Aloha Shipmates. SAVE THE DATE!!!! VP-1 POPS 2009 reunion will be held in San Diego,CA. at the CROWNE PLAZA Hotel with check in beginning Thursday, October 8th and continuing unabated through our Sunday brunch and business meeting on Sunday, October 11th. Feel free to stay some extra days at the reunion price ($115.00 per night/single or double occupancy+14.5% room tax). You will be able to view all the amenities of the Hotel ON LINE once our Webmaster, Ken Sherman, gets the link up on our Web site.

Pete Drees and I have been quite busy making the necessary arrangements. We will be having our Saturday night (10 Oct 09) banquet at the Admiral Kidd Club overlooking nighttime San Diego bay.It is a GORGEOUS Navy club and will accommodate our group handily.Fleet WEEK runs almost the entire month of October with many things to do in support of our Navy/Marine Corps fighting team. A tour to the USS Midway (CV 41) is on the schedule along with an all hands picnic on Friday at Admiral Baker Military Recreation Center. Golf,Swimming, Softball, and cookout are in the planning stages. Hopefully, there will be enough O's in attendance to stand off the E's in a friendly softball game and get some "payback" for all the "Turkey Bowl" touch football games we lost in the 70's (thanks to the Wagner brothers-they were awesome!).

The Crowne Plaza ( Old Hanalei Hotel) has been completely remodeled and it seems that you are back in Waikiki Beach. All rooms (75 initially reserved) have either single Kings or Double beds ( max 4 persons per room)and face either the pool area or the Riverwalk golf course right next door. We will have a huge Hospitality suite on the main floor next to the pool area and will be able to have our own "refreshments" brought in as well. I am planning a "Pizza" party get together for Thursday evening in our hospitality suite to renew new and old acquaintances. The Crowne Plaza provides free transportation to and from the SD airport and to nearby Old Town where you can pick up the San Diego trolley (senior discount rate of course) to go anywhere in Downtown SD. There is practically little need to rent a car other than our two occasions away from the hotel as a group (Admiral Kidd banquet/Admiral Baker picnic). I will put one of my able bodied assistants on the "transportation detail" Sounds like a good job for "Charlie "boogaloog" Budenz who has recently joined my SD team. Looking to enlist Bob Wood and Chuck Hightower also but they don't know it yet!!

Advance room reservations can be made after May 15th 2008 by calling 1-800-2CROWNE or www.cp-sandiego.com or through our web site once the link is up and operating. Remember to say you are with the VP-1 POPSreunion. Enough for now. Hope you all plan on attending as this will undoubtedly be one of the best reunions yet since "SILKYMAC IS IN CHARGE". Aloha and Mahalo Fellow Shipmates Jim McAllister sends........ will be forthcoming later.