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On Wednesday June 18th a few early arrivals started gathering at the Hotel's lounge.
Thursday morning Oscar Granger and I(Ron McPhail) waited in the hotels cafe area until the mornings rains ceased, which was about 11am. We then went to get the refreshments for the Hospitality Room. We setup the hospitality room with Beer, soft drinks, chips, dips and various snacks. By 3pm all attendees had arrived and received their reunion packets except three people, who arrived later that evening. The reunion packets consisted of a name tags, tour tickets, itinerary, and a Reunion T-Shirt. The Reunion T-Shirt was designed and procured by Oscar Granger '63-65, who did an excellent job. Andy Perez unexpectly arrived with his wife to join the reunion, bringing the total to 23 service members plus spouses. Most of the evening was spent seeing who could tell the biggest Sea Story, which most of you know is the gospel truth except it starts with "This is no S--t"
Friday morning our tour bus and guide picked us up at the hotel at 8:45 am for our six hour adventure in St. Louis. We received an extensive history lesson and visited the major St. Louis attractions. They consisted of a stop at the ST. Louis Arch for either a movie on how it was constructed or a tram ride up to the top of the arch. My inquisitive nature allowed me to watch the movie and leave the tram ride to the more adventuresome souls. Our second stop was at the St.Louis Union Station for lunch and shopping. Our final stop was at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, which was really a breathtaking experience. Even though we didn't stop, we did get to see Laclede's Landing, the soulard part of the city and Forest Park, which was the site of the 1902 Worlds Fair. Our guide was the best I have ever seen, when she wasn't explaining things to us, she was telling jokes. She was very good at both. We returned to the hotel a little after 3 pm. We spent most of the rest of the evening in the Hospitality Room.
We held our General Meeting Saturday Morning at 9 am. Oscar Granger and Chuck Peters were elected co-hosts of the 2005 Reunion and Ron McPhail was re-elected for another four year term as Secretary/Treasurer. It was also decided that our next reunion(2005) would be held in San Diego, Ca., whether the ship was there or not. Oscar Granger volunteered to collect any 8mm movies, VHS tapes of past reunions or still pictures from those that took pictures aboard ship and have them put on a one VHS tape. The tape would be showned at the next reunion and made available to those that wanted a copy at cost. Oscar and David Bourgeois '58-59 had each created sample tapes that were shown at this reunion, they were very professionally done. It was brought up that some members had not collected their earned medals before discharge. Oscar Granger agreed to collect the necessary forms and submit to Ron McPhail so they could be posted on our web page in printable form. The rest of Saturday Morning and afternoon was free time. Most attendees either went shopping, touring or went to the Casino. At 7 pm the 41 attendees gathered in the Louis and Clarke room of the hotel for our Reunion Dinner. The dinner consisted of salad, Prime Rib or Chicken dinner and a cheese cake dessert. After the dinner most everyone gathered in the hotels bar area or hospitality room.
Sunday morning some gathered for breakfast and the others left for home.
The group picture of the attendees to the 2003 St. Louis Reunion that I received is a little blurry. If a better one is obtained later this one will be replaced.
Kneeling--Left to Right:Bob Pagel '57-'58,Joe Pacheco '58-'59, David Bourgeois '58-'59, Ronnie Jarvis '63-'64, Gil Wooden '63-'65, Ron McPhail '63-'66, Derle Mork '57-'58; Standing: Charles Seekamp '76-'79, Jim Ward '63-'65, Clay Sponseller '63-'66, Barry Sensenig '65, Tom Pankow '57-'60, R.C. Morton '63-'65, Dick McDowell '60-'62, Oscar Granger '63-'65, Al Jensen '62-'64, George Fowler '60-'64, Chuck Peters '57-'59, Frank Walter '63-'66, Joe Reiter '63-'64, Doug Owens '57-'62 and Benny Johnson '62-'65; Not Pictured- Andy Perez '63-65
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