January 2020 Meeting Cancelled

Shipmates,

I've been watching the weather and had a number of reports from different folks. The general consensus is that we cancel tomorrows meeting.

I've been in contact with the VFW about rescheduling the meeting for next week. But I haven't heard back yet, as they needed feedback from the staff as to what will be happening next Wednesday.

At this time the various Base Officers concur that tomorrows meeting WILL NOT HAPPEN. It is cancelled.

I will keep everyone informed as to the status of any rescheduled meeting.

Stay dry, Stay warm and be careful out there.

Respectfully
Ric Hedman
Seattle Base Commander

January 2020 Meeting Reminder, Snow, and More

The next Seattle Base meeting is planned for Wednesday, January 15, 2020. We will meet at VFW Post #2995 (4330 148th Ave N.E., Redmond WA 98052). Social hour starts at 6PM with business meeting at 7PM.

We hope to elect officers for the next two years at the January meeting. We have several possibilities for the different officer positions and your attendance is desired to help determine the results.

USS Memphis in a snowstorm in New London

There is the distinct possibility of snow on several days next week. As many of you know, conditions in the Puget Sound area make it hard to predict weather more than a few days out, so this forecast could be accurate or just another wild guess. That said, the predicted lows for next week are below freezing, which can make driving hazardous especially if combined with snow!

We’ll be keeping close tabs on the weather and, if necessary, look at rescheduling the meeting for the following week. We will keep your well-being in mind and if it looks too bad will send a notice of meeting cancellation 24 hours in advance.

One other note, we were contacted by the young man who runs the Faces of Valor project, which is an oral history project dedicated to interviewing America’s last WWII and Korean War veterans.

He is looking for veterans who served during WWII or the Korean War who would be interested in being interviewed about their service. If this is something you would like to do, I'll share his contact information at the next Seattle Base meeting or you can email me directly for the information.

You can read more about the project on the website and in this article from the Spokane Spokesman-Review.

January - February Dolphin Brotherhood Posted

The January - February 2020 issue of the Dolphin Brotherhood has been posted and is ready to view and download. (Note: The newsletter is stored on Dropbox, but you do not need to sign up for Dropbox account to view and download the newsletter; you can just close the window asking you to create or sign in to your account.)

This issue has photos from the 2019 Auburn Veterans Day Parade and the Seattle Base December Holiday Luncheon - along with the usual submarine related articles. I’ve included images of the panels from the new exhibit at the Bowfin Submarine Museum mentioned in the December 7th, 1941: A Submarine Force Perspective article on page 8 of the newsletter below.

Hardcopies will be mailed out shortly. I hope you all enjoy the newsletter.

As always, remember to check back here for base updates and other articles of interest.

See you at the January meeting!

Dave Schueler
Seattle USSVI Base Newsletter Editor

Panels from the new Bowfin Submarine Museum exhibit (you can see larger versions of the images at this link.)

Panel 1

Panel 2

Panel 3

Holiday Greetings and 2019 Holiday Luncheon Photos

Happy Holidays to everyone from the USSVI Seattle Base submarine veterans. We hope you have a great finish to 2019 and wish you all best for 2020.

Santa (QMC Jack Patterson) greets the USS Queenfish at the North Pole in 1970

On Saturday, December 14 USSVI Seattle Base submarine veterans, family, and guests gathered at the Nile Shrine Center for our annual holiday luncheon.

Before lunch we had time to catch up with shipmates we have not seen for a while, share tales of our exploits from the past year, and talk about plans for next year. There were also memorabilia tables with bits and pieces of submarine and Seattle Base history. 

We then moved on to opening remarks and lunch. After lunch the floor was then opened for sea stories and holiday remembrances and we had a chance to hear some old and new stories. We even saw that Steve could still fit into his old uniform. 

We all had a good time at the luncheon and special thanks goes out to everyone who helped organize and set up the event. It is always good to see all our shipmates and get a start on the holiday season with them. We hope you enjoy the photos below (special thanks to Steve and Dick for taking the pictures).

Pre-lunch meeting at the bar

The first memorabilia table

and the second table

Slideshow showing Christmas on subs and base events

lunchtime

more lunch

After lunch stories

Time for more tales

Steve, showing he can still get into his old dress blues, and Lynda

We'll see you in 2020.

