San Diego Reunion Information

DESTROYER USS ORLECK DD 886 SAN DIEGO REUNION

August 11-15, 2014

Welcome photos provided by the Town and Country Resort, San Diego

Presentation of video and music provided compliments of our webmaster, Thorworx.

San Diego 2014 Reunion Information

We had a fine time in Northern Kentucky for our 2012 reunion and there you voted to have our next reunion once again in San Diego, California. This will be the first time since we began reunions in 1993 that we have repeated a city. If any city was to be repeated, San Diego would be the one most would choose. The city was the home-port for the USS ORLECK and when you think of San Diego you cannot help but think Navy. If you were one of the 255 who attended that 1995 reunion you can testify how great it was and I have every expectation that this one will be just as good except that some our good friends and shipmates who were there will not be with us this time.

Now we have our hotel and a fine one it is. The Town and Country Resort is beautiful 1000 room resort but don’t let the size scare you. It is put together so it has a feel of a small cozy hotel. Most of the activities at the Town and Country Resort, our base of operations, will take place right in our hospitality room. The only problem with the hospitality room is that it is the finest we have ever had anywhere and I might have difficulty getting you out of there to do some special things elsewhere but I will have to work on that. Maybe if our events are fine enough it will turn out not to be a problem. Our hospitality room will be used to finalize our registration to provide you with all the information you will need to make the reunion a fun success. There we will sell shirts and caps and display our auction, raffle and memorabilia items. We will stock the place with soda and snacks and the hotel will provide the ice and other necessaries. As mentioned, some, especially those with a mobility problem, might be concerned about the overall size of the hotel. There will be little need for you to wander around this beautiful place with all its constantly blooming flowers and palm trees, unless you want to of course. The hotel also has motorized carts zooming around the complex and they can take you where you want to go at no charge to you.

So we are ready to begin registration. We usually have had reunions from Thursday to Sunday but there were several good reasons for doing it from Monday to Friday in San Diego. First and foremost it was less expensive to do it then. In fact we are so fortunate to be able to have this reunion in the summer. If you check with your friends who served on other ships and attended or plan to attend reunions in San Diego, they had to, because of price, do their reunions in the spring or fall. But we got the summer and we got it for $99 a night. I am told that is unheard of in San Diego. So check out the registration form information and register and the sooner the better.

Since USS ORLECK was home ported in San Diego and San Diego area is very Navy, many of our shipmates have settled in the area. This is a great opportunity for those who live close to our events to really pitch in and raise the level of excitement for those who are coming to visit in August. Even if you live in the area, please consider staying at the hotel. The fellowship and camaraderie will be increased if you are there, stay up late talking if you are inclined, up early for the breakfast and fellowship we have provided for those staying at the hotel. If you have been on the USS MIDWAY or have done other things we are doing, come anyway and instead of just coming along for the ride, act as a “docent” and impart knowledge to your fellow shipmates, friends and family, things you know and unless you tell them they would not every know.

Once again the dates are August 11 (Monday) through August 15 (Friday. This is a 4 day reunion and the package is a wonderful bargain. We will begin Monday morning and end on Friday morning with our usual breakfast church service led by our Chaplain, Joe Correa. The cost is about what you would expect to pay for a 3 day reunion. When you consider that you get breakfast every morning in the hospitality room and if you arrive early, you are not only guaranteed the room rate of $99 for each of those 3 days but you will be provided a coupon for a free breakfast in one of the Town and Country restaurants. The same thing applies if you decide to stay 3 days after the reunion ends. If you consider what you are saving on the cost of a hotel breakfast that makes it even more evident what a bargain this is. Most ship reunion groups have 1 or 2 banquets and possibly a lunch and a breakfast. At this reunion you will have your breakfast every morning, 4 lunches and 2 banquets as well as your transportation during the reunion, your admission to special events, entertainment and all that comes with a USS ORLECK quality reunion, all for that one price. The free breakfast is only intended for those staying at the Town and Country for the reunion.

We have the entire 9^th floor of the Regency Tower hotel complex building for our hospitality Room. The Regency Tower also houses our rooms. Renovations on this building started in 2013 and will be complete when we arrive. In one of the 3 rooms up there we hope tol have constant showing of USS ORLECK videos on a large screen. It will be a wonderful place to relive those memories when you were aboard her. Another of the rooms is ideal for our registration and the final settling area is a large beautiful room with a great view of the city. There we will sell shirts and caps and display our auction and memorabilia items. We will have soft drinks and snacks there and during registration day on Monday you will be served pizza for lunch because we know you will not want to be going out for lunch especially if you just arrived. You will want to start having fun in the hospitality room, right?

The following is an important thing for our success. The raffle and auction are integral parts of our being able to provide the quality reunions we do so please continue to bring your raffle and auction items to be sold. Please advise us when you know what you are bringing so we can make plans for how we are going to go about raising money through them. Remember the money is used for the additional expenses of the reunion. It would also be of great assistance if everyone attending would pay their voluntary $15 per year dues. We have not hired a professional photographer for good reason but will be relying on Ben Loder and on your photographic skills. Send in copies of your photos or send a DVD to Bob at the Association address.

For details go to the “Plan of the Day”for each of the days of the reunion. Notices there are Action Items and Information Items and they are numbered. This will make it easy when throughout the reunion we might in a group setting be referring to a particular item and in this way we can all identify what is being talked about more easily. For those not familiar with ”Military Time”, the military operates off a 24 hour clock, beginning at midnight (which is 0000). So 1:00 AM is 0100 , 2:00 AM is 0200, and so forth up until 11:00 PM which is 2300. We may be reporting time in Military Time some of the time.

Click here for Registration Form

Click here for Plan of the Day

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