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Summer Chapter Meeting, July 2001

The Château, Cleveland, Tennessee
13 - 15 July 2001

About thirty-eight (or maybe forty) courageous souls braved the sizzling elements of this July and gathered at the Château in beautiful downtown Cleveland, Tennessee for the summer meeting of Chapter thirty-three. Most of these gutsy guys and gals arrived on Friday to enjoy the casual atmosphere and camaraderie of oft-told war stories and beer drinking in the hospitality room of the Château. As day turned to evening, most departed for the favorite watering hole known as the Cleveland, Tennessee American Legion. An exclusive area was reserved for these lost souls where they were honored with the song “The Green Beret” sung by one of the Legionnaires as they feasted on selected choices from the menu and drank selected items from the bar. Somewhere around midnight, the group started thinning and only the most dedicated members of this chapter remained until the wee hours of the morning. One member partook of the local liquid to the point he couldn’t remember where he had parked his truck the next morning.

Saturday morning came early (especially for those dedicated members from last night) and stragglers, red-eyed from the night before, wondered in and out of the hospitality room throughout the morning. They made for the bar and filled their cups with some of the “snake that bit them” the night before. Gradually the redness of eyes and shaking of hands disappeared until once again Chapter 33 was ready for the 1400-hour business meeting. The “old business” of Secretary’s minutes, Treasurer’s report (no mention of auto payments, but we found the item anyway) and the President’s presentation was quickly dispensed with. New business pertained mostly to the ballot counting of the new officers. Matt had received the ballots (all thirty-five of them) from the members of the chapter and had tallied the winners and the losers. Jim Hash was voted out as Treasurer and voted in as the new President; “Bull” Durham, removed the hat of the previous president, and adorned the hat of Vice- President. Mitch Green kept the pen of Secretary for another two years. Only new officer was Irvin "Boat" Boatwrite. He moved into the now vacated Treasurer's chair. Do we need to have to keep an eye out for a new truck???

And since there were no other “new business items”, the meeting was adjourned until next time. Just where “next time” will be is still open for discussion. Now, everyone could get ready for the big event of the day---The pool party. Ah, yes, the Pool Party. We were perfect gentlewomen and gentlemen. All of us just lounged around the pool sipping our tea and daintily nibbling on the crumpets. Nary a war story or a off-colored sound came from the smiling lips of the partiers. Now for you other chapters out there that have never been to one of Chapter 33’s meetings, we also talked of a bridge being for sale in New York or something like that. Copious amounts of food were laid out on the tables along side the pool and the coolers of cokes, sodas and iced tea (yeah, sure) were placed at strategic locations along the walkways. Some time in the late afternoon or early evening, the hardiest of us retired once again to the hospitality room for a few more light snacks and favorite soft drinks and fruit juices. Our ranks had thinned considerably by this time since some of the less dedicated members preferred to exit the Area of Operations and return to the safety and comfort of their homes.

Sunday morning was a day of departure from the Château and beautiful downtown Cleveland, Tennessee. And once again, Chapter 33 had demonstrated to the world that some of the best things in life are really the enjoyment and camaraderie of fellow comrades-in-arms.

But before this page bids all a pleasant adieu, we of Chapter 33 wish to thank our guests Bob Dorsey, President of Chapter 59, Ben Holdorf, also of Chapter 59 and El-Bayadi for joining us at our summer meeting. We hope they enjoyed our hospitality and we look forward to seeing them and many more guests from other chapters in the future. Our doors, not to mention our hospitality room, are always open to other chapters.

And now for the part you've all been waiting for! You can gaze upon the art gallery Matt has set up for you.

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Copyright © 1994 Chapter XXXIII All rights Reserved.

The Larry Alan Thorne Special Forces
Memorial Chapter XXXIII Summer Meeting
was created 21 July 2001
and last update 3 April 2008