Aloha shipmates, 9/20/16
The August
18-20, 2016 Seadragon Alumni Association reunion in
Reno, NV at the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino went very well. We had record
attendance at the banquet dinner and business meeting of 52 people including
retirees and guests. A reason for that was the attendance of 17 shipmates from
the 70s. We were very happy to see so many of them. That’s good for the future
of the Association. Unfortunately, our slated guest speaker Capt. Tom Jacobs
was unable to attend, however LT. Larry Yano and MMCM(SS) Ray Kuhn spoke to us
about some of their humorous, “interesting” experiences and observations while
aboard Seadragon including Larry’s chief’s initiation
requirement of running from forward to aft. raising a power drill and shouting
“This is a drill, this is a drill”. Very funny!! Thank you both for sharing
those experiences. They’re what makes us all proud to be Seadragon
alumni!
The USSVI
convention was held at the Grand Sierra at the same time so we had a few of it’s attendees show up at the hospitality room too. The dinner,
accommodations and hotel support were very good. Thanks to our president Jeff Kramer and wife Vicky for making those arrangements for
us. I believe everyone had a pretty good time. I know I did! Thanks to Rick and Lynette Locatelli for our beautiful name tags this year and to all
others who contributed to the successful reunion from all our program speakers
to those who helped deliver our beverages and snacks, to those who helped keep
the
hospitality
room looking good. You all know who I’m talking about. Jeff and I are both grateful
for your contributions. I want to also thank my wife Marcia for her many
contributions to the reunion from helping me with the “computer stuff” to her
participation in the hospitality room and banquet activities.
Another
success measurement of the reunion was our ability to fill pending vacancies in
our leadership roles. This is something that attendees generally may not think
about but those of us in leadership roles must. That is, who is going to assume
future leadership roles and keep this association moving ahead??
This is nearly
impossible to do by email. It is best done at reunions. To that end the
following leadership roles were filled:
President
elected - John Schwab
Secretary/Treasurer
re-elected - Jerry Gruenhagen
Crew Rep. Advisor
re-elected - Larry Yano
Headhunter
(Finding additional alumni/E-mailing letters to alumni) – Jeff Kramer replacing Ron Waldron
Webmaster – Dennis D’ambrogio
replacing Bob Young
Auditor
re-elected – Duane Smith
I want to
thank Ron Waldron and Bob Young for their many years of service, for their countless
contributions to having made this association what it is today and for
continuing to be a resource for us. I also thank John, Jeff and Dennis for
stepping up to fill pending vacancies that must be filled for the association
to continue. I also ask other alumni to also consider filling such vacancies
for us when they will occur.
Our next
reunion will be in Branson, MO sometime in September, 2018. It will not be in
conjunction with the USSVI convention this time. With support from all of us,
John Schwab will be making arrangements for the reunion with a hotel in Branson.
We will all learn more about that in a message you will receive in December,
2017.
Thanks much
for being an association member and we hope to see you in Branson!!
A copy of
this letter will be added to the Seadragon Website
home page.
Jerry Gruenhagen
Sec/Treas Seadragon Alumni
Association
3376 Pebble
Beach Ct.
Green Bay,
WI 54311 GO PACKERS!!
(920)
469-0176
jgruenhagen@new.rr.com