2007 REUNION

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We arrived Saturday evening and were relieved to find the hotel was very nice. Doing all the planning from 600 miles away made us very apprehensive. The weather was very warm, Nashville had been having a heat emergency.

Sunday, and every day, we started the day with breakfast at the hotel. The omelet chef was a hoot. We spent the day trying to find an antiques shop that was open and checking out the area.

Monday was the unofficial first day of the reunion. The Nashville City tour had been cancelled due to not enough people signing up. Some of our other members started arriving. We decorated the Hospitality Room and checked out where to buy beer and pop. We were amazed to find beer sold in Wal-Mart. Living in Pennsylvania you have to go to a beer distributor to buy it.

Tuesday was the Ladies’ Luncheon at Ellendale’s Restaurant. Again I was reassured that it was a very nice place. The food was delicious and it was a buffet so we could go back for seconds - the asparagus was to die for. And the desserts were pretty tasty also. We ladies had a chance to get to know each other a little better and escape the sea stories. We all signed the table cover before we left. Probably a first for Ellendale’s. (It was paper - I think we were the only ones to ask for crayons!) Then we went to a "mall" for some retail therapy. Unfortunately the person who told me about this mall and how it was one of the oldest and biggest ones in Nashville, etc., didn’t mention that it was all but deserted. We did finally find one store that was open, and some of us found a few bargains. Then it was back to the hotel for the event of the evening, the Grand Ole Opry.

Tabitha, our bus driver, got us there safely. The Opry is located adjacent to big mall that is full of retail therapy options. Several of our ladies returned there before leaving Nashville. Everyone enjoyed the show at the Opry, and Little Jimmy Dickins is really, really little. Regrettably instead of " USS Surfbird," "Military Reunion Planners" was one of the groups in attendance. After the show Tabitha took us back to the hotel.

Wednesday was our lunch cruise aboard the General Jackson. Tabitha was our bus driver and again got us there and back to the hotel safely. Naturally because we had an outdoor event planned it rained. The lunch buffet was yummy and the show was very funny. And yes, we ladies did find the gift shop first.

That evening was our Welcome Dinner, a delicious buffet. We had a little delay because our color guard got stuck in traffic. The color guard were members of the Sea Cadets. They and looked fantastic and did an absolutely wonderful job. Members were E2 Lexi Toft, E1 Brad Sinor, E1 Opal Enterkin and E1 Trent Enterkin. Their supervisor is Cdr. Bill Enterkin.

Thursday daytime was free time. Some people took the daylight Nashville City tour on their own, others went shopping or sight seeing and some just relaxed at the hotel.

Thursday evening was our Banquet. We started our with our group photographs and had to go outside because the ceiling was not high enough for the photographer’s lights . Our color guard that evening were Earl Watson and Steve Duren from American Legion Donelson Post 88. Dinner was sit down this time, again delicious. We had a brief memorial service. Several door prizes were donated and we gave those away. Our speaker was Lt. John Briggs, who gave us an overview of today’s Navy. Commander Williams treated us all to wine. Thank you, Commander!  After dinner we had a short business meeting, went over Association business and had election of officers . Officially the 2007 Reunion was over.

Upon arriving home we dropped the left over chips from the Hospitality Suite at a local nursing home for their residents.

We had fun organizing the reunion and we hope everyone had a good time. While we were officially in charge it was a cooperative effort and our sincere thank you to everyone who helped. We are looking forward to the 2009 get together.

Larry "Mac" and Dee McMaster