Call to order: The Lafayette Association business meeting was called to order at approximately 8:15 PM by Board Chairman Herb Wise.
Opening Prayer: by Thomas Tibbs.
Opening Comments: Mr. Wise welcomed everyone and then started a few reminiscences; Call for a show of hands for members with 2,3,4,5 and 6 years of service. Then Mr. Wise called for a show of hands of commissioning crew members and then de-commissioning crew members. Next was a show of hands of officer that served in Lafayette. Members were next asked to stand by Departments and divisions. Next was a show of hands of all “Flapper Valve Award” winners. Next was a show of hands of members that had been onBoard during a missile launch. Several crew members came forward to tell sea stories and jokes during a brief “open mic” period.
New Business; Mr. Wise explained that the Board had held an informal meeting earlier Saturday afternoon to hear general comments and discussions from members. The area of greatest concern is getting enough active members and candidates for the Association Officer positions to keep the organization running. Several suggestions were make to improve communications and increase attendance at future reunions.
Outgoing President Ed Knight was introduced and made a few brief comments. Ed will proceed on to become the Board Chairman.
Election of Officers: Mr. Wise presented the following list of candidates as nominees to the open Board positions:
President:Dennis Lauze
Vice President:Tom Tinney
Treasurer:Joe Geiger
Secretary:Bill Livingston
There were no nominations from the floor. By voice vote all nominees were elected with one Nay vote.
Two positions as elected Board members were open for election. Three members were nominated to the two Board member positions:
William “Spud” Woods
Lynn Watson
Bill Liles
By a show of hands vote, Lynn Watson and Bill Liles were elected to the Board.
Financial Report: The financial report from Treasurer Joe Geiger was given by Board Member Bill Fraser.
Balance 09/01/2009 $18,254
Credits Dues, donations & late 2009 reunion deposits 2,742
Debits 2009 reunion payments 6,626
Web site fee 340
2011 reunion hotel deposit 500
Balance 09/01/2011 $13,530
Next Reunion: Based upon the input from the members at the afternoon meeting, there is considerable interest in having the next reunion in Groton Connecticut. The Board has the final decision for the location of reunions. The Board will seriously consider the Groton location for the next reunion. The 2013 reunion will also be the 50th anniversary of the commissioning of the Lafayette. The Board proposed allocating 50% of the available Association monies to set up the 2013 reunion as a discussion item. The new Board will make the decision on this.
The Board expects to rough out the next reunion schedule within the next 2 months and get it posted on the Association web site for input and comments from the members.
Several door prizes were given out to the members and the ladies.
Call To Order: 2009 Business Meeting. The Lafayette Association 2009 Business Meeting was called to order at 7:35 pm by President Don McBride. John Sherman, and Monty Wynn took minutes. Due to the absence of the Secretary.
Invocation Prayer was given by Chaplain Ed Cagney.
Pledge Of Allegiance was then led by: President McBride. Don McBride then thanked John and Katherine Johnson for such hard work they performed on this reunion, Monty Wynn on his dedication to the Newsletter. And as outgoing President he also gave a big thank you to the Board, and our Webmaster Bill Fraser!
Financial Report: Board Member and Web Master Bill Fraser read the financial report on behalf of our Treasurer Joe Geiger who unfortunately could not attend the reunion. As of September 1, 2009 the USS Lafayette Association status was in great shape! The balance reported on October, 22nd 2007, was $5,905 at the last Lafayette Association Business Meeting in Charleston SC. Since then the Lafayette Association received the following credits: dues/donations $3,745, the 2007 Reunion net/Holiday Inn reduction $5,361, the 2009 Reunion deposits $4,008, Total monies in: $19,019. Debits as of 09/01/09: for web site and postage: $765, Account Balance as of 09/01/2009 $18,254. Submitted by Bill Fraser for Treasurer Joe Geiger.
History of the Lafayette Association and our Web Site: Bill Fraser then presented a brief history of the Lafayette Association, how it formed, and the status and history of Lafayette Association web site.
Please update your Email, or Mailing Addresses: before opening old business, Monty Wynn reminded those attending to please keep their email addresses up to date, with the same suggestions for those who do not have a computer, but received paper mail! Please keep us informed!
