2019 USS GRANT ’LAND’ REUNION HOTEL RESERVATIONS

The all-suites hotel in Orlando is now taking reservations for the 2019 USS Grant Alumni Association ‘LAND’ reunion to begin at 1630 on September 24, 2019, and end at 1200 on September 28, 2019.

Hotel (Springhill Suites by Marriott Orlando International Airport) reservations can be made by calling 407-816-5533. When you reach the hotel, you should immediately tell them, “Do NOT transfer me to your national booking center”, because your reservation MUST be booked locally at the Springhill Suites. Then, be sure to tell them you are with the “USS GRANT ALUMNI ASSOCIATION”.

As stated before, the negotiated daily suite rate ($109) will include breakfast for two, 24-hour hotel/airport shuttle, WIFI throughout the hotel, complimentary guest parking, parking for cruisers for $6 per day and off-site RV parking for a fee.

Each suite includes a sofa bed, in-room coffee/tea service, mini-fridge, room safe, microwave, hair dryer and ironing board. The hotel also has a beauty shop, valet dry cleaning, daily newspapers in the lobby and offers local restaurant dinner delivery. There are about eight restaurants within a few blocks of the hotel.

In the event a shipmate or guest requires a 2-bedroom suite, these suites can be reserved at the Residence Inn Orlando Airport which is 100 feet from the reunion’s Springhill Suites. These reservations, at the contracted daily rate of $177, MUST be made with Diane Silicky at 407-802-1127, Monday through Friday during business hours.

MAKE YOUR RESERVATIONS.

Memo from the Association President:

 Shipmates: After being the Reunion Committee Chairman for six successful reunions, our current Chairman has given us notice that the Orlando reunion will be his last in that position. The Reunion Committee Chairman is a voting member of the Association Board and also selects the other Reunion Committee members. About 80% of the Reunion Committee effort is usually required for the ‘Land’ Reunion and the other 20% is required for the ‘Cruise’ Reunion. WE NEED A REPLACEMENT NOW.

‘NOW’ because the ‘new’ person will immediately become a member of the Reunion Committee and will be able to ‘bird-dog’ the current Chairman during the scheduling and conduct of the 2019 reunion. For the ‘new’ person this will be excellent on-the-job training. This person will receive a detailed look at all the behind-the-scenes activities required to conduct a successful reunion.

You will not be going into this position cold, as sequential detailed procedures have been written for planning, negotiating, contracting, scheduling and conducting our reunions. There are written Association procedures which cover 1) Location (City) Selection; 2) Hotel Selection; 3) ‘Land’ Reunion Procedures and 4) ‘Cruise’ Reunion Procedures. These procedures have been used in previous reunions and will be used for the 2021 reunion. The current Chairman will be assisting the prospective Chairman during every step in the process of planning, negotiating, contracting, scheduling and conducting the 2021 reunion. And, more importantly, the four other experienced members of the Reunion Committee will also be there to help. Conducting a reunion is a TEAM effort – and the current TEAM has excelled in producing successful reunions!

The current Chairman’s wife, Ruth, will be one of the Reunion Committee members who will continue her work for the 2021 reunion. Ruth provides all the reunion information updates to shipmates, provides individual assistance, controls and updates the reunion pins and prepares the ‘Welcome Aboard’ packages that all the shipmates receive during reunion registration. She also maintains all the records of previous reunions. Ruth and Phyllis, another member of the Reunion Committee, have controlled the reunion registration process at the last four reunions. Also, the other Association Board members are available for help during the actual reunion.

The Location (City) Selection process for the 2021 reunion will be completed by the end of this year. The Hotel Selection process must be completed before the 2019 reunion begins. The planning and scheduling of the 2021 ‘Land’ Reunion activities will begin in early 2020.

The actual planning of the ‘Land’ Reunion will include selection of Grant group activities, arranging required transportation, scheduling the daily activities, scheduling the ‘Grant Remembrance Ceremony’, scheduling the ‘USS Grant Dinner’ and determining the initial and daily ‘refreshment’ requirements in the hospitality room. After all the planning and scheduling, a detailed ‘Plan-of-the-Day’ (POD) will be written and published on the Grant website. ALL of these steps are listed, in detail, in the appropriate Association Reunion Procedures, which will be available to shipmates interested in becoming the next Reunion Committee Chairman.

I am aware this appears to be a large task --- because it is! The current Reunion Committee members will all tell you there is a great feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment when you see and hear 100+ people once again enjoying the sea stories and the unique brotherhood that exists only between those who have earned their dolphins. If you are ready for a satisfying task every two years, please consider being the Association’s Reunion Committee Chairman.

If you have an interest or would like more information, please contact me at either [jefarris@comcast.net] or at 770-345-0505. If I don’t answer the phone, please leave a message so I can get back to you.

