Four Points Sheraton Riverwalk North Hotel
San Antonio, TX
May 12-15, 2004
| Front row left to right: Bill Morgan, Jay Decker, Oak Ramsey, “Doc” Steinhauser, Bob Hoover Back row left to right: Clem Thrift, Jim Dettling, Karl Nease, Glenn Cope, Al Boorman, Paul Pickett, Al Gebauer, Don Fredette, John McGauley |
| Not present at photo: John Meenan. |
Front row left to right: Ellen Hoover, Ann Gebauer, Olive Swift, Cate Dettling, Lois Steinhauser
Back row left to right: Mary Ann McGauley, Kathryn Thrift, Joan Decker, Barbara Boorman, Jean Meehan, Lois Morgan, Helen Cope
Front row left to right: Bob Cope, Judy Mansur, Sandy Oliver, Brenda Ramsey, Keith Ramsey
Back row left to right: Jerry Hightower, Debbie Hightower, Dana, Jeff Cope, Ed Pickett, Roger Swift
The 2004 reunion was in San Antonio, TX from May 12-15, 2004. The crew and guests stayed at the Four Points Sheraton Riverwalk North hotel. Most people arrived on Wednesday and renewed friendships in the hospitality room. On Thursday while the crew was having their meeting, the ladies met for a white elephant exchange. It was decided that the 2006 reunion will be held in Annapolis, Maryland which of course is the location of the Naval Academy but in very close proximity to Washington, D.C. for sightseeing.
On Friday, everybody boarded a bus and took a trip to Fredericksburg which is the hometown of Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz. The high point of the tour is the National Museum of the Pacific War. Of course some people (we won’t say ladies) decided to take advantage of the excellent shopping in town. Since Fredericksburg is an old German settlement, lunch was decided by each person and probably most sampled the excellent German cuisine.
Saturday night had the closing banquet at the 7A Cattle Ranch, about 45 minutes outside of San Antonio. This is a working cattle ranch that hosts chuck wagon parties. The ranch has been in operation for over 100 years and is designated as a “Heritage Ranch” by the state of Texas. They raise beef the old fashioned way, without feed lots or chemicals – just range fed cattle. Everyone seemed to enjoy dressing up in cowboy attire and forgoing the dress-up clothes which usually accompany the closing banquet. Hopefully this tradition of casual clothes will continue. After an excellent barbecue dinner complete with campfire coffee and homemade pies, we were entertained by the Fire on the Mountain Cloggers which is an excellent clog dance team. The guests could then attend a night-time hay ride with fireflies/lightning bugs in the fields.
There were 15 crew members in attendance this year and since there are 78 known living crew members hopefully the attendance will be much higher in Annapolis in two years.