Commander's Newsletter


	October 2002 Newsletter 03 October, 2002 Shipmates: Welcome to the October USSVI Buffalo Base Newsletter. Meeting Notice: The October meeting will be held at 1000 hrs, Saturday, 12 October, at the Ely-Fagan American Legion Post 260 Middle Road in Henrietta. (260 Middle Road is at exit 46 on the thruway and exit 12 on rte 390.) The Sept. meeting was very poorly attended. (7 members) Please plan to attend the Henrietta meeting if at all possible. We need your input and participation *Base Officers Nominations Committee: Elections will be held for Base offices at the December meeting. Treasurer Neil Bellenger, COB John Farrell and I are acting as the Base Officers Nominating Committee. Candidates are needed for Base Secretary and BaseVice Commander. Secretary John Sherman has held that post since 1997. We have about 65 members who reside in the Rochester-Buffalo area. There must be one or two of you who can step up to volunteer to run for that post. It involves attending the meetings, tape recording the meeting dialogue and writing out the highlights for the official meeting minutes. All the rest of the duties normally assigned to the secretary such as dues collection, Base correspondence and control reports to National are performed by myself. A candidate for Vice Cdr. should be one who can to attend meetings regularly and is willing to assume the Base Commander’s office in the future. Some of us presently in office have served for several years now. The Base membership has grown to over 120. We have taken on the responsibility of restoring USS Croaker. Everything has grown except active participation. There is/has been a reliable core of about 10 members who regularly attend meetings and Base events who have been doing more than their share for 3 or 4 years. It’s not that any of us wants to sit back and do nothing, we just need some help and support. As the one who has signed up over 100 new members in the past 3 years I can remember several who said upon joining that they looked forward to participating in Base activities and events, especially an opportunity to work on Croaker. Now’s the time when your participation would be most welcome. Your attendance at a Base meeting when you can would be welcome. If you have any questions about volunteering for a Base office or would like to find how to help, please call me at 585-533-9341 evenings or email me at jatrubee@aol.com. I’d be glad to hear from you. Croaker News: As you probably are aware by now, Croaker returned to her temporary docking on 8 August with the assistance of two tugs. She is tied up just outside of the Naval Park about 300 yards ahead of Little Rock. Thanks to all the 25 or so Sub Vets who were on hand to greet her. The return voyage went off perfectly. The boat is now connected to shore power and open for visitors. She is in need of cleaning, some painting and correction of a 4-degree port list. Pictures of the move are on the new Base web site at ussvibuffalo.org . **USS Croaker 2002 Lottery Calendar: Those of you who have unsold lottery calendars are asked to return them to me at PO Box 166, Scottsville, NY 14546. Include the money and stubs for those you have sold so that Master Chief Donn Schubert can get the numbers entered in his computer. I don’t have any final sales numbers yet but calendar sales were substantially less than last year. Base members participation in sales was also lower than last year. *New Base Web site: Base COB John Farrell and web master Bob Philips have completed the framework of the new Base web site and launched it under the web address of USSVIBuffalo.org Additional items to be added soon include the Base Ships Store and a page of information about the USS Boston sail project. John and Bob are open to suggestions as to content, subjects to present and links. Contact COB Farrell at jfarrell59@msn.com with your suggestions. Every effort will be made to keep the site updated with all information by Base officers and committee chairs. You’ll just need to go to the site to find out what’s up with the Croaker progress, meeting dates, locations or small store items etc. Please take some time to check it out and learn to use it as your main source of Base information. Your frequent use of the site and cooperation will lighten the load of the management. 2003 Base/National Dues: Again this year I’m beginning the dues renewal campaign early so that all have renewed by the National deadline of 15 Feb. 2003. Last year there were some dinks well into May. I personally request your cooperation in easing my paperwork load by paying your dues soon. Make your check to USSVI Buffalo Base. Mail to John Trubee, PO Box 166 Scottsville, NY 14546. Regular member dues are still $20.00/yr. ($10.00 Base – $10.00 National) Life members owe just $10.00 Base dues) USSVI Convention 2002:** Again this year the National convention was a great time. Seven Buffalo Base members attended. Election results were as expected. Given only one candidate per office, all were elected. In spite of the lack of competition, the elected slate of National officers couldn’t be more dedicated to advancing and improving USSVI. The C&B voting results will be published in the next American Submariner magazine. The 2004 convention site was awarded Saratoga Springs, NY under the sponsorship of Albany - Saratoga Base. Upcoming Convention Sites are as follows; Reno 2003 Saratoga Springs 2004 Kansas City 2005 Cleveland 2006 Undecided 2007 I hope to see you on the 12th in Henrietta. Fraternally, John Trubee Buffalo Base Cdr. (585) 533-9341 jatrubee@aol.com
	Copyright (c) 2002 USSVI Buffalo Base . All rights reserved. webmaster@ussvibuffalo.org