Fellow Shipmates Who Attended 2005 Reunion

Reunion 2005 Photo Gallery

Newport Dealeys

Chairman’s Message

Dear Shipmates

 

I am happy to report to all that we had a very successful and enjoyable seventh reunion of our Newport Dealeys shipmates at the Holiday-Inn Airport, Jacksonville, FL, in late October, with 138 shipmates and guests in attendance. An attractive tropical atrium hotel lobby with a swimming pool greeted them upon their arrival. The lobby and lounge provided a convenient place to gather and socialize with other shipmates. The hotel provided us with great accommodations, excellent food and a very friendly staff for all of us to enjoy.

 

Whenever our reunion takes place close to a naval facility, we try to arrange tours so our shipmates can enjoy an opportunity to visit and relive their younger days. This year was no exception and on Friday we were privileged to have a guided tour of the USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67) at the Mayport Naval Base followed by a wonderful buffet lunch on the naval base. We all were very impressed with the ship itself but especially with high caliber of our young male and female sailors serving today. On Saturday we enjoyed a relaxed tour of scenic and historic St. Augustine.

 

Our hospitality room once again was the featured gathering place for our shipmates and their guests. We had an outstanding display of ships’ plaques and other memorabilia for all to reminisce about. The center of our attention was focused on the large-scale model of the USS Courtney (DE-1021) that was built by then LTJG Tony Arnold. On Friday evening after dinner Tony gave us all a presentation on how he created this one-year labor of love.

 

This year we saluted the USS Hartley (DE-1029)/ ARC Boyaca. We had the rare opportunity of having two members of the Boyaca crew attend our reunion. Captain Jesus Bejarano, still on active duty, and former LTJG Luis Castro told us of the Boyaca mission when it was part of the Columbian Navy. Captain Bejarano also indicated that the Columbian government is having a renewed interest in reassembling the ARC Boyaca as a tourist attraction in Guatape, Columbia. Continue to check our web site for updated information.

With the attendance of Capt. Bejarano who informed us that he was the last shipmate to lower the flag on the ARC Boyaca on her decommissioning and Bob Uhl who was on the USS Hartley commissioning crew, we suddenly became aware that we had a historical event with the meeting of the first and last shipmates of the Hartley/ Boyaca,. We documented the meeting with many photographs.

 

Our next reunion will be held at the Holiday Inn- BWI Intl Airport, Baltimore, MD,

September 14-17, 2006.

 

The shipmates voted to have the 2007 reunion in the Philadelphia, PA area on a date to be determined.

 

A NOTE OF CONCERN

The reunion committee had anticipated that by locating the reunion this far south and scheduling it late in the season it would have been more convenient for our southern shipmates to attend and also accommodate our winter Florida residents as they headed south. However, for reasons unknown to us, the Jacksonville location only drew a limit number of Florida area residents. I would be interested in hearing shipmate comments (pro and con) on this subject, including ideas to promote our future Newport Dealeys reunions in this area.

 

Sincerely,

Charles J. Holzschuh (Shoe)

Newport Dealeys Reunion 2005 Chairman

14396-A Canalview Drive

Delray Beach, FL 33484

(561) 499-2818