May 10 through 12, The Cavalier Hotel
Peter and Sally Preston hosted the second reunion at a long established and renowned beachfront hotel on Virginia Beach. Again planned as a three-day event with our now traditional Friday night oriental buffet, business meeting, Spouse Forum, and more formal Saturday night dinner this reunion attracted 126 people. Once again old friendships were renewed and some new ones formed.
The Friday night buffet was a feast of oriental proportions with a selection of sushi that was gigantic. Again, Ken Kelly hosted a photo trip down memory lane and various people stood up to share stories, tales, and reminisce.
At the business meeting attendees were informed by Peter Preston that our group had now been officially incorporated in the State of Virginia and that we now known as the 67th Reconnaissance Technical Squadron (USAF) Association, Inc., or the 67RTS Association for short. Bylaws were discussed and approved and Gil Taylor was elected President, Peter Preston reelected Vice President, and Pete Durnell reelected Secretary/Treasurer. Formal committees were established they being History, Reunion, Membership, Nominating, and Web. It was also noted that, as an official Association, attendees could – and should – formally join the Association as members and dues were established as $15 for both 67th assignee and spouse and would be good for the two year period between reunions. Funds raised from dues would be used to pay incorporation fees and other necessary expenses for operating the Association, to pay any deposits required by future hosting venues, and to act as seed money for the next reunion especially to cover the expense of printing and sending out notices for these reunions.
Pete Durnell volunteered as host of the next reunion and stated that it would be in Florida near Patrick Air Force Base, Canaveral Air Station, and the Kennedy Space Center. Sally Preston hosted the Spouses Forum that again brought together spouses of 67th assignees to share personal stories. Sally encouraged “new” spouses – ones who were never in Japan – to also attend to get some idea of why we thought getting together was important to us.
The Saturday night dinner, atop the Cavalier Hotel with views down the beach and out into the Atlantic Ocean, was once again our highlight. Our invited speaker for this evening was another 67th alumni and successful Air Force officer, Lt General Ed Heinz.
Once again, with the formal part our the reunion over, people gathered for a final goodbye over breakfast before turning once more homeward.