2019 Holiday Luncheon Reminder

Salty Santa from 16 Submarines

The annual Seattle Base Holiday Luncheon is this Saturday, December 14, at the Nile Golf and Country Club. The doors will open for social time at 11:00 am and lunch will start at noon.

Nile Shine Center entrance

There is still space to register, but Steve needs to have the final count by this Wednesday (December 11). Please email or call Steve (you can find his number on the event registration form) to claim your space and for more information.

Lunch will be in the Gold Room, which is on the lower floor of the center and has easy access.

As usual, there will be a memorabilia table. So please feel free to bring along some submarine related items, historical or personal, to show to others at the luncheon. Some ideas are photos, scrapbooks, models, keepsakes, collections, and more.

The Nile Golf and Country Club is located at:
6601 244th St SW,
Mountlake Terrace, WA 98043

It is one block West of Interstate 5 on the right. Use the 205 Exit. There is construction going on and the north bound exit is restricted to one lane only, take the west bound exit for State Route 104. You will see the Golf Course on the right or North side of 244/205.

We hope to see you there!

November 2019 Meeting Recap and Don Ulmer Memorial Service

We started off the November meeting with Tolling the Boats lost in November, followed by birthday wishes for our members, introductions, and then the officer reports.

We also presented USSVI 10-year membership pins to Doug and Andrea.

Andrea (left) and Doug (right) get their 10-year membership pins from Base commander Ric (center)

Old and New Business
Holiday Luncheon – Our annual Holiday Luncheon will be Saturday, December 14 at the Nile Shrine Center. We are asking you to send your registration forms to Base Secretary Steve by the November. The registration form (linked here) has been updated with Steve information.

Seattle Base Elections – We will have our base elections at the January meeting. At a minimum, we will need to elect a new Base Commander. Many of our member have done multiple terms as officers and we need fresh faces to step up too. We hope everyone will consider becoming an officer or committee chairman. If you are wondering what you can do to help or what the duties of certain officers are - please talk with one of the current or former officers.

USSVI National and Seattle Base Dues – Reminder that annual membership dues for USSVI National and Seattle Base need to be paid before the end of January.

Float Storage and Work – With the parade season over, the float and associated gear is going into winter storage. We will be looking for a work part to do some renovation on the float early next year.

Cabela’s Meet & Greets – We were not able to do any meet & greets at Cabela’s in 2019 due to some changes with their corporate polices after they were acquired by Bass Pro Shops. We are talking with them, with support from the team at Cabela’s Tulalip store, and we think we have covered all their concerns. We hope to plan a couple meet & greets in 2020.

November Program – This month we continued to show interview recordings Base Commander Ric did with Ervin Schmidt. The November recordings covered Ervin joining the submarine force, his time on USS Saury (SS-189), and assignment to new construction on USS Torsk (SS-423).

Don Ulmer’s Memorial Service
The memorial service for Don Ulmer was held on November 22. Seattle Base members participated in the service, with Dick G providing a remembrance of Don and Seattle Base members acting as pallbearers. It was a good service for a unique individual that will be missed.

Don's photo at the service

Dick providing a remembrance of Don

Seattle Base pallbearers

One last salute for Don

November 2019 Meeting Reminder

The next Seattle Base meeting is this coming Wednesday, November 20, 2019. We will meet at VFW Post #2995 (4330 148th Ave N.E., Redmond WA 98052). Social hour starts at 6PM with business meeting at 7PM.

This will be the last business meeting for 2019. We will recap the Veterans Day events and talk about the upcoming Holiday luncheon.

The Nile Shrine Center

The luncheon will be on Saturday December 14 from 11 - 2 at the Nile Shrine Center in Mountlake Terrance. The registration form was in the last issue of our newsletter. You can also find a copy of the luncheon registration form by clicking this link. Note: The form is stored on Dropbox, but you do not need to sign up for Dropbox account to view and download the form; you can just close the window asking you to create or sign in to your account.

Additionally, we will talk about Base elections and nominations for Base Officers. We will have our elections in January. Please consider stepping up to help out as a base officer or committee leader, Seattle Base only works when members are willing to help out.

We hope to see you  at the meeting!