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CLICK ON ANY OF
THE FIVE TITLES ABOVE TO SEE MORE DETAIL ON AN ASPECT OF THIS YEAR’S REUNION. ***NOTE: The “HOTEL”
link above is just for info on hotel facilities. Do NOT use it to register. Follow directions under “SIGNING UP.”*** Bear
in mind that since 2018, the reunion has been expanded by one day. Primarily
due to COVID-19, we are a bit behind getting everything up and organized for
our reunion this year. As a result,
you should register with the hotel (following the guidelines under “SIGINING
UP”) soon. Although there has been
much diverging discussion regarding how quickly the economy will return to
normal, I can tell you that following a planning visit to the Beach Cove
Resort in early June, they are experiencing an unusual surge in reservations
since reopening. As we get closer and
closer to the reunion, the hotel will be looking to retrieve unassigned rooms
from our reserved block of rooms sooner rather than later because of the
increasing number of vacationers looking for accommodations. DON’T MISS THE BOAT! You can always cancel for a full refund if
your situation changes and you’re unable to attend the reunion. If that happens, just be sure to contact
Pete Johnson at 980-328-4150 or [email protected] and I’ll
make the arrangements to be sure you’re refunded any money. Please
note that reunion fees, as well as ticket fees for the Alabama Theater (if
you intend to attend) MUST BE PAID PRIOR TO THE REUNION. Also, when you send in those fees, you MUST
SELECT YOU ENTRÉE CHOICE FOR THE FRIDAY EVENING WELCOME DINNER. *****SPECIAL
NOTICE*****
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*FRIDAY* 6:30
– 8:30 PM WELCOME DINNER Welcome
to Reunion 2020, our 21st
annual reunion! As we did last year,
the first event of the reunion will be a welcome dinner, before which there
will be a presentation of the National and Air Force flags followed by a
short welcoming comment. The dinner
will be hosted by the Beach Cove resort and will likely take place in the
Hospitality Room. The actual location
will be made available later but at least at the reunion prior to the event. There are three entrée choices, and a cash
bar will be available for any who prefer alcoholic drinks. We need to provide the hotel with our
selections no later than 14 days prior to the reunion. Therefore, PLEASE BE SURE TO INCLUDE EACH PERSON’S DINNER CHOICE
WHEN YOU FORWARD YOUR REUNION FEES! Here are your choices:
Each dinner will be
accompanied with iced tea/water; House Salad; Italian and Ranch Dressing; Steamed
Medley of Seasonal Vegetables; Garlic Mashed Potatoes; Warm Rolls with Butter
Balls. Dinner will be followed with
Chef’s Choice of dessert and coffee service.
The Hospitality Room will remain open after dinner and throughout the
reunion…normally between the hours of 10:00 AM and as late as people choose
to hang around. It will normally be
closed when any group event occurs off the resort property. *Saturday* 2:00 PM CORN HOLE
TOURNAMENT
7:00 PM ALABAMA
THEATER (check back as the time may change) All of you choosing to attend the theater
will be in for an outstanding variety show.
All comments I heard from last year’s attendees were positive. This is an OPT-IN function, so if
you’re not inclined to attend the show, you certainly don’t have to. If you do choose to attend, the ticket
price is not yet confirmed, but you can expect it to be about the same as
last year… $31.00 per person.
This is NOT covered by your reunion fee, and the ticket price MUST BE INCLUDED WHEN YOU
FORWARD YOUR REUNION FEES!
Please be sure to do this, as it may not be possible to acquire
tickets after arriving at the reunion.