Elections of the 2010-2011 Lafayette Association Officers and posts: President McBride then open the floor for new nominations, for officers, the Lafayette By-Laws prohibit the current president from serving more than (one) two year term. Nominations for the position of President: Ed Knight, he was voted in unanimously by the membership. Nominations were open for Vice President, Dan Simmons, volunteered for the position. Dan was elected unanimously. Joe Geiger was reelected as Treasurer, unanimously. Nominations for Secretary was opened to the floor, Don McBride nominated Monty Wynn, and was elected to Secretary unanimously. John Sherman remains By-Laws Committee, but asked to be replaced on the board, Herb Wise was appointed to replace John. The Board consists of Don McBride Chairman, Ed Knight President, Dan Simmons Vice President, Joe Geiger Treasurer, Monty Wynn Secretary, Bill Fraser Web Master and Herb Wise.
2011 Reunion Site: the next order of business was the membership recommendations for the next reunion site. The Association By-Laws defines that the Board has the authority to select the next reunion location. The members voted that the board investigate holding the 2011 reunion in conjunction with the UASSVI National Convention in Springfield, MO. (near Branson, MO).
Committee and Other Positions: Louie Morrison stepped down as Membership Chairman, Dennis Lauze replaced him. A new position was created, data base manager. Mike Berger volunteered for that position. All other positions remain the same. These positions are being requested to be filled: Ship's Historian, Storekeeper, Membership Committee, Reunion Committee and By-Laws Committee.
Benediction: Chaplain Ed Cagney then gave a closing prayer.
Adjournment: President Don McBride, made the motion to adjourn the 2009 Lafayette Business Meeting, it was seconded on the floor. The 2009 Silverdale Reunion of the USS Lafayette Association SSBN 616 adjourned at 8:35 pm.
Very respectfully submitted by acting Secretary Monty Wynn.
Called to Order - The second business meeting of the USS Lafayette (SSBN616) Association was called to order at 18:08pm by Bill Fraser, Chairman of the Board, in the absence of President Herb Wise. Fraser announced that Herb Wise was not able to attend due to illness but that he would recover and intends to carry out his duties on the Board.
President's Message - The following message from President Wise was read by Fraser to the approximately 80 shipmates attending:
To all Members of the” Head of the Class” Lafayette Association:
It is with deep regret that I am unable to be here at the Reunion of the greatest shipmates in the world. I hope to have a full recovery soon.
I would like to give you the story of how your Association has performed since the last reunion when the Association was formed.
We left the last reunion at Tunica, Mississippi with a new Board of Directors and an approved set of By-Laws. We soon found that the By-Laws didn’t cover some of the problems we encountered and worked hard to do what was right. Three of the selected board members had to resign due to health and personal reasons.
At the first reunion in Tunica, we voted to hold the next reunion in Charleston. After the sponsor for Charleston was not able to continue due to some very serious health problems, John Dixon volunteered to be the sponsor from his home in Hendersonville, NC (about 250 miles away). Kudos to John for stepping to the plate.
Although I have been your President during this time, the success of the Association rests with the strong group of men filling the other board positions and to the enthusiastic response of you, the members and shipmates.
We discovered early that communication between board members and Association members was key to success. In this regard, Bill Fraser deserves our admiration and thanks. Bill started our website prior to the first reunion and also put the first reunion together. He agreed to stay on as Webmaster and Chairman of the Board for the period from the last reunion to this one and he as made our website the focal point of communication with all of you. This website has won many awards and is the best website I have seen for a group such as ours. Bill puts in many hours maintaining the website and makes constant addition and changes.
Joe Geiger is our Treasurer and a good person to add realism to proposals and thoughts. Joe had a large job as we approached this reunion as he received all your reunion monies and kept track of your specific orders. When we found that a credit card was needed to secure some of the tours and other activities, he immediately established one and kept the activities moving.
