uss mills gazette august 2014

USS MILLS GAZETTE
AUGUST 2014
REUNION 2014 BRANSON, MO Oct 2nd thru 6th
2014
Our home for 2014 is the Stone Castle Hotel
3050 Green Mountain Drive, Branson Mo. Telephone 417-335-4700. Rate is $83.70 per night
inclusive. There are Jacuzzi Themed rooms
available for $145.07 per night if desired.
Please use USS MILLS to ensure reservation is
included in Mills Block. The room rate includes
a full breakfast served in our hospitality room
each morning from 8 am.-9:30 am. The venue
this year costs $155.00 per person due Sept. 2.
7:15 pm Buses load for short trip to the Clay
Cooper Show.
10:00 pm Buses return to the Stone Castle Inn.
Saturday Oct 4th
Annual Business Meeting after breakfast
Balance of the day - - Free
There is much to do in the Branson Area.
Hospitality room will be open
6:00 pm Dinner in the Drawbridge Room with
entertainment by Cassandre' Haygood
Sunday Oct 5 9:30 am
Thursday Oct 2 6 pm
Welcome Reception. Pick up welcome bags.
“Excalibur Room”.
Short Bible Study with Tom Link Mills chaplain.
Balance of the day - - Free
We have a special treat this year. Barbecue by
Pat Bridgford’s “Passions of the Pit” championship BBQ team.
Monday Oct 6th
Depart for home. “God Bless us all”
nd
Friday Oct 3rd
11:30 am Buses leave for the Ralph Foster
Museum. Our expert guides will familiarize us
with the countryside and Branson as we travel.
3:00 pm Arrive at the Titanic Museum. It
is a scale replica of the ship as she was on
April 14th 1912. When we have all passed
through the Titanic the buses will take us
back to the hotel to freshen up and prepare for dinner and the Clay Cooper
show.
5:45 pm Buses leave for the Great American
Steak and Chicken House.
Knight at Stone Castle Inn Entrance
CASSANDRE' HAYGOOD OUR SATURDAY EVENING ENTERTAINMENT
Cassandre’ sings a variety of music including
40's, 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's Country, Pop,
Broadway, Gospel and MUCH more! She was
VOTED FEMALE ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR 3
YEARS RUNNING! We are lucky to have her.
We are staying at the same hotel, but it has
been sold and remodeled.
We will do our best to to get shipmates to and
from the airport as cost effective as possible.
SILENT AUCTION
I hope everybody has been looking for auction
items. Keep in mind that we are looking for new
or gently used items. We accept anything from
A to Z. It does not have to be military oriented.
Captain Drinkwater has already donated books
for the auction. The proceeds go into the kitty
that helps supplement the reunion costs .
SICK BAY
Captain Myron Drinkwater has been diagnosed
with Esophageal Cancer. He is expected to be
Cancer Free with the help of Chemo and Radiation.
Alyce Peters, Tom’s wife has had back surgery.
Loretta Johnson has had back surgery
Maurice "Mo" Raynor has had bleeding problems
Look how young everybody looks
CONGRATULATIONS
Tich's daughter Niki Riley-Tichenor is expecting a little Girl.
FACEBOOK
AIRLINE SHUTTLES BY BEN
For Mills reunion attendees flying into Branson.
When our contract for Branson was signed,
Southwest airlines was serving Branson.
Due to airline mergers, Southwest pulled out
earlier this year to satisfy some FAA requirement. Today only Frontier and BUZZ airlines
serve Branson. Frontier flies from Denver arriving at around 7 pm, Buzz with several arrivals
from Chicago and Houston.
The alternative is to fly into Springfield about 50
miles to the north. Springfield requires a shuttle or cab ride, which costs about $95.00 for 2
or $135.00 for 4 people sharing the cab.
We are working on less expensive alternatives;
however need to know who is flying, arrival
times and flight numbers.
One avenue we are exploring is to ask shipmates to volunteer to make pickups if necessary
in Springfield on Thursday and Monday.
Check out our Face Book Page. We now have 89
members. Our newest members Richard Grandfieldare and Milton Romine, We keep up with
the family news on this page. You can go to facebook.com and create your page. It is easy to
do. Then, go to the search bar on the top of the
page and type in USS Mills. This will bring you to
the family page and ask to be a friend. Either
Gabby or I will accept the request. At this point,
you can write and read the posts.
DUES send to Ben Laurens
192 Highway 70 East Bettie, Beaufort, NC 28516
For those not going to the reunion, Thank
you for sending in your dues. For those going to the reunion you can send the dues
payment with your reunion reservations. As
you know, it is $20.00 a year and defrays
the cost of this newsletter. If you would no
longer like to receive this newsletter, please
notify me. I will remove you from the mailing list. Also, please notify me for change of
address.
