junction once again surpassed all expectations and served up terrific meals including ribs, burgers, hot dogs, wings and even fried pickles! At the end of two days, an exhausted team of volunteers had already begun planning MAD 9 events in 2014! Yes, in the dark of the Southport Marina parking lot at 10:00 PM after MAD 8, the team had already begun focusing on 2014. With that said, MAD 9 is going to have a difficult road to exceed what was accomplished during MAD 8! The planning committees are up for the challenge and we hope you are too! For MAD 9 Morehead City on May 30 and 31, 2014 we are working on an extended site plan that will include not just the parks of the Town of Morehead City, but also blocking off the waterfront streets to expand our activities! And not to be outdone, MAD 9 Southport is considering a plan to add a full slate of Family Activities to our early Fall event and to top it all off, we have formed a new chapter and will host an event in Delaware in October! While 2013 was indeed amazing, spectacular and record breaking, 2014 will allow us to show an even greater number of our military families how much we appreciate all they do for us and that is after all, what MAD is all about. One, Simple, THANKS! We all know that contributing to a charitable organization is a personal decision. On behalf of the Organizing Committees and Board of Directors at Military Appreciation Day, Inc. Please accept my most sincere “Thank You” for your support this year and for continuing to be a part of the MAD Family! Sincerely, |
|
