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Fall Chapter Meeting

Crossville, Tennessee

27–29 September 2019

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Friday night:

Sid Morgan and Bill Phipps hosted our Fall Chapter meeting for the third time in Crossville, Tennessee on 27-29 September 2019. There was a change in venue this time. Instead of the famous fish frys at the Morgan homestead, the cookout was held at the Crossville Railroad Depot. The Depot was made famous when Sgt Alvin C. York returned home from the battles of WW1. He lived in Pall Mall, Tennessee but I believe the nearest railroad in Tennessee to Pall Mall was in Crossville. In any case, if you saw the movie Sgt York, you may remember the homecoming scene in Crossville. The whole York family and friends were there to greet the returning hero. The depot has since become a part museum/gift shop and banquet room. Our Saturday night dinner/Auction was in the banquet room.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

The group started staggering into the Hampton Inn’s banquet (our Hospitality Room) room around noon. By 1800 hours all those members and ladies who would be attending this fish fry had arrived and were ready to head out for some good Crossville food. They chose the Brass Lantern. It was close, across the street, and reservations were made for the group. A couple of hours later, we were back in the Hospitality room for a casual get-together of drinks, laughter and snacking (like we didn’t get enough food at the restaurant?). And, since the youngest of the crowd is hitting the late 70’s in age, the Hospitality room was empty by 2300 hours. No more all-nighter’s for this group.

Saturday:

Lunch was served at 1200 hours but most of the ladies had vacated the locale hours before in their search for new adventures in Crossville.

The men and a few ladies remained in the Hospitality room waiting for lunch to be served.

At 1400 hours, President Robert T. Smith, called the meeting to order. Our attendance wasn’t anything to brag about, but our Secretary confirmed we had enough members and proxies present to conduct a business meeting.

Each of the officers gave their report(s). During our Summer meeting in Knoxville in June, it was suggested a possible site for the Winter meeting might be a return to Gatlinburg, TN. However, this venue did not work out and President Smith asked for volunteers to host the Winter meeting. Rose Daves offered to look into having the Winter meeting in the beautiful mountain village of Ellijay, Georgia in January or February. She also added, she had never hosted a meeting before so the Ellijay gathering may not come to pass. Dave Hensley offered to look at Bristol, Tennessee/Virginia as an alternative site if Rose couldn't set up the meeting in Ellijay.

The last item on the agenda was on the dinner this evening. Sid Morgan laid out the plans for the rest of the day and evening. The fantastic duo, Sid Morgan and Bill Phipps, spent many hours battling the Atlantic Ocean weather, remember the movie The Perfect Storm, to prepare for this fish fry. Said fish fry would be held in the banquet room of the Crossville Train Depot. The Depot was an active train stop until 1988 when Norfolk Southern departed Crossville and the ties were torn up. The Depot became a gift shop/banquet hall. The major claim to fame for the Depot was during WWI when Sergeant Alvin C. York, Medal of Honor recipient, returned home and was greeted by his whole family at the train depot. The movie Sgt York put Crossville, Tennessee on the map for a few years with the scene of this reunion.

Sid and Beth, Bill and Margot, the chefs du jour, gladly accepted volunteers from the group to aid in setting up the place. Numerous ladies joined the fray and the result was tables filled with a cornucopia of freshly caught fish, deep-fried, hush puppies, also deep fried, baked beans, salads and two choices of desert including two choices of ice cream. The fish and hush puppies and all the fixin’s would be ready by 1800 hours (6 PM for the Legs out there).

Somewhere in the world, the hammer struck the clock six times and the buffet at the Crossville Train Depot opened. The lines formed and members, ladies and guests made their way along the tables, filling their plates with the bountiful supply of food. For the next hour and a half, ninety minutes, plates were cleaned of food and refreshed and cleaned again. How many times the food table was visited was lost in the count. By 1930 hours (7:30 PM for the legs out there), the last snippets of fish, hush puppies and desert was consumed and all remnants of the feast were deposited in the trash cans.

I don’t know how many hammers struck the clocks for the half hour but at 1930 hours sharp, our Auctioneer Extraordinaire, Bill Phipps, gaveled the now famous Chapter XXXIII Auction open for business. Auctioneer Phipps pushed, prodded, cajoled, threatened and pleaded the audience to purchase the items for auction. The high light of the auction was the liter of moonshine produced by the inmates of the local county prison. Wanda Woodhead’s final bid on the moonshine, much to Woody’s chagrin, was $200. Happy days are in store for the Woodhead family. Rush Limbaugh was present in the form of two Betsy Ross Flag tee-shirts. These went for $60 each. When the final gravel hit the podium, the Chapter’s Scholarship fund had been increased by $675. Bill Phipps suggested the Chapter start a new program, In Memory Of-IMO with a check IMO his brother, Bobby J. Phipps. An anonymous donor gave a check IMO SP4 Jules Girtanner and SFC Donald Lehew, SFODA-427, KIA Oct. 1966, and Rose Daves donated a check to the Scholarship fund. All checks went to the Scholarship fund. The total increase to the Scholarship fund was $1,310. Nice going guys and gals.

Sunday:

The group gathered in the breakfast room to partake of waffles, scambled eggs, coffee, and other assorted items. We chatted over multiple cups of coffee and then prepared for the long, medium or short drive home.

Our Winter meeting will be either in Ellijay, Georgia or Bristol, Tennessee/Virginia sometime in the the January/February 2020 time frame. Check with the chapter website bulletin board for further information.

All members of the Special Forces family are invited to our meetings. Anyone interested can click on http://www.chapterxxxiii.sfsarge.com/ to access the Chapter Bulletin Board. If the link does not work, copy the link and paste it on the address line of the web page.

A few photos were taken and are placed on this page for your viewing pleasure.

Remember! Our meetings are BYOB (Bring Your Own Bottle). Chapter XXXIII no longer furnishes the hard stuff. All alcohol beverages are the responsibility of each member. The Chapter will furnish the soft drinks and water.

     

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