NEWSLETTER OF THE PREBLE REUNION ASSOCIATION

Thanks to the efforts of Mike and Bette Bohannon we experienced a wonderful Preble reunion in St. Louis, MO this past July. The choice of hotel, banquet menu, and hotel staff cooperation was superb.

Mike and Bette made certain that we had a list of eateries within a reasonable radius of the hotel which offered a wide variety of culinary choices for those who did not wish to limit themselves to the fare served in the hotel.

Our ladies got busy right away and arranged for tours of the St. Louis area. Tours for our members are such a difficult thing to arrange by the Association, because we really have no idea of what our membership would be interested in and we cannot become the agent of a tour operator by collecting deposits and fees from our members. Thank you ladies ... whoever you are... for taking this facet of our reunion and running with it.

Our very first Preble reunion in Old Town San Diego (1995) set the standard for a relaxed gathering of our shipmates in an informal environment (Lex Boswell -host). I believe that the St. Louis reunion of 1999 has taught us how to achieve the same kind of atmosphere in a metropolitan setting. Thank you, Mike, We will see if we can apply some "lessons learned" at our next reunion in Seattle.

Well... it is a new year... and our "war chest" is depleted after the St. Louis reunion, so it is time to ask you to please support the Preble Reunion Association by contributing membership dues. To help you with your decision, I hope that you will suffer through reading the little "blurb" on page 5.

Bill Calhoun

Reunion Report

After some tough negotiating sessions, Mike Bohannon was able to schedule us into the Regal Riverfront Hotel in
St. Louis, MO.

The Regal Riverfront is a busy first-class hotel, but thanks to Mike, we were able to offer this site at not much more cost to our members than for our 1997 reunion in Charleston, SC.

This was, in most ways, a typical Preble Reunion. No scheduling of our member's time except for a brief business meeting on Saturday and our usual "Farewell Banquet" on Sunday evening.

Business Meeting

As a warm-up, a strolling magician performed magic tricks for us at each table which was enjoyed by all.

The thrust of our business meeting was to select a site for our 2001 reunion. Because of our commitment to rotate
our reunion locations about the country, the next reunion needed to be in the west.

The voting went as follows:

Las Vegas . . . . . . . . . . 0

San Diego . . . . . . . . . . 14

Seattle  . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Thus, the clear winner was Seattle. Our good shipmate Greg Nelson volunteered to be the " Front Man " for us 
and since I only live about 10 miles from Seattle (as a seagull flies ) you can probably expect that I will be 
sticking an oar in from time to time.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned and we all pursued our own desires for the evening meal.

Attendance

A complete listing of attendees is provided on the centerfold, Pages 3 and 4. We are particularly pleased that so many of those serving aboard in the 70's & 80's were able to attend.

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