At the last VPB-118 reunion, I was asked to explore the possibility of conducting future reunions jointly with another squadron.
It seems to me that this is not a totally far-fetched concept, or I would have said so at the time. My experience of the VPB-118 guys is that they in general have a positive, pragmatic outlook. Therefore, sharing reunion space with another squadron of like background might be a small sacrifice and might even be very rewarding.
Unfortunately, I have so far gotten no takers. My current estimation on the feasibility of doing this is that there are not many VPB squadrons that are still meeting and out of those, few or none would wish to mingle with people from other squadrons. VPB-118 members and relatives have commented that they are "like family." This is probably true of all squadron reunion groups - not unique.
Anyway, there's optimism that we can hold at least one more on our own in 2011 and take it from there.
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VPB-119 was 118's sister squadron, right?
ReplyDeleteMight make the idea go down a little easier...
That's sort of a cryptic comment, but it did serve to suggest another way of going at the problem: VPB-118 could be looking not to obtain permission from another squadron to join with them, but rather is interested in qualified individuals to join its reunion. Such "qualified" people could be demonstrated history buffs, members and family from other VPB squadrons, and similar folk.
ReplyDeleteRegarding VPB-119, I did send an email to an individual (Jim Board) from that squadron and have not received a reply. I would welcome any legitimate inquiries.
Another idea I had about maintaining the reunion for a while longer was a sort of "reunion lite" that could utilize a senior-friendly prepackaged gathering format, such as an affordable lodge or some similar venue. People are no longer so much up to motoring around in a big bus and hiking around.