Those attending will meet in the hotel lobby around 6:00 PM (again,
check back to confirm this time), where you can arrange a ride if you don’t
have transportation. The Alabama
Theater in is Barefoot Landing, just across highway 17 from the Beach Cove
Resort. *Sunday* 11:00
AM PUTT-PUTT TOURNAMENT This is also an OPT-IN event, not covered
by your reunion fees, but payment will be at the venue. As in the past, it will be held at Moulton
Mountain. If you’re interested and
don’t have transportation, there will be plenty of folks willing to give you
a lift. If you’re having difficulty
arranging a ride, seek out Mark Gransden, Jake Reece or me, Pete Johnson and
one of us will help you with the arrangements. 6:30
– 8:30 PM POOL PARTY
This is a casual get-together around the Resort’s
pool area. Those of you who have made
other reunions will recognize it as much the same as our previous Saturday
evening receptions which was designed to open the reunion by drawing
attendees together. Our Friday dinner
now fills that function. This, as its
name implies, is simply a relaxing gathering of members, spouses and
friends. Feel free to swim if you
like! We anticipate having some music
reflecting the time in-and-around our assignment at Karamursel Air Station. There will of course, be a good portion of
munchies (enumerated below) and the availability of a cash bar. In a new twist, each attendee will receive
a ticket for one free drink from the bar.
Your choice of soft drinks, beer, wine or house liquor.
*Monday* 10:00
AM – about 12:00 PM BUSINESS MEETING
This is our one chance during the year for
members to discuss issues relating to our group. The room location will be provided at the
reunion. We hope that all members
attending the reunion will be sure to attend the business meeting. If you have thoughts that you’d like to see
discussed, come prepared to bring them up.
You may receive a little flak, but it’ll all be light-hearted. I’m sure there must be SOMETHING you’d like
to see done a bit differently, or can think of something we should be doing
that we don’t do! In addition to any topics of discussion,
we’ll have our usual Chi service (yes, authentic Turkish tea served in those
little glass cups and saucers we all remember from the ferry service to
Istanbul), and of course the Great Train Drawing that we’ve all looked
forward to each reunion since member Jake Reese joined us. Lest you could possibly forget, we
anticipate all this being wrapped up by our long-time good friend Ed Watts
supplying some of his dry Great State of Eastern Tennessee humor while
raffling off some highly desirable items. 10:00 AM – about 12:00 PM
LADIES’ TEA During the members’ Business Meeting the
ladies will enjoy a tea service in the Hospitality Room. There will be a variety of teas as well as
a variety of munchies…both healthy and not-so-healthy. Be sure to show up. I’m told there are rousing conversations
that take place while the members are taking care of what passes for business
in the Business Meeting 6:30
– 9:30 PM ANNUAL BANQUET
As the reunion is drawing to a close, the annual
banquet is a time to gather together for a delightful dinner and a chance to
remember those of us who have been beckoned to the ultimate Commander’s
Call. To keep the evening
light-hearted, there will be the usual awards program along with other
possible commentaries. Additionally,
should anyone like to make some comments to the group (appropriate ones
please!), please contact me at [email protected]
or 980-328-4150. The group will enjoy
hearing from you, particularly any stories from Karamursel you’d like to
share. Just bear in mind that there
will be ladies present! Hehe! The
banquet will begin with a cash bar for about an hour. Take this time to select your favorite
beverage, select a seat, and mix with the members. We’re planning a little different take on
our Memorial Table which is always on display at the banquet. I think you’ll appreciate it. After that, and when the hotel staff lets
us know they’re ready, we’ll open the banquet. Here’s what will be awaiting you:
Following the banquet, there
will be a short awards program, after which, we will gather in the
Hospitality Room for our annual group photo.
We really, really want everyone to be there for the picture. We will do our best to make that process
happen as quickly as possible, but based on previous experience, it will
likely take longer than you’d hope!
It’s worth it though, to look at those pictures over the years. How do we all stay so young looking? Probably a result of that good Air Force
training…and food…or maybe all those “nickel happy-hour” beers in Karamursel
have something to do with it. *Tuesday* 7:30 – 9:00 AM
DEPARTURE BREAKFAST As is our tradition, we close out the
reunion with our departure breakfast.
