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October 22, 2004

Alumni can take a trip down memory lane when they pick up free
yearbooks at registration for Homecoming Weekend.

by Martha Thorn
Trident Assistant Editor

When books are piled from floor to ceiling, it's time to do a little
housecleaning. That's the theory of Capt. Gary Sandala, officer
representative of the Lucky Bag, the academy yearbook.

Sandala, who has served as the Lucky Bag's officer representative for
three years, decided his last official duty with the extracurricular
activity would be to help the midshipmen make a clean sweep through
their book storage area in Dahlgren Hall.

After a yearbook giveaway on Homecoming Weekend, he plans to turn over
the reins of the yearbook to Cmdr. Yolanda Reagans, 2nd Battalion
officer.

"I don't know how many books we have or how far they go back," Sandala
said on the Friday of the Columbus Day weekend, "but we're going to
find out three hours from now."

About 23 midshipmen turned out Oct. 8 to remove old yearbooks from the
Lucky Bag storage space in the catacombs on Dahlgren's seaward side.
Lured by Dahlgren Hall's pizza and soda, they chowed down to build up
their strength before sorting through the Lucky Bags.

Even with that extra fortification, they found more work than could be
accomplished in one night. Six midshipmen returned Oct. 9 to do some
more sorting and cleaning. The process continued with nine midshipmen
working Columbus Day. They logged about 3 1/2 hours the first day,
three hours the next and finished up with about an hour on Columbus
Day.

Spearheading the cleanup effort were Ensign Domenico Monaco, Midn. 1/C
Mike Rogers, Lucky Bag editor and chief, and Midn. 2/C John Rodenburg,
assistant editor.

"We had three plebes that worked all three days," Rodenburg said.
"They were Midns. 4/C Courtney Natter, Luz Alvarez and Jessica Swauger.

"It was backbreaking work. We were hand-carrying 75-pound boxes down a
three-flight, spiral staircase."

The midshipmen also had to do some heavy duty cleaning. "At some
point, a window had been broken, and the room was open to the
elements," Rodenburg explained. "During that time, some birds had
gotten into the room."

Rodenburg first discovered the state of the room when he went to the
storage area to fill some orders for Lucky Bags. "My jaw dropped," he
recalled. "I couldn't fathom what a disaster zone it was."

When he reported it to Sandala, the captain's jaw dropped too. "We've
got to do something about this," he said.

Putting action to words, during three days of the Columbus Day
weekend, they moved about 8,000 Lucky Bags, totaling more than 35 tons.
They packed about 1,000 boxes averaging about eight books per box, and
they found Lucky Bags spanning more than 30 years, from 1971 through
2003. They tossed damaged books out of a window and into a Dumpster.

"Everyone involved in the cleanup deserves big kudos," Rodenburg said.
"Everyone worked and sweated hard."

As the midshipmen sorted through the yearbooks, they had shopping
lists in hand from the Naval Academy Alumni Association and the Naval
Academy Foundation. The Alumni Association maintains two sets of
yearbooks from 1900 to the present and the Foundation keeps another
set.

"The Naval Academy Alumni Association gave us a list of 29 years that
they were missing copies of and the Foundation gave us a list of seven
years," Sandala said.

"The Foundation was also looking for books from seven other years.
Their copies from those years weren't in very good condition, so they
were looking for replacement copies."

The Lucky Bag cleanup crew was able to find only about a dozen of the
books on the wish lists. After meeting the needs of the Alumni
Association and Foundation, the Lucky Bag staff had more than 7,900
books remaining.

"We decided to keep about 700 of them," Sandala said. "Our goal is to
keep 15 - 20 from each year. We'll probably only be able to go back
about 30 years. Anything older than that will be scarce."

Sandala's not sure whether that's the right number to meet the
requests for Lucky Bags, but it was the staff's best guess.

The rest of the Lucky Bags will be up for grabs during Homecoming
Weekend. As alumni register, they can also claim one of the free,
excess Lucky Bags, which are being temporarily stored in Alumni Hall's
Scenery Room.

Classes of '89 and '93 are especially encouraged to ask about Lucky
Bags. "It seemed like no one in those classes picked up their Lucky
Bag," Rodenburg said. "We had about 150 boxes from '89 alone and about
the same amount from '93. Lucky Bags from the Class of '89 took up an
entire wall all by themselves. It was the smallest wall in a five-wall
room, but it was still an entire wall.

"And the Class of '93 was right next to '89. As we were lugging those
heavy boxes down that spiral staircase, we were cursing those two
classes. They have enough yearbooks to give one member of their
extended family a copy for the next 50 years."

The classes least likely to find an extra yearbook are the 1970s and
before. "We only had one from '71," Rodenburg said, "and '74 was
scarce."

Some people may need Lucky Bags for research. If they don't find what
they're looking for at the registration table, they may want to visit
the Naval Academy Alumni Association and Foundation or Nimitz Library.

The USNA Alumni Association maintains a Lucky Bag Locker. This is the
home for extra Lucky Bags that are donated to the Alumni Association
through the thoughtfulness of alumni, their families and their estates.
As a service, the Association coordinates replacements for any lifetime
member who has lost their original Lucky Bag in a move, flood, fire or
unexpected circumstance.

Requests also come in from family members who are looking for memories
and ties to their loved ones.

"Some Lucky Bags linger with us, while others find their way into the
joyful arms of alumni and their family members," said Ardath Appel, the
Association contact for requests and donations. "The recipient is
always so grateful."

Others who would like to receive or donate yearbooks can e-mail the
Lucky Bag Office at yearbook@usna.edu

As for the cleaning, hats off to the Lucky Bag staff. Senior officials
have noted the need for academy folks to take charge of their spaces.
The Lucky Bag staff has shown their leadership by setting the example.

Of course, they're thinking the next major cleaning won't occur until
30 years from now, say 2034.

For those wondering, the Lucky Bag staff keeps one copy of every Lucky
Bag ever printed, and they go back to 1894. The Lucky Bag is also fully
staffed for the coming year with a roster of about 60 midshipmen.