Hey everyone!
Well another year of awesome events are kicking into high gear for Military Appreciation Day chapters. The Tidewater, VA chapter's event is set for August 24th and Charleston, SC is set for October 12, 2019. Here for you fine folks we present Southport, NC Chapter event on September 14th this year!
Hosted again by Southport Marina located at 606 W West St, Southport, NC 28461. This fine facility allows us to have everything in one location and help us all in our mission of saying, One, Simple, THANKS! To our men and women in the Military by sharing some of our passion for fishing, food, and fun.
Started in February 2006 by a group of 3 Vietnam Vets who seen a news story about some Military coming back home from the sandbox, mistreated at a local restaurant, they decided to rally and do something about that! They gathered a donations a donated van and news crew and went back to that restaurant and were welcomed with open arm. Being coastal fishermen, they wanted to do more, so the idea of Military Appreciation Day was born and a few month later, in howling winds and rain, 225 Military personnel were treated to the first event. Since then it has grown and grown and grown because of people like you reading this.
WE NEED YOU! A link to a typical MAD event: http://militaryappreciationday.org/wp/what-is-mad-military-appreciation-day/
Volunteer, do something, show your support! We need volunteers for every aspect of the event. From setup and teardown, serving food, cleanup, boat dock duties, communication and Troop sign in via computer, to helping with family activities and numerous shore based duties.
and....wait for it.....we need volunteer boat Captains to take Troops out fishing! aka "catching"
It is actually structured like you taking out a few friends for the day fishing. There are no expectations other than being safe and having some fun! Catching fish should be a bonus. Most of these Military folks are happy catching sharks believe it or not. Every year we do this event I hear stories from them like "Its the greatest experience I have had in a long time" to "I couldn't afford to ever go do this on my own" to "I actually forgot my worries and stress for a little while today and truly had an awesome experience"
One I will never forget was a 20 year Marine veteran telling me - "Apart from getting married and the birth of my Son, this was the greatest day of my life!"
Now HOW....do you turn that down ladies and gents? These are our American Heroes. Who have sworn to protect us down to giving the ultimate sacrifice of their lives. Freedom fighters at the very definition of it. On this day, our mission mantra is One, Simple, Thanks! You'll see it time and time again becasue it truly is the statement of what we are trying to do.
There are no politics, no parties, no haters, NO KNEELING, no races, only true Patriotism at its best and we all join as Americans to come together and share our passion, hobby, and common goal.
It works like this: You go to the MAD website here: http://militaryappreciationday.org/wp/mad-chapters-southport-nc/
Read a little about the Southport Chapter, then signup to help - You will see two separate links
1. - General Volunteer Registration: http://militaryappreciationday.org/wp/southport-chapter-committee-volunteer-registration/
2. - Boat Registration Boat Registration: http://militaryappreciationday.org/wp/southport-chapter-boat-volunteer-registration/
General Volunteer Registration you will be volunteering for the different parts of the event, what you're interested in or have experience -
Food and beverage - Helping organize, serve, cleanup for both major meals.
Boats - Dock help, communications and tracking, boat check in and out.
Site and setup - Help setup tables and chairs, decorating
Fundraising - Helping raise funds or donated goods. Help with door prizes at both meals.
Family Activities - Help setup and run activities for the spouses and family members back on land while the Troops are out fishing. Yard games, etc.
General Volunteer - You just want to help just not sure what part! We'll contact you with what is available and there are many ways to help.
General Volunteers - Whatever area you sign up for a lead volunteer will be in touch with you to work out details, timings, and answer any questions you have. They will also help finalize the days times and areas you can help in.
Boat volunteers - Yours is a tad bit different....Once we have your specifics from your signup page, we assign Troops to you based on your considerations, and any requests you or the Troops may have indicated. You created a user ID and password when you signed up so you can go back to this page http://militaryappreciationday.org/wp/event-status-login/ to login and edit your data and see the Troop assignment information. You then have the opportunity to contact your assignments and discuss the day. Where to meet, what kind of fishing experience do they have, no bananas on the boat, etc. Just treat it as you are taking newly made friends fishing, because that really is what you are doing!
Please stay in close contact with your Troops the closer we get to the event. This is ultra important! If one or more of your Troops drops out, we can and will re-assign others to take their place. Unfortunately this is a common thing we have learned to have contingency for.
There will be a Volunteer and Captains meeting on Friday September 13th (don't worry it will be a lucky day lol) at the Marina at 5 PM
We will serve a nice meal, give out some goodies to our Captains and have door prizes available for all to be won. We'll recognize some special folks, discuss the ongoings of the Southport Chapter, the event, weather, other details, etc, but mainly share some laughs and fellowship preparing for the next day.
Event day Saturday the 14th - We have waited, planned, prepared and here it is! The majority of the action will happen at Southport Marina. This will be the departure point for many boats and Troops. The Troops will arrive early, get checked in via computer with our volunteers and await their boat. Dock volunteers will help get Troops to the correct boat.