While some will have to leave early in order to meet transportation schedules,
for most of us this will represent a final chance to say goodbyes to friends
new and old. Don’t sleep through
it! Our good friends at the Beach Cove
Resort always put on a very good breakfast buffet which we know you’ll
enjoy. Eat your fill, take a few
pictures, shake some hands, and give/receive some hugs (surely we’ll be able
to do that by then!). KAS 60-61 is a
family. Make plans with other
members/spouses to meet again next year…which of course, will mark the second
toward making our 30th annual reunion. Imagine that! The few costs associated with the reunion
are listed below. You should know that
when you make your room reservations, the hotel will charge your card with
one night’s stay. The balance of the
nights you reserve will be due when you arrive and check in. If you need to cancel your reservation for
any reason, do NOT
contact the hotel. Contact
either Jake Reese (jdon[email protected] 336-601-3522 or Pete Johnson ([email protected] or
980-328-4150). One of us will contact
the hotel to make sure you receive a FULL REFUND of your reservation
charge. We will also ensure that you
are refunded any reunion fees you’ve paid, with the possible exception being
payment for Carolina Opry tickets.
Once the tickets are purchased, we can’t turn them back in. We will see if another member is interested
in purchasing them from you. Here are
the fees:
* these numbers still need
to be confirmed. Please check back for
updates. Once you’re prepared to sign up for the
reunion, there are a few simple steps to follow. The order you complete them in is not
important in most cases, however completing them all is important. It will make things go much more smoothly
for you and for the organizers of the reunion. o Call the Beach Cove Resort at 843-918-9000 to
reserve your room. Be sure to let them
know you’re with the KAS reunion so that you’ll receive our discounted
rate. You’ll want to reserve the
nights of 11, 12, 13 and 14 September.
You will also be able to reserve up to 3 days before and/or 3 days
after the reunion at our discounted rate.
If you encounter ANY problems in this process, contact either Jake
Reece (j[email protected]
or 336-601-3522) or Pete Johnson ([email protected] or
980-328-4150) and we will resolve the situation with the hotel. o Once you have reserved your room, please let Pete
Johnson (info above) know so that we have an on-going accurate count of the
rooms that have been reserved and what attendance to expect. o Send a check to our treasurer for the reunion
fee(s) and for the Carolina Opry ticket(s) if you want to attend that. At the same time, include your choices for an entrée at the
Friday welcome dinner. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT THIS
ALL BE DONE AND RECEIVED BY THE TREASURER NO LATER THAN 15 AUGUST. Make your check out to “KAS 60-61”
and mail it to: MARK GRANSDEN 4743 SANDPOINTE DR. NEW PORT RICHEY, FL 34655 That’s it!
You’ve completed the process.
Now you can sit back, relax and know that in a very short time you’ll
be at the beach (we’re almost always scheduled for great weather) among old
buddies from long ago, as well as some new ones you’ve first met over the
years from previous reunions. As
usual, you can expect great stories, some retold for the umpteenth time, more
colorful with each iteration. If you
have memorabilia from your time in Karamursel, think about gathering it
together and bringing it to the reunion.
Our memorabilia table always welcomes new examples of old items from
your days of service. They’ll be safe
in the Hospitality Room and if, in all the excitement you neglect to collect
them all at the end of the reunion, we’ll get them back to you. Yep, this is the place! Will you be there? SEE
YOU IN SEPTEMBER!!! Below is a chart indicating who has already
indicated an interest in coming to this year’s reunion. If the information on you is incorrect,
please let me know at [email protected]
or call at 980-328-4150 so I can correct it.
When you do get yourself signed up, be sure to follow the directions
in the “SIGNING UP” section. Also,
even if you’re not yet ready to make your reservations or to send in your
reunion fees, but fully expect to attend the reunion, let me know using the
contacts listed above. Having an
accounting of likely attendance as soon as possible helps us to solidify
plans early. The chart will be updated as new
information is received.
See you at the
reunion!
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