Pat Bridgford- 14321 S. Locust St., Olathe, KS 66062
Ph: 913-707-8266, Email: [email protected]
DONATIONS send to Ben Laurens – 192
Highway 70 East Bettie, Beaufort, NC 28516
Please help our less fortunate family members
attend the reunions by generously donating to
the benevolent fund. This is the only vacation
some of our family members will get.
We thank you in advance for these donations.
PHONE NUMBER CHANGES
Because of the popularity of cell phones, many
people are getting rid of their land- lines. Please
update your information so we will be able to
call you when necessary. We disconnected our
landline.
My cell # is 913-707-8266
Gary’s cell # is 913-269-8266
I will not publish your cell #’s unless you ask me
to!
BIRTHDAYS
JULY Gary Hlavka, Paula Link, Marcia Littlefield
AUGUST Kris Kleener, Loretta Johnson, Skip
Amoroson, Sue Burnim, Judy Duran, Janie
Tichenor
SEPTEMBER Charles Middlebrooks, Butch
Faught, Dave Luscomb, Ken Paulson, Pat
Ormandy Tony Oliver
OCTOBER Ann Marie Oliver, Stacey Tichenor
NOVEMBER Al Clayton, Bill Mints, Jim Tomes,
Judy Letourneau
WATERFALL
IN BRANSON
Sent by Steven K. Taylor whose father served on
the Endeavor
SUGGESTIONS FOR 2017
• Columbus Ga
• Knoxville and surrounding area (Debbie
Scarborough has some great ideas for
us there)
•
Fredericksburg Virginia, Civil War history
( Oak Ridge)
• Lancaster PA. ( Amish country)
• Gulf Coast Mississippi – Alabama (Casinos and beaches)
• Orlando? Kansas City?
• Suggestions?
We will take any and all suggestions and vote
on a destination in Branson. If you are not going
to attend the reunion please send suggestions
to Ben.
FOR THE COOKS IN THE FAMILY
SOUTHERN TOMATO PIE
2-3 good sized tomatoes
1 tbs Italian seasoning, or to taste
1 tbs oregano, or to taste
1 1/2 tsp chives, or to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
1 (9inch) pie crust baked till light brown
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup mayonnaise
Sprinkle tomato slices with seasonings; place
tomato slices in pie crust. Combine mayonnaise
with cheese to make a paste; cover tomatoes
with paste. Bake at 350 degrees till paste is
bubbly and crust is deep, golden brown.
TOP THINGS TO DO IN BRANSON
Antiquing
Arts & Crafts
Bicycling
Canoeing & Kayaking
Caves
Dining
Fishing
Go Carts
Golfing
Helicopter Tours
Hiking
Horseback Riding
Hunting
Lakes & Rivers
Mini Golf
Motorcycle Touring
Museums
Night Life
Parasailing
Scenic Drives
Shopping
Shows & Entertainment
Spas
Theme Parks
Water Parks
Wineries
Zip-Lines
Skipper: The Late Tommy Nichols
Founder and Skipper forever
Reunion Planner: Ben Laurens
192 Highway 70 East Bettie, Beaufort,
NC 28516
Ph: 252-504-3733,
Email: [email protected]
Administrative Secretary: Pat Bridgford14321 S. Locust St., Olathe, KS 66062
Ph: 913-707-8266
Email: [email protected]
USS MILLS ANNUAL RAFFLE
Original red cedar art by
Mike Lytel.
Roger Dereske arranged for
Mike to carve these wall
hangings.
These wall hangings are
Wood burned and oil painted
on Red Cedar Wood.
The artist forgot to add the R
in DER so he is sending a new
placard. Therefore, both the
DE and DER will be included.
The first name drawn will
have their choice of the wall
hangings.
The entries from the family
members that are not
attending the union, must be
in Kansas City by September
26th so we can take them to
the reunion for the drawing.
This picture does not do
them justice.
TO ENTER THE RAFFLE
SEND IN THE COUPONS ON
THE BACK OF THIS PAGE
$5.00 PER ENTRY OR 5 ENTRIES FOR
$20.00
You do not need to be present to win.
We will ship to the winner at no cost to
you.
$5.00 PER ENTRY OR 5 ENTRIES FOR
$20.00
NAME______________________________
ADDRESS___________________________
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PHONE_____________________________
Please make checks payable to
Gary Bridgford
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ADDRESS___________________________
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ADDRESS___________________________
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PHONE____________________________
14321 S LOCUST ST
OLATHE, KS 66062