1-07 report

NEW YEARS GREETINGS to all of our Sproston shipmates, family members and friends. We hope you all had a pleasant holiday season. It’d hard to believe it’s already 2007. We are looking forward to seeing many of you in Seattle in September.

Reunion Chairman, Ken Landry has been busy selecting our hotel and putting together a great reunion activity package. Seattle is a beautiful area which the Sproston Reunion Group has not previously visited. Our activities will include our Memorial Service on board the destroyer USS Turner Joy, a lunch cruise of the Seattle Harbor aboard the vessel Royal Argosy, a tour of Seattle and other interesting and fun events. The Saturday evening banquet will include live entertainment by the Dave Mesler Trio. Mark you calendars now. This is another Reunion you don't want to miss. Detailed information and registration materials will be mailed out in April.

Each Sproston Reunion is unique and our Branson Reunion was no exception. Branson really roles out the red carpet for veteran’s groups. The Reunion got underway on Wednesday with a Welcome aboard Reception in the Hospitality Room where we had an opportunity to meet and greet old and new friends and shipmates. There were 57 shipmates in attendance; 11 from WWII service, 22 from Korean service and 24 from Vietnam service. Total attendance, including friends and relatives was 105. On Thursday we attended the Les Brown band of renown show. Many Sproston shipmates had seen the Les Brown band when they toured with Bob Hope and visited Pearl Harbor. The band is now led by Les Brown Jr. and they put on an outstanding nostalgic show that brought back a lot of memories. On Thursday we toured the Branson area followed by our Annual Memorial service where we remembered eighteen deceased shipmates. After the Memorial Service we boarded the Showboat Branson Belle for a cruise, dinner and show on Table Rock Lake. Saturday was time for relaxation and fellowship. In the evening, we had our annual banquet and were entertained by The American Kids. These young entertainers, ranging in age from 10 to 15 put on an outstanding show of music from the good old days followed by a medley of patriotic songs honoring our Country and all the states. The Reunion concluded with breakfast on Sunday morning.

Again we want to thank all our shipmates and friends who assisted with our reunion activities. Thanks to all the shipmates who assisted with the bartending, particularly Pete Lonero. Once again, Tony Filosa, Audit Committee Chair assisted by Charles Holland and Orville Amos did a great job. Thanks to our Treasurer Elmer Everidge who did an outstanding job all year long keeping our books balanced. We thank Carol Landry for all her work as our webmaster. We Thank Ken Landry for his year of service as Secretary and we look forward to working with him as 2007 Reunion Chairman. Thanks to Len Doran for taking care of the Ship’s Store. We appreciate Orville and Ruth Amos for their scouting trip to Branson. Finally, thanks to my friend, partner and wife, Norma, for her assistance.

Orville Amos	2 sailor stutues	The Dorans	World Famous Wisconsin Preserves
The Filosas	Wall Hanging	Barry Georges	Navy Tie
Ralph Hanson	2 Harms Way books	Cotton Harp	4 Music CDs
Bud Kalosky	2 Autographed Harms Way Books	The Kluths	Smoked Salmon (it was delicious!!)
The Marlatts	Les Brown CD	Leon Muellner	USS Ward Book
The Poes	Place matts, Wine Glasses, Dip Bowl and Clock

Thanks so much to all the donors for the great gifts. We apologize for any donations we may have omitted. The annual raffle is always a fun part of the evening.

At 1500, Saturday, 16 September, the annual business meeting was called to order by President Jim Marlatt. The Audit Committee presented the audit report indicating all financial transactions had been reviewed and the records as presented by Treasurer, Elmer Everidge, accurately reflected the financial status of the Group. The members included Tony Filosa, Chairman Charles Holland, and Orville Amos. In accordance with the bylaws the annual election of officers was conducted. The following officers were nominated and elected: Jim Marlatt, President; Orville Amos, Treasurer; Michael Holmes, Secretary. Due to a parliamentary error by the President the Group did not elect a Director. This oversight will be corrected at the Business meeting in 2007. Following a presentation by Ken Landry, Seattle, Washington was selected as the location for the 2007 Reunion and Ken will serve as Reunion Chairman. Jim Marlatt announced that after serving as an officer in the Reunion Group for ten years it is time for him to step down and let others assume the leadership responsibility. He agreed to serve one more year. He indicated it had been a privilege and an honor to serve as Secretary and President of the USS Sproston Reunion Group. Following in the footsteps of Joe Callaghan and George Ress had been a great experience. He said it had been a pleasure working with John Halase, Al Fitz, Elmer Everidge and Ken Landry and all the Reunion Group members and friends.

Each year The Sproston Reunion Group donates the bar proceeds to a worthy cause. In 2006, based upon the recommendations of Jim Marlatt, $500 was donated to the Hospice Care Organization in memory of our shipmate Frank Tenore. The Hospice Organizations have provided care and assistance to a number of our shipmates and their families during difficult times.

Since the Branson Reunion we have been notified of the passing of the following:

To order, send check or Money Order payable to Len Doran (Please do not send cash) to:

Additional information and pictures of ships store items are available on the Sproston web site.

Our website has an online one click style form which can be completed by shipmates who would like to become members of our Reunion Group. This form can also be used to easily notify us of any information changes. It has been a very efficient way for Sproston shipmates to get entered into the Sproston roster or update their email address information. To those of you that have contacted us..."Thanks and Welcome Aboard". We hope to see you in Seattle for the 2007 Reunion. The web site will continue to provide Reunion information as well as hosting the photos you provide and other information of interest to our shipmates and friends.

Finally, it’s not too early to be thinking about Reunion 2008. If you have any ideas or suggestions please contact Jim Marlatt.

Jim Marlatt, President jrmarlatt@earthlink.net 626-351-0362	Orville Amos, Treasurer tincan577@aol.com
Michael Holmes, Secretary Inirgizer@aol.com	Carol Landry, Webmaster cf9of12@comcast.net
John F. Halase, Jr. Treasurer Emeritus john.halasejr@gte.net	Ken Landry, 2007 Reunion Chairman klandry341@comcast.net

“Fair Winds and Following Seas”