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Spring Chapter Meeting - April 2007

Knoxville, Tennessee
6 - 8 April 2007

Once again our chapter returned to the Knoxville, Tennessee area for our spring meeting. Usually spring infers long, warm days and cool nights and flowers and birds in the air and all things good. Spring in Knoxville (and the rest of the country, I might add) on 6-8 April 2007, was cold, windy and a hint of snow. In fact, some members driving over the Smokies encountered that white stuff and there were a few who were wondering if they would be able to make it to Knoxville or would they be stuck somewhere along side the road because the mountain passes were closed.

But, like the true Special Forces troops that we are, all made the long and short trips with no major problems except maybe a few ragged nerves. But then, not to worry! The Hospitality Room at the Jamison Inn was well stocked with those "nerve reducing elixirs" and soon everyone was mellow and comfortable.

There was some worry earlier in the week about the number of troops that would show up for this spring meeting. At that point there were only eleven rooms reserved. Seems like a number of members who were at the Brevard meeting suddenly acquired CRS about us discussing the weekend of 8 April as being Easter and all. However, on Friday, 6 April, the Hospitality Room was overflowing with chapter members and their significant others. I do believe we ended up with something like thirty or so members. More than enough for a meeting. We even picked up a new member. Sid Morgan from Crossville, Tennessee decided it was about time he joined the best chapter in the Association. Welcome aboard, Sid. We hope to see you at all the functions in the future. Needless to say there were a few times when we missed our quorum by one person.

Our two guest speakers were Ted Paulton and Colonel (Ret) James (Hawk) Holloway. Ted, a former member of the British Parachute Regiment during World War II, spoke on his experiences during WWII; the Greek Revolution; and his tour of duty in the Near East prior to Israel becoming a country in 1948.

Colonel Holloway had recently returned from Iraq where he was a member of the American Forces training the Iraqi National Police. He spoke of the progress being made there; and the successes and, yes the problems, they had in their training. He also spoke about how the people, who are helping the American forces, feel about the defeatist attitude we have in this country.

There was no formal, sit-down dinner because of the many fine restaurants around Knoxville. A number of us drove the five or so miles to the Linderhof Restaurant for a good German meal. The only problem with the Linderhof was the portions were too large and the salads and soups before the main meal were too good.

Then it was back to the Hospitality room and the auction. And, as is par for the course, our two famous Auctioneers outdid themselves on auctioning off the many and varied items that were strewn about the tables and floor. There were several Ming Dynasty items that brought in a few bucks. There were several people bidding for the 50th SF Anniversary license plate but Tim finally won out with a $50 bid. Nice going, Tim!

And so the sun sets on another Chapter Meeting. I have snapped a few photos of this meeting and you can view them at your leisure. Hope you enjoyed your stay at Knoxville this last weekend and hope to see you back come July.


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Copyright © 1994 Chapter XXXIII All rights Reserved.

The Larry Alan Thorne Special Forces
Memorial Chapter XXXIII Spring Meeting
was created 12 April 2007
and last update 3 April 2008