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BEAUFORT, S.C. - Every year Marines gather to celebrate the birth of their Corps in many ways. Whether it’s a piece of pound cake from a Meal, Ready to Eat with a match for a candle or the extravagant celebration of a formal Marine Corps Ball, Nov. 10, is always recognized.
This year Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort will celebrate its 235th Marine Corps Birthday Ball at the Savannah International Trade and Convention Center in Savannah, Ga., Nov. 5 for all Fightertown Marines, sailors, Department of Defense employees and their families.
The guest of honor for this year’s ball is Sgt. Maj. Todd Parisi, the director of the staff non-commissioned officers academy in Camp Lejeune, N.C.
“I’m excited, it’s an honor and a privilege to speak to more than 2,500 Marines and impart some wisdom as we celebrate 235 years of our illustrious Corps,” Parisi said.
Guests of the ball will witness the traditional cake cutting ceremony, have a formal dinner, and receive a memento. This year’s memento is a laser-etched crystal cube with the Air Station logo and the Carolina palm and moon on the inside.
The dinner menu for the ball features a seasonal mixed green salad with tomato, cucumber, shredded carrots and choice of dressing, a grilled 5 oz. marinated sirloin steak and a 6 oz. breast of chicken with a fine herb sauce, yellow rice, asparagus with carrot strips and freshly baked rolls with butter. Dessert will be red velvet cake.
Transportation to and from the ball will be provided, according to the ball website www.beaufortball.com. Buses will depart at 4 and 4:30 p.m. from the Laurel Bay Youth Center and Air Station Fitness Center parking lots.
Buses will begin return trips to Beaufort starting at 9 p.m. and will do one hour interval pick-ups. The last bus will leave Savannah at 1 a.m.
This is the second year that the ball will be held in Savannah. Last year was the first time that the Air Station had ever hosted a Birthday Ball off base and it was a resounding success to the Marines.
"I think having the birthday ball at the civic center again is a great idea. The previous years of hangar-housed, rank segregated events were counterproductive to celebrating the Marine Corps birthday as Marines,” said Cpl. Peter Timmer, a Marine with Headquarters and Headquarter Squadron. “The Marine Corps Ball is for Marines as a whole and the civic center is an ideal location to mingle and celebrate with the entire Air Station."
There are several reasons why that location was chosen, but the primary factor is that having it at the civic center will allow all of Fightertown to celebrate together. Past celebrations separated Marines by rank or unit, but last year’s Birthday Ball brought the Air Station together as a family.
“It is an awesome tribute to have everyone together because the Corps is a family, we pride ourselves on that,” Parisi said.
Having the ball at an off-base location, especially one large enough to house all of Fightertown’s Marines and their guests, meant the tickets were more expensive than in past years.
“I’ve never missed a ball, it’s something that my wife and I look forward to every year,” said Gunnery Sgt. Kerry O’Connell, the ball coordinator. “If you told me it was going to be $100 a ticket, I would still go.”
Ticket prices, location and everything else aside, the Birthday Ball is an opportunity for Marines of every rank and job to gather in celebration of being a Marine.
“I don’t go to the ball for me or my wife, I go for my friends who have died in combat, I go for the traditions,” O’Connell added. “I go to celebrate the 235 years of esprit de corps and to honor those who have come before us.”
For more information on this year’s ball, visit www.beaufortball.com.
| Date Taken: | 10.21.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 10.21.2010 14:14 |
| Story ID: | 58573 |
| Location: | BEAUFORT, SC, US |
| Web Views: | 144 |
| Downloads: | 5 |
This work, Honor Corps history Savannah style, by Sgt Christopher Zahn, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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