June Meeting Notes

We started the June meeting with the reading the Tolling of the Boats for June, followed by birthday wishes for our members, introductions, and officer reports.

Old and New Business 
Bremerton Armed Forces Day Parade – Keith Watson shared some stories and photos from the Bremerton parade. You can see the photos from the parade and Memorial Day at Tahoma National Cemetery at this blog post.

Cruzin to Colby Car Show - Jim Harper gave a short report on the Seattle Base booth at the Cruzin to Colby Car Show on Memorial Day weekend. Jim, Bill Giese, and Larry Abbott manned the booth, with our wooden Bonefish model covered with 52 US flags, and spoke with the crowd at the show. Larry also made up a display binder outlining the history of USS Bonefish (Washington state's WWII Lost Boat) and including information on the crewmen lost during Bonefish's last patrol. The binder really helped with explaining the purpose of our organization and Larry deserves a BZ for his effort. Jim also let us know that we received around $200 in donations from the crowd.

Bill with the Seattle Base booth

Smokey Point Rest Stop Event - This year the Base drew July 9 and 11, a mid-week timeslot, for manning the coffee booth at the Smokey Point rest stop. We will be manning the coffee booth starting around 1:00 pm on the 9th and go until mid-day on the 11th. Steve Shelton reported that we still need some volunteers for Tuesday afternoon and can use donations of cookies (or to buy cookies). If you want to help out, contact Steve at 206-526-1130.

Silent Service Motorcycle Club – Bob Opple gave us an update on the SSMC, letting us know that they are now the second largest USSVI Base and their membership includes around 90 active duty submariners.

2013 Calendar News - Robbie Robertson let us know that the Submarine Veterans of WWII are planning to do a 2013 calendar. Pat Householder let us know the 2013 USSVI calendar will be called "The Victors" to salute WWII submariners, showing them returning home at the end of WWII.

Recruiting new members - Art Thompson wants to talk about ideas for recruiting new members for the base. He would like everyone to think about ways to recruit new members (and keep them) and bring their ideas to the next meeting.

Upcoming Events
Kirkland Independence Day Parade - The Seattle Base and Silent Service Motorcycle Club will be participating in the Kirkland Independence Day Parade on July 4th. Kirkland goes all out for veterans and always has treats, a pizza lunch, and boutonnieres for all military members and veterans in the parade. Approximately 30,000 people line the parade route and always make veterans feel welcome. We are meeting at the corner of Central Way and Market Street, be there by 10:30. If you run into problems at any street barricades, just tell the police that you are marching in the parade. The parade starts at noon.

Lockwood Chapter Picnic - The Submarine Veterans of World War II Lockwood Chapter is having a picnic at VFW Post 2995 on Wednesday August 8 from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM. Everyone is invited to attend.

Tolling of the Boats – The Tolling of the Boats ceremony is set for Saturday, August 18. We have requested the Navy Band for the event and we will have more information at the next meeting.

Navy Birthday Celebration - VFW Post 2995 is planning to have a dinner to celebrate the Navy's Birthday on October 13 and they have invited us to join them. We will have more information about event as it gets closer.

June Presentation 

A Soviet Echo class submarine

June's presentation was on the first generation of Soviet nuclear submarines. Dave Schueler talked about the design and development of the November, Hotel, and Echo submarine classes. He covered the strengths and weaknesses of the submarines and how they influenced U.S. Navy strategy. He also had charts that compared these classes with their American counterparts. It was an interesting presentation with a lot of information.

Binnacle List 

Chris Opple, Bob Opple's wife, is still undergoing treatment for cancer. She recently completed a round of treatments and is waiting for test results.

Fred Ensslin, was admitted to the hospital for some tests. We will update his condition as soon as we hear something.