** NWSA Pensacola Chapter **
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President Pat O'Brien
Secretary/Treasure Steve Deola
Libby O'Brien - NWSA Secretary/Treasurer
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Source: Aerograph November 2011
On 28AUG11, at 1530, the Pensacola Chapter met at Ski Beach. The following members were present::
Pat and Libby O'Brien, Steve and Betsy Deola, Dave and Jerrie Dunlap, Howard and Shirley Graham, Bernie Bauer, Al and Helen Atwell, and Richard Tokryman. Bernie Bauer mentioned that one LCDR Cecil Johnson USN (Ret) owns a restaurant named Five Sisters Blues Café and members were encouraged to 'check it out'. So my wife and I did. It has indoor/outdoor seating, live jazz and blues on the weekends and some very good food. My wife being the budgeter she is, found a 'groupon' for the joint. We paid $10 to get $20 in food credit. When we go back I would pay It doesn't look like the place is going out of business...ever!
Apparently, Bob Selinka was spotted digging out of a bunker at the Scenic Hills Golf Course. One of the observers apparently put blowing sand in the ob.
In related news, Howard and Shirley Graham are leaving Pensacola for the easier life in Monck's Corner, South Carolina as soon as the house sells. They may be staying a while longer.Don Cruse hasn't slowed down even during the transition to a plush, fancy retirement community.In July, the O'Briens traveled south to Miami to board the Oasis of the Seas for a seven day Caribbean Cruise with Pat's daughter and family. The weather was ideal, the ship was most impressive, and the get together with family - priceless. In August, Pat's youngest son, Sean and his family drove down to P'cola to spend a week. They had a great visit. The grandchildren really enjoyed the few days they spent at the Blue Angel Recreation Area. After the children left, Pat & Libby settled down and spent almost two months at home. In late September, they celebrated Libby's 70th by attending the last two days of the Fedex Cup golf tournament in Atlanta. Military, active & retired, received free tickets, and there was an armed forces hospitality tent opposite the 16th green where food and drink were provided free of charge. You might want to remember Coca Cola, Budweiser, Chick Filet, and Hooters the next time you're out and about. These companies were the primary sponsors. Libby was also treated to dinner at the revolving Sundial Restaurant atop the Westin Hotel in downtown Atlanta. The nighttime view of the city was awesome, the service excellent, and the food pricey not priceless. The next stop was supposed to be the mountains of Georgia or North Carolina for a couple of days, but the weather wouldn't cooperate. Therefore, they opted to go west and stayed in Huntsville, AL. at the Army's Redstone Arsenal. They managed to get twenty-seven holes of golf on the Patriot Course while there. Then it was onto Evansville, IN, to visit Libby's youngest daughter and family. While there, Libby got to celebrate her birthday one more time. This time with cake and ice cream. In early Oct, they returned to P'cola, and as of this writing, they’ve been on a diet for six days. Pat said, "Too much of a good time requires sacrifices in order to fit in one's clothes." That's all we have this time.