Ernie Lester is our Secretary and we couldn’t have asked for a better one. Ernie has been an innovator and a godsend in planning and producing mailings to the membership. While we were seeing all the reunion registrations coming in, Ernie asked “How are we going to know who ordered what?” We know that everyone will not be able to remember what was ordered. Soon the ticket idea was developed. All the little details that make an event work smoothly have to be thought of by someone and Ernie was very helpful in this area.
John Dixon has served as Vice-President and as stated earlier, the Reunion Chairman. John has put in many hours dealing with all the contact people in Charleston to set up the tours and the activities at the hotel. He has made many trips to Charleston to accomplish all this, all the while, dealing with medical problems within his family.
I ask that you give them all a big round of applause and a thank you as you see them over the next few days.
I am very sorry to miss this reunion and wouldn’t if I could have found a way. I know that all are having a GREAT time seeing old shipmates from long ago from the greatest ship in the NAVY.
I hope to be able to see all of you at the next reunion GOD WILLING.
Herb Wise, President Lafayette Association
Invocation - Fraser announced that Chaplain Richard Murphy was ill and unable to attend. Ed Cagney then delivered the Opening Prayer
Pledge to the Flag - Fraser led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
Eternal Patrol Roll Call - Ed Cagney read the names of shipmates on Eternal Patrol (below). The ship’s bell was rung once for each of the 56 names read. Cagney concluded the reading with a prayer of thanks for their service.
Pat Arnold, Robert W Barron, William F Bauer, Lloyd Berger, Cecil B Bishop,
Richard F Brown, Bruce L Bullough, Mike Cinna, Donald F Dekart, Richard Donahoe,
Timothy Drain, Meril E Draper, Scott Eversole, Michael Finn, Joseph A Fitzpatrick,
Jim Freeman, Waylan Gant, Robert J Geary, Roy Hilt, Peter Hughes, Raymond L Hughey,
David S Jerdeman, Paul Johnson, Henning C Josephson, Larry Kirsch, Don Kopp,
Robert Kotzke, Arland W Kuester, Hershel B Lane, Charles Leppla, Roy Lofgren,
George T Long, Jeffrey J Lookhoff, Michael McQuown, Phillip P Mortimer,
Ronald Mumford, Todd Pearo, G Lindsay Perkins Jr, Maynard W Perry, Jack Poland,
Marshall H Poole Jr, Ray Potter, Cletus Qualls, Paul N Qualls, Bob Savage,
Leslie Schlagel, Aubry L Sightler, Allan E Sitter, Harry F Specht, Willie E Walls, Bill Wise,
Lawson Shadburn Yow, Severino Zapatos, Frank F Zechlin
Introductions
Fraser asked that all former commanding officers of the Lafayette stand. Captain Marvin Schenker was present and was recognized.
Committee Reports
Treasurer Joe Geiger presented the Association Financial Report as of October 22, 2007, as follows:
Opening Balance as of 06/15/06 $3,779.76
Credits – Dues & Donations received 3,275.00
$7,054.76
Debits -1,149.39
Balance excluding ’07 Reunion Activity* $5,905.37
*Reunion’07 activity reported separately:
Reunion-related Member Deposits $14,035.00
Checking Account Balance 10/22/07 19,940.37
Estimated Reunion-related Expenses -15,975.00
Estimated Post-Reunion Balance $3,965.37
A motion was made and duly seconded that the Financial Report be accepted as read. Motion passed.
By-Laws Committee Chairman John Sherman, presented the proposed Amendments to the By-Laws (incorporated herein by reference to http://ssbn616.homestead.com/By-Laws04.pdf). A motion was made and duly seconded to accept the proposed changes as read. There was some discussion in the form of questions of clarification. The question was called and the motion passed.
Business
Election of 2008-09 Officers - Nominating Committee Chairman John Dixon, presented the Committee’s recommendations for elected Officers and Board Members for the ’08 – ’09 term:
Office Nominee
President Donald F. McBride
Vice-President Edwin R. Knight
Secretary Ernie Lester
Treasurer Joe Geiger
Board Member Bill Fraser
Board Member John Sherman
Fraser noted that the current President, Herb Wise, will become Chairman of the Board according to the By-Laws. A motion was made and duly seconded to elect the slate of officers presented by the Nominating Committee. Motion passed.
