15th Biennial Reunion
Sheraton Norfolk Waterside Hotel
Norfolk, Virginia
July 18 – 24, 2016
We have stayed at the Sheraton hotel a number of times in the past so I’m guessing they must be doing something right because we keep coming back.
We were informed that the Sheraton will be going through renovations soon.
A disappointment was that the mall adjacent to the hotel was closed due to renovations by it’s new owners. Hopefully they will have some good restaurants in there when it’s completed.
Our Association membership is not as great as it was in the past so the reunion turnout was lower than usual. We have to remember that our 1st and 2nd generation crew members are getting old and a number of them that are still with us are finding it a little difficult to get around. What we really need is more of our 3rd generation crew members to become Association members and to attend our reunions. I believe we had the best 3rd generation member and non member turnout ever for this reunion. Keep it up guys, we need you as members and to keep this Association alive.
Because of the low turnout all but two tours were canceled.
Due to the temperature and humidity our Memorial Service was held inside Nauticus. If it had been cooler it would have been held on the Wisconsin fantail.
It’s always nice seeing family members at this service and for them to place the flower on the memorial wreath in memory of their loved one.
At the conclusion of the Memorial Service a procession was formed by the memorial attendees to follow the memorial wreath being carried aboard the ship to the fantail where Chaplain Rott said a short prayer to our departed shipmates. Mike Hodgis played taps and then the wreath was laid to rest in the Elizabeth river.
Nauticus launched a new exhibit in the officers wardroom on July 21, 2016 titled: Alan Dean: Rising Above Bias” Alan was the first African American Officer to serve on the Battleship Wisconsin. Alan was a LTJG in EX Division, 1951-1953. He was the Educational and Photographic Officer. Alan’s wife, Christina and Daughter, Michaela Huelbig were at the opening of this exhibit. If you visit the ship, you must see this interesting exhibit.
Our business meeting was quick and to the point. Voting went as follows: Re-elected as President, Ranzy Weston (1988-1990) Vice President, Darnea (Mike) Olson (1987-1990)
Re-elected as Treasurer, John Fox (1952-1955) Recording Secretary / Badger Editor, Paul Zentmyer (1988-1990). Reunion site for 2018 will be, Norfolk, VA.
Once again The Strolling Silver Strings entertained us with beautiful music at the cocktail hour of the banquet. They are a very talented group of students. We thank you for your outstanding performance.
Banquet food was splendid according to my family of eight, me and Howard Lynn who was also at our table. My family and I agreed that this was the best banquet food we ever had. We all ate everything on our plates. Complements to the chef.
For this reunion we contracted our good friends, Molly and Ted Dey of Armed Forces Reunions, Inc. (AFRI) of Norfolk, VA. We have used their services for a number of our earlier reunions, the first one being in 1990. This reunion went smoothly with the always smiling, Molly’s daily guidance. From beginning to end, Molly was there!
Thanks guys, it was great seeing you and you did this reunion as good, if not better than the previous ones.
Photo Credits:
Dom Menta #1 to #55 #58, #60 to #160 and #320
Jessi Bethel #56 #57
Meghan Loftus #59, #162 to #166 and #168
Tom Bradshaw #169 to #319
Kit and Fred Genet #321 to #344
Jeanie Genet #345 to #352
Thank you for sharing your photos with us.
To all that attended this reunion, we thank you. We hope that the 2018 reunion will bring out more than the 283 people that attended this reunion.
Two ways to view photos: Left Click on thumbnail and photo will fly up.
You can now click the arrows to go forward, back or return to the index file.
Viewing photos this way also displays photo captions if available.
Or you can watch a Slideshow without photo captions.
Reunion 2018
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