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2006 International
Rigger Reunion
To view or purchase pictures
from the reunion click
here.
The Red Hat Chapter hosted the 2006 International
Rigger (and Air Dispatcher) Reunion in beautiful
Fredericksburg
,
Virginia
, 13-17 September. We had 108
people show up for the reunion, including 43 international visitors.
Fellowship, camaraderie, and fun was had by all.
I think everyone that attended would agree it was a complete
success. The story goes
something like this…
It started on a Wednesday.
Everyone arrived at the hotel, registered, and enjoyed free drinks
in the hospitality room prior to dinner.
After the welcome dinner, some returned to the hospitality room for
a while. Of course Jim
Kennebeck started selling raffle tickets early.
His raffle ended up being a huge success.
On Thursday, we
loaded the buses and traveled to
Washington
D.C.
for a guided tour of WWII, Korean War, and Vietnam Memorials.
Our tour guides left a little to be desired, but the Memorials made
up for it. We then visited
Arlington
national cemetery and were able to witness the “Changing of the Guard”
at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (quite impressive).
We returned to the hotel and went separate directions for dinner.
Most folks linked back up in the hospitality room later to try their
luck at winning some of the great prizes Jim Kennebeck was raffling off.
Friday morning
started with a chance to visit downtown
Fredericksburg and do a little shopping at all the neat
stores available.
After we all grabbed a bite to eat at one of the many local
establishments, we headed off for a guided tour of several Civil war
sites in and around Fredericksburg. The National Park Service
provided two of the absolutely best guides we have ever seen – simply amazing! We
all ate dinner downtown at “Uncle Sam’s” restaurant.
The food was tasty, but the entertainment afterward was even
better. We had the pleasure of
watching the “Skyline Country Cloggers”
Their performance was fun to watch and filled the air with
excitement. Afterward, we
returned to the hospitality room for drinks and Jim’s famous raffle.
We boarded the buses again Saturday
and headed towards Ft Lee, Virginia. Our destination was the
United States
Army
Quartermaster
Center and School’s “Parachute
Rigger
School”, which is housed in a brand new facility.
We were broken into groups and given a guided tour through each of
the different phases of Rigger
School. After our tour, we made a
brief stop at the
Quartermaster
Museum. By now we were all quite
hungry, so we ate lunch at the one of the “Chow Halls” on Ft.
Lee. The food was much better
than some had anticipated. After
lunch, we returned to the hotel and the Red Hat Chapter members convened a
meeting. The primary focus of
the meeting was to fill the elected positions within the Chapter’s
leadership. 1SG(R) Del Weitman
was unanimously re-elected as Chapter President.
SFC(R) Wagner “Buz” Baskett was elected as the Vice President.
CW3(R) Gaylin “Jess” Jesmer remained as the Quartermaster
(treasurer), and Elaine Whitby accepted appointment as the Chapter
Secretary. Later that evening
was the formal dinner with CW4 Leo Venckus as the guest speaker.
His words were inspiring. The
dinner ended with Jim Kennebeck raffling off 10 items.
Afterwards, many retired to the hospitality room were drinks were
drunk, stories were told, and Jim raffled off the rest of his prizes.
Sunday we loaded
the buses and headed back to Washington
D.C.
for the Smithsonian Air and Space museum.
After several hours of exploring the museum and a bite to eat for
lunch, the buses were loaded for our return trip to the hotel.
Everyone attended the farewell dinner at Brock’s Grill.
After dinner, we returned to the hotel and were able to enjoy one
last drink with some of our new found friends before we had to say good
bye. This was a bittersweet end to a
wonderful 5 days. Folks
departed at their leisure the next morning.
 
  
 
"I
WILL BE SURE ALWAYS"
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