Brooke Reunion Update
October 2002
Last reunion:
June 2002 – San Diego, CA
Next reunion:
September 18-21, Seattle, WA
Brooke Web Site:
www.USSBROOKE.org
Ahoy Shipmates!
I know, I know….it’s been months and months since our last
communication, and I’ve been catching hell from several PLANKOWNERS to get
our show on the road (to Seattle next year), so here goes:
The Plankowners reunion in San Diego this last June was great! We had
22 crewmembers and wives, friends and relatives attend, which was not too bad
given the short notice. The Seven
Seas Hotel proved to be a good selection. It was centrally located (Hotel
Circle) and transportation was not too much of a problem.
The Harbor cruise was sure a lot of fun, and you can see many off our
pictures on the Brooke Web site that Tom Adametz set up (see above address).
Anyway, we had a great time telling sea-stories in our Hospitality suite for a
few days, and even got to see a flick of the Decommissioning ceremony. The
Saturday night banquet was highlighted by a power point presentation by Tom,
showing the Brooke’s beginning almost 36 years ago! It was VERY interesting
and entertaining. We hope to see it again next year when the reunion will be
open to ALL past Brooke crewmembers
Now for some old business:
Our main expense was for the Hospitality Suite for 3 days @ $150, of
$450.00 plus tax. (It totaled about $500.00). And we spent around $100-150 on
food and beverages, and lots of ice! Fortunately, I slightly overcharged
everyone for the banquet on Sat. night and we had about $100.00. The hotel
gave me the “base price” on the dinners, plus tax and gratuity. I guess I
added more gratuity than we needed, so we had a surplus. With that surplus,
the “kitty” money, and the donations from Joe and Shirley Broccomonte,
Dave Kalaf, Marty Snell and Gene Shuttleworth, we were really close to the
“break-even” point.
So, many thanks to everyone for making our reunion possible. Especially
those additional unexpected donations from some crewmembers who couldn’t
make it, but wanted the rest of us to enjoy this first Plankowner reunion
since decommissioning. And a special recognition to the Broccomontes for
donating their entire deposit, when Shirley was too ill to make the trip. We
missed you. For reunion pictures go to the web @ www.members.cox.net/ussbrooke.
Wrapping up…
About a week before the reunion, C.C. Cooke passed on. His daughters
had paid for the reunion as a father’s day gift, so it was quite sudden. He
was in poor health but was expected to live another six months or so. The
other sad news was about Matt Moran. He had a fatal heart attack, just 2 weeks
after the reunion, while doing a “treadmill” test. No one had seen Mr.
Moran since our return from Westpac in 1968. Sure glad he made the reunion.
Our condolences to both families.
This next reunion, we’ll have a registration fee included with our
sign-up, which will cover any additional expenses for a hospitality room,
food, etc. However, I don’t wish to discourage any immediate donations. It
does cost a few bucks for postage, printing, deposits, etc. to get one of
these reunions off the ground. And we have zero in the kitty right now. So
feel free…see our reunion questionnaire form enclosed.
We have been bouncing around several ideas to set up a “Brooke
organization” similar to other ships, with a “Charter membership” fee
and/or annual dues to defray the costs of future reunions.
To accomplish this, I think it should be discussed at our Seattle
reunion during a regular business meeting. At that time, if we want to go
forward, we’ll elect our officers, apply for an IRS non-profit organ. Status
and do what is necessary for our new Brooke Association. We’ll also select
the date and location of our next reunion.
In the interim, as I previously mentioned, any donations are
appreciated now and, of course, we’ll have a registration fee for the
Seattle reunion in September. With enough donations we’ll be able to supply
official Brooke ball caps, T-shirts and other items sold on our website and at
the coming reunions, which will help keep our organization in the black. For
more information you can keep updated by visiting our website and also help
keep us updated with change of addresses, or any new information for all of
us.
Enclosed is our latest plankowner roster (contact webmaster for
information). It will be appreciated if anyone can add to it, or make any
corrections so we don’t waste money on returned mail. Please send any
changes to me (or webmaster for forwarding to me). I seem to have the most
updated list at this time.
Also enclosed are our reunion survey and a few brochures from the NW.
We need your input to select the events for September and to determine the
level of interest of all crewmembers concerning future reunions. Please fill
out and return ASAP. You can also complete the survey and e-mail it to either adametz1@cox.net
or thehubbahubba@aol.com.
Unfortunately, those we do not hear from may be dropped from our roster.
In closing, I would like to see a great turnout at next year’s
reunion!
This month, I am sending out reunion notices to several publications:
Military Mag., Tin Can Sailors, The Navy League, NERA, Destroyermans Assoc.,
the Ping Jockey and a few others. I think Tom Adametz will be updating our Web
page with reunion dates, and also the websites of some of the above
organizations. If you know of other publications or organizations, then please
pass along our reunion dates now. We’ve only got less than a year to work on
this.
The next official notice/reunion updates will be in Feb. or Mar. and
May/June of 2003.
Let’s make it a great success!
Your shipmate
Steve Hunt
Steve
U.S.S. Brooke DEG-1/FFG-1
Seattle Reunion September 18-21, 2003
For Point of Contact:
Steve Hunt
P.O. Box 1692
Tacoma, WA 98401
(253) 471-7766
e-mail: thehubbahubba@aol.com
