April 2014 Meeting Notes

We started off the April meeting with Tolling the Boats lost in April, followed by birthday wishes for our members and for the 114th birthday of the U.S. submarine force.

We all enjoyed a little birthday cake during the break

Old and New Business:
Cabelas Event – We had the base float and a number of members at Cabelas on April 5, but the planned return on Sunday was cancelled due to bad weather. Overall, it was a really good time and the base picked up over $200 in donations. We are looking at going there again for Armed Forces weekend (May 17 & 18) and a couple more times during the year. It is a great opportunity to get interact with the public.

South Sound Boating Season Opening Day - On Saturday, May 10 the Seattle Base float will be at the Des Moines Yacht Club’s South Sound Opening Day festivities and we are looking for some members to spend a few hours ‘showing the flag’ at the event. The gates will open at 11 AM and the ceremony starts at noon. There will be boat tours, food, music, and other displays. If you are interested in helping out or would like a little more information, please contact Base Commander Dick Gonzales. Thanks to Don Masero for organizing this event with the Des Moines Yacht Club.

Longevity Pins – Seattle Base handed out USSVI longevity pins at the meeting. The following members were given pins (the pins are being mailed to the members not in attendance):

Former Base Commander Ric Hedman gets his USSVI 15 Year Longevity Pin

• 5 year pins: Paul Berger, Pierre Bruneau, Andrea Geisler, Doug Gilman, David Glassman, Dick Gonzales, Bill Lightfoot, Curt Maier, Lois Mezek, Stephen Miller, Art Thompson, Don Ulmer, and Keith Watson.
• 10 year pins: Doug Abramson, John Bush, Eric Muller, Sam Ronnie, Charlie Ryan, Dave Schueler, Steve Shelton, and John Soth.
• 15 year pins: Jim Harper, Ric Hedman, Pat Householder, Karl Krompholz, and Cliff Nutter.

Storekeeper Items – Storekeeper Ralph Sterley is now stocking some miniature dolphins. The mini-dolphins are 1.5 inches long and are a great way to show your submarine pride and strike up conversations with prospective members.

A close up view of the mini-dolphins

Seattle VA Volunteers – The Seattle VA hospital Volunteer Services is still looking for volunteers to help out our fellow veterans and their families during the major construction project at the hospital. They would like the volunteers to commit to helping out for 6 months or about 100 hours (that is around 4 hours per week). Here is a list of the priority volunteer needs.

• Parking Lot Golf Cart Shuttle Drivers: To transport Veterans and visitors who ride Metro buses from an on-campus pick-up point to and from the facility main entrance. (Because of the construction project bus routes 50 and 60 are no longer able to drive on the campus.)
• Puget Sound NaVAgators: Frontline customer services - meet and greet, provide assistance to appointments, find wheelchairs for Veterans to use during their appointments, help with check-in on the new self-service kiosks, answer questions, etc. This is considered a very mobile assignment.
• Patient Information Representatives: This assignment requires access to VA computer systems, so there is a bit more training and processing required. Because of the construction a new information desk needing to be staffed by volunteers will be located in the basement of Building 1 – where the new temporary main entrance will be located. Volunteers are expected to continue staffing the current Information Desk near the Emergency Department.
• Volunteer Transportation Network (VTN) Drivers: Use a7 or 12 passenger government vehicle to transport Veterans to and from their VA facility destinations. Must have a good driving record and pass an occupational health examination. Some of these vans are based out of Seattle; others are coming in from outlying communities. 

All of these assignments occur during weekdays, generally between the hours of 7am and 5-m. If you are interested in helping out, you can talk with Base Commander Dick Gonzales, John Roberts, or contact Jeff Honeycutt at VA Volunteer Services: 206-277-1005.

April Program:
Our speaker for April was author and historian Richard Blumenthal. He spoke about the early maritime history of Puget Sound, including expeditions by Spanish explorers, the Vancouver expedition, and explorations by Charles Wilkes. He also opened up the floor to questions about the names of places around Puget Sound. Richard deftly answered our questions and told some very interesting stories about how places got their names. You can find books by Richard at the Inland Water Publishing website.

Richard Blumenthal receives a certificate of appreciation from Base Commander Dick Gonzales

Good of the Order:
USSVI Western Region Director John Mansfield gave a quick report on his visits to various bases in the region. He encouraged us to put in nominations for USSVI National Awards. The deadline for nominations is April 30 and you can find out more by reading the Awards manual here. He also reminded us about the USSVI National Convention in San Francisco, September 1 – 7.

The memorial service for Chris Opple will be this Saturday, April 26 at St. Madeleine Sophie Parish (4400 130th Place SE, Bellevue WA 98006). The service will start at 1100 a.m.