USS CALOOSAHATCHEE (AO-98)

SPRING 2005 REUNION NEWS LETTER

The Reunion dates this year are October 21 & 22 in Baltimore, Maryland. The hotel is:

        BEST WESTERN HOTEL & CONFERENCE CENTER
        5625 O'DONNELL STREET
        BALTIMORE, MARYLAND 21224
        For reservations call 1-800-633-9511
                                     (1-800-843-2355)

The room rate is $95.00 single/double occupancy, plus tax, per night. The hotel will also honor this rate for one day before and/or one day after the weekend. Please be sure to mention that you are with the USS CALOOSAHATCHEE AO-98 Reunion Group. Reservations must be made by September 20, 2005. This is the same hotel we used when we previously visited Baltimore and D.C.

TENITIVE SCHEDULE OF EVENTS FOR THE WEEKEND:

Friday Morning --- PLAQUE DEDICATION at the U.S. NAVY MEMORIAL
in WASHINGTON DC
The Navy Memorial only holds plaque dedications on weekdays. We plan to have the ceremony on Friday morning at 11:00 A.M. After a break for lunch, we will visit other attractions in the Washington area such as the the US Navy Yard Museum or the World War II Memorial.
Cost per person - $ to be determined
(Please note: If you plan to attend this event, you will want to check into the hotel Thursday night, as the bus will be leaving at 9:00 A.M. Friday)

Friday Night --- Get together in the Hospitality Room for a night of friendship, and sea stories (some true and others historical). BRING YOUR MEMORABILIA. Food (sandwiches and snacks or pizza) and beverages will be served. Ladies - if possible, please bring your special dessert or treat. If you attended the other reunions in Baltimore you will remember that we will have a large hospitality room.

Saturday Morning --- TOUR OF ANNAPOLIS MARYLAND
We are looking into a tour of the Naval Academy. If there are any members who are graduates of the Academy we could use your help with the planning of this trip.

Cost per person - $ to be determined

Saturday Night --- BANQUET & ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING - 6:00 - 10:00 P.M.
Cost per person - $ to be determined.
Afterwards we will move to the Hospitality Room for more fun and comradery.

What we can do and the cost of each activity depends on how many members we have attending. If you plan to come to this reunion please send back the enclosed form or E-MAIL me and let me know your intentions. The sooner we can get an idea of how many will attend, the sooner we can finalize the cost.

2004 REUNION

Last year's reunion was a great success. The tours of Philadelphia and the USS New Jersey were enjoyable and informative.
We met many old friends and made some new ones. Bruce & Lois Miller, Bob & Emily Meckler, along with my wife Susan did an outstanding job.
Bruce Miller, who was one of the founding members of this group, and is our out-going President, and his wife Lois arranged for a contingency of MUMMERS to come to the banquet to entertain us, and what a great time that was.
At the Business Meeting, it was voted that we would continue to raise money for a memorial plaque and have the dedication in October 2005 for our 10th reunion. (more on that later).
We also voted on the new officers for the upcoming year. They are:
PRESIDENT : RICHARD FRANK
VICE-PRESIDENT: RANDY GENSLER
SECRETARY / TREASURER: PAUL SCHEERER

NAVY MEMORIAL COMMEMORATIVE PLAQUE PROGRAM

The US NAVY MEMORIAL sponsors a COMMEMORATIVE PLAQUE PROGRAM honoring the service and sacrifices of the men and women of the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Merchant Marine, and their families. It was voted on at the 2003 Business Meeting that our
Association should purchase a plaque to honor the CALOOSAHATCHEE and the men who served on her. Each plaque is a Silvaloy plate 7" x 3 3/4", and can be engraved with an inscription, photo, insignia, etc…. There is a donation of $2,500 to purchase the plaque. This includes the dedication ceremony, free showing of the movie "At Sea", and a group rate on the Navy Log enrollment. We need to solicit more donations from our membership to accomplish this.
In the last Newsletter, it was stated that If every member would donate a minimum of $10.00 we could raise the funds quickly. As of this mailing only 50% of the cost has been received from 10% of the members. We will continue to collect for this plaque (we have set up a separate savings account for this money). Please consider making a donation if you have not yet done so or give more if you can.
EXAMPLES OF OTHER PLAQUES:

You may also purchase a replica plaque for your home or office. The replicas are exact reproductions of the displayed plaque on the Memorial Wall. The plaques are mounted on a hardwood base, suitable for hanging or exhibiting on a desk. The cost is $125.00 each. You can down load a form from the web page of the Navy Memorial www.lonesailor.org or if there is enough interest we can go as a group and get a discount. When you send in your donations please indicate if you are interested in a personal replica plaque.

DUES

We need the money from the dues that you send in to be members of our reunion group. The newsletter and the reunions are not free. The dues are $30.00 per year. All members that pay the full dues will be considered Shipmates in Good Standing, and receive all the newsletters, an annual updated roster, and an up-to-date dues card and can attend the reunion weekend.

OR for $10.00 you can be an associate member and receive the newsletter and notification on the reunions. At this time, we are mailing the newsletter to over 400 shipmates; however, less than 10% pay any dues. Please consider sending your dues as soon as possible. The cost of mailing continues to go up and the cost for the hospitality room at the reunions are getting expensive. I would like to buy hats that can be sold to the members, but at this time the treasury is at a point that we cannot afford the initial cost and still hold a reunion. Your help is needed.

Checks should be made out to: USS CALOOSAHATCHEE REUNION ASSOCIATION and mailed to:
        USS Caloosahatchee Reunion Association
        c/o Paul Scheerer
        4424 Raspe Ave.
        Baltimore, Maryland 21206-1925

Please be sure to let me know when you have a change of address or change your e-mail. Each time we do a mailing we get quite a few letters returned by the post office, or e-mails returned because of a wrong address. If you know of a shipmate who is not in our database please send me their info.

My E-mail address for the USS CALOOSAHATCHEE REUNION ASSOCIATION. It is caloosreunion@comcast.net. This address is for reunion business only. Please do not send jokes or Spam. We are working to get a web page for the CALOOS. If you have any questions, you can call me (410-488-7169), write or e-mail me (caloosreunion@comcast.net)

USS CALOOSAHATCHEE NOW

I have been in contact with a reporter for an English paper the Evening Gazette, who is following the scrapping of the CALOOSAHATCHEE. He says that the controversy about the "US Ghost Ships" as they call them, is not settled at this time. The tentative date is June or July to start the scrapping. He doesn't think this date will be kept and that the CALOOS will be in port a little longer. He would like to do an article on the men who sailed on the Caloos. Please send me any information or stories about your time in the CALOOSAHATCHEE and I will pass them on to the reporter. The Caloosahatchee is still making news!

CALOOSAHATCHEE ARRIVES IN ENGLAND

left to right USS CALOOSAHATCHEE AO 98, USS CANISTEO AO 99 in England

PLEASE RETURN THIS PAGE WITH YOUR CHECK: Click here for this page only in a printer fiendly version.

Name_____________________________________________________________________

Address___________________________________________________________________

City/State/Zip_______________________________________________________________

Phone No.____________________________________

E-mail Address_______________________________________________

I WILL NOT ATTEND THE 2005 REUNION____________________

I PLAN TO ATTEND: (PLEASE CHECK ALL THAT APPLY)

____________FRIDAY D.C. TRIP ________________SATURDAY ANNAPOLIS TRIP

____________SATURDAY BANQUET

Spouse/Guest attending Reunion____________________ TOTAL NO. ATTENDING_____

_______ $30.00 for Dues for the Year 1/1/2005 - 12/31/2005

OR

______$10.00 for Associate Dues for the Year 2005

IN ADDITION

$_______as a donation to the Memorial Plaque Fund.

Comment__________________________________________________________________

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