J. E. (Ed) Farris (Blue ‘89-‘92), President, USS U.S. Grant Alumni Association

2019 GRANT 'LAND' / 'CRUISE' REUNION IN

ORLANDO, FLORIDA

The USS U.S. Grant Alumni Association has always conducted two-part reunions. Part ONE is a 4-night three-day ‘LAND’ reunion. Part TWO is a ‘CRUISE’ reunion which immediately follows part ONE. Shipmates can attend either of the two parts - or both. At the last reunion there were 178 people at the ‘LAND’ reunion (Part ONE) and 106 people attended the ‘CRUISE’ reunion (Part TWO).

Part One: The 'Land' Reunion

[1630 Tuesday, 9/24/2019 through 1200 Saturday, 9/28/2019]

The hotel has been contracted for the 2019 USS U.S. Grant ‘LAND’ reunion. However, the hotel will NOT begin accepting reservations until SEPTEMBER. The reservation information will be published on the website as soon as the hotel provides it.

The 130 unit non-smoking all-suites hotel rate is $109 (plus tax) which includes a daily breakfast for two, 24/7 airport shuttle every day, WIFI throughout the hotel, complimentary guest parking, parking for cruisers for $6 per day and off-site RV parking for a fee.

Each suite will also include a sofa bed, in-room coffee/tea service, mini-fridge, microwave, room safe, hair dryer and iron/ironing board. The hotel also has a beauty shop, valet dry cleaning, on-site laundry, daily newspapers in the lobby and offers local restaurant dinner delivery. There are about eight restaurants within two blocks of the hotel.

Part Two: The 'Cruise' Reunion

[1600 Saturday, 9/28/2019 through 0800 Saturday, 10/5/2019]

The seven-day ‘CRUISE” reunion will begin four hours after the ‘LAND’ reunion closes. A 45-minute charter bus ride will be required to get shipmates/guests to and from the cruise terminal at Port Canaveral. Or, shipmates/guests who drove to Orlando can drive to Port Canaveral and park at the cruise terminal for a fee.

The cruise ship will make stops at Grand Turk, St. Thomas, Amber Cove and San Juan, PR, before returning to Port Canaveral at about 0800 on Saturday, 10/5/2019. A chartered bus will return the shipmates/guests to the Orlando airport or hotel.

Details will be published in mid-May about the ‘CRUISE’ reunion, including the ship, cabin rates and the reservation process. A ‘tentative’ Plan-of-the-Day (POD) for the ‘LAND’ reunion will also be published at that time.

USE THESE DATES TO BEGIN PLANNING YOUR 2019 REUNION/VACATION NOW.

CONTACT OTHER SHIPMATES AND FAMILY MEMBERS TO BE THERE WITH YOU TOO.

PLAN TO ATTEND EITHER PART OF THE REUNION OR BOTH.

SUMMARY OF THE 2017 USS GRANT REUNION

Part One – ‘Land’ [10/11-10/15]

The most-attended reunion ever conducted by the Association was completed on October 15^th after four nights and three and one-half days in New Orleans. A total of 178 people attended at least one day of the reunion, including the Gold crew commissioning C.O., Captain McDonald, and the second Gold crew C.O., Captain Engle. There were also nine Plank-Owners who joined us along with 23 shipmates who came to attend their first Grant reunion. The hotel location made it convenient for the large number of attendees to see the sights in the French Quarter and surrounding area. Many of the people took advantage of the scheduled ‘Grant Group’ activities, with reduced rates which had been negotiated by the reunion committee. IF YOU WEREN’T THERE, THEN YOU MISSED A GREAT REUNION! DON’T MISS THE NEXT ONE!

Even though the reunion was not scheduled to begin until Wednesday (10/11), there were already 36 shipmates/guests onboard Tuesday (10/10) and they were all welcomed into the Grant Hospitality Room for ‘refreshments’ on Tuesday evening. The opening time of the reunion also had to be moved from 1630 to 1230 on Wednesday to permit registration of the 142 people who would arrive on the reunion’s scheduled opening night. This time change added one-half day (1230-2330) to our usual three-day reunion. Our normal MidRats on opening night were very well attended and were so large we were required to expand our hospitality room into the adjoining banquet room.

At 0930 Thursday, more than 100 people boarded two 55-passenger busses to participate in either the Destrehan Plantation or Cajun Pride Swamp tours. Fifty-two of them attended both tours and were provided a sandwich lunch when they arrived at the swamp tour site. In spite of the threatening weather earlier in the week, the weather was ideal and none of the attendees had to use the rain slickers which were provided by the Association at registration.

Later that evening there was a ‘packed house’ attending the ‘Remembrance Ceremony’ to honor the shipmates who had passed away since the last reunion. Ed Farris conducted the solemn ceremony, which was completed when the shipmates were sent on their final patrol with two blasts from an actual USS Grant diving alarm.

On Friday at 0900, a Grant bus began a continuous shuttle between the hotel and the National WW2 Museum. More than 120 people took the eight-block trip to this nationally-known museum, which is recognized as one of the ‘top five’ museums in the country. The Association had decided to forgo a Grant Dinner Saturday night due to the location of the reunion and therefore scheduled a ‘Grant Lunch & Show’ at the WW2 Museum to begin at 1130. This private lunch and show was attended by 148 of the reunion attendees. The lunch was followed by entertainment from the ‘Victory Belles’ vocal trio, which provided a great finish to a good lunch. The Grant bus shuttle returned most of the people to the hotel by 1630. Then, at 2000, 52 people participated in the scheduled Friday the 13^th Haunted History tour. The two-hour tour was broken up with a ‘refreshment’ stop after the first hour.

