Home Page : News: Reunion Information:
Last Updated June 25, 2006
DDMBC Breakfast Meetings Ten people showed for the breakfast; Steve & Michie Stevens, Herm Jackson, Dickie Elder, Jim Roberts, Marius & Bruce Burke, Charlie Means, Phil Peyton and yours truly. I haven't been able to make breakfast much over past few weeks, so cannot say how they went. But there were people for each one and I'm sure they all enjoyed reminiscing. Below is update on progress of the 2003 Reunion plans: On November 8th, Jerry and Carol Toman, Tom Jenny and Dick Elder formed an ad hoc entertainment evaluation group to watch and hear an entertainer named Tim Rippie. Everyone was favorably impressed, and Jerry is now negotiating for a contract. Larry Fraser is negotiating with the river boat people for a Friday night riverboat barbecue with a DJ. The PAO for the USS Kennedy Carrier is complaining about the size of our group; they usually break big groups into 50 person or smaller groups. Because of maintenance that will be occurring when we are there they want the maximum size to be 30. They haven't said no, but they are concerned (I told them to expect at least 300). If all else fails, I'll try to do it over two or three days. The hotel had 145 room-nights reserved as of a few weeks ago. There are still rooms available for those who plan to make the reunion. If you're not sure, but think you will be attending, suggest book a room. You can always cancel the reservation up to 3 days before the reunion, if you determine you can't make it. I should mention that we had a birthday party for Herm Jackson on Thursday, December 5th and about 16 guests showed up to wish him the best. We had it at a Mexican Restaurant without the "Mariachies". Ben, Kippy and grandson, Benjamin, Marius & Vinetra, Bruce & Rose Burke, Dick Elder, Buz Pheasant, Doris Walton, Steve & Michie, Geza & Suzie Eiler, and Kim and me. Although Herm had insisted he didn't want a party, I think he enjoyed it very much. These birthdays are great excuses to get together. That's it for now. You all have a good day and cheers. Walt Ranallo DDMBC
Breakfast Meetings Seven
people showed for the October 19th breakfast; Steve Stevens, Herm Jackson,
Dickie Elder, Jim Roberts, Marius Burke, Buz Pheasant and yours truly.
Later in the afternoon, Marius and Vinetra Burke had a housewarming at
their new home in Merritt Island and 20 plus attended.
Except for Jim Roberts, all the above were there plus Doris Walton,
Michie Stevens, Kim Ranallo, Don Clair, Bob McCormick, Suzie Burke, John Elben
& Nancy, Charlie & Marcie Means, and two ladies who had worked in SEA
during the war. Sherry
Cherihaus was a nurse in “Nam” and Bobby Keith worked for National Security.
Paul Vasconi (Air America Foundation) also showed up.
It was a very nice party and the Burke’s home, which is located right
on the Banana River (actually Sykes Creek), is in a beautiful setting.
The sunsets are spectacular from his back yard and he has a dock that
extends quite far out into the river. The
area is a feeding ground for manatees, and you normally will see quite a few
from his dock. The Burke’s daughter, Suzie, was visiting and helped
Vinetra in preparing a fantastic “Thai/Vietnamese” fare.
Everyone enjoyed and we sort of combined the housewarming with a few
birthdays, Marius, Vinetra and Michie Stevens. There
were 15 good folks at breakfast this morning and we had some pretty interesting
conversations; Steve Stevens and his guest Bill Uhl, Michie and her friend
Annie, Herm Jackson, Dickie Elder, Ben Densley, Bill Hutchison, Marius Burke,
Buz Pheasant, Geza Eiler, Catfish Manecke, Doris Walton, Bruce Burke and me.
Steve brought his hot sauces; Strawbinera, Jalapino and True Blue. Geza
brought an article, Ration of Luck, which is in the October/November
issue of Air & Space. As it
turns out, the article was about AA and the use of smokejumpers in Laos.
Ironically, a couple weeks ago at breakfast, Tom Jenny had told the same
story about one of the pilots in this article.
I plan to make a few copies of the article and give to some of the guys
at our next breakfast. Due
to a work commitment, Jerry Toman was unable to make reservations for the Tim
Rippi performance at the VFW in St. Augustine on October 18th.
Therefore Dickie, Herm and Tom didn’t make the show.
However, Tim is having another show on November 8th, and maybe
someone will be able to make that show. Herm’s
sister had a stroke and Herm is dividing his time between here and Charlotte, N.
C. She is in the hospital and
will have to stay there until they can dissolve a clot she has in her Aorta
artery. Herm will be returning to
N. C. next Wednesday. Well,
that’s about all for now. Our
next breakfast is Saturday, October 9th at the Island Bar BQ.
See you all there around 10ish.
Walt Ranallo DDMBC
Breakfast Meetings Nine showed
for September 21st breakfast; Steve Stevens, Herm Jackson, Dickie Elder, Ben
Densley, Bob McCormick, Mac McLenon, Jim Roberts, Phil Peyton, Charlie Means,
and Ron Dixon. I was in
Tallahassee to watch the “Moles” beat up on Duke.
It wasn’t so easy the following Thursday when they visited U of L at
Louisville. Blame it on the weather
or whatever, but the fact is that Louisville outplayed and outscored them. I’ll take my lumps on this one. Marius
continues work on his new house; Vinetra is visiting with her son and
daughter-in-law in California and helping out with their new grand daughter.
