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Reunion
2008
Renton (Seattle area),
Washington
The 2008 reunion was held from October
1-5 at the Holiday Inn, Renton,
WA. Approximately 120 were in
attendance for varying amounts of time.
The hotel staff provided us with a
registration table in the lobby.
It was a popular spot on the first day as folks were checking in
and greeting each other. The
hospitality room was beautiful.
The sales manager and two of her employees decorated the room in
red, white and blue. Several
people brought photographs and other memorabilia.
We were happy to see many Washington and Oregon shipmates who were attending
their first reunion. We certainly
hope to see them all at future reunions. We thank Wes Sutherland (BMSN,
62-64) for providing transportation to Sam’s Club, Wal Mart and a
liquor store for supplies.
Gary O’Neil (ETR3, 63-66)
brought CDs of the history he and others have been compiling. They were
for sale at a nominal price and he sold every one he brought.
Bob Miller (MM3, 62-65) asked people
to stop by and check to see that all their information was correct on the
database. I’m not sure
how many did, but we encourage everyone to do so at reunions and to
notify us immediately if your address, phone number, or email address
changes.
On Thursday, we went on a tour of the Museum of Flight. It was excellent. We’ve been to several flight
museums across the country and this was by far the largest collection
we’d seen. We were
divided into three groups and taken on a guided tour. After that, we were able to
explore the museum on our own, shop in the gift shop, and have lunch
before returning to our hotel.
On Friday, we went to Bremerton to the USS
Turner Joy, where we had our Memorial Service. The weather was dismal and
deteriorated as the day went on.
We had the service on the messdecks due to the rain. It was a good service. At the beginning, David Harrington
(ETR2, 67-72) played Amazing Grace on his bagpipes. It was very moving. We had a VFW color guard. After the service, it was decided
to take the 3:00 ferry back to Seattle
instead of the 5:30 ferry.
One of the buses took people back to the hotel and the other
dropped some of us off at the waterfront shopping/restaurant area. Some of us ate at Ivar’s
Seafood. Wonderful food.
On Saturday morning, we had our
business meeting and raffle.
It was decided that our 2010 reunion will be in Wilmington, NC
and be hosted by Chuck Hughes (SH2, 48-52) and David Harrington (ETR2,
67-72). They’re already
making plans. It was also
decided to add one day to the reunions. The first full day will be a free
day with no tours so people can visit. The raffle was fun as usual. Susan Reno (daughter of Melvin
Stephenson, RD3, 45-56) made another Navy themed fleece throw to be
auctioned off. It brought
$150.00.
The banquet was held on Saturday
night. It was an excellent
buffet. We had a live band
for dancing. The vocalist is
Morgan Barokas’s (RDM3, 45-46) cousin. Morgan’s wife Kathie got up
and sang a song with her. I
didn’t know we had such talent in our group.
We thank all those who helped in any
way at the reunion, especially Judy Wood, Lena Robinson, Joyce Quebedeaux
who helped at the registration table. Also, a big thank you to Chuck
Ruth (MM2, 63-65) for a job well done as the emcee for the banquet. A plaque was presented to Bob
Miller for his tireless work as the crew locator. Bob gave an acceptance speech
worthy of the Emmy Awards! He
kept telling Chuck to go sit down, he wasn’t finished yet! There are many more to thank and
they all know who they are!
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