Photo By Sgt. Reba Benally | A surfboard competition was one of the events at the Day at the Bay on Saturday...... read more read more
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GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba - There was only one place in Guantanamo Bay on Saturday afternoon where you could purchase a fried Oreo, order Middle Eastern cuisine, buy tropical paintings and watch the Navy Chief Petty Officer’s auction to throw a pie in their faces.
Day at the Bay is an annual event when the community of GTMO comes together for water fun, a craft fair and delicious food.
“Day at the Bay caps off our celebration of Month of the Military Child. We wanted to provide an event to unite the entire community – kids big and small to celebrate,” said Victoria West, the youth sport and fitness coordinator and event planner. “As we know, when someone chooses to serve their country, their entire family serves in some capacity.”
GTMO’s Military Youth of the Year was recognized to cap off the event. The winner took home a $5,000 scholarship. Student, Frank Bulnes, will represent GTMO for the regional Military Youth of the Year in June at The New Sanno Hotel in downtown Tokyo. Bulnes is a student-to-student ambassador, a 4-H member, member of the teen center and holds a 3.7 GPA at W.T. Sampson high school. If Bulnes wins the regional competition, he will have a chance to compete in the National Military Youth of the Year competition in Washington D.C. with a scholarship prize of $25,000.
For West’s first time as the event planner, she thought the overall festivities ran smoothly.
“This was my first Day at the Bay, but my co-workers think this was the largest turnout yet,” West said.
“The Day at the Bay was awesome,” said Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Nathan Coffey, the GTMO coordinator for the Navy/Marine Corps Relief Fund. “If I am not mistaken, I think they actually had a better turnout this year than they did last year.”
Coffey coordinated the Pie-In-The-Face event to raise funds for the NMCRF.
“My favorite part would have to be when I got to pie my chief gunner’s mate in the face,” Coffey said.
The NMCRF provides financial, educational and other assistance to service members, eligible family members and survivors in need. Coffey said the next NMCRF fundraiser will take place at the Navy Exchange on April 29.
“The save it or shave it fundraiser is all about nominating people via their contact information on the slide roller, to either shave their epic mustache or their beautiful golden locks. It will be like an open bid at the NEX atrium on the person under the spotlight at the time.” Coffey said.
West and Coffey appreciated the amount of volunteers who helped with Day in the Bay and the variety of food and craft vendors.
“None of this would be possible without an excellent committee and rock star volunteers,” Coffey said.
“It truly requires a team effort to put this event on,” West said. “I hope all who attended enjoyed themselves.”
| Date Taken: | 04.24.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 06.16.2015 15:01 |
| Story ID: | 166832 |
| Location: | GUANTANAMO BAY , CU |
| Web Views: | 116 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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