<p>Merry Christmas everyone!</p>
<p>Happy Holidays!</p>
<p>what? It's only September!.....ah geez.....</p>
<p>Our son was invited to our state's (Georgia) Service Academy Holiday Ball. I understand several other states likewise have service academy holiday balls during Winter Leave. Students from all 5 service academies are invited along with their guest(s).</p>
<p>What are these balls like? Is it something the average midshipman would enjoy? What are the typical highlights?</p>
<p>This is in general a "must attend" event for all parties, m/n and parents alike. It is a unique event and generally has dinner, dancing, drinking, and a guest speaker of some sort. Jamzmom and some others can give some very good advice of recent years. I would highly recommend marking this down on your calendar.</p>
<p>We went to the All Service Academy Ball when it was held at a hotel next to Hartsfield. It is a typical "ball" with speeches and dancing. The most interesting thing to me was when they introduced each Academy member and their guest, i.e. date. It took FOREVER, but was fun, nontheless. Food was nice too. I would definitely go if given the choice. It does mean your cadet/mid will have to bring home their dress uniform, which they won't want to do, but such is life.</p>
<p>should be fun, i'll be there for Colorado, woot woot</p>
<p>Heres a brief of how our ball goes & its pretty safe to assume most will go something like this:
Starts with a reception at the bar (we drink a lot in the south & yes, they card the kids) then a receiving line forms up. All proceed to the dining hall for the colors, invocation, POW ceremony, & toasts. An introduction of guests then dinner. A formal cake cutting before the keynote speaker addresses the crowd. Then we do a drawing for door prizes. The kids walk away with some pretty good stuff. Cash, ipods, gift certificates, ect. From about 9pm to midnight, the d.j. rocks the room for the dance. A photographer runs around grabbing shots of the kids & also does formal shots. Those are priceless! Count on being crazy from about 6pm to midnight. Its a long night but well worth the time to see all of the academy kids & their dates & parents. Especially funny if youve never seen your kid dance. :D</p>
<p>JM, </p>
<p>You whine about not having an athlete, but LFWB is back at KP for practice when the Mid-Atlantic folks have their ball. I know you'd whine even more if you missed a chance to get dressed up :p</p>
<p>You just hush. My beautiful dress has been hanging in my closet for two months now due to the fact that I don't have to worry about him reporting back early for the raquetball PE credit. :D Wonder if he would care if I traded him in for a new Mid. One that plays soccer, rugby or sails. How 'bout yours? I'll take him. May have to take a second mortgage to keep him fed though.....</p>
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May have to take a second mortgage to keep him fed though.....
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<p>Only in the off-season</p>
<p>We got our invite and it's advising that the dress for Mids/Cadets is Mess Dress. Our son is a Plebe and has not been issued the choker black coat, golden Cummerbund or bowtie. Any suggestions?. Thanks.</p>
<p>He could borrow the missing pieces from someone. It has been known to happen. This is another one of those reasons to be nice to upperclassmen.</p>
<p>This could vary per state but the upperclass folks took care of getting "their" Plebes outfitted for the ball. A black choker was borrowed from somebody in band co that looked about two sizes too small & then there was the Plebe that came in service dress because no one got him the jacket. They still looked pretty darn sharp even tho mishaps occured. Like majmatt says, maybe ask to borrow. They should be issued the black choker jackets only. They wear the white pants from their summer uni's along with the black shoes. No bow tie or cumberbund that I know of. Can't have them looking too much like the Coasites. :D</p>
<p>Service Dress Blues works fine for our Ball if you don't have the Mess Dress</p>
<p>The Mariners' History Mess Night at KP in the spring was a black tie event. Mids wore their SDBs with black bow ties and the Commissioned Officers wore their Mess Dress.</p>
<p>For black tie events where normally a male would wear a tux the appropriate uniform for O3 and below (otherwords: all m/n) is Service Dress Blues with bow-tie and miniature medals. No cumberbund/mess dress needed. Now if a different uniform is prescribed such as the salt & pepper that USMMA has been wearing as of late it would better to borrow the necessary items so you wouldn't look out of place from the other m/n from KP.</p>
<p>help. what is salt and pepper.</p>
<p>We never had it while I was a m/n, but it's the informal name for the white pants / black top uniform</p>