Nashville, Tennessee
26 June - 02 July 2005
The hotel was nice but it was situated in an office park area and there weren't any eating establishments anywhere close to the hotel. There was a restaurant within the confines of the hotel itself but to do any sightseeing you needed a car. Chapter 38, host for the National Convention this year, had tours to the various entertainment areas (Grand Ole Opry, Malls, golf, etc) that you could sign up for during your registration. These were on a first come, first served basis and, if you waited to register at the door, you wouldn't be one of the first come, first served. If you didn't have a car, the only other way to get to town (or restaurants) was by cab. The hotel proper didn't have a shuttle service to town. Still, there was plenty to do at the Sheraton. There were table after table after table of vender's selling their wares. There were two hospitality rooms open (one with beer only and the other with the hard stuff and beer). If you didn't find what you wanted at one of the two hospitality rooms, there was always the hotel bar and they would fix you anything you could ever want to drink. Of course, the hotel bar had one disadvantage...you had to pay for your drinks there.
You can view some photos that Chapter 38 took if you wish. This photo album also includes the wedding photos of Robin Moore and Helen Edelston. They were married on 29 Jun. I'm pretty sure (at least I hope) the chief photographer from Chapter 38 will add more photos to their collection. You will have to use the "Back" tab to get from Chapter 38's photos back to this site.
On Friday, 01 July, we loaded up the buses and were transported (that's the way they do things in Nashville) to Fort Campbell, KY and home of the 5th Special Forces Group for our picnic. You can consider yourself fortunate or unfortunate (depending on how you looked at things) for being part of the picnic group. If you enjoyed beer by the bucketful...you were fortunate. If you wanted water or soft drinks...you were unfortunate. There weren't nary a drop to be had. Some of the lady's were smart enough to bring along water bottles and these were filled (and refilled, again and again) at the local water fountain. The 5th's Group Finance was probably more than happy when we departed the area. Their water consumption tax probably doubled in the 5-6 hours we were there. You can view some of the more enticing photos of the picnic here .
Then it was back to the hotel and more of the hospitality room(s) or, if you had signed up for them, you were off to the Grand Ole Opry and other niceties of the night. View more photos of the night here.
The General Meeting was held on Saturday, 02 July. It was supposed to start at 0900, it started about 1000. (What happened to the "crossing of the IP thing?) It was supposed to end at 1200 but didn't end until after 1300. The usual number of plaques, certificates and awards were given out. General Parker, commander of the Special Warfare and School, presented a briefing of the modern Special Forces concept. It was pretty impressive and he gave a very good outline of what the new Special Forces trainee goes through to earn his beret. I do believe they are much better trained than we were when we were going through our "3" training. National also called out the winners of the raffle. No one from Chapter 33 won. No one from Chapter 33 ever wins...does that mean it was fixed?
The Chapter meeting was held immediately following the General Meeting. Well not immediately following the general meeting. There was the usual humming and hawing and scratching going on. I think we were finally called to order somewhere around 1400. There were only two old items and two new items of business and I thought we'd fly through this meeting with flying colors. Wrong! Finally, the dust settled and the gavel was slammed down for one last time. Meeting adjourned! If you're interested in checking out some of the photos of the Chapter meeting hit the tab.
Oh, yes. Before I forget. It was also Bennie McDonalds 67th birthday. Well, actually his birthday was on 30 June and Judy bought a cake for the event. Problem was Bob was sick and Judy had to take him to the hospital so the party was postponed to the next night. The next night everyone was tired from the picnic or was getting ready for the "Grand Ole Opry" and, you guessed it. Postponement. So actually, Bennie was sixty-seven years and two days old when we finally got around to welcoming him into this brave new world. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BENNIE! .
And so another fantastic Special Forces Chapter 33 meeting bit the dust. We scattered to the four winds and all vowed to come back in October when we have our Winter Meeting. The final details are not finalized at the moment but we do know it will be on 15-17 October 2005. It will be held in Cleveland, TN and we will instill (or install) our new officers. And with that, I bid you a final adieu and farewell.
We hope to see you all in Cleveland in October.