Location of next Reunion - Fraser opened the floor for discussion of the location of the 2009 Lafayette Reunion. Fraser acknowledged the work of John Wayne Johnson in promoting Reno and the work of Dick Schultz in promoting the Greater Seattle Area as our 2009 reunion site. Fraser noted that the changes to the By-Laws just adopted by the Association vests this decision in the Board of Directors.
It was commented from the floor that having the next reunion in the greater Seattle area might afford an opportunity to tour a recent submarine. Dick Schultz commented that he would attempt to make those arrangements but can make no commitments.
There was a motion from the floor that a non-binding vote be taken of the attending members’ preferred location for the 2009 reunion. The motion was second and passed. Fraser then asked for a show of hands of those who would prefer Reno. Approximately 7 hands were raised in favor of Reno. Fraser next asked for a show of hands of those who would prefer the greater Seattle area. It was noted that a strong majority preferred the Greater Seattle area.
Closing
Benediction was given by Ed Cagney
There a motion and second from the floor to adjourn. Motion passed and meeting was adjourned at 19:16pm.
(Patrick Hannifin, Captain USS Lafayette, VADM USN Retired) -They asked Jim and me to open this meeting. Let me say a few words first, because I got here first. It’s been a great reunion, it’s incredible that we got so many people here in such a short time. And I want to thank the guy that put it together. Bill Fraser with his website, he didn’t do it by himself, I think his wife put it together. They were a lot of other that had a big part in this and you’ve done a fantastic job. The opportunity for me and I’m sure for Jim, to get together again and see a lot of old shipmates, some young shipmates and some very old shipmates like George Henson, Charlie Woodstock and one or two others that I won’t mention. But it’s been a fine time and I’ve enjoyed seeing all of you. Jim and I both plan to survive until at least the next one. Thank you.
(James Strong, Captain USS Lafayette) – I think that Pat missed one of the honorees, and that is the ladies, they are absolutely beautiful. I was intrigued by the fact that the blue and the gold crew didn’t see that much, about a day every 3 months, and yet there is a lot of affection shown here today, in spite of the fact we could be from either crew and meet some wonderful people here. On a little more serious note, all of you should be very proud of the part that you played in the ballistic missile program and being the very, very crucial part of what brought the Soviet Union down. There isn’t any other part of the armed forces that did as much. Colin Power gave a talk one time and said essentially the same thing. Young people these days don’t really have an understanding of all that you do. I do pay a very special tribute to the wives and families that put up with all these guys for so long, under very difficult circumstances, you are the real heros. Thanks to the wives, these guys clean up pretty good.
Invocation (Ed Cagney) - We thank you for the heritage and liberty we enjoy as Americans and for the privilege of having served in the Submarine Service to protect that liberty. We pray Thy blessing and wisdom for our country’s leaders and those chosen to lead our organization. May they seek your guidance as they serve our nation and us. At this time we remember those of our shipmates who are sick, troubled, and bereaved. Place your healing hand on their bodies and mind, we pray. We pray for our shipmates on Eternal Patrol. Bless them and their loved ones, now and through all eternity. May we feel your presence in this meeting. Make us patient with our shipmates, wise in our deliberations, and bless us during this time together. We offer these prayers in your name. Amen!
Pledge to Flag (Frank Phipps)
Moment of Silence for those on Eternal Patrol (Frank Phipps)
Introduction of Special Guests (Frank Phipps) - Officers, Blue Plank Owners, Gold Plank Owners, Decommissioning Crew, Wives and friends
Committee Reports
Financial Report (Herb Murphy) - I appreciate the opportunity to do this. I’ll give you a quick run down of what I have so far, I came in with 3 payments to make for Banquet, Rock’n’Soul and Graceland, from payments made for advanced deposits, donations and dues totaling $5405. I paid out $12 for checks, $287.50 for the Rock’n’Soul tour, $4320.00 for the convention center for banquet, $82.35 soda pop, $32.60 more soda pop and $495.00 for the Graceland tour. As of right now I have $736.00 in the checkbook, $485.50 in cash and then pick up some more from the 50/50 and then some from the auction. I will have to wait until the dust settles and it looks like we will have $1300 to $1400 to start off the USS Lafayette Association. I think that is a pretty good way to start, because when Bill Fraser started this up we had zilch, I didn’t even have enough to open a checking account until Captain Groth for the banquet.
(Frank Phipps) – One thing that Herb did not mention, David Roth’s book have sold out and he made 50 copies and he graciously spent $20.00 on it, and he is donating all of it. He probably spent that much apiece on it and he tells me that he has $1000 that Herb doesn’t know about yet. Thank you for helping.
Business
Amount of Association Dues (Frank Phipps) - a survey was put out by Bill Fraser with $10.00 a year suggested. We will have mailing cost and we will be sending out a news letter. Motion was mad for $10.00 a year, seconded and motion carried.
Association By-Laws (Frank Phipps) - Bill Fraser put together some By-Laws which you have all had an opportunity to look at, I did read them all the way through. I don’t have any problem with them, they have worked and are plagiarized. I want to recommend that we accept these By-Laws as they are allowing the duly elected President will have the sole authority to implement them as he sees fit to fit the character of this organization and we vote on them at the next meeting. Motion made and seconded, motion carried.
Location and Date of next Reunion (Frank Phipps) - I asked Roy Guthrie to put together and collect votes on the next location. He has tabulated them. Receiving 1 vote were Lake Tahoe, Seattle, Myrtle Beach, St Mary’s, Nashville, Reno, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Boston, 2 votes for New Orleans. Tied for second with 6 votes apiece were Austin, TX and New London, CT. The top vote getter was Charleston 13. The President is instructed to look at Charleston, SC to see if it can accommodate our next reunion. A motion was made and seconded to have the reunion every 2 years and motion carried. After a great deal of discussion on the location, a motion was made and seconded to have the elected officers decide on the next reunion location.
Election of Officers (Frank Phipps) - Billy Knight and Herb Wise tied for Association President and will meet offline to decide who will be President and who will be Vice-President. Ernie Lester was voted in as Association Secretary. David Roth was voted in as Association Treasurer. Billy Knight and Herb Wise reported that Billy Knight will be the President and Herb Wise will be Vice President.
Other Business (Frank Phipps) - This is really from the bottom of my heart and I’m sure that’s also from a lot of you. Captain Strong and Captain Hannifin both said that Bill Fraser deserves a thank you. This is one humongous achievement that we are all here.
(Bill Fraser) - I told Frank before the meeting that I didn’t want to come up here, but now I feel compelled to come up here. First, I want to say thank you to Jane. She has put up with me through this, she is still with me and she is still smiling. Then I want to thank Herb Murphy who has been there every step of the way with me, providing moral support and taking care of the money. Thank you Herb. I want to thank at the head table, two of the finest gentlemen that I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet, Admiral Hannifin and Captain Strong. The two of you together commissioned our submarine, the two of you together commissioned our inaugural reunion. Thank you so much, for being here. All of you have talked to me this week and you know that I don’t talk too much, so just want to thank each and every one of you. All the wives and friends have jumped in to put together the name tags, folded the brochures and done other tasks. All the shipmates have all pitched in to make this a success. Stubb Crawford collected and had to use several trips to get everything up here for the auction. Dave Roth, what you did with the book, and the memories they brought back, opening the floodgates. That’s going to be the most significant memory going forward, and the money that you raised for the Association, thank you, thank you.
(Frank Phipps) - There are 66 shipmates attending, including 3 officers and there are 47 wives, friends and children that have also attended this reunion. Thank you all for attending.