She is expected back this coming Monday. There were 10 folks at breakfast this morning and we had some pretty interesting conversations; Steve Stevens, Herm Jackson, Dickie Elder, Ben Densley, Bob McCormick, Phil Peyton, Bill Hutchison, Marius Burke, Ron Dixon and me. Steve brought his hot sauces; Strawbinera, Jalapino and True Blue. Ben
Densley was able to furnish more information on when and where the refurbished
Huey Helicopter. Ben will be the
pilot and will fly it from Ft. Pierce to the Merritt Island Airport on Friday,
October 4th. Carolyn
Jachens will also be in the plane. It
is expected to arrive in Merritt Island around 9:30 a.m. Several AA helicopter pilots & mechanics are expected to
show up and tell about how it was used in SEA.
Marius, Steve, Dick and Hutch indicated they would probably be there.
Hopefully, some others in the area will also make it.
Someone should bring a digital camera and take some pictures and maybe we
can send them in for display on the AA Website.
You
can learn more about this project at the website www.intheshadowoftheblade.com.
This site will give you every thing you need to know regarding the
project. Also, the project is being
documented and Cheryl Fries is the producer from Arrowhead Films, she is at
(512) 445-0805, if you need any info. Jim
Palmershiem, who works with the outfit doing the refurbishing, had wanted Bruce
Jachens to pilot the Huey on their trip around the country, but when they
learned he had died, they got in touch with Ben through Carolyn Jachens.
You can reach Jim at shady27@aol.com;
mention to him that you knew Bruce and he’ll fill you in on all the details;
his phone number is (817) 421-0869. We
had a going away party at Herm’s condominium complex for Bob McCormick tonight
and had a nice showing. Steve,
Michie and Herm put everything together and we enjoyed a very good BBQ rib
dinner. Besides those already
mentioned; others who came were Dickie, Ben & Kippy, Kim & Walt, Doris
Walton and Tom Jenny drove down from Ormond Beach. Had a very good time and enjoyed. At
the party, Dickie mentioned that Jerry Toman had told him that he would get
tickets for anyone wanting to go to see Tim Rippi perform at the VFW in St.
Augustine. Tim is our tentative
entertainment for the 2003 Reunion, will be entertaining at the VFW on US1 South
on October 18th and November 8th.
Dickie, Herm and Tom agreed at the party that they would go to the
October 18th show. As we
understand, the dinners are good and very reasonable…$5 to $10.
If anybody else is interested in going to see Tim’s act, contact Jerry
Toman. I’ve
received several messages from Wayne Knight and Duane “Rocky” Owen who are
at the Bangkok reunion. Wayne
wrote:
G'Day,
I figured it was time for a short report on activities here so far. A lot of the
people are touring, so there are several that I haven't seen. There may have
been a few in the hospitality suite that I missed for other reasons. There are
reported to be about 170 expats here for the affair. I'll try to get a good
count at the banquet on Sat night. Check
out the attachments. Wayne Rocky
has continued to send messages as he travels around SEA.
There are too many to put in this letter. I
was out of town for the October 5th breakfast, so Doris Walton picked
up the slack and wrote the following: Hi
Walt, I guess its o.k. to e-mail you now (got your message about no e-mails for
5 days)--I went to breakfast on Saturday and the people present told me that I
was secretary for the day. . I
brought a friend from Long Island (now living in N.C.), Chris Momgiardo. Chris
is an O.R. nurse I worked with in N.C. She
came for a visit with me, then will go on to Palm Harbor, where her son lives.
I wanted her to meet the "Group" just to prove they really
exist, since I have told her a lot about AAM & the DDMBC.
Those present were Steve Stevens, Herm Jackson, Susie and Geza Eiler,
Hutch, Marius, Ben Densley, Phillip, Dick Elder, Chris and I.
Great "write up" in Florida Today, Sat. 10/5--about the film
crew doing documentary on "Huey"--"Shadow of the
Blade"--mention made with quotes about Hutch, and Ben Densley (I saved the
clipping). Hope to see you next week. Ciao, Doris, Herm, Marius, Geza,
Tom Jenny, Bob McCormick, Ben, Dickie, Jim Roberts, Phil Peyton and yours truly
showed up for breakfast today (October 12th).
Marius announced that he will have a house warming party next Saturday
and I sent out a separate note to announce this to the DDMBC members.
Any others desiring to make the Burke’s party are welcome; just let
Marius know so he can get a headcount for buying food and refreshments.
Dickie announced that he played a round of golf with John Elbens and
“Cleaned his clock”. Dick also
reminded me that Florida State was going get their asses kicked by Miami today,
but he wouldn’t back up his boast with a bet.
GO NOLES! Lucky he didn’t
as it sure wasn’t a blowout. Tom
Jenny had an interesting story about a plane crash and I’d like to get him to
write it down in his words since he was the co-pilot.
Would be interesting reading for anyone visiting the AA website.
Ben & Kippy are having their house warming party tonight, and I’ll
finish this letter after that. Ben
& Kippy Densley had a very house warming at their new apartment.
Must have been 30 or 40 people. Kim
and I enjoyed ourselves. Looking
forward to the house warming at the Burke’s place next week. Anyone
planning to make next year’s reunion should make reservations now.
The rooms at the Radisson Riverwalk are filling fast, especially those
with a view of the St. John River. Reunion
dates are from Thursday, June 5 to Sunday, June 8.
The discounted rate is $69 per room/night.
Call (904) 396-5100 for reservations. Walt & Kim Ranallo The Breakfast Club in Action
|
|||
|
Please send web updates or information about problems with this page to the Webmaster.
|
