As those of you who attend our luncheons know,Vince van den Brink, our XO, handled the responsibilities of running the meeting on 8 September while Ray LeCompte and I were at Tailhook. Thanks again Vince. And, to the other staff members who stepped up and handled Ray’s responsibilities, thank you, especially Cindy Macha, Dick and Carol Fields and Dolores Hardy. I know that you all appreciate what your staff does on a regular basis but I really can’t say enough about their willingness to do what needs to be done to put on a “good show” for our members.
It is with great sadness that we must all say goodbye to our long-time Membership Officer and his sidekick of so many years, Fran and Paula Pieri. Fran and Paula are moving farther south to San Diego county in order to be closer to their kids and grandchildren. I completely understand but we will miss their company immensely. Those of you who attend our luncheons will remember them as the “second welcoming committee at every meeting. Right after you pay for lunch (Carol and Dolores), you look to your left and there are Fran and Paula to greet you. Great people who have worked very long and hard in the background for many years. Thank you guys for great work for so long a time. We hope to see you every so often…it is a long drive from San Diego but you have friends here who would love to have lunch with you.
As I mentioned above, Ray and I attended the Tailhook Reunion. Again, great symposia, food and camaraderie. We missed seeing old friends like Col Marv Garrison (former Gramps CO) and RADL Don Shelton( an old friend), both of whom were under the weather and unable to attend. We did see a number of old friends and I did spend some quality time with the Editor of WOG, Captain Zip Rausa. We talked about a multitude of issues and some history too. Great visit. As we always do, we wandered through the industry displays and renewed old acquaintances with potential speakers. We are hoping that some of these conversations result in speakers at future meetings.
This last weekend I took my 5-year old grandson down to the Miramar air show to introduce him to Naval Aviation. He had a great time and has not stopped talking about the Osprey, the helicopters or the Harrier. He also thought that the MAGTAF demo was really cool too! And, the Blue Angels are about the most awesome thing ever. He has no words to express his excitement in that regard. He was just so positively impressed. I think that he is leaning towards Coast Guard aviation though. I am not too worried at this point, as long as he doesn’t go Marine, there is hope.
Please try to attend our luncheons. Cindy works very hard to get speakers with interesting stories to tell. All of your staff works hard to set up the meetings and keep you informed of squadron events. Please reward their efforts by attending the luncheons, or maybe by sending a contribution of money so that we can continue our support of the SOQ program at NWSSB. Finally, please work on getting new members. Nothing more needs to be said on that issue. Hope to see you on 13 October.
