Since then, the Fleet Reserve Association has grown to 180,000 members nationally. Branch 24 represents roughly 3000 local members in good standing who come to the club to socialize but also work with lobbyists and legislators to protect the well-being of Annapolis’s sea servicemen (and women) community. The club is a place for members to meet, socialize, and get informed.
The sandwiches dished up to Boat Show attendees constitute a fundraiser for the club, one which grosses more than $100,000 each year to maintain the building. On average, 20-25 top rounds are purchased daily to supply hungry attendees, with the record number being over 60 top rounds. More than 500 sandwiches are made daily, with hot dogs, hamburgers, and even Caesar salads making the menu to appease every stomach.
For enlisted, active, and reserve sea servicemen and women, the club is a sanctuary throughout the year. For civilians who only gain entrance between October 16 and 19, the club is something we can help support by pleasing our stomachs (our favorite way to support anything). We’ll happily do our part. frcannapolis.org
Tuesday, November 4, 2014 - 09:00
Every year during the Annapolis Powerboat Show we look forward to grabbing a pit beef sandwich from one of the incredible chefs at the Fleet Reserve Club. But on any day that doesn’t involve a boat show, the Fleet Reserve Club is an enigma of Annapolis’s prime waterfront, a mysterious club with exclusive membership. To answer our own questions, we decided to look into the Club, its history, and its members, even if we aren’t allowed on its grounds when the circus isn’t in town.
The Fleet Reserve Association (FRA) was created in 1924 by Navy Chief Yeoman George L. Carlin, who wanted to create a permanent enlisted organization to represent the viewpoint of sea servicemen to Congress. Carlin created a group of career Navy personnel to communicate this viewpoint. Today, the FRA acts as a pipeline to Capitol Hill, lobbying on behalf of servicemen but also acting as a liaison between the Departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security, and more. Further, the FRA works to educate its members through seminars and regular reporting on benefits, rights, and reform impacting servicemen. Currently, the FRA has more than 160,000 active members and more than 220 local branches.
The Annapolis branch of the FRA was issued a charter on February 3, 1928, with 44 charter members including Annapolis mayors W.E. Quenstedt, A.G. Ellington, and R.G. Rowe. FRA members met at multiple locations around town, but during WWII, charter members decided they wanted to establish a permanent place for the meetings instead of having chapter meetings and game nights at the armory. When an old oyster house on Compromise Street became available in 1946, the branch took out $85,000 in loans to buy the property, with several past presidents of the club listing their personal homes as collateral. The Branch 24 home at 110 Compromise Street was commissioned on July 9, 1949, with all the formality and celebration that battleships are met with at their christenings.
Since then, the Fleet Reserve Association has grown to 180,000 members nationally. Branch 24 represents roughly 3000 local members in good standing who come to the club to socialize but also work with lobbyists and legislators to protect the well-being of Annapolis’s sea servicemen (and women) community. The club is a place for members to meet, socialize, and get informed.
The sandwiches dished up to Boat Show attendees constitute a fundraiser for the club, one which grosses more than $100,000 each year to maintain the building. On average, 20-25 top rounds are purchased daily to supply hungry attendees, with the record number being over 60 top rounds. More than 500 sandwiches are made daily, with hot dogs, hamburgers, and even Caesar salads making the menu to appease every stomach.
For enlisted, active, and reserve sea servicemen and women, the club is a sanctuary throughout the year. For civilians who only gain entrance between October 16 and 19, the club is something we can help support by pleasing our stomachs (our favorite way to support anything). We’ll happily do our part. frcannapolis.org
Since then, the Fleet Reserve Association has grown to 180,000 members nationally. Branch 24 represents roughly 3000 local members in good standing who come to the club to socialize but also work with lobbyists and legislators to protect the well-being of Annapolis’s sea servicemen (and women) community. The club is a place for members to meet, socialize, and get informed.
The sandwiches dished up to Boat Show attendees constitute a fundraiser for the club, one which grosses more than $100,000 each year to maintain the building. On average, 20-25 top rounds are purchased daily to supply hungry attendees, with the record number being over 60 top rounds. More than 500 sandwiches are made daily, with hot dogs, hamburgers, and even Caesar salads making the menu to appease every stomach.
For enlisted, active, and reserve sea servicemen and women, the club is a sanctuary throughout the year. For civilians who only gain entrance between October 16 and 19, the club is something we can help support by pleasing our stomachs (our favorite way to support anything). We’ll happily do our part. frcannapolis.org