The 18th annual reunion of the USS Benham Association will be held in Deerfield, IL during the week of September 14th thru 18th, 2010. Attendance at a Great Lakes Graduation will be the highlight of this reunion.
The 17th annual reunion of the USS Benham Association will be held at the Town & Country Convention Center in Charleston, South Carolina on November 3rd through 7th, 2009. All former shipmates of the USS Benham are welcome to join the USS Benham Association and enjoy the comradship of all the shipmates for several days of good fellowship! (Spouses are welcome!)
The 16th annual reunion of the USS Benham Association was held in Buffalo, NY September 9-13, 2008. On the 9th we held registration and enjoyed an evening of friendship and bull sessions. On Wednesday we toured the city and Naval Park, then had lunch on board the cruiser USS Little Rock. Thursday a bus took us to the Power Vista, Niagra Falls and finally the Seneca Indian Casino. Saturday we held our Annual Meeting and Farewell Dinner. Dave and Mary Ann Hanner deserve a special "Thanks" for hosting a wonderful reunion.
The 15th annual reunion of the USS Benham Association was held in Portland, Oregon on September 27-29, 2007 at the Red Lion Hotel Portland-Convention Center. This year's attendance included 16 Shipmates and 21 guests for a total attendance of 37. On September 27th we took a bus tour of Mt. Hood, which reaches a height of 9000 ft. Thursday evening we enjoyed a Greek Dinner and a belly dancer for entertainment. On Friday we enoyed another bus tour along the coast of the Pacific Ocean and also visited a cheese factory. Saturday morning we enjoyed a bus tour of the "City of Roses", Portland, Oregon. The Annual meeting of the Benham Salts commenced at 2:00pm on Saturday. It was decided to extend reunions one day and thus start the Buffalo reunion on Tuesday. Captain Tim Myers, retired, spoke of the plans for the City of Portland. He was born in Pennsylvania and now makes Portland his home. Our thanks to Bob "Ike" Eisenhauer and his wife Susan for being wonderful Host and Hostess. Thanks also to Tommy and Pat Townsend for helping. Thanks to Erv and JoAnn Matulka and his committee, Jackie Pribila, who is the editor of our newsletter, and her son Paul who did much of the heavy work around the Hospitality room. Thanks also to Doc & "B" Dougherty, Dave & Fran Rippl and Gen Buclous.
The 14th annual reunion of the USS Benham Association was held in Omaha, Nebraska September 20 thru 23, 2006. For the Tuesday early arrivals, all were invited by Ervin and Joann Matulka to their home for drinks and Omaha Steak dinner. There must have been about 35 or 40 people enjoying mid-west hospitality.
Wednesday, September 19, was registration and in the evening a Welcome to Omaha reception took place. An Omaha prime rib dinner was enjoyed by all. Later in the evening a “Sh-- on your Neighbor” card game was enjoyed by a group of people.
Thursday, September 21, the bus loaded about 9:00am for a trip to the SAC Museum. Thursday evening the bus loaded and headed for the Chuck Wagon Steak dinner on the Ranch. After the bus unloaded the rains came. We were served another steak dinner (What would you expect in Omaha!). After dinner we were entertained with Western Music by Jim & Jeanne Martin, six time National Yodeling Champions.
Friday, September 22, a group enjoyed the Henry Doorley Zoo. The remainder of the day was free for folks to tour and enjoy Omaha.
Saturday, September 23, Ollie the Trolley took the group on a tour of Boys Town. Upon returning to the hotel, our 14th Annual Business meeting took place in the Council Bluffs Room. Our guest speaker, Shane Osborne, spoke at the meeting because he had another commitment later that day. Shane also served in the Navy. Upon resumption of the meeting there was a discussion of the 2008 reunion to be held in Buffalo NY and hosted by Dave Hanner with Jim Buclous helping him. Everyone was reminded that next years reunion will be held in Portland Oregon. Jim Buclous was re-elected as President and Jon Surprise was re-elected as Treasurer. The Set Sail Banquet was held in the Blue Room of the hotel. We had continuous entertainment for an hour by Julie Anderson accompanied by Brian Bottsford on keyboard. After dinner there was a raffle of an array of wood work items made and donated by Bob Strange and other items the committee provided. The THROW that was donated back to the Association last year was raffled off again this year and was won by Jackie Pribila. The annual “Sh-- on your Neighbor” card game tournament took place shortly after the dinner was done. We had about 30 to 35 people that participated. The tournament was won by Ed Pelton and Doc Dougherty presented him with this year’s trophy.
A total of 61 people attended this reunion, 26 members and 35 guests. Erv and Joann put a lot of time and effort into this reunion. The Embassy Suites staff supported the reunion and provided wonderful hospitality. Our thanks to Ervin and Joann Matulka for a job well done.
The 13th annual reunion of the USS Benham Association was held in Baton Rouge, LA November 9-13, 2005. Members started to arrive Monday evening the 7th and had dinner at Schuck’s restaurant, located near the Sheraton Hotel where the reunion was being held. Tuesday preparations were underway getting the hospitality room shipshape for the opening on Wednesday the 9th. On Wednesday the hospitality room opened and welcomed arriving shipmates. Sandwiches, snacks and favorite drinks were enjoyed along with the renewal of friendships and talk of events and adventures.
Thursday, the 10th, the tour bus was loaded and we were taken to St. Francisville, Port Hudson State Historical Site, and the Audubon State Historical site. The narrator for the tour was Debra White, knowledgeable in local facts. A buffet lunch was provided at D’Johns restaurant.
Thursday evening a number of the shipmates and family members chose to sleep aboard the USS Kidd. The adventure of a life for some of the young “recruits”! Others stayed at the hotel where a presentation about Herbs was attended by some of the Ladies and the not so adventurous shipmates.
Friday morning the entire crew was piped aboard the USS Kidd (DD796 for a day!). A bