2019 REUNION UPDATE

2019 REUNION UPDATE:
July 31, 2018

Just 5 months now until the Reunion. And just 4 months to send in your registration. The clock is ticking. If you are planning to attend, please try to get your registration and payment in sooner, rather than later. That will help me out for the following reasons:

1: I need to order buses for our Plaque Dedication Ceremonies at Mt. Soledad. I will have a better idea how many and what size buses we'll need to transport attendees to Mt. Soledad if the majority of attendees get their registration in early.

2: I have to select a boat for the dinner cruise. Do we need a boat for 100? 150? More? I will have a better idea how many people are going on the dinner cruise which will determine which boat we're going to need. "We're going to need a bigger boat." is a good line from JAWS. Not a good line for a reunion coordinator.

3: The logistics of a possible US Navy ship visit require we know how many people are going to attend. Depending on what ship we visit, the Navy may need to do security checks. We need to allow time for that and need to have a good idea what this number will be as early as possible. If we are not invited to tour an active Navy ship, we’ll tour the USS Midway, just across the street and a short walk from Reunion HQ at The Wyndham San Diego Bayside. Speaking of the hotel....

4: The Wyndham San Diego Bayside will only offer a set amount of discounted rooms until December 3^rd. After that they have to release these rooms to their other guests and will be charging the standard room rate. They will be asking me how many rooms we’ll need and I will base this number on how many registrations I have received. So this is yet another important reason to get your registration in, fees paid and your hotel room reserved early!

DECEMBER 7TH DEADLINE:

The deadline to get your reunion payment and registration in is December 7, (easy enough to remember) so you still have PLENTY of time, but like I said, the sooner the better. Please don't put it off until the last couple days. Of course we will have some last minute registrations. That's to be expected and understandable. And come December 8th, we're sure not going to tell anybody they can't attend. But late registrations can be problematic. By the 2nd week in December I'm hoping to have buses ordered, a boat selected, meals ordered, name tags made (or at least all the materials to make name tags ordered) and floor plans (tables/chairs etc) for the banquet room and hospitality room worked out and presented to the hotel. So as you can see, the people who register late make the entire process more difficult than it needs to be.

LATE FEE:

Anybody who needs to register after December 7th is MORE THAN WELCOME TO ATTEND. But a $50 late fee per person will be added to the Reunion Registration fee to help offset additional expenses and extra work caused by the late registration. Hopefully this will present enough incentive to get your registration in before the deadline and we won't have too many last minute registrations and their impact will be minimal.

IF YOU LIVE IN THE SAN DIEGO AREA:

There are a lot of Horne shipmates who still live in the San Diego, southern California region. We sure hope you’ll be attending. But during the 2003 San Diego reunion, a few of these folks thought they could just show up and mingle with their shipmates at the reunion hotel without paying any registration fee. Or they thought they could just pay at the door. WRONG. This makes planning extremely difficult. And it’s not fair to those who HAVE paid the registration fee. You must pay the Reunion Registration Fee to help cover the cost of the soft drinks, beer, wine, snacks and other refreshments, not to mention the hospitality room itself. So if you live in the San Diego area, please do attend. But please make sure you pay your registration fee and register before the December 7^th deadline.

Thank you very much for your help! I fully understand that in addition to the registration, attendees are paying transportation to San Diego as well as hotel accommodations and this can add up quick. So I’m working hard to make sure the entire experience is enjoyable, memorable, worth every penny of the expense and lots of fun!

I would like to thank, Joe Vanderweg, Jay Lindley, Linda and Larry Goolsby, Yvette and Ron Tomcek as well as Rose and Roger Westerberg for their help before and during the reunion. Joe has donated some very nice raffle items for the reunion and has been working with Larry to create some great, custom items to be sold at the reunion. Jay has donated several boxes of items, many Horne related, to the raffle, including several rare Horne cruise books. Linda and Yvette will be helping to keep the hospitality room stocked with drinks and snacks and Rose and Roger (my sister-in-law and brother) will be helping out with some of the day to day running around like chickens with our heads cut off logistics during the reunion.

I started planning this Home Port reunion more than a year ago, even BEFORE our DC Reunion was held. I sure hope you will be a part of the fun and join us in San Diego January 3-5, 2019.

Remember! Nothing makes you feel younger than being with those who knew you when you were!

Sincerely,

Joe Westerberg

Please feel free to share this information with anybody who might be considering attending the reunion.