Commander's Corner for August 2014

I hope you are enjoying this summer of great weather with your family and friends. Like most of you I have a full plate of things to do including volunteering at the Museum of Flight, Seattle Veterans Hospital, and tending to some of our base activities. I am thankful to many of you who are keeping me afloat, and by your selfless commitment to our base.

The Northwest is blessed with abundant lakes and the Puget Sound, where one of my favorite things do is paddling or Kayaking as most people refer to it. I am in the process of introducing my eleven-year-old grandson, Nathan, to Kayaking and, excuse the pun, he is taking to it like the preverbal “Duck to Water.” We are anxious to purchase a kayak kit for him and construct it over the next few months. It will give him a sense of pride when he completes it and, hopefully, provide me with a new paddling buddy.

Like many of you, I have been following Bob Opple’s daily account of his incredible journey with his sidekick, Roscoe the “Bike Dog.” It’s like a good novel, interesting, sometimes amusing, and truly inspirational considering the basis for his sojourn.

Bob has the right stuff and we are proud to have in in our ranks as a “Brother of the Phinn”. We wish to express our gratitude to Bob for sharing insights to his friends and family. Bob: Travel Safe, and keep well.

We hope to see all of you at the Tolling the Boats Ceremony and picnic on Saturday, August 16. Set up will start around 10 AM, with the picnic starting around 11:30 and the ceremony getting underway between 1:15 and 1:30.

Also, don't forget that we cancelled the August business meeting. The next regular business meeting will be September 17.

“Remember: Some gave all, all gave some”

Dick Gonzalez
Seattle Base Commander