Monday, September 27, 2010

Ron Forehand Update

I received the following email from Virginia Forehand. Ronald served on the Hazelwood as on officer 56-58. and left shortly after I came on board in 58.
"I am so sorry Ronald Forehand will not be able to attend the reunion. He is now in the severe stages of Alzheimer's Disease. He always wanted to attend one of the reunions and never was able to. Now with the reunion being in Jacksonville, so close to us and he still cannot attend. It makes me so sad. He really enjoyed the time he served on the USS Hazelwood. He talked about the shipmates he served with and the ship often and fondly. I do hope everyone who can attend have a wonderful time. Virginia Forehand"

All of our best wishes go to Virginia and Ronald.

Smooth Sailing, Jim Julian

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Update on Dub Keith

I just rceived this email from Kay Keith:

Update on W.B. (Dub) Keith. Dad served on the Hazelwood in 51-55 as a Gunner's Mate.

He is tolerating his Chemotherapy much better than expected and his prognosis is excellent. We are hopeful that by Christmas, he will be cancer free. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

Kay Keith
katykats@sstelco.com

7 Months to Reunion Date

Yes, it is only seven months until our reunion in Jacksonville. As noted in the preceding post there are 48 shipmates planning to attend at this date and I am sure there will be more. If you have not yet let me know if you are attending you can send me an email at dd531reunion@earthlink.net or drop me a note to 318 Salt Creek Drive, North Port, FL, 34287.

If you wish you can send me a check for the $30.00 registration fee which covers the hospitality room drinks, snacks etc. Also let me know how many will be attending.

Some good news. The hotel has REDUCED the room rate to only $82.00 (plus 13% tax) which is their new military rate. With the tax the room rate will be only $92.66 which is really good for such a class hotel with free airport transportation.

Hotel reservations must be made by those attending. In an earlier post you can learn how to make your hotel reservations.

If you have a pet the hotel is pet friendly but they do charge a non-refundable cleaning fee of $75.00 and have a 50 pound limit on the pet.

I still do not have the tours confirmed. The Navy base is shorthanded in their Public Affairs Office but I am working on getting a good tour.

Around the first of the year you will receive a packet of information about the banquet, tours, Hazelwood caps and other information. You will be able to select your banquet meal(s), tours and other items and then send the form to me with a check to cover all of your selections. If you have not paid the registration fee at that time it can be added to the amount due.

Raymond Berger found a You Tube video about the Fletcher Class destroyers and in the video there is a picture of the Hazelwood after the Fram conversion. The video is about 6 minutes long and the Hazelwood is shown about 4 1/2 minutes into it. Click on this link and you should get there. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRXgVVDsNb0

I am looking forward to getting more reservations so I can post your name(s) on the Blog.

Smooth Sailing, Jim Julian

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Up to 48 Attending

Today I received a reservation from Ken Dickinson, 56-58, YNT3 and a few days ago I got a reservation from Frank DeClements, 61-65, Eng. These two bring us up to 48 who are planning to attend.

It is really heartwarming to see that nine from the 40's era are planning to attend. It will be great to have so many of the Greatest Generation joining us at the reunion.

Smooth Sailing,

Jim Julian