Closing Ceremony
Closing (John Groth, Navigator USS Lafayette, Captain USN Retired) - I would like to share with you a couple of experiences that I’ve had since leaving the Navy. While we were at sea together on Lafayette during the Cold War I believe we all wondered if we were really making a difference and doing the right thing by being there. Whether the Cold War was real, whether Russia was a threat to our wives, children, families and our personal freedom, or were we wasting our efforts. I had an opportunity after I retired to visit Russia behind the Iron Curtain. It was a shocking, eye opening experience. It drove home to me that not only was what we were doing right it was absolutely necessary. The regime that controlled Russia was a very real threat. I was behind the Iron Curtain for ten days; I’ve been frightened many times in my life but the fear I experienced there was very real and very different. The suppression and control of the people, natives and visitors, was complete and constant. This trip made me understand just how necessary our patrols were. Our days on Lafayette, with their plethora of challenges, made a difference. Our personal sacrifices, the extremely long hours, short pay and enforced absences guaranteed our freedoms. Four years after this first trip I returned again to Russia. The Iron Curtain was down now, and I was able to take Joan, my wife, with me. Conditions had changed dramatically. The people were no longer oppressed and afraid to speak with Americans. On this trip I got first hand knowledge of how much of a challenge we presented to the Soviet Navy. A member of our delegation had been a submarine officer in the Soviet Navy. My background was well known to all of the Russians. This individual deliberately spilled a drink in my lap. He was immediately escorted from the group and the leader of their group apologized for that individuals conduct. The
Russians fully understood how much difference we made. Shortly after the visit to Russia I went to sea with my son-in-law on the Henry Jackson, an Ohio class boomer. It was like going home. The folks in the Nav Center, the torpedo room, the crew’s mess, the missile control center, and the wardroom acted just like us. The same sense of humor, dedication to professional knowledge and conduct, and overall attitude reminded me again of what we were able to accomplish. This reunion has been another good
experience. Seeing the not so old faces, sharing experiences and laughs and finding out that after Lafayette we continued to make a difference has been very gratifying. Thanks again to our original Commanding Officers who set the tone for our ship; a tone that carried us threw difficult times with humor and optimism and allowed us to make a significant contribution to our families and our country. Shipmates, ladies and gentleman thank you.
Benediction (Herb Wise) - Dear God, our Heavenly Father; We approach you again at the end of this meeting. We are grateful for the privilege we have of meeting as veterans of the Submarine Service. Bless us as we go our separate ways and give us traveling mercies as we return to our homes and loved ones. Amen!
The financial report is informational and does not require a vote.
Revision of By-laws: The Board of Trustees proposed changes to members through an email and now calls for a motion to approve the proposed changes:
1. Board of Directors to have 9 members instead of 7 consisting of 4 elected members, 1 Chairman, and 4
Trustees. The Outgoing President is to become Chairman, and Outgoing Chairman to become a Trustee.
The term of the Trustee being on the Board the longest expires. Eventually all Trustees will be past
presidents.
2. Rotation of the reunion from eastern, western and central US may be broken when warranted by a
majority vote for the Board of Directors.
3. The Association will no longer have a Ships Store, as articles are available from online retailers. The
Storekeeper will be responsible for selling specialty items required for resale.
4. Only persons who served on the Lafayette are eligible for membership in the Association. There are no
longer auxiliary members. Membership is required prior to registering for and attending reunions with the
exception of immediate family members accompanying members and immediate family members of
deceased Lafayette veterans.
5. Dues are paid for the reunion period and not for the calendar year.
6. Liability and dissolution were added, as well as a change the tax status from Non-Profit to Not-for-profit
for IRS tax reporting requirements.
A motion to approve was made and seconded.
Before a vote on the above motion, a member called for discussion around individual personal liability if the Association incurred debt exceeding its available resources. With a not-for-profit status, the Association is not a legal entity and members could be individual sued and held liable for the debts incurred by the Association.
The vote for the seconded motion to approve the Revision of By-laws made above was approved.
An additional second motion was made by Mike Skivington to lead an investigation to protect the organization and the membership in the event of insolvency. The second motion for Mike Skivington to lead an investigation on insolvency was seconded, and with no further discussion, was approved.
Election Discussion:
Current President Gary Chistopher summarized the by-laws language that a president could not serve consecutive terms as President and the provision that the current VP would become the new President. Gary also explained the current Vice-President, Mike Bellantoni, is not able serve as President due to his current personal and family situation.
Call for Nominations:
President: Wayne Phillips volunteered, no other nominations.
Vice President: Hal Williams volunteered, no other nominations.
Secretary: Joe Wisecaver volunteered, no other nominations.
Election of Officers:
There was no discussion or opposition for any of the above nominees. All were elected by unanimous vote.