Boat Captains will call on the radio on VHF 72 they are arriving and get docking instructions. Please hail "MAD DOCK, MAD DOCK" and your boat name. If no boat name then your name will do. We will answer with instructions, get your Troops to you and then you are on your way! Sometimes there are last minute changes but we always sort through it and get everyone underway.
At 8 am we will have a Pastor come over the VHF and Bless the Fleet so please stay tuned for that!
We ask all the Captains make sure to check out with us on event morning either by VHF 72, in person, or text us on Google Voice number 910-803-3590. We need to know if you have all your assigned Troops and if missing any….we need names so we can make adjustments.
Also…….you can text us pictures on the Google Voice number 910-803-3590. We’d like to know who we’re looking and boat name if time permits and you might make it on our social media page! We love updates throughout the day or when you’re done and heading back in.
On that note, when you are done for the day, have dropped off your Troops or are inbound or at the marina, please hail us on VHF 72, or the Google Voice number to let us know so we can get you checked back in and accounted for. Again…we love pics and reports so please feel free to leave anything with us so we can share.
There will be another meal with the Troops at Southport Marina that Saturday usually starting around 5 pm. We ask that if you have fish to clean, to come back early so we can accommodate everyone. Yes the world famous Jody will once again be leading the fish carving crew!
Sea Tow will offer free assistance for the day and I will be asking Captain Dave for another “Fish Here” map for our event. We have a fishing license waiver for the Troops in the works and as always, great door prizes and goodies for you as well. We;re working on securing slips at the marina and local hotel discounts too.
Troop enrollment will open August 1 and assignments to boats shortly after. Those of you familiar with us hosting the Single Marines Program out of New River will be happy to know we have invited them back this year as well so if you login and see SMP, then we will be putting Marines on your boat. We have brief them on the basics, we’ll do our best to get you contact information but they always fill the bus they bring and it may not be until event day you get to talk with your guests. It all works out and everyone has fun regardless.
OK that is about it and I hope you will consider signing up with us in some capacity, we feed ya good and have plenty of smiles and memories to go around as well. We hope you will join us in saying One, Simple, Thanks to our deserving American Heroes!
Just a quick update! We are up to 38 boats total that have volunteered and we're hoping to more than double that! This is a great event and will have you "hooked" for sure. It will be the one you look forward to every year! Fishing can be simple.....Spanish trolling. bottom fishing near shore, or trolling somewhere in the deep. Doesn't matter!
Troop signup starts today then assignments to your boats a week or two after that....the party is starting!!!!!
47 boats and counting! Would love to have 75 to take our large waiting list of Troops out fishing!
We're in. This will be our 4th MAD and something we look forward to as just a small way to give back for their service :hail:
I believe we can be available for this. I'll get us signed on.
I believe we can be available for this. I'll get us signed on.
Perfect thank you and you will not regret it! I have people routinely say this is their favorite trip of the year!
49 boats and counting.......
I won’t be able to bring a boat down for the event but if anyone needs help on their boat I would love to help out. I have fished my whole life and would love to contribute to the event. I can bring tackle and bait or whatever you may need. Please let me know if you are looking for a hand on your boat.
Thank you,
Bryce Johnson
678-591-8063
Thank you Bryce,
I have passed your info on to the folks that need to know. We can always use help in this regard! The goal is fun and appreciation but everyone would like to catch a fish too!
Well we are on the cusp of another great Military Appreciation Day event in Southport, NC. Luckily the area is mostly unscathed from the hurricane and we are hoping the fishing inshore gets better between now and the event on Sept 14th.
Remember, the Captains meeting is this Friday at Southport Marina, 606 W. West Street at 5 pm. Look for the big white tent, you can not miss us!
Skippers - We would like for you to come pick up your goodie bucket and various gifts and register for the door prizes starting at 4:15 pm We will have the meal along with door prizes 5-6 pm then have the info and meeting immediately afterwards.
I will also email out each of our Captains a "Fish Here" map generously donated by Captain Dave and SaltwaterCentral.com. I hope it helps our MAD Skippers get on the fish and they will consider using this service whenever they want to stop fishing and start catching! I know it has helped me and my crew on our trips when we used it.
It is UBER important you stay in close contact with your Troops this week. We experience dropouts at times and it is best to talk to them daily if not every other day.
We have some surprises in store and are still hoping we can squeeze one or two more boats in for signup. We are standing at 63 and would fall over with glee if we get upwards of 65 or even 70!
To sign up your boat to take Troops out please see: Southport Chapter: Boat Volunteer Registration |
To sign up to volunteer and help us on land make this event great please visit: Southport Chapter: Committee Volunteer Registration |
Either way....we can't do it alone.....WE NEED YOU!!!!!