Dear Seaboard Family,
With another great SPAR Reunion behind us, it is time to start looking ahead to next years' gathering.
But first I would like to thank all of you who were able to make it to Charleston. We had great weather and lots of fun times
together. Kathy and I enjoyed spending time with so many of you. There's always a lot to catch up on after being apart for
a year! For those of you who were unable to attend, here is a recap of the reunion.
The dinner at Hyman's Seafood Restaurant was really nice. It was a great opportunity to laugh and share children/grandchildren
and flying stories. We had almost as many attend as the banquet!
The trips to Boone Hall Plantation and the HL Hunley Museum were a fascinating glimpse into Charleston's past and the Civil War
era. I especially enjoyed the Gullah Theater at the end of our Plantation Tour.
The banquet was my favorite part of the reunion because it allowed us to remember our rich history with Seaboard. We were able
to reminisce, thanks to Jeannie and John Snidow, about the infamous "Marble Mountain Incident". Jeannie did a great job of
recounting her personal experience so many years ago. I wish I had her memory!
You can open the attached link at the end of this letter to read what I call a "feel good story". It is about the role we all
played at Seaboard and it was read to our banquet attendees.
We had our annual business meeting Monday, March 29th. There were approx. 35 attendees. A series of drawings were held to give
out the numerous raffle items . Thanks to Arnie Visnick for his donation towards the hospitality suite expenses. We would also
like to acknowledge the very generous donation by Bill and Martha McMakin.
Your Board Members have agreed to stay in office for the coming year. Capt. Paul Cellecz gave a Treasurers' Report and stated
we expect to have approx $4000.00 in the SPAR Treasury after all reunion expenses are paid. Last year at this time we had
approx $5500.00.
There was a discussion to raise the dues from $10 to $15 yearly to help cover future reunion expenses. We also talked about
adding a registration fee. We plan to send out a survey to the membership containing various questions about future reunions
and dues structure, etc. Look for it sometime in May.
The subject most discussed, as you would expect, was where do we meet in 2011? The top two choices were Savannah and New Orleans, with a vote of 28 to 26. We also discussed scaling back the reunion to include only 2 organized meals and suggested sightseeing trips....There would be no banquet and no organized bus trips. This is all due to the financial guarantees that are necessary and we feel that we can no longer count on a large enough group participation. We still envision a hospitality suite and discounted hotel rates, but not on the scale of past years. We also discussed regional "lunches" or "dinners", possibly Florida and the Northeast.
That's all for now my dear friends. I wish you an enjoyable Summer season wherever you may be.
Lou
www.tailwheelpilot.com
(Use this address to reply to Lou)
