Hats off to Art Gowie for his work in bringing in new members. Art reports that as of this writing, we now have 166 active members.

We are all looking forward to hearing what’s been going in your lives.  On that note, I would like to see if anyone wants to update their Bio or submit one, if you have not done so. You are a very important part of our History and we want to preserve it.

  Al St. Onge is still working on our pitch for a National Reunion in Portland, Maine for 2013.  If any of our Members intend to go to the upcoming National Reunion in Philadelphia in May, please contact Al St.Onge and give him your shirt size and the shirt size of anyone going with you.  The shirts will have the logo pushing for the reunion to be held in Maine.

  This up coming mini reunion in Portland, April 23-25, is very important because we will be planning how we can best help Al with the plans for a national reunion here in Maine in 2013. There will be several important items discussed and decided upon at this meeting. It is not too late to sign up to attend the Portland Mini-Reunion. If you would like to attend, contact host Art Gowie to make arrangements.

  Thanks to Dick Carlson for keeping some of us alive with his prayers.  I thank you.

  Ed Carey, Jim Dougherty and myself presented a Plaque to the Sailor of the Year at the Navy Information Operation Detachment Groton, CT.  There will be an article in the Crypto-Log with more Information.

  There will also be Plaques presented to Officer of the Year and Sailor of the Year at the Naval Security Activity, Ft Devins, MA.  This will take place, we hope, next week or in early May.

John (Hogie) Hogan
President, NCVA-NE

On behalf of the NCVA-New England, Ed Carey presented a citation for "Exceptional Patriotism" to the crew of the USS Pueblo which was accepted by Don Peppard (President of the Pueblo Group).

This was a heart moving, eye watering experience for me and I am sure it was the same for all of us who were there.

Initially we budgeted $1000 for the Happy Hour but later it was thought that it might not be enough to cover the cost so we asked for donations from the membership. Thanks to the generosity of Trader Duke's, located in the Doubletree Hotel, we were able to stay within our initial budget. Many thanks to those who made generous donations. Because the extra money was not required Art Gowie will be returning your donations, with many thanks.

We had the pleasure of the company of Bob Payne, Editor of the Cryptolog, who found our general meeting to be a unique experience. Bob's complete comments can be found in the Fall edition of the Cryptolog, and on the NCVA-NE website . Special thanks to Ken Cadran who tried in vain to hold me to Roberts Rules of Order.

Don't forget those Military Bio's. These can be very important. As you noticed in our general meeting we find people we were stationed with but of course we wouldn't recognize. When members scan through the Bio's they may find an old shipmate they would like to see and that may be an inducement to attend a meeting, plus it is fun to see how much we have changed over the years. For me it was great to see my old friend Mick Mawn join us and happy to see Jack O'Connell back in the fold. Membership Bio's can be found on the NCVA-NE website on the Membership page. All members with a [B] next to their listing have an online biography.

I thought Al. St.Onge's idea of having badges with just our names on them so they can be used over again was a great idea and the lanyards provided by Art Gowie to go with them was very thoughtful, thank you both.

Once again, our thanks to Al. Onge for organizing our 2009 Spring Reunion which will be held in Nashua NH at the Radisson Hotel, formerly the Sheraton Tara, April 24/25, 2009. This was the site of our initial meeting. You will be getting your Registration Form via E-mail or by Snail Mail if you don't have an E-mail address. It will also be available on the Spring 2009 Reunion page on the NCVA-NE website.

I believe Nashua NH will be very easy to get to from anywhere in New England, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. For those of you who may be land locked this is an easy trip to the shores of old New England. Hope to see everyone there, let's have a great turnout.

Jim Kell, from the Pueblo, approached me about a fundraiser. They have run out of land at the Annex to the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery which is the site where former POW's are interned. They want to purchase land and erect a 15 foot tall bronze statue in honor of all POW's. There will be more information on this subject in the future on our Web Site

Speaking of our Web Site, once again I can't thank Karl Kristiansen enough for the outstanding support he gives to all of us in maintaining such a professional Web Site. Let's also not forget the dedicated contributions made by Phil Sirmons, Art Gowie and Vic Knorowski.

Let us all say a prayer that Ray McManus will be sitting in the Vice President's Chair at our Spring Reunion.

Wishing each and everyone a thankful Thanksgiving. May God continue to bless the United States of America.

Sincerely,
John (Hogie) Hogan
President, NCVA-NE