The President's Corner
My First Column! - Reunion 99 or 00? - Where to Meet?
This is my first article as your president. I am very excited in taking the helm at a
time when our membership is growing so rapidly. There are nearly 1,600 former
Foo Dogs that have been found. Rich Ruyle has been doing a great job tracking
down our elusive Foo brothers and sisters.
We have a reunion coming up. The board will be making a decision
sometime in the coming months, but it looks like it will not occur until the Summer
of 2000. There were many responses to an inquiry from Rich Ruyle and some interest
was shown in meeting in 1999 but no one stepped forward to take charge
and I am not available for this duty until the year 2000.
As far as where to have the reunion, the responses were quite varied,
from "anywhere, anytime," to "San Diego again", to "let's try the
East coast again." There were too many suggestions to list.
There were a fair number of votes for Las Vegas which is a strong
possibility for a future reunion. I think we owe it to our East coast members
though to find something in their region, perhaps Virginia Beach, Pensacola
or Charleston. Several calls asked "How about the Reno Air Races; How about
the Oshkosh Fly In."
We want to provide interesting reunion festivities. What would you like
to see at our next reunion? Are their any activities, movies, pictures, memorabilia,
guest speakers, etc., that would make the reunion a little more enjoyable for you?
We already have a lessons learned file from last year. How much would you be willing
to spend on a reunion?
Personally, I would like to see a trivia contest of some kind, so please send
me your best bit of VRC-50 trivia and I will compile it for the reunion.
I would also like to see more VRC-50 memorabilia to stir the old memories.
The problem is transportation to the reunion site- but I'm working on it.
I am writing this - during a huge thunderstorm - I am reminded of the
terrible floods some of you may have had in the midwest. Remember the rainy
season in the Philippines? I remember during our indoctrination when the
meteorologist spoke to us and said that the average rainfall in August was
over 100 inches. What about the Binictican yacht club - whcih was actually the golf
course - all the lower holes would flood and cover the road. Then there were the
mud slides, the road closings, six inches of standing water on the ramp.
Pilots and aircrews, do you remember the storms that just seemed to welcome you
to the Philippines in the summer on every trip back from Japan or Guam?
The old Laoag Boys and the Jomalig Giants were always there to greet you!
Does anyone remember going to Manila and requesting clearance only to be
told, "You're cleared for whatever you want."
Ah, those were the days! If you have a memory you would like to share, please
send our fine newsletter editor Roddy Crook a letter or an e-mail with your anecdote.
It has been suggested that we use e-mail to send our newsletter to those so equipped.
This could save the association some money on printing and postage. It would be
sent as a Microsoft Word 6.0 file. If you are compatable with this and would prefer
to receive the newsletter in this manner, contact Rich Ruyle and get your name
on the e-mail distribution list.
It's that time of the year, dues are due. Some of you would probably like to
know what the dues are used for. Well, first and foremost, is the publication and
distribution of the newsletter as well as other postage costs, our annual
corporation registration renewal, some working capital to purchase t-shirts
and ball caps for later sale, and then some seed money to get deposits down
for the next reunion before individual checks start coming in.
Would you like to see a treasurer's report on a regular basis? I'm sure Rich
can give a quick update in each newsletter to let you all know where we stand.
Let me know what you desire.
Our organization was originally founded in the state of Florida
because that's where Clint Staples- our first president - resided. Clint will be
moving out of Florida and we will have to register in a different state. Is
anyone familiar with the laws of their state in this regard? I need to
know if their are any advantages of one state over another. If not, I will register
in North Carolina where I live and we can transfer each time the office of
President changes.
I would like to challenge you to name as many locations that
VRC-50 aircraft have visited or been stationed as you can, from its establishment
to its disestablishment. I will give a free VRC-50 baseball cap to the person who submits
the most complete list. Stay tuned for the results. Send your list to me at:
Walt Milowic
717 Currituck Dr.
Raleigh, NC 27609
e-mail - [email protected]