Submitted by AG1 Steve Deola USN RET
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Source: Aerograph August 2011
Due to technical difficulties with the MS Word version of the chapter news, please refer to the Adobe Acrobat (PDF) version in the:
August 2011 Aerograph
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Source: Aerograph May 2011
President: Pat O'Brien
Sec/Treas: Steve Deola
The O'Briens have had a very interesting beginning to 2011. They've been home! According to Pat this is not good because their social calendar stays full with trips to their general practitioner, Pat's urologist, Libby's eye doctor, out patient procedures, hospital stays, and visits. Libby did find time to take a cruise with her oldest daughter back in January, and they both came back with the flu. Two days later she had to take Pat to his urologist for a prostate exam. Afterward, they went to lunch, and Pat passed out in the restroom (twice). An Emergency Medical Team transported him to a local hospital, and he spent the rest of the day in the emergency room. The two valium he took that morning evidently caught up with him. Ouch! The next day he came down with the flu from guess who? The next week was full of down time. Then they got the call from Pat's urologists with the results of his exam. He failed. It appears as if there was one cell labeled cancerous and another labeled pre-cancerous. Ouch again! Pat is not overly worried about the findings. He's taking a watchful waiting approach with his doctor. His doctor's philosophy is to keep Pat alive long enough for something else to kill him other than the prostate cancer. Pat's general practice doctor ordered him a colonoscopy. I guess he wanted to rule out death from colon cancer. This the time the results were negative. Whoop Dee Doo! A few weeks later chest pains put Pat back in the hospital. After five hours in the emergency room, Pat was admitted for tests. Thanks God they came back negative. Pat's cardiologist ruled out the heart as a cause of the pain, and now Pat is scheduled for an endoscope. As the poking and probing continues, Pat remains in good spirits. He tells everyone that he was a healthy young man when he met Ms. Libby, and she sure has taken a toll on him. The O'Briens plan on traveling north to Virginia Beach for Reunion #37 and going to North Carolina and Connecticut afterwards. In June they are scheduled to cruise on the Oasis of the Seas out of Fort Lauderdale. They'll be accompanied by Pat's daughter and family.
Rose and Arthur have a new family member. Her name is Cassie and she is 17. She is living with the Frazier's in order to continue to attend the local High School and graduate with her friends. Along with Rose's Mom, and their son, Timothy, they went to Orlando for Spring break to visit with friends and family. Timothy is the 7th grade and a percussionist, and Cassie is a junior and a singer. This summer, the three Fraziers are taking Rose's Mom, Irma, to Hawaii to fulfill her longtime dream. There they will meet up with their old neighbor, a classmate of Rose's from High School. They plan an overnight stop in Los Angeles to visit with family, and then 5 days in Oahu and 3 in Maui, before returning home. They also plan to visit their family in Texas and grandsons in Oklahoma sometime this summer. As usual, they are very busy with church and school activities, along with taking care of their home and family.
AG1 Submitted by Steve Deola USN RET
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Source: Aerograph February 2011
President: Pat O'Brien
Sec./Treas: Steve Deola
The Pensacola Chapter had its winter gathering at the Angus Steak House back on Dec 7th 2010. There was a good turnout, and everyone had a good time. The "White Elephant" exchange is always the highlight of our December get together, and this year, Gene Witsman (a new member no less) drove away with a nice bedpan. How's that for a "welcome aboard. Others in attendance included Dick and Elizabeth Tokryman, Bernie and Le Bauer, Greene and Marion Hawkes, Dave and Jane Driggers, Ken and Barbara Overholt, Bob and Elspeth Lloyd, Bill and Joyce Mitchell, Howard and Shirley Graham, Dave and Jerrie Dunlap, and Steve and Betsy Deola. The Deolas, Mitchells, and Gene Witsman were first-timers at a Chapter gathering, and we're excited to have them as new members. Back in September, Chuck Warner and Charles Keefe attended the fall gathering. Charles came down from up near Montgomery, Alabama (a good 2 hour plus drive) to attend our meeting. He's an old shipmate of Greene Hawks, and they had a great time trying to recollect names of old shipmates. Pat O'Brien's sister-in-law reported that Chuck Warner was hospitalized in December with a bad ticker and wasn't doing well. However, Pat and Steve Deola ran into Bernie Bauer and Chuck at Denny's, in January, while having breakfast. Chuck is doing well. He's now a member of the zipper club having had by-pass surgery. He said his carotid arteries were blocked, but the good Lord must have furnished him with enough blood vessels to carry blood to the brain. He said he'd mostly likely be a genius if the carotids were functioning normally. He still has his sense of humor. The O'Briens continue to stay busy playing golf and traveling. In October, Libby traded in her Dodge Caravan. It was a great van, but it had 165,000 miles on it, and she felt it was time for a newer car. She purchased a 2009 Dodge Journey, and it didn't take her long to put it to the test of another trip. She and Pat traveled up to Norfolk and Virginia Beach to spend a few days with family and friends. Pat celebrated his 68th birthday while there with his youngest son, Sean, and his family. The weather didn't cooperate for Sean and Pat to go out fishing for stripers, but they did manage to play a round of golf at the Red Wing Course. They also got to visit with Marty Nemcosky, Doris Steponick, and Chuck and Eileen Fifield at lunch one day. From Norfolk, they headed up to Baltimore to attend Pat's 50th high school reunion. Pat saw a lot of OLD faces, and said he was grateful that each of the attendees was wearing a picture ID. From Baltimore, they traveled north through central Pennsylvania and southwestern New York on their way to Simsbury, CT, to visit with Pat's daughter and her family. They were going to continue north to Vermont and New Hampshire to see the fall foliage, but Pat's daughter, and Jim and Joan Futtner, told them they had missed the peak time for fall viewing. Therefore, they stayed in Connecticut, and Jim and Joan acted as their tour guides and chauffeured them around for a couple of days viewing the scenery. Pat and Libby both agreed that colors were awesome even if it was past the peak time. On the trip home, they stopped in Delaware to play a round of golf and to check off another state in which they have played the game. From Delaware, they traveled to the outskirts of Elizabeth City and spent a day and night with Dave and Jane Driggers. In November, Pat's oldest son, and wife came up from Orange City, Florida to spend Thanksgiving. Pat also got to see his oldest granddaughter who came down from Michigan. In Dec. he and Libby celebrated their 16th wedding anniversary on Christmas Day. A few days later they traveled north to Evansville, IN, to visit with Libby's youngest daughter and her family. In January, Libby and her oldest daughter took a 4-day cruise out of Mobile, AL, to celebrate her daughter's 50th birthday. Gene Witsman writes that he's just laying low and doing his preparations for this year's travel season commencing the end of March. John Shay sends his blessings. He continues to spend time checking his eyelids for light leaks, but one day while up and about looking for something, he found a couple of photos from years past.
Click Here for First Photo
They include Capt. Harry Englehart, LCDR Bob Buttrick, AG1 Art Ulrich, AG1 Al Holaso, and John. John thinks they are from the 1973-74 timeframe.
Click Here for Second Photo
Howard and Shirley Graham took a cruise with their traveling companions, Bill and Linda from down the street, on the Carnival Elation out of Mobil on the 15th thru 20th of November. This cruise satisfied a number of occasions; their friends' 46th anniversary was the 15th of Nov, Howard's birthday was the 25th of Nov and Linda's
the 22nd. They have taken this cruise a number of times because if you take advantage of the sales Carnival frequently have, it is very inexpensive. And the Elation is a beautiful ship. Howard and Shirley left Pensacola on December 22nd and traveled to Charleston, SC to spend Christmas with daughter Tracy and husband Ken, and grandkids, Danielle and husband Mark, and Charles and wife Valerie. Since this was the first Christmas both Danielle and Charles are married it was decided to get a cabin and the whole family spend Christmas in the mountains of NC and maybe have some snow. Be careful what you ask for - how often have you heard that. It started snowing Christmas Eve night and didn't stop until the following Monday about noon. The cabin is 17 miles from Asheville. The news reported 5-7 inches of snow in Asheville; on the mountain where the cabin's is located, there was at least 15 inches and more like 18 inches of snow. It was spectacular, like a postcard picture or a Christmas Card scene. Even though they were marooned for a coupla days, the cabin was roomy and comfortable. Howard says it will take until about the 25th of May before Shirley thaws out. Denny and Helen Maljevac just spent some time visiting their son Mike and his family in Jacksonville while Mike was on semester break from Florida State College. Helen continues to stay busy with her needlework. She recently donated 125 knit hats during a winter clothing drive sponsored by a local law firm. She has already started on her next 125 for next year's drive. Denny is managing to stay out of trouble by volunteering at the local hospice and also at his church. Their next trip will be to Pennsylvania in the spring to attend their 50th high school reunion.
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