Shipmates, I sure had a good time on
our "Portland Patrol", and I hope you did as well. It's
always nice to visit a submarine, especially one as well preserved and
maintained as Blueback. The stop at the Casino was fun too, especially
since we had one member win a $ 1,000 and another win $ 200.00. Nice
folks, those Casino people. Robbie reported the breakfast chow
(scrambled eggs, etc) being top notch too. I held out for lunch, which
wasn't bad either, and only 2.50 ea. What a deal!
On the way down we watched a number of
videos and listened to the Tommy Cox CD called "Take Her
Deep." Immediately thereafter every Tommy Cox CD I had in stock
was purchased. (Yeah, I had it planned, but I like that CD so doggone
much, I knew everyone else would too.)
We also showed the video John Mansfield
produced of the Holland Club Ceremony. Several folks asked to get
copies. The VHS Tape is $ 10.00 if you want a copy. There also
is a picture CD of the ceremony and the text of the speech and bios
for $ 10.00; 15.00 for both. As always, proceeds go to the Seattle
Base treasury. Well, enough of the shameless plugs...
After leaving the casino, we held a
drawing to give away 20 or so prizes the casino supplied, and we
watched a video Ric Hedman provided of the USS Blenny in WW2 and video
of her ultimate fate, being sunk to provide an artificial reef 12
miles off on Maryland several years ago. Very interesting tape.
Thanks, Ric.
Arriving at OMSI in Portland, we broke
into three groups for our tours of Blueback, which took maybe 1 1/2
hours to complete.
On the way home we played submariner
trivial pursuit, also known as "Qual Questions" about
current and past submarine lore. Twelve prizes were given, ranging
from decals, pins, USSVI polo shirt. submarine watercolor copies, and
a 100th Anniversary Sweatshirt. Ric called the questions. Cliff and I
spotted the winners and handed out the prizes. It was fun and slightly
educational. We also did a ticket raffle for the Bremerton Base
Scholarship fund. Jan Stiffey sweetened the pot by contributing three
items from his company to immediately raffle off.
After a long day, the last of our tired
but happy crew were dropped off around 11 PM and the bus headed for
the barn.
Many MANY thanks to Jan
"Bear" Stiffey, former "Bull Nuke" and our driver/tourguide
and member of Bremerton Base for his help in the organization and
implementation of the tour. It could not have happened without his
support.
Photos of the trip will be posted in a
day or so. I'll let you know. If anyone would like a CD photo album of
the trip, I'll make them for $10.00; proceeds to the base.
