Reunions.......
Rochester Reunion 2008: A Capital Event
USS Rochester shipmates and spouses and guests will convene in
Washington, DC on October 2-6, 2008 for the 10th reunion of the ship’s
company. Holiday Inn-Rosslyn in Arlington, Virginia
(703-807-2000) will provide lodging and headquarters facilities for the
reunion.
| Hotel rate is $109/day + and applies to
the period starting two days before the reunion starts and
extends two days after it ends. |
Rochester Association officers will kick off the reunion with a
dedication ceremony at the U.S. Navy Memorial on Pennsylvania Avenue in
Washington on Friday morning, Oct. 3rd. The event
hosted by RADM Richard Buchanan features anecdotes by crew members, taps
for the departed, photo opportunities, and the dedication of the USS
Rochester Memorial Plaque on the Commemorative Wall.
Following the ceremony, members may access entries of shipmates in the
computerized Navy Log and browse the Ships Store. In
the plaza outside the statue of the Lone Sailor provides an excellent
backdrop for additional photographs.
As buses return from the ceremony, some will choose to stop off at
the International Spy Museum nearby. The museum has
been immensely popular with visitors to Washington.
It features exhibits on several levels depicting spying from the time of
Caesar to the Cold War. As visitors enter they are
offered a covert identity to get into the spirit of spying.
The World War II exhibits are in an underground bunker and
include actual German and American equipment. Russian
devices illustrate spying during the Cold War. One
fanciful item is James Bond’s Aston Martin auto with machine guns and
appropriate light and sound effects. The gift shop
sells replicas and mementos.
On Friday evening the group will go aboard MV Spirit of Washington at
Pier 4 in the Washington marina for a 3-hour dinner cruise on the
Potomac River. The ship sails up and down the river
for good views of several national monuments, old town Alexandria,
Reagan National Airport and the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.
The six-year old vessel features luxury dining facilities with DJ
music and dancing.
On Saturday morning shipmates will gather in the hotel ballroom for
the Association business meeting. One important
agenda item regards the venue for the 2010 reunion.
During the meeting, wives and guests may take an escorted trip by metro
(three stops) to the Pentagon City indoor mall for shopping.
That afternoon the reunion program offers choices of two tours.
One will take participants out to the Udvar-Hazy Air & Space
Museum near Dulles Airport. The museum, operated by
the Smithsonian Institution, contains a dazzling array of aircraft from
the earliest days of flight to the present and with American and foreign
craft from several wars. There’s the B-29 Enola Gay
that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima, a U-2 that filmed Soviet
installations, a Blackbird reconnaissance plane, a Concorde passenger
plane and various rockets and space craft. The
optional IMAX Theater features three excellent films.
Another Saturday bus tour will take participants to several national
war memorials located on the federal mall in Washington.
The newly opened World War II monument memorializes the
contributions of every U. S. state and the major
engagements of the war. The Korean War memorial has a
platoon of soldiers on patrol and a wall with pictures.
The famous wall of black marble at the Vietnam memorial has the
names of all 50,000 plus who died. An index permits
one to find any name inscribed there. Nearby statues
of three soldiers looking toward the wall and statues of service women
aiding a wounded soldier add to the impact of the monument.
Nearby is the magnificent Lincoln Memorial.
The larger than life statue of Lincoln looks out over the federal mall
flanked on the walls of the building by excerpts from his most famous
speeches that refer to the Civil War.
Saturday evening is left clear to enable couples or informal groups
to schedule their own dining and entertainment.
On Sunday one tour will duplicate the trip to war memorials on the
federal mall in Washington. The other tour will take
participants to Mount Vernon, George Washington’s mansion and farm.
The guided tour enables all to “Discover the real George
Washington.” The recently opened Ford Orientation
Center and Reynolds Museum feature short movies and exhibits portraying
episodes in the life of the General and President. In
one movie, depicting Washington crossing the Delaware River, it “snows”
on the audience and when guns go off the seats shake.
At the mansion docents explain each room as people go through.
Outside, visitors view slave quarters, farm buildings and
animals, Washington’s tomb, and several surviving trees that Washington
had planted. A large gift shop is most tempting.
The headquarters hotel will provide the reunion banquet on Sunday
evening. A color guard from the Washington Navy Yard
will present the colors followed by officers’ call and announcements.
The president will recognize members of the Association sponsored
USS Rochester Sea Cadets who will offer comments. As
keynote speaker the committee has invited Joe Campa, Master Chief Petty
Officer of the Navy. Should he be unable to attend,
the Association president Garry Phillips will speak on his experiences
with the State Department in Baghdad, Iraq. Following
dinner, staff will distribute the traditional reunion cake.
A DJ will provide golden oldies music throughout dinner and for
dancing afterward. There will also be a raffle and
door prizes.
At the farewell breakfast on Monday morning the Association chaplain
will speak and shipmates and spouses may take leave of friends until the
reunion in 2010.
