Bethel Navy JROTC celebrates "Citizenship in a Republic"

On Friday March 13th 2015 Bethel Navy JROTC held its 12th Annual Military Ball at the Aquaturf Club in Southington, Connecticut. The ball was originally set for March 1st but was rescheduled due to the snowstorm that day. Given the size of the event, the instructors, cadets and parents who organized the ball did an amazing job of rescheduling and verifying the formal seating arrangements for 620 guests, including over 350 Bethel cadets and students and over 250 parents, teachers, elected officials and local veterans.

This year’s ball theme was “Celebrating Citizenship in a Republic”. The theme was dramatized by cadets Paul Schwack III and Kevin Sholtes who performed an inspiring rendition of the famous “Man in the Arena” speech by President Theodore Roosevelt while wearing costumes from the Roosevelt era. Their dual performance of over 800 words from memory served to remind the gathering of the duties and responsibilities of American citizenship championed by the “bully pulpit” of President Roosevelt.

In keeping with tradition, the cadets and distinguished guests entered through a sword-arch honor guard. The cadets performed a moving POW / MIA Commemoration, as well as the ceremonial parading of the beef and the cake, and ceremonial toasts to all the military services and the distinguished guests. The cake cutting ceremoniously symbolizes the passing of wisdom through the ages as the first cut is made with an authentic Naval Officers Sword, and the first piece was handed from the senior veteran to the youngest cadet. This year the youngest cadet was John Williams who was born in December of 2000. The senior veteran was Mr. Stanley Pastore, who is the grandfather of Cadet Gabriella Licari and a WWII veteran. The POW/MIA commemoration was performed by Cadets Heather Sholtes and Abigail Bozzutti, and Honor Cadet Alex Rosario. A table set with an empty chair and other symbolic objects crucial to the commemoration was placed to the left of the head table as the cadets explained the symbolism of each object, and upon initiating a moment of silence, Cadet Rosario lit a candle in memory of our missing Americans. The 10 ceremonial toasts were received by Cadet Audrey Karl, the Battalion Commander of the nearly 200 cadets in the Bethel Navy JROTC and traditional President of the Mess. Her eloquence and poise carried the audience and gained her the admiration and respect of all in attendance.

Our guest of honor was Sergeant Major John Carragher, the Command Sergeant Major of the Connecticut Army National Guard. He graciously stepped in to replace Mr. Theodore Roosevelt IV, the great-grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt, who unfortunately could not be there on the date the event was rescheduled. While the theme of the ball was centered on the leadership and legacy of the Roosevelt Family, Sergeant Major Carragher inspired the cadets with his presentation on leadership and taking care of one’s troops. During his speech Sergeant Major Carragher captured the attention of every person in the room, and presented two cadets with his prized challenge coin for their exceptional performance.

The final portion of the evening’s formalities was the Commanders Waltz. Eleven couples joined Lt. Commander and Mrs. Dwinells in a beautiful synchronized 3-minute American style waltz to the song “My Cherie” by Al Martino. That was followed by all cadets dancing a waltz, foxtrot, salsa and meringue and social dances which they learned in their Navy JROTC classes.

It was a wonderful night and the cadets would like to thank the citizens of Bethel for their continued support. We are also especially thankful to the parents in the NJROTC Booster Club who worked hard to make the ball so wonderfully memorable despite our challenging New England winter.