3 June 2017: We just completed a fantastic TCHVA Reunion in beautiful Minneapolis – St Paul MN from 6 – 11 June 2017. Our hotel in Bloomington, MN, was the Best Western Mall of America and provided us great accomodations, a free Hospitality Suite that served as a private space for shipmates and families/friends to gather and swap stories, prep for our tours, discuss the days’ events, enjoy refreshments, munchies (pls feel free to contact Randy Groen for his grandma’s chocolate chip cookie recipe!), look at the memoribilia and Ship Store items, visit the Mall of America (a short 10 minute walk) and simply kick back. Randy did a superb job with our itinerary, topped off by our banquet on Saturday evening.
So what’s next? Well, we start our planning for our 2019 Reunion, of course. We looked at almost 15 different sites, spanning the US from Boston/Cape Cod down through Norfolk to Atlanta, through Dallas/San Antonio and Austin Tx, westward through Prescott/Tuscon AZ, then San Diego up to Seattle and back across to Rapid City SD. We also considered a cruise. Many of these sites came from our newly formed TCHVA Auxiliary, composed of spouses, other family members and significant others who are interested in being a part of and contributing to the growth and energy of our association. In the end we narrowed our focus to 3 candidate cities: Atlanta GA, Prescott AZ, and Rapid City SD. As in the past we have a member (acting as a site advocate) pulling together info and “things to do” for each site, as well as a professional event planner (as a neutral party) putting together some estimates and recommendations for each site. We will then take all this info and distribute to the TCHVA Reunion attendees in MN to take a vote. We hope to wrap up this effort in next few months.
If you didn’t attend our Reunion this year, but would like to have an input on one of these three locations, please pass that along to any board member using the Contact Us link below, or contact one of your shipmates who attended the Reunion. One of the benefits of attending the Reunion is being part of selecting the site for the next one.
Stay tuned for more info as we get closer to the decision.
1 June 2017 – 4 days and a wake-up!!!!!! 27 April 2017: Please take a moment to check out the revised itinerary below. Due to a number of conflicts that have arisen with our original events, we have had to make some adjustments. In short, the Fort Snelling tour has been moved from Friday to Wednesday, the Vikings stadium tour and Taste of Twin Cities tours have changed start times, but remain on original dates. If you need to modify your plans and change the events you will attend, please contact Randy Groen at groenrandy@gmail.com. Refunds will be honored if you need to cancel your participation in any event due to these changes. We sincerely regret any inconveniences.Look Who’s Signed Up Already!Legend for optional activities: (1) Chanhassen Dinner Theater (Grease) (2) Cities Bus Tour & Mississippi Paddleboat Cruise (3) Comedy Club at Mall of America (4) Minnesota Vikings Stadium Tour (5) Taste of City Tour (6) Historic Fort Snelling & National CemetaryTour
| Reunion Registrations: Rate/Rank Tour options | ||
| Randy Groen, Anita (spouse), Jillian (daughter) | STG2 1973-1976 | 1,2,3,4,5,6 |
| John Ebata, Wendy Baker | BTFN 1986-1990 | 1,2,3,4,5,6 |
| Jerry Leatherwood, Terry | BT1, 1985-1988 | 2,3,5,6 |
| David Coleman | STG1, 1973-1977 | 2,3,5 |
| William Tylock | EM2, 1978-1983 | 1,2,3,4,5,6 |
| Garry Collins, Marylyn (spouse), Alexis (granddaughter) | LT, 1986-1989 | 2,4,5,6 |
| Dave Neimeyer | LTJG, 1975-1977 | 1,2,3,4,5,6 |
| Ron Church, Peggy (spouse) | FTG2, 1973-1977 | 1,2,3,4,5 |
| Mark Lamboni, Kathy (spouse) | LTjg, 1976-1979 | 1,2,3,4,5,6 |
| Larry Martin | RM2, 1973-1976 | 1,2,3,5,6 |
| Ron Wood, Kathy (spouse) | RM1, 1977-1979 | 1,2,3,5,6 |
| Robert Coleman, Patricia (spouse) | HM2, 1973-1975 | 5,6 |
| Mark Dammer, Debi (spouse) and grandson | GMT2, 1977-1981 | 4 |
| Steve Garcia, Dee (spouse) | NC1, 1984-1987 | 2,3,5,6 |
| David Altwies | RM1, 1985-1989 | 2,3,5,6 |
| James Zamorski, Donna (spouse) | LTjg, 1976-1980 | 2,4,5 |
| Lee Edwardsen | STG2, 1981-1986 | 2,4,5,6 |
| Ron Hungerford, Becky (spouse) | LTjg, 1977-1981 | 4,5 |
| Skip MacMichael, Jo (spouse) | CDR/CAPT, 1983-1985 | 2,6 |
| Dan Schubert, Molly (spouse) | ETN3, 1973-1975 | 2,5,6 |
| Philip Leblanc, Diane(spouse) | HT2, 1973-1976 | 1,2,3,4,5,6 |
| Randy Funkhouser, Deb Anderson (spouse) | ETCS (SW), 1988-1991 | 1,4,5 |
| Gary Sparks, Barbara(spouse) | ETR2, 1976-1977 | 3,5 |
| Ron Koshko, Anita(spouse) | EW1, 1975-1979 | 2,3,5,6 |
| Michael Cady (2) | OS2, 1976-1978 |
ROOMS: Remember that you need to reserve your room(s) at the Best Western Plus, Bloomington, MN before 8 May 2017 to get our special rate. The hotel reservation can be made by calling 952-854-8200, and ask for the special “USS Thomas C. Hart Veterans Reunion” rate of $129.00/night. If you are planning to arrive before the check-in date of 6 June 2017, or stay after the 11 June 2017 check-out date, you can also make those reservations at the same time, except you may not be guaranteed the same rate as for the actual event days.REGISTRATION: Signing up is a two-step process. First complete the online Registration Information form below, indicate which Optional Tours or events you would like or are interested in attending by completing those boxes and click the Blue Submit Button at the bottom of this form. There are no costs associated with this part of the registeration process. PAYMENTS: After submitting your Registration Form, come back to this page (hopefully you will be automatically redirected back to this page after receiving an acknowledgement note), finalize which Optional Excursions you would like to enjoy by clicking in the boxes associated with each tour. Then total your reunion costs, including the $35/person registration fee, plus any optional tours you’ve selected, and pay online by clicking the Credit Card icon under the registration form. This will direct you to the secure Paypal site to complete payment. If you prefer to not use Paypal, you can always print and mail the registration form (Link at bottom of page) with your check.
