We welcomed some of the Gold crew members of the USS Tennessee in August. The crew attended a ceremony at the Submarine Memorial at the Chattanooga National Cemetery. This was followed by a lunch at the VFW post 4848 . Again, on the following Monday, in Cleveland, we had a lunch honoring the crew at the Outback Restaurant. Several members of our board represented the Chattanooga council at both of these meetings. We did not have a lot of advance notice so it was not possible to invite all interested members to attend. We do however, have an opportunity for all interested members to attend an evolution at Kings Bay, Georgia.
The Gold crew has a Change of Command scheduled for 10 October 2008. This will be a consolidation where the Blue crew will assume command of the USS Tennessee, and will take her to Norfolk for refueling in December. Anyone interested in going to this change of command, please contact Alden Perry ASAP. At present we have rooms reserved at the Navy Lodging facility and will hold these until just before the change of command. We have had an excellent relationship with the Gold crew and I hope many of you will decide to attend this change of command.
Our next council meeting will be aboard the Southern Belle on 14 October 2008. This is a joint meeting with the Military Officers Association, Chattanooga Chapter. We have entertainment arranged and the menu will be Barbeque. We hope you will attend this meeting and that all will enjoy the early October weather.
We are in the middle of the election season and I hope you will all participate and vote your conscience. While the Navy League cannot endorse any candidate, we can encourage everyone to register and to vote.
We have been concentrating our efforts in the legislative arena to meeting with our Congressmen, Senators or their staff’s to implore them to adequately fund the Navy’s shipbuilding budget. None of the appropriation Bills have been passed and probably will not be until after the election.
Our Council has won the 2007 Meritorious Council Award. Bob Crates and I plan to attend the Navy League National Convention, in Kansas City, to receive this award on behalf of the Chattanooga Council. We still have an unfulfilled goal, we need about 20 new members to meet our 2008 goal of 208 members. Please invite your friends to join us in the Navy league so that We can meet this objective. Hope to see you on board the Southern Belle in October.
Regards,
Bill Hewitt
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