The Reunion Committee estimates that a couple will spend just under
$1,500 (singles just under $1,000) not counting transportation to and
from the area. That should cover hotel
accommodations, food, tours, dinner cruise, and other scheduled events
for the four full days of the reunion. It’s important
to make your own hotel reservations early in order to get rooms at the
group rate. Any overflow should try the nearby
Marriott Key Bridge hotel where the rate will be 40% higher.
It’s also important to return registration forms and checks to
Joe Hill not later than August 1st to enable the Reunion Committee to
make final arrangements.
The Committee needs volunteers to man the registration desk for short
periods, and to act as bus captains on the various tours.
The schedules are as follows; please submit preferences for
registration desk duty to Joe Hill at
NiteCrawl@twlakes.net.
or (931-432-4848) or 4011 Ditty Road, Cookeville, TN 38506-7663.
10/2 Thu
1400-1630_____
10/3 Fri
0800-0900_____
1400-1600_____
10/4 Sat
0800-0900_____
1400-1600_____
10/5 Sun
0800-0900_____
1300-1500_____
Bus captains (the Committee will provide instructions—not very
complicated—mostly be a contact person and trouble shooter—bring a cell
phone). Please submit preferences for bus captain
duty to Ed Willis at
willis885@verizon.net or (703-683-8885) or 505 E. Braddock Road,
Alexandria, VA 22314-2164.
10/3 Fri
Bus 1 (to Navy Memorial and return 0930-1300)
Bus 2
“
Bus 3
“
Bus 4
“
Bus 5
“
10/3 Fri
Bus 6 (to MV Spirit of Washington & return
1800-2300)
Bus 7
“
10/4 Sat
Bus 8 (to Air & Space Museum, 1330-1800)
Bus 9
“
Bus 10 (to national war memorials, 1330-1800)
10/5 Sun
Bus 11 (to Mount Vernon, 1000-1500)
Bus 12
“
Bus 13 (to national war memorials, 1000-1500)
Schedule
USS Rochester (CA
124) Association
National Reunion
Holiday
Inn-Rosslyn, Arlington, Virginia 22209
October 2-6,
2008
Thursday, 2 Oct 08
1500
Arrivals and
check-in
The hotel is
located in the Rosslyn section of Arlington, Virginia, just across the
Potomac River from Washington, DC. Complimentary parking for those who
drive. National Airport is
close by; take a taxi to the hotel ($12-$15) Dulles Airport is an hour
out by Super Shuttle, $35 each; and BWI Airport is even farther, about
$65. The hotel does not
provide shuttle service to airports.
1400-1630 Rochester
registration desk open
1200-1630 Ship’s
store open
1700-1900
Reception in hospitality suite
Announcements by
Garry Phillips or Dick Becker & reunion committee
Friday, 3
Oct 08
Breakfast available in hotel café or restaurant (on your own)
0800-0900 Registration desk open
0800-0900 Ship’s store open
0930 All hands (and
spouses) bus to Navy Memorial in Washington, DC
1100 Dedication ceremony
for Rochester plaque; Taps for the departed
1200 Photographs at the Lone Sailor statue in the plaza
1300 Buses return to
hotel.
Lunch on your own.
1300
choice of events from list below (return to hotel by metro)
e.g., 1300-1600
International Spy Museum
recommended (buses will swing by on their return from the Navy
Memorial) return to the hotel on your own—metro, taxi.
1400-1600 Registration desk
open
1400-1700 Ships Store open
1400-1600 Hospitality suite open (coffee & snacks)
1800-2300 Dinner cruise
aboard MV
Spirit of Washington
Saturday,
4 Oct 08
Breakfast on your own
0800-0900 Registration desk open
0730-0845 Ship’s store (last call)
0900-1100 Business meeting (selection of reunion site for 2010)
0930-1200 Ladies shopping
trip to Pentagon City Mall via Metro
1330-1800
Tour A:
Air & Space Museum (Udvar-Hazy) at Dulles Airport
1330-1800 Tour B:
Memorials (WWII, Korea,
Vietnam, Lincoln)
1400-1600 Registration desk
open
1400-1600 Hospitality suite
open
Evening: dinner and
entertainment on your own
Sunday, 5
Oct 08
Breakfast on your own
Ships store closed (see Larry Stone if needed)
0800-0900 Registration desk open
1000-1200 Hospitality suite
open
1000
-1500 Tour C:
Mount Vernon
(George Washington’s home & museum; lunch on your own in the Mount
Vernon restaurant)
1000-1500 Tour D: Memorials
(WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Lincoln)
[same as Tour B]
1300-1500 Registration desk
open
1300-1500 Hospitality suite
open
1900-2300 Reunion banquet
Color Guard from Navy Yard, Washington
Cutting of the reunion cake
Recognition of USS Rochester Sea Cadet detachment
Speaker (to be announced)
Music by DJ from Fort Belvoir
Monday, 6
Oct 08
Hospitality suite closed
0700-0900 Farewell
breakfast
0800 Chaplain’s remarks at breakfast
1100 Check out
Fair winds and a following sea!
Reunion Committee: Ed Willis (willis885@verizon.net),
Chip Chipley, Pete Russell
|
