2004 – SAVANNAH

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Savannah Photos
Weeden Reunion 2004

Ed Hansen
The Butterfields

The fifteenth reunion of the WWII crew of the USS Weeden was held on October 13 through 18, 2003 (at the same time as the Cincinnati’s Tall Stacks festival) at the Holiday Inn Riverfront in Covington, Kentucky.

Those attending were:
Gene & Sharon Radford Richard Griffin Tim Griffin Ed & Marion Hansen John & Beth Palm Bill Warner & Sandy Bayuk Bill & Louise Butterfield Howard & Joan Green Lucy Kiker Tricia Bowman and her spouse Cris Bowman Dwight & Marie Nelson	Charles & Christine Donahue Harry Maillet Barron Clark Rose Tillinghast Harriet Goodrich and her spouse Phil Goodrich Ray & Dorothy Weidman Ray ( JR.) & Kimberly Weidman Howard & Dorothy Long Nolan Pavey & his son Bill Stan & Stella Piskorowski

Those arriving early on Tuesday enjoyed an evening at the Argosy Casino in Lawenceberg, Indiana. There was a great buffet dinner, lots of slots, and something new to me – Three Card Poker. Wednesday’s lunch was at the world famous Montgomery Inn Boathouse, where their specialty is ribs. Followed by a group buffet dinner at the Holiday Inn.

Cincinnati was known as the “Queen of the West”. Union terminal was built during the depression as a WPA project. A boyhood friend of mine’s father was the resident engineer on the project. The terminal no longer functions as a train station but was recently turned into museum where the group viewed the “Cincinnati Goes to War” exhibit.

A stop was made at Joe’s Crab Shack in Newport , Kentucky for lunch where we observed the “Parade of Tall Stacks” from the veranda.

The afternoon bus tour of Cincinnati, Newport & Covington included stops at the Ohio river overlook in Eden Park.

And the downtown overlook in Mt. Adams.

Friday we boarded the Nashville, Tennessee’s General Jackson at the public landing for a cruise and Tim Watson’s country musical show.

Unfortunately, the weather was inclement and chilly so the ” Parade of Tall Stacks” was cancelled. Most of the gang returned to the hotel but a few brave souls stayed and observed the festival from the Serpentine Wall.

The gang reassembled at 5:00 PM at the Hofbrauhaus for dinner. During the meal, Howard Green mentioned to the band leader that our group was in attendance and we were acknowledged with a standing ovation in front of the dinner audience. Sitting at the bar, was the son of Bill Lepage who served as a gunners mate aboard the USS Weeden during WWII. Scott Le Page and his sister, Anne Smith, joined us later that evening at the hospitality room.

The reunion concluded with a banquet dinner at the Holiday Inn on Saturday evening. Nolan Pavey and his son Bill joined us that evening and he gave us a well rehearsed dissertation on kissing the belly of the baby Neptune when we crossed the equator in 1945. Scott Le Page and his companion, Pat Howerton also joined us for dinner. That evening after the banquet, Ray Weidman Jr ‘s trip was made when Pete Rose rode up on the elevator with him.