Appointments:
Membership Chair: Tim Cole volunteered. There was no discussion or opposition. Tim was elected
unanimously.
Chaplin: John Fornicola agreed to continue as Association Chaplain for the next two years.
Storekeeper: Jim Jadul could not attend the reunion, but agreed to continue as Storekeeper if necessary.
Historian: Bob Porter could not attend the reunion, but agreed to continue as Association Historian for the
next two years.
Webmaster: Dave Seeschaaf was appointed to fill the position of webmaster at the 2015 reunion, but has
not taken over for Bill Fraser. Bill Fraser announced his intention to resign as webmaster. The board needs
to conduct a search for a replacement for the Webmaster appointment.
Committee Chairs appointed:
Membership - Tim Cole (as noted above)
Newsletter – Tim Cole
Bylaws – John Sherman
Location for the next Reunion:
Newly elected Wayne Phillips led the discussion for the 2019 reunion city and asked for recommendations. San Antonio TX was proposed based upon being the runner-up city for the San Diego Reunion site. Branson MO was suggested by a member via the Facebook page. Corpus Christi TX was suggested by a member from the floor. Further discussion eliminated Branson.
Corpus Christi – 9 votes
San Antonio – 10 votes
New Orleans – 0 votes
Third week of June was suggested time frame.
It was suggested from the floor that Wayne Phillips and Herb Wise coordinate viable San Antonio options.
Summarizing the consensus reached, Wayne stated that the reunion would be held in the 3rd week of June in San Antonio TX with a notice to the membership via the Newsletter asking for additional inputs.
Payment of Dues:
Payment at the reunion for most members covers 2016 and 2017. Members can pay dues in advance for future years. Participation in the raffle is for members that are current on their dues.
Tour of the USS Midway:
Hal Williams offered his insights on the upcoming tour. He is a docent on the Midway and could gain admission for all interested reunion attendees. Parking at the Navy Pier is $10 all day.
Raffle:
Two books in the hospitality suite being raffled for the benefit of the Association.
Meeting Adjourned: The business meeting was adjourned at 17:16.
Call to Order: by President Gary Christopher at 1500
Pledge of Allegiance: by Dennis Lauze
Opening Prayer: by Chaplin John Fornicola
Meeting Minutes of last meeting 2017 Reunion held in San Diego, CA: Read and motion to approve the Minutes, seconded and voted to approve.
Financial Report: The financial report by Treasurer Mike Skivington. We are currently solvent. We have approximately $14,400 in the treasury. I anticipate that number will drop to between $6,000 and $7,000 post this reunion. The financial report is informational and does not require a vote.
Election Discussion:
Vice President: Carl Brown volunteered. There was no discussion or opposition. Carl was elected unanimously.
Treasurer: Mike Skivington will remain until the next reunion with Juan Castillo in training. There was no discussion or opposition.
Secretary: Ed Burdick volunteered. There was no discussion or opposition. Ed was elected unanimously.
Newsletter Editor: Carl Brown will continue as Newsletter Editor until the beginning of 2021 in addition to his duties as Vice President
Webmaster: Randy Bolin volunteered. There was discussion and Bill Fraser will remain and train Randy. There was no further discussion and Randy was elected unanimously.
Chaplain: John Fornicola has indicated that he would like to step down as Chaplain. Harvey McFadden has volunteered There was no further discussion and Harvey was appointed.
Location for the 2021 Reunion:
Discussions regarding Portsmouth, NH, Annapolis MD, Norfolk, VA and Orlando, FL were all discussed as potential sites for the reunion. Motion to close nominations. In accordance with the Association Bylaws, we have 6 months from this meeting (August 2019) in which to determine the location of the next reunion. That gives us until February, but the Board would like to be able to announce the location before then. The below individuals will provide more information regarding each of the potential reunion sites to the Board of Trustees by as soon as possible.
Dennis Lauze Portsmouth, NH
Herb Wise Savannah/Atlanta, GA
Gary Greba Annapolis MD,
Wayne Phillips, Orlando, FL
Meeting Adjourned: The business meeting was adjourned at 16:15.
