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2010 Zapper Reunion

Well, we're less than six months from the 2010 Zapper Reunion in San Francisco/Alameda, and plans are still in the developmental stage.  We have been able secure some rooms at the Marines Memorial Club in San Francisco, which will be the headquarters for the Fleet Week activities.  There are two other hotels across the street from the MMC, the Hotel Rex and the Hotel Larkspur.  Both of these hotels have agreed to offer the same prices as the MMC.  You'll have to make your own reservations, and the rooms get very scarce for Fleet Week, so I'd encourage making your reservations soon.  I'll be reserving the suite in case we decide to have our reception there.  Here' the information on the Marines Memorial Club:

5 Standard Rooms at $189.00 (single/double occupancy)
Suite #403 at $300.00 (Group’s Hospitality Suite)
Reservation Cut-off Date: September 8, 2010

Please direct all reunion attendees to call 1/800-5-MARINE (800/562-7463) and ask for the VAW13 ZAPPER REUNION room block code in order to receive the group rate of $189. In addition, if any of your attendees are Club members, the prevailing club member rates will apply.

These rates will be made available three (3) days pre and post the official event dates subject to availability. These rates do not include hotel occupancy tax, which is currently 14.00% (tax exempt for Government employees), or the San Francisco Tourism Improvement District tax, which is currently 1.50%.

Check-in time: 4:00 pm                                    Check-out time: 12:00 pm

All guestroom rates include a Full American Breakfast for two persons served each morning in the Restaurant on the top floor; two hour hosted Cocktail Reception served nightly in the Restaurant Bar; entrance to Club One Fitness; and complimentary use of our Business Center where you can access your emails, print and send faxes. The Marines' Memorial Club & Hotel is 100% non smoking.

Joining the Marines Memorial Club requires veteran's status documented with a DD214 and costs $100/year.  Of course this brings with it some benefits, including a reduced rate of $139.00/night for hotel rooms.
 

We're pursuing other hotels closer to the Marina which might be a little less expensive.  The Marina area is where the Fleet Week Activities, including the Air Show, will be conducted.  In addition we're planning a Squadron Banquet on Saturday night at a great restaurant name Fior D'Italia, which is also close to the Marina area.  One of the hotels is the San Remo Hotel, which has a website that can be viewed at www.sanremohotel.com., and the restaurant is located within this hotel.   Bill Welch has agreed to start compiling some slides, videos, photos etc. to be shown during the banquet to bring back some memories of 'the good old day's'.  We're also hoping that some of the current VAQ-130 Zappers might be able to join us depending on their other commitments.  An effort is also underway to try to attract a few of the Blue Angels to be with us as well.

So, here's a sample of what we're thinking might be an itinerary for the weekend:

Friday, Oct. 8th: Arrival into San Francisco Bay Area.  A possible welcome cocktail reception at either the Marines Memorial Club Suite, or a hotel yet to be selected, from 6 PM till everybody is too tired to stay up.

Saturday, Oct. 9th: Late morning ferry to Alameda, with a bus or carpools to NAS Alameda, and the USS Hornet, with lunch catered on the Hornet by the Acapulco restaurant.   A tour of the old base, including the BOQ, enlisted barracks, 'O' Club etc will follow.  Then, later that afternoon, return ferry to San Francisco in time to freshen up for the banquet that night at the Fior D'Italia.

Sunday, Oct. 10th: Fleet Week Activities in the Marina, including the Blue Angels Air Show at 3:00 PM.  This will conclude all of the planned activities, but obviously anyone wanting to enjoy the wonderfulness of the Bay Area can do so.  One suggestion however would be to not drive in San Francisco during fleet week, especially near the Marina area.  It is incredibly congested, and the use of cable cars, taxis, rapid transit, ferries etc. will make your life a lot easier.

Of course, none of this is set in stone, so any and all suggestions are welcome.  I'll be asking our Zapper webmaster, Smitty, to post this note on our Zapper website just in case our mailing list isn't up to date.  As soon as we get some pricing on our planned banquet, I'll be asking for some commitments on participation so we can lock in on a private room at the restaurant. 

So, start planning your airline reservations, hotel reservations etc. to make this the best reunion ever.  The organizing group will continue to try to refine the planned activities, and will update the itinerary from time to time. 

I hope everybody has a great summer.

Brendan A. (Mac) McLoughlin
MacZapper@aol.com or
thenewmac@msn.com
925-362-9015





Original text below:

^{First of all, thank you to all who have replied to my note earlier this year concerning the possibility of a reunion this year in Alameda, California, the former home of the VAW-13 Zappers. It appears that there is quite a bit of interest in putting a reunion together during Fleet Week in October, which this year begins on October 8th and ends on Sunday, October 10th. The Blue Angels will be performing on all three days, and should be quite a display of current Naval Aviation skill.}

^{So, there will be four of us working on putting together an agenda with many different options regarding things to do and places to see in the San Francisco Bay Area. At this point it seems like the best place to set up a Reunion H.Q. would be the Marines Memorial Club and Hotel in downtown San Francisco. We have already arranged for a number of rooms to be available at a pretty reasonable price (at least by San Francisco standards), but will be providing alternative places to stay within easy reach of the Reunion H.Q. We will have a hospitality suite at the Marines Memorial Club, which will have various refreshments available and which will serve as a meeting place for most of the organized activities. The details of places to stay and prices will be forthcoming in a future e-mail.}

Now none of this is cast in stone, so we're still open to any suggestions that would make the reunion more memorable. At some point in the near future, I'll be providing a lot more detail on the Marines Memorial Club and Hotel, including prices and procedures for making reservations. I'd also like to try to firm up the numbers of people who will definitely be attending so that we can have the proper arrangements made to accommodate everybody. In addition, I'm going to ask Smitty to help us to put a link on the Zapper website (^{www.VAW-13.com), so that everyone can see all of the updates to the plans for this exciting event.}

Brendan A. (Mac) McLoughlin (^{thenewmac@msn.com) Chuck Reite (cd-reet@pacbell.net)}

Herb Foster (^{Herb@fosterappraisals.com) Robert (PeeWee) Porter (Robert_7308@msn.com)}

Brendan A. (Mac) McLoughlin

 

Additions or Ideas,  please email/contact   Smittyusn1@bellsouth.net  ,  I will post them here on this page.