October Meeting Notes

We started October meeting with the Tolling for the Boats lost during the month.

Before our usual introductions, Base Commander Keith Watson and Treasurer Jim Harper presented Tim Floersch with his submarine cutaway plaque prize from our August raffle. Tim selected his qualification boat, USS Redfish (SS-395) for the plaque.

Jim (left) and Keith (right) present Tim (center) with his plaque

Base Elections: Seattle Base elections will be held in January. Steve Shelton is in charge of the Nominating Committee. If you are interesting running for one of the base officer positions, please contact Steve.

Base Donations: During the Treasurer's Report, Jim Harper let us know that because USSVI is now an official War Veterans organization, donations to the Seattle Base are tax deductible. If you want to make a donation to the base, Jim can give you the right form so you can claim it on you taxes.

Base Raffle: Due to the success of our last raffle, we have decided to do another. We will once again raffle off a submarine cut-away plaque; the winner has their choice of submarine class (Gato, Balao, Tench, Sturgeon, or Lafayette) and it can be customized with the appropriate boat name.

Additionally, there will be a runner-up prize of a set of submarine coasters; the winner can choose a set of Fleet boat gauges or Dolphins.

Talk to Jim, he will help you get tickets.

The drawing will be held at the our Holiday Luncheon on December 17th. You don't have to be a member of Seattle Base to participate in the raffle and you do not need to be present at the luncheon to win. Ticket are $5 each. If you would like to purchase tickets, contact Jim Harper (tel: 425-357-6485, e-mail: kh6cn@earthlink.net).

Upcoming Events
Auburn Veterans Day Parade - The parade is set for Saturday November 5th. The Seattle Base will be marching in the parade with our base float, along other submariners from the region, and the Silent Service Motorcycle Club. We are planning on meeting at the staging area near the intersection of L St SE and Main St around 10:00 AM. Free parking is available in garage near the transit center. The parade starts at 11:00 AM and you can see a map of the parade route, with the transit center location and staging areas, at this link. There are other events planned throughout the day, you can find out more ion the community calendar pages of the Auburn city website.

Tahoma National Cemetery Veterans Day Remembrance - This program will be on Friday November 11th starting at 11:00 AM. Remember there is limited parking at the cemetery, so be sure to show up early.

2011 Seattle Base Holiday Luncheon - Our annual luncheon will be at The Seattle Yacht Club on December 17th. The cost this year will be $44 per person and a registration form will be available shortly and a copy will go out in the newsletter at the beginning of November.

October Program
For October, Bob Opple presented a program about the return of USS Razorback to the U.S. after 62 years of service in the U.S. and Turkish navies. He started off talking about the "Three Sisters" (Razorback SS-394, Redfish SS-395, and Ronquil SS-396) and their recent reunion and his time on Razorback. He then talked about how he became involved in the effort and all the work needed to get Razorback returned from the Turkish Navy. Bob is a great speaker and his presentations are always enjoyable.


Binnacle List
Andrea Geisler is recovering from an eye surgery. She had a corneal graft.

Robbie Robertson is dealing with prostate cancer. He reported that his doctor told him that it is slow growing and not expected to be life threatening.

Bruce Fisher is dealing with diabetic neuropathy of his foot.

Bob Morris is recovering from prostate surgery.