Thanksgiving has passed and we are moving into the heart of the holiday season. I really hope that everyone has a great December and that it leads to a very Happy New Year. Again, I want to thank the staff members for all of their efforts throughout this last year. I also want to thank Bob Cashman for subbing for the PAO when he was unavailable. I also want to thank Joe Murphy and Bruce Guberman for helping out with the audio visual machinery. Without Bob, Bruce and Joe we would not have had all of those outstanding presentations over the past year, or know about them if we did not attend. Thank you all.
We have had changes over the year: lunch cost went to $18 and members have to pay $10 to get their OpPlan delivered via USPS. The thing that has not changed is that you continue to support the vibrant SOQ Awards Program through your attendance at the luncheons and monetary contributions. Cindy continues to find interesting speakers, military and civilian, in a difficult environment (no active duty naval aviation installation close by). Hal continues to produce an outstanding OpPlan which is a great way to show off the vitality of GPS. Thank you all.
Having stated the positives, this year was not without losses. So many of our long time members have taken the last cut. We lost two former CO’s of GPS: most recently Dave Newbro but also Mel Locke passed earlier this year. A couple of our important figures, Marv Garrison (former CO) and Andy Benjock (the man who does everything) are not doing well. Keep everyone in your prayers and here is looking forward to a happy, prosperous and healthy new year.
