April Meeting Notes

We began the April meeting with the Tolling of the Boats for April, birthday wishes for our members, introductions, and officer reports. Then we moved right into the meeting business.

Old and New Business:
Thresher Memorial -If you didn't get a chance to see the webcast of the USS Thresher memorial service, you can view the video recording of the service below. Additionally, a PDF copy of the memorial program was emailed out and can be viewed here. Note that it is a big file and might take a little while to load.

Memorial Program video Part 1
Memorial Program video Part 2


Veteran's Memorial Dedication - Base Commander Doug Abramson, Ric Hedman and Pat Householder attended the Veteran's Memorial dedication at the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival on April 12. If you are going to visit the tulip fields this year, be sure to stop by the memorial. You can find out more about the at their website.

Armed Forces Day Weekend at Cabelas - On Saturday May 18, Armed Forces Day, and Sunday May 19 we will set up the Seattle Base float in the Cabela's parking lot. We are hoping to raise some funds for the base through donations from shoppers. We need plenty of volunteers to help man the float on both days. If you would like to help out with this event, please contact Base Commander Doug Abramson or any of the other base officers. You can find more information about, and directions to, the Cabelas store at this link.

Bremerton Armed Forces Day parade - If you can't make it to the Cabela's event, please consider attending the Bremerton Armed Forces Day parade on Saturday, May 18. The Silent Service Motorcycle Club and other local bases will be at the parade.

New Chairman for Tolling Ceremony - New base member John Roberts has stepped up to take over the chairman duties for the Tolling Ceremony from Bob Opple. Additionally, Dick Gonzales has volunteered to help John out with organizing the event. The Tolling ceremony is important part of who we are as USSVI. The next time you see Bob, be sure to thank him for all his hard work, and be sure to thank John and Dick for taking on the job of running the ceremony.

Smokey Point Rest Stop Event - We want to remind you that the Smokey Point event is back for 2013. This year we will be at the southbound rest stop on June 28 - July 1. Be sure to mark the dates on your calendar. Steve Shelton will have sign-up sheets available at the next meeting.

April Program
The April program was a potpourri of items. Bob Opple talked to us about the recent main engine starts on Razorback and showed the videos from the start.

I've embedded one video below:

Others can be found here, here, and here.

Steve Shelton told us about Darin Detwiler being chosen to receive the 2013 Washington State Governor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching History.

Finally, Keith Watson showed some photos of the old Naval Reserve armory on Lake Union, which has recently been reopened as the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI). He had photos from when it was first opened, through its time with reserve submarines, to its current look as MOHAI. It was fun to see all the old photos and get a report about the new museum.

Good of the Order
Pat Householder asked everyone to make sure their contact and next of kin information on the USSVI website is up to date.

Associate member Lois Mezek let us know that she has been attending Veterans Service Officer classes and that if anyone in the group is having issue with veterans benefits, she can help answer questions and put you in touch with people that can help out.

Binnacle List:

• Gene Posel is still recovering from a torn back muscle.
• Robbie Robertson is still battling prostate cancer.

We hope to see you at the next meeting.