Reunion 2006 Schedule
Banquet Hall where we'll meet
Flags of all the home states of our Association Members were acquired and will be on display. Be sure to sign the flag of your home state upon your arrival in the hall. We're hoping to get the signature of all the men on these flags over the course of the next few years.
Thursday, June 1st, 2006
Some attendees will be arriving early. There are plans for some of them to golf at the nearby Public Golf Course. If you want to join them either Thursday or Friday for the golf tournament, contact Ernie Jarvis at this e-mail address: ejarvis@yahoo.com
A weekend schedule will be provided to assure the attendees don't miss any of the features of the weekend.
Friday, June 2nd, 2006
The annual golf tournament will take place on Friday morning. Be sure to register as soon as possible to participate.
While the golf match takes place the non golfers will be exploring the area and its many attractions.
We will all regroup for dinner, which will be served at 6PM and will include this menu:
MIXED
GREEN SALAD W/2dressings
BARBECUE CHICKEN
CORN COBBETS
OVEN-BROWNED POTATOES
GREEN BEANS
ASSORTED DESSERTS
ROLLS AND BUTTER
COFFEE/DECAF/TEAS/HOT-ICED
Dinner Music will be provided by Christian Culleton. Christian is a very accomplished guitarist, specializing in classical music. We are indeed pleased with his volunteering to add some atmosphere to our feast.
Following the meal, John Stone will be entertaining us with his collection of guitar music followed by Christian who will be playing 1960s pop music and some patriotic pieces.
At 7:30 pm, I'll be presenting a show that I hope you will find entertaining. I don't want to tip my hand as to what it will encompass, but here's a hint. You'll be seeing a number of our reunion attendees performing in a classical movie from the 70s. Opening up for that feature is a short clip showing an Association couple who I thought would have been well cast in another classical movie of the 80s. See if you agree after seeing them sing and dance. Oh yes, more attendees, playing as extras.
As in the past, please do not take these silly pieces for anything other what it is. It's this man's silly attempt at bringing a light note to the evening. Chris and I look as silly as the others who involuntarily allowed us to poke fun at ourselves. It's all in fun.
At 8PM Jim Bisson goes onstage to present his show showing the slides he took during the recent return to our old hunting grounds in Vietnam. You won't want to miss this as you will be amazed at seeing the sites that were so much a part of our personal history back in 1967. It's surprising how much has changed, and how much remains the same.
The rest of the evening will be spent renewing old acquaintances and bringing ourselves up to date.
Saturday, June 3rd, 2006
Breakfast will be served at 8AM and the menu will consist of:
FLUFFY
SCRAMBLED EGGS
CRISP BACON
SAUSAGE
PANCAKES WITH WARM SYRUP AND BUTTER
FRESH BISCUITS AND GRAVY
A VARIETY OF FRUIT JUICES
COFFEE-TEAS
Morning activities after breakfast, will include a return trip to the local Veterans' Memorial where we went to last year. There we will honor our lost brothers from the Company and view the Memorial Marker that Alpha Association purchased memorializing the men of A/2/12. Assuming that the reservist unit is not called back for duty in the Middle East, we will once more be provided with a deuce and a half to transport us to the Memorial.
After our traditional moments of reflection at the Memorial we will return to the Manchester to be served lunch.
Lunch will take place at between 1 and 2PM and will consist of:
DELI
BUFFET
AN ARRAY OF FRESH CUT DELI MEATS
CHEDDAR AND SWISS CHEESE
LETTUCE AND TOMATOES
ASSORTED BREADS AND BUNS
CONDIMENTS
POTATO CHIPS
COFFEE - TEAS
Saturday afternoon will be the highlight period of the weekend as the Ceremony and Testimonials will take place.
Allyn J Palmer will serve as our Master Of Ceremonies for the afternoon.
A Table of Honor will be set for Eugene Handrahan, A Company MIA, who never returned from the war. Bill Braniff, who was Gene's Squad Leader in Vietnam will set the table.
The National Anthem will begin the Ceremonies.
Following this a spiritual invocation by Gary Brenly.
Gary will be followed with the Ceremonial setting of the Table of Honor and the significance of the different adornments presented by Ed Smith.
The next section will be the lighting of the Flames Of Remembrance Candles with the reading of the names of the forty-four combat losses of men who served in A/2/12 anytime during the year 1966-1968 by the surviving vets. In conjunction of this lighting, I will be displaying all the Association photos that I have accumulated on our lost Brothers from members.
This will be followed by the reading of the names of men who we've lost to natural causes since our tour in Vietnam.
A number of speakers will have the floor next to submit their thoughts on our tour in Vietnam.
Larry May will speak about the men from Puerto Rico who arrived in our Company as he arrived in the Unit.
Jon Palmer, Ed Smith and Henry Osowiecki will in turn speak of the significance of their service in A/2/12 and the Association that was formed many years later to honor the participants.
Finally, Larry Walter will be presenting a couple of Vietnam Service Commemorative medals to two worthy Association Members.
The winner of the Greater Ivy Open Golf Tournament will announced next. Last year's winner, Denny Foerster mailed the coveted Tournament Winner's Field jacket to Larry so this year's winner can take it home for the year. Denny will not be able to make this year's get together.
At the end of the ceremony we'll squeeze in the annual reunion attendees photo before dinner.
Dinner menu will consist of :
CRISP MIXED GREEN SALAD
KALEIDOSCOPE OF FRESH FRUIT
SLICED TOP ROUND BEEF
NEW ENGLAND STEAK CUT COD IN PECAN LEMON BUTTER
RED-SKIN POTATOES
BROCCOLI/CAULIFLOWER/CARROTS
ROLLS AND BUTTER
ASSORTED DESSERTS
COFFEE-TEAS
Saturday evening, will be modified this year by allowing a period to mingle without a program to attend.
At 8PM we will be meeting in the Banquet Hall to view a nostalgic slideshow of TV and movie photos from our younger days. After the 50s 60s show you will have the opportunity to receive cash prizes during the 'TRIVIA QUIZ SHOW'. You won't want to miss this.
Sunday morning, June 4th, 2006 will feature breakfast from 8 to 9:30 AM and the menu will be:
FLUFFY
SCRAMBLED EGGS
BACON
SAUSAGE
FRENCH TOAST WITH SYRUP AND BUTTER
BISCUITS AND GRAVY
FRUIT JUICES
COFFEE-TEAS
This will be our last opportunity to say goodbye to our buddies and the ladies from the association. It is never easy to say our goodbyes for another year. As we get older, we understand the significance of our meetings and what it says about how our lives evolved since we first met. We all influenced each other in so many ways. We share a friendship that we celebrate once a year . We are all truly blessed for the chance to smile once more as a group.