Saturday morning and Saturday afternoon provided more free time for the people to visit the French Market, the Old U.S. Mint, the Aquarium and other sites which were readily accessible by streetcar from the hotel. Sandwiched between these free times, was the paddle-wheeler tour down-river aboard the Creole Queen, which was taken by 130 attendees. The riverboat trip, to the site of the ‘Battle of New Orleans’ during the War of 1812, was narrated by a local historian. The riverboat passed by the old WW2 Algiers Navy Station (ANS) and the Chalmette Slip, which were both used by the 28 ‘freshwater submarines’ on their way to the fighting in the Pacific during WW2. These 28 submarines were all built in Wisconsin, completed sea trials in Lake Michigan (freshwater), shipped by barge down the Illinois and Mississippi rivers, offloaded from the barge at the Chalmette Slip, loaded-out with supplies at the ANS and headed for the Panama Canal to transit to the fight in the Pacific. The travel of these 28 boats provided the ‘submarine connection’ the Association has always tried to have at each of our ‘Land’ reunions.

Unfortunately, planned visits to the ‘Mardi Gras World’ (MGW) for 65 people, which were scheduled for Friday and Saturday, had to be cancelled. We were informed two days before the reunion started that the ‘American Idol’ show would be filming at that location on Friday and Saturday and that MGW could not conduct tours during the filming.

With the exception of the ‘Remembrance’ on Thursday and the ‘Haunted History’ tour on Friday, the Association limited scheduling any night time ‘Grant Group’ activities. This provided ample time for the reunion attendees to enjoy the other numerous New Orleans area activities which were not included in the ‘Grant Group’ activities and to most certainly visit the French Quarter.

Along with a daily continental breakfast, an abundance of ‘adult beverages’ and soft drinks were provided for all hands between 0900 and 2300 daily in the Grant Hospitality Room. There were plenty of ‘munchies’, sandwich material, hot dogs, chili, fresh popcorn and other snacks readily available in the room to go along with the beverages.

The 2017 ‘Land’ reunion closed at 1200, Saturday, the 15^th.

Part Two - ‘Cruise’ [10/15-10/22]

After the 2017 ‘Land’ reunion closed, it was time to begin the 2017 ‘Cruise’ reunion. Two charter bus trips were required to take the more than 100 shipmates/guests from the ‘Land’ reunion hotel to the cruise terminal on the Mississippi River. The first trip departed the hotel at 1200 and the final trip departed the hotel at 1330. After loading more than 3000 cruisers, the ship got underway from New Orleans at 1600 and headed down the Mississippi towards the Gulf for the start of a seven-day cruise. The USS Grant ‘Cruise’ Reunion group was the single largest group on the cruise ship.

There was plenty of entertainment and activities aboard ship to keep our members busy during the first three nights and two days at sea. During the first full day at sea the USS Grant Association sponsored an open-bar happy hour with hot finger food, which was attended and enjoyed by all USS Grant hands. Then each USS Grant stateroom received a $25 bonus from the USS Grant Association. The happy hour and stateroom bonus was a result of the number of staterooms we had booked on the cruise and a credit from the cruise line was given to the Association, which the Association decided to pass-on to the shipmates. On the second full day at sea the ship held a ‘Veteran Appreciation’ show, which was well attended by our submarine sailors. The ship also held the first of their two scheduled formal dinners during this period.

The first port-of-call was Mahogany Bay on the island of Roatan. The rain did not deter our shipmates/guests from going ashore to enjoy the sights and activities.

The second port-of-call was Belize, which is well-known for beautiful reefs. Many of our people snorkeled and SCUBA-dived in one of the largest reefs in the Caribbean. Others took trips to the Mayan ruins located close to Belize City, while others took local tours.

Our final port-of-call was Cozumel, which has changed significantly since our visit during the first USS Grant ‘Cruise’ reunion in 2007. The once quaint small town is now wall-to-wall shops and plenty of activities for all visitors. There were five other cruise ships in Cozumel during our visit. After departure from Cozumel, the ship held their second scheduled formal dinner.

The final day at sea on the way back to New Orleans was welcomed by the shipmates/guests as a time to just relax after three busy days at ports-of-call. During the final dinner at sea, specially-bottled USS Grant wine was poured at each table for our ‘Submariners Toast’. At an appropriate time, Ed Farris interrupted the dinner by striking his wine glass with a butter knife. His action was immediately joined by the more than 100 USS Grant shipmates/guests, which got the attention of everyone in the dining room. Ed then made the ‘Submariners Toast’ and all USS Grant shipmates/guests closed the toast by shouting “Dive! Dive!”.

The second ‘part’ of the 2017 USS Grant reunion ended when the ship returned to the port of New Orleans and the USS Grant ‘Cruise’ reunion attendees left the ship to go to their cars to begin their drive home or to board the chartered bus for the airport or the hotel.