Plankowners

Before I go into details about the upcoming San Francisco reunion, I would like to do a short wrap-up of our Charleston reunion last October. While our numbers did not equal the New Orleans reunion, we did end with more members present at “the end” of the reunion than we did in New Orleans. No hurricane at this one…

This was also the first reunion where all our scheduled events began on time, and minor problems at the hotel were worked out quickly. The Radisson did more than they promised and even provided everyone with a comp breakfast all four days. The Hospitality Room provided was adequate, even though it moved from room to room, day by day. The Yorktown and Ft. Sumter tours were pretty good. A real bonus, for those who had the time, was the visit to Ft. Moultrie and the “Brooke Gun”. Thanks to Chief DeWitt’s son, Jack, who researched our ship’s namesake and found the Gun in Charleston about three weeks before the reunion. We had already sent out the last newsletter and did not have time to pass the word, except at the reunion. Again, thank you, Jack, for your research and welcome to the Brooke Reunions!

At the Charleston reunion we added two new members: Harry Stowe, STG 68 – 70 and James Delaney, BT, (on-board dates not provided). In addition, I just received a new member application from Dennis Sarfaty, Lt., Supply Officer, from 69 – 71. Dennis, now our 95^th member, added an additional $25 to his membership to help pay our newsletter and postage costs. Thank you all for joining our association and we hope to see you in San Francisco in August!

Wrapping up our reunion was our usual Saturday night banquet. We had a great buffet, a 3-piece band and our own VP, Buddy Harris, surprised us with his version of “Elvis” live from Vero Beach, Fl.! Side note to Buddy: You were much better than the last one we saw in Charleston…so, Thank You, Thank You Very Much! Anyway, it appears our own “Elvis” will be a regular at all future reunions –XO—give the order!

Next item is membership. As mentioned before, we now have 95 members in the association. Our mailing list remains steady, around 150, so we have a very high percentage. As for renewals: Many members renew on the due date (on your mailing label) of their membership. So thank you for your support! (You know who you are…) Those who haven’t renewed lately…keep in mind that when you do send in your dues, your date will change to the date received and not from your label date, which could be from one month late to 3 years late. You need not send in several years’ late dues. Just send in $25 and your membership date will begin again.

Now for the “Brooke Questionnaire” we mailed out in December: The response was pretty good as we received 68 post cards. I WAS hoping for at least 100 out of the 150. After all, it was postage-paid and only required about 2 minutes or less to check the boxes. Maybe next time, and we hope to do it every year, we’ll have a better return. This REALLY helped in planning our San Francisco reunion. I was able to approach the hotels with REAL NUMBERS instead of just a vague estimate. This enabled us to negotiate a great price on our hotel rooms, the banquet, tours, etc. So—you guys can really help by returning the questionnaires when you receive them. It will also help us pare our mailing list, by dropping those not interested in receiving the newsletter. Unless you are, or have been, an association member, or as a non-member didn’t return the card, you could be dropped from our list. (We WILL KEEP ALL attendees from past reunions on our mailing list). If you stop receiving the “Port & Starboard” suddenly, then you should contact me and make known your interest. My phone number/address is always listed on the last page of the newsletter.

Now a note about the enclosed minutes and financial report. Since I combined the financial report with the minutes of our Oct. ’07 Charleston business meeting, I thought it was unnecessary to create an additional page. So—we are in the black and are self-supporting. The only assets not listed in the financial report are our Ship’s Store items. We currently have enough inventory (shirts, ball caps, mugs, pens and videos) that we will not have any major purchases until next year.

And lastly, another note about our questionnaire. As you can see, I’ve included some of the results in this newsletter. Mainly the NAMES of those who are definitely coming (28) and those who are “Probably/Possibly” coming (24). Of course, with spouses and friends, those numbers are almost double. Also, you can see the interest in a 2008 cruise reunion (34) or 68 with partners. All we needed for a successful cruise was 12 (or 24) attendees, so we had much more interest than anticipated. So, for next years’ reunion, Buddy Harris will be our Reunion Planner and details will be published within the next few months. We have to sign up and send in small deposits over a year out to be seated and roomed together.

Well, that about covers it. Hope to see you all in San Francisco in August. Make your hotel reservations now! It appears that we may set a new attendance record, based on the numbers from the questionnaire. Sure hope so!

Well, It’s time to start planning to attend the 2007 Reunion (the 5^th Annual Reunion!) in beautiful San Francisco this August. There are many things to see and do in ‘Frisco, and once again, Steve has selected the “cream of the crop” for our reunion attendees. If you haven’t been to ‘Frisco before, it’s a really good introduction to the area, and will never be any cheaper! If you HAVE been there before, it’ll be a great chance to re-acquaint yourself with the area.

As always, there will be a chance to be with old friends from the Brooke days and previous reunions, as well as make new friends! The weather should be pretty nice that time of year—not to hot, humid, or chilly. A light-weight all-weather jacket should be all you need (and maybe your umbrella from Charleston last year). The Acatraz tour is really interesting, and should be more enjoyable this time than the last time I was there (in January in pouring rain). We hope to plan a “Dim Sum” in Chinatown, so if you’ve never been to one you’re in for a real treat—just go hungry!

Hopefully, you’ll have a chance to ride the trolley—a really a unique experience and worth the 5 bucks they now charge (at least worth it for one ride). You haven’t lived until you’re on a trolley headed down one of San Fran’s famous hills, at full speed and some IDIOT in his car pulls in front of the trolley and stops! All I can say is they have GOOD brakes and it’s true, your life DOES flash by!

Well, I guess I’m out of room for this time, so, more in the next issue. Hope to see you ALL in the “City by the Bay”! For you shoppers, you’ll be signing “I Left My Wallet In San Francisco” by the end of the reunion.

Wow! If the numbers Steve Hunt is telling me are correct, we are looking at our largest reunion yet in San Francisco. That is terrific! With each year we have been growing as an association and your intentions of coming to the “City by the Bay” is a reflection of the continued success we are having of creating an organization that will carry on the name of our beloved ship.

I know you will have a wonderful time in San Francisco. Besides being a beautiful city, with a rich nautical heritage, there are so many things to see and do. When Steve and I visited San Francisco a few months back to “lay the groundwork” for our reunion we checked out every aspect of our get together. If you are flying in, the airport is just five minutes from the hotel. If you are driving, the hotel is just off a main freeway. We made a conscious decision to hold the reunion outside of the center of San Francisco because the parking and traffic in the city is pretty tough (those darn cable cars keep getting in the way). The Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station is close to the hotel (a free shuttle to and from is provided by the hotel) and BART drops you off right in the heart of the city just a few blocks from Fisherman’s Wharf (you can hike it, take a trolley, or cable car too). As in our past reunions we have many events planned for our folks that they can choose from and I won’t steal Steve’s thunder as I am sure he is putting the events in the newsletter.

For those of you who have never been to San Francisco a great time awaits you! From the aforementioned Fisherman’s Wharf to Alcatraz Island. There are naval displays at Pier 39, Jack London Square across the bay in Oakland and many, many more things to see and do. The choice of foods runs from Chinatown and Japan town to seafood of every variety. If you don’t try the sourdough bread you are missing a San Francisco original. On top of all this is a history that goes back to the early 1800s, not to mention that little shaker (that’s what we call them out here in California) they had back in ’06 (that’s 1906). I have lived on the west coast most of my life and I have always enjoyed coming to San Francisco because there is just so much to see and do. Simply put, it is a great place to hold a reunion!

As in all of our reunions we have worked hard to keep the costs down and again this year we have been able to get some great deals. And as in the past, if you want to bring family and friends, this is a great opportunity for them to see San Francisco at a good price (not to mention hanging out with some really great folks).

I encourage all of you who are planning on attending to get your hotel reservations in early (it doesn’t cost anything to lock on a room). In this way we can plan our other activities sooner and get the best rates.

Long ago, in a far away land called the “Brooklyn Area” in San Diego, there were many lost souls at a Pre-Com Detail waiting for their new ship, the USS Brooke, to be built. Along with these souls, there stood a tall man we called the XO, who did not enjoy having idle hands milling about smartly. So, to alleviate his problem, he assigned as many schools as possible to his idle, prospective crew. One of those happened to be a Survival school created mainly for air crews heading for Vietnam. So he hand-picked “volunteers” and off we went.

Now, here’s where the “Spam” comes in. After about 5 days of no food, a plane dropped provisions consisting of a tin of Spam and some crackers. It wasn’t much, but 1 oz of Spam and 2 crackers was the best eats we’d had since leaving our warm barracks in San Diego. It was so good that no one forgot, ever..

Fast forward to the Brooke reunion in Seattle 2003. One David Kalaf arrived and, at almost every meal, he expressed desire for Spam. (Oh god, I hope we’re having Spam…etc.) So, when our Saturday Night Banquet arrived, we had to accommodate him with “Spam ala Mode” for dessert. Hence, Dave was the first recipient of our annual Spam Award. And so was born the Annual Brooke Spam Award, which is now passed on to someone special or unique who stands out (or is Outstanding) during our reunion. Atta Boy Dave!

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I’m so sorry to tell you that Jim passed away yesterday (Feb. 14^th) after a heart attack on Sunday. He never regained consciousness and had what seemed to be a peaceful end to this journey. He certainly valued your friendship Jerry.

I spoke to Betty on the phone. Jim has been very sick with cancer for many years, but being the strong person he was, he hung in there with his typical determination and upbeat spirit. Betty indicated that there would be no Memorial Ser-vice, that Jim would be cremated and his ashes spread at sea. Betty would love to hear from Jim’s former shipmates – a phone call or a card would be greatly appreciated.

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The DoubleTree Hotel is located just south of the San Francisco Airport and has a direct 24 hour shuttle from the airport. The comp shuttle to the airport connects you to the BART subway which runs every 15 minutes to downtown San Francisco.

In Addition, the town of Burlingame offers a complimentary shuttle to the

Downtown Burlingame area for shopping in unique stores and restaurants.

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Other DoubleTree amenties include….

Full Hot Breakfast Buffet at the Chutney Grill

Complimentary parking for all reunion attendees

Complimentary Golf Club rental at the Burlingame Golf Center

located directly behind the hotel

Complimentary Hospitality Suite and Banquet Room

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The meeting was called to order at 0810 hrs. by our President, Tom Adametz. There were 20 members present.

The DEG/FFG Association has not materialized as of today. Members of the USS Ramsey Assoc. were supposed to attend this reunion, but did not. Will discuss at next reunion.

We had $5,247 in our account on Oct. 20th. Tours, the Sat. night banquet, the band and hospitality room refreshments left us with a balance of $1,927 after the reunion. (We currently have a balance of $2,365 as of February 9, 2007)

During the reunion, we sold $472 in items from the Ship's Store, gained two new members and renewed two members, for a total of $100, plus $190 from the annual raffle. We also had several members pay for the reunion in cash, at the reunion. From the cash on hand we paid the Saturday night band in cash ($375), bought a round of refreshments for all attendees (mainly to bring our total cash bar amount to the minimum required) and paid for all the hospitality room refreshments and snacks. We had made deposits for the hotel and tours earlier in the year and had enough to pay off the balances during and after the reunion. It was noted that all members would receive this financial report in the next newsletter.

Our choices were San Francisco, Boise, ID, Portland or Eugene, OR, Branson at a later date. A vote was taken and it was almost unanimous for San Francisco during August or September, 2007.

It was discussed and decided that a Brooke questionnaire would be sent out for future reunions attendees and locations, etc.

There was a show of hands for interest in a 2008 Cruise reunion and we had about 15 interested. Buddy Harris will work out the reunion details with Brian Forrester, a military cruise specialist, and Buddy will be the reunion planner for the 2008 Cruise reunion.

Our future reunion dates should be listed on the following web sites: Tin Can Sailors, DESA, American Legion, and Destroyer.com. We can also contact and find other former Brooke crewmembers on these websites.

New Business: Research was suggested for a Ship's Plaque by Gunther Neumann.

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Regular Membership dues to the Association are $25 per year. Associate membership (no fee) is available for all surviving spouses of Brooke Crewmembers.

Your current membership expiration date is to the right of your name on the address label on the newsletter. To continue "Port & Starboard" please remit your dues payment in accordance with published dues schedule, payable to the USS Brooke Association and mail to our Treasurer at the address below: