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2009 San Antonio Reunion Recap |
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8th Biennual Reunion held in San Antonio, Texas September 20-24, is now behind us. Here is a report of the happenings. For those of you who were there, a reminder of the great time we had. For those that were not, this is what you missed. Hopefully, those in attendance will join us again on the East coast in 2011. For those that missed San Antonio, we'd like to see you in 2011. We had a total of 68 shipmates registered and along with wives and guests, we totaled 131. Of the 68 shipmates, 19 of them were FIRST TIMERS. Four of them have attended all EIGHT REUNIONS. We started the registration day Sunday September 20th by distributing Souvenir Tote Bags, stuffed with all kinds of goodies, ship store coupons, and tickets for the raffles, tours and banquet. We received raffle donations from all. We had awards for those that traveled the furthest, the winner being Marvin Winters from Palmer, Alaska, 4081 miles one way. Now for those of you that lived in Texas and didn't join us, you weren't really too far away wherever you lived. We even had prizes for those guessing the closest total miles one way for all 68 registered shipmates, which by the way totaled 75,890 miles, three times around Earth. On Monday morning September 21st, we had our general meeting. Elected a new Sgt at Arms Gene Douglas, a new Secretary Kathleen Pitman, and a new Newsletter Flank Speed Queen Nelda Hackett. We concluded the meeting with a raffle of the donated items. We then went to The Enchanted Springs Ranch for a BBQ, a little western entertainment, an illusionist, and even had a couple of folks arrested for mis deeds. Kenny Pitman had a marker at boot hill "hanged for watering down the whiskey". O W Forest was arrested, I was arrested and pled not guilty and called on Warren Doyle as my defense attorney. Don't use him, he sided with the prosecutor. We had a grand time. On Tuesday September 22nd, we woke to rain. We had to cancel our tour buses to the Riverwalk and Alamo, but several of our shipmates braved the weather and went on their own. It was a grand day in the hospitality room. A lot of fellowship, and comraderie took place. Sometimes at these reunions, we just don't have enough time to do just that, so it was a welcomed non scheduled event. On Wednesday September 23rd, we all had to get up early and board our buses for Fredericksburg and the Admiral Nimitz Museum. We were greeted with more rain, but our resilient group made the best of it. We had a plaque dedication to Lewis K Bausell and the USS Bausell DD845. At this dedication we rang the bell for 39 shipmates who we had learned of their passing since our last reunion in Seattle. We then went to the Memorial Wall to unveil the plaque. We now can all rest assured that Lewis Bausell and the USS Bausell DD845 will live on for a very very long time. We then all toured the Combat Zone at the Nimitz Museum and the Museum itself. We had a wonderful catered lunch in the Nimitz Ballroom. From the Nimitz Museum, we proceeded on the tour buses to the LBJ Ranch in Johnson City. We were delightfully surprised to have there at the same time, Lucy Baines Johnson leading a group from a volunteer organization. We were able to join her in her tour and the telling of several stories. It was truly a great event to have her there while we were touring the ranch and the Texas Whitehouse. On Thursday September 24th, three of our shipmates played golf at Fort Sam Houston and I understand there were some scores…. High or low, who cared. We were able to reschedule the tour buses for a trip to the Riverwalk and Alamo which most of the folks took advantage of. In the evening we had our farewell banquet. Prior to the start of the dinner we had a Color Guard from Lackland AFB which was very emotional. The Color Guard then joined us for dinner and intermingled with our shipmates. We enjoyed dancing to the music of Future Sounds, we raffled off more items, and had prizes and awards. We then started the Casino Night for two hours and then gave away prizes for those that were able to parlay their PHONY MONEY into the top three winners. We then had our GRAND PRIZE drawing for a painting that Warren Doyle had completed and donated. We closed the 2009 San Antonio Reunion and bid farewell for two years, looking forward to seeing everyone, and some new faces in 2011 on the East Coast. As a side note, we had three digital cameras floating around during the reunion events and these pictures will be edited and a DVD will be made and distributed to all registered shipmates. Distribution will hopefully be prior to Christmas. Any shipmate not at the reunion may purchase one of these DVDs for $8.00 which will include postage. Just send your check payable to the USS Bausell DD845 Association and mail to Eugene D'Arezzo, P O Box 1765, Lake Havasu City, AZ 86405. Success of this Reunion was due to the attendance of 131 shipmates, spouses and guests. It was a pleasure being your host and reunion coordinator. See You in 2011, Gene D'Arezzo |