Whiskey Battery 1/12 – Branson, MO Reunion – 2014

Saturday,  Sept. 20, 2014

Attendees:

Arthur Johnson, Roseanne Smith, John Smith, Bob Jones, Mary Jones, Dale Millard, Reggie Zhuckkahosee, Jim Maines, Mark Keefe, Jan Keefe, Joseph Bissonnette, Debbie Bissonnette, John Postlewait, Rich Richey, Sandi Richey, Garry Jines, Connie Jines, David Ruppell, Richard Wojcik, Jim Zito, Betty Armstrong, Doug Armstrong, Jerry Nevils, Gail Nevils, Charlie Biddix, Virgil Boyer, Sandy Boyer, J.P. Burrage, Vickie Burrage, Ron Cummins, Myra Cummins, Keith Reichenbach, Teddie Reichenbach, Mark Steffy, Mike Nuzzolo, Jonathan Nuzzolo, Russell Hicks, Joye Hicks.

Call to Order:

• The meeting was called to order @ 9:00 AM by host Virgil Boyer.
• The meeting began with the Pledge of Allegiance. Next, Russ Hicks read the name of the each deceased member of Whiskey Battery 1/12 with a bell toll for each Marine parted followed by the playing of Amazing Grace. Virgil Boyer also read a beautiful poem.

Treasurer’s Report:

·        There is currently $363.00 in the treasury. It was very costly to ship our flags, box, frog, etc. to the reunion this year due to Dick not being able to attend. Virgil asked that everyone in attendance give as much as they feel they can in order to keep our funds afloat. We collected a total of $935. after passing the hat at the meeting.

·        There is research being done to see if we can get the frog donated to the Quantico Marine museum which will save us from having to have it transported to each meeting on the go forward.

Correspondence:

• Virgil read two letters that were sent to him in regards to this year’s reunion. The first letter was from Dick Hulslander stating that he was unable to make this year’s reunion due to hip surgery. He is healing well and looks forward to attending next year’s reunion. The second letter was from Wendy Forslin. She stated that Jonn was unable to attend any more reunions due to health issues.

Members in Attendance:

• As there were several new member in attendance this year, Virgil had everyone in attendance stand and give their name and a little description about themselves.
• Jerry Glaze’s cousin Betty was also in attendance and shared some info and stories about Jerry and his son including the fact that a previous employer of his mother has offered to pay Jerry’s sons college tuition in his memory.
• Virgil also gave recognition to the four founding members of our yearly reunions stating that thanks to them these yearly get togethers came to be. Those members were Greg Weaver, Jonn Forsling, Dick Stroud and Hammond Dean.

Meeting Topics:

·        Virgil asked if anyone present had any suggestions for helping to make future meetings better. It was suggested that when checking in a list of each member attending along with their room numbers be made available for better communication purposes while at the reunion.

·        Virgil also pointed out that it is important that everyone respond to emails regarding the reunions in a timely manner in order for the host to be able to handle the details efficiently. It is very important to send in any monies for t-shirts, venues, dinners, etc. promptly to keep the burden of these expenses off the host as it can become quite costly. 

·        Virgil thanks Vickie for her ongoing work for our website and Debbie for capturing this year’s minutes.

·        A professional photographer was on site to take group pictures—all in attendance, men only and women/children only. The price is $15. each. The pictures were taken directly after the meeting at the front of the hotel which had a lovely waterfall.  

Whiskey Battery Website:

·        J.P. did his  announcement stating that although Vickie enjoys taking care of our Whiskey Battery website, that she is open to anyone else that might want to help/assume these duties. All present agreed that Vickie does a fantastic job and would like her to continue.

·         Vickie also reminded all present that she continues to update the web mail addresses, home addresses, phone numbers, etc. as they come in to keep our roster current. She encouraged all to review the roster and send her any additions/corrections you may have to your info esp. adding your phone contact info if you feel comfortable doing so.  You can get this info to her by responding to one of her previous email or by clicking on “Email the Webmasters” at the bottom of the home page of our website.

·        Vickie also invited anyone who would like to do so to send her pictures of this year’s reunion that they would like put up on our website.

·        Connie Jines volunteered to capture/gather any stories and memories any member would like to share. This becomes more and more important as we won’t all be here forever and it is important to capture this info for future generations to come. A link entitled “Share Your Story” will be added to the bottom of our website which will automatically go to Connie to capture your submittals.

Reunion – 2015:

·        Vickie’s daughter, Melissa Mitchell, has offered to host next year’s reunion. Melissa lives in Mississippi. The exact location of the reunion will be shared with all as soon as it is set. Russ made a motion to accept the offer from Vickie’s daughter, Ron seconded. All in favor.

Open Discussion:

·        Virgil opened the floor so that anyone present who had a story or memory to share could do so. There were a great many of stories/memories shared throughout the group and enjoyed by all.  (This exchange is what prompted the idea to post these stories on our website.)

Meeting Adjourned:

The meeting adjourned at 10:36 AM and all present were invited outdoors to take group pictures.

A special Thanks to Debbie Bissonnette for taking meeting minutes.