LAKE FOREST HIGH SCHOOL HOSTED "NAVAL STATION GREAT LAKES APPRECIATION DAY" ON SEPETMBER 23RD
Celebration Included LFHS Homecoming Football Game Between Lake Forest and North Chicago High School
LAKE FOREST, Ill. AND NAVAL STATION GREAT LAKES, Ill., September 12, 2011 – The Lake Forest High School Boosters announced details of “Naval Station Great Lakes Appreciation Day,” which they will host on September 23, 2011, in connection with Lake Forest High School’s Homecoming football game between Lake Forest and North Chicago High School and in celebration of the Naval Station Great Lakes Centennial.
In addition to traditional LFHS Homecoming festivities, the Naval Station Great Lakes Appreciation Day event will feature special recognition of the Naval Station and its personnel in a pre-game ceremony and throughout the game, including a ceremonial coin toss by Commanding Officer Captain Randall Lynch, a performance by Navy Band Great Lakes and presentation of the colors by the Navy Color Guard. The LFHS Marching Band and North Chicago High School Band will join Navy Band Great Lakes for a special musical tribute and in the playing of the National Anthem. Naval Station Great Lakes personnel will receive free admission to the game.
“The Boosters are honored to host Naval Station Great Lakes Appreciation Day as part of Great Lakes’ year-long Centennial Celebration,” said Brian Vandenberg, spokesman for the LFHS Boosters. “This is a unique opportunity to bring together the communities of Lake Forest/Lake Bluff/Knollwood and North Chicago – Great Lakes’ common neighbors – to help celebrate the Centennial and to honor Great Lakes naval personnel, both past and present.”
LFHS Homecoming 2011 and Naval Station Great Lakes Appreciation Day are sponsored by Lake Forest Bank & Trust Company. “Lake Forest Bank & Trust is proud to support Homecoming and Naval Station Great Lakes Appreciation Day,” said Dave Lee, President and Chief Operating Officer of the bank. He added, “We have bank locations in both Lake Forest and North Chicago, and we wish both teams well for a great Homecoming game and salute the men and women at Great Lakes.”
From its founding in 1911, Naval Station Great Lakes has maintained its position as the Navy's largest training facility, and hosts the Navy's only Recruit Training Command. Each year approximately 40,000 men and women complete the requirements to become enlisted Sailors at the Navy's only boot camp. Naval Station Great Lakes is also home to the Navy's technical training schools for surface warfare excellence at Training Support Center Great Lakes. Yearly, more than 14,000 students attend these initial and advanced training schools where they learn the basic skills of their Navy jobs.
“The Centennial of Naval Station Great Lakes is a significant occasion in our community,” stated Harry Griffith, Superintendent of Schools for Lake Forest School Districts 67 and 115. “Naval Station Great Lakes Appreciation Day is a special opportunity for our students to pay tribute to the men and women who train here to serve our country throughout the world. It also provides a great opportunity to educate, as we have 100 years of remarkable history that’s been made just three miles from the front doors of our high school.”
Griffith added, “We’re excited to welcome the Sailors and other Great Lakes personnel to our campus for our Homecoming festivities and to join in the celebration of this Centennial milestone.”
In the early years following its commissioning, training at Great Lakes moved at a slow pace, with approximately 2,000 recruits a year. However, by the time America and its allies won World War I, more than 125,000 Sailors had been trained at Great Lakes, greatly contributing to the Navy's success in the war. During World War II, between the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941 and the surrender of Japan on August 14, 1945, more four million Americans served on active duty in the Navy. One million of those Sailors were trained at Great Lakes. Naval Station Great Lakes continues to train new Sailors with a sense of purpose in serving and defending our country. Today’s Sailors, unlike in previous wars, are all volunteers.
“The importance of Great Lakes as the ‘Quarterdeck of Navy’ is well known, but the Naval Station also has a rich heritage in sports, music and diversity,” said Vandenberg. “Our Homecoming football game is an ideal setting for a celebration of Naval Station Great Lakes’ legacy in all these areas.”
The Great Lakes Bluejackets played an intercollegiate football schedule from the 1910’s to the 1940’s, and were a Midwest college football powerhouse with players like George Halas, Johnny Lujack and Otto Graham. The team's accomplishments included a 1919 Rose Bowl victory and a 1943 victory against an undefeated Notre Dame squad ranked No. 1 in the country. Throughout World War II, the Great Lakes baseball teams were also dominant, racking up an amazing record of 188 wins, and only 32 losses. One of its most famous victories was in July 1945, when future Hall of Famer and Chief Petty Officer Bob Feller pitched a 1-0 shutout against the Chicago Cubs, striking out ten Cubs along way.
“The opportunity for our student-athletes to play before the Sailors from neighboring Great Lakes, on Homecoming and as part of the Centennial Celebration, is truly special”, said Tim Burkhalter, Lake Forest High School Athletic Director. “Great Lakes has a remarkable history in athletics, and it is fitting that our Appreciation Day event has a sports connection. This will be a memorable evening for both teams, our communities, and Great Lakes.”
Great Lakes’ musical heritage will also be featured in the Appreciation Day festivities as LFHS welcomes Navy Band Great Lakes, whose music has represented the pride and professionalism that is synonymous with the United States Navy since the first bugler reported for duty in 1911. World famous band leader and composer Lt. John Philip Sousa volunteered his services to the Navy when America entered the World War I, and became Bandmaster of Great Lakes. Sousa’s 321-member professional Great Lakes "Bluejacket Band" became the pride of the Navy and the United States, and was the most popular musical act in the world for decades. This musical tradition endures, as Navy Band Great Lakes continues "Pride in Service" as a force for global good through community outreach, diversity, recruitment, and honoring those who serve.
In anticipation of the event, Applause, the parent booster organization for the music department at LFHS, will spearhead an instrument donation drive in cooperation with BRAVO Waukegan and North Chicago High School to help increase the number of students involved in school music programs. Donations of used band or orchestra instruments may be donated at Lake Forest High School, or at a drop box at Varsity Field at the September 23rd event.
Homecoming 2011 and Naval Station Great Lakes Appreciation Day will take place on September 23, 2011, at Lake Forest High School’s Varsity Field, 300 S. Waukegan Rd., Lake Forest. Festivities are scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m., followed by the Varsity Football game between Lake Forest High School and North Chicago High School, at 7:30 p.m.
About the Lake Forest High School Boosters
Lake Forest High School Booster Club is a 501(c)(3) non-for-profit, volunteer organization whose mission is to promote and support athletic success, spirit and sportsmanship at Lake Forest High School. The Boosters enjoy a longstanding tradition of supporting a wide variety of activities designed to enhance the success of LFHS athletic teams and the experiences of our student-athletes. The Boosters are also active in a variety of programs that promote and foster the development of life skills such as leadership, sportsmanship and wellness, and we collaborate on initiatives that benefit the LFHS community generally, beyond athletics. To learn more about the LFHS Boosters, please visit http://www.lfhsbooster.org and Facebook.
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Contacts:
LFHS Boosters Contact:
Brian Vandenberg
312-961-3801
briandvandenberg@yahoo.com
Lake Forest High School Contact:
Anne Whipple
Director of Communications
847-604-7409
awhipple@lfschools.net
Naval Station Great Lakes Contact:
John Sheppard
Naval Station Great Lakes Public Affairs Officer
847-688-2430
john.l.sheppard@navy.mil
Lake Forest Bank & Trust Co. Contact
Wendy Schenker
Vice President/Director of Marketing
847-295-4266
wschenker@lakeforestbank.com