SYRACUSE — The Elite Frogs Parachute Team, made up of active duty and retired Navy SEALs, will be returning to Lake Wawasee for its fourth annual Patriot’s Day. But this year will be bigger and better than the past three years. The Hooligans Flight Team will join in and there will be a Capt. Phillips Re-enactment on Lake Wawasee.

Events, unless otherwise noted, will take place at Oakwood Resort, Lake Wawasee.

Three-days of events are being scheduled for the Wawasee Navy Seal Foundation Inc., fundraiser. It’s a weekend filled with food, fun and free-falling.

Events kick off with the WNSF Golf Tournament on Friday, July 24, at Maxwelton Golf Club, 5721 S. County Line Road, Syracuse. Sign in is at 7 a.m. with an Elite Frog Parachute Team Demonstration jump at 7:30 a.m. and a shotgun start at 8 a.m. The cost is $300 per foursome and includes golf cart and a box lunch. The deadline to sign up is July 21. To register contact Tammy Cotton at the Syracuse-Wawasee Chamber of Commerce, 110 1/2 E. Main St., P.O. Box 398, Syracuse, IN 46567; email [email protected] or call (574) 457-5637.

Individuals interested in tandem jumps with the Elite Frogs will have the opportunity from 8 a.m. to noon, Saturday, July 25, at the Nappanee Airport. Additional tandem jumps will be offered from 9 a.m. to noon Sunday, July 26, again at the Nappanee Airport. Jumpers must be 18 years of age with a valid picture identification, weigh less than 230 pounds and be in god health. For more information including cost and waivers visit the Wawasee Navy Seal Foundation’s website: wawaseenavysealfoundation.org/tandem-jumps/

Saturday Events

Public events will begin at 4 p.m. (but you might want to come earlier to get a good spot) with the flag jump and national anthem. During the playing of the national anthem the Elite Frogs will perform an exhibition jump featuring a 2,500 square foot American flag attached to the foot of one of the SEALS.

The event will take place in the large field area near the front of the resort’s entrance.

At 4:30 p.m. the precision aerial maneuvers by the Elite Frogs will begin. Watch the group perform some of its most challenging jump maneuvers over the lake.

The Hooligans Flight Team, a group of World War II fighter planes, will amaze viewers at 5 p.m. with their precision formations.

The evening will conclude at 5:30 p.m. with an abduction and rescue of the Lake Wawasee Dance Team. Watch the Elite Fogs demonstrate how the Navy SEALS would perform a rescue of American citizens on the high seas around the world.

This year’s event is being sponsored by: Stickle Steam Specialties Co. Inc., FlexPack Products and Consulting, Oakwood Resort and The Hooligans Flight Team.

R.H. “Bud” Stickle, UDTR Class 41, chairman of the Wawasee Navy SEAL Foundation Inc., and resident of Lake Wawasee, hosts the event, which benefits families of United States Navy SEALs. Over the past two years a total of $20,000 has been raised for the National Navy Seal Foundation.

For a schedule and information visit: wawaseenavysealfoundation.org/patriots-day

To see last year’s  related article: Many Enjoy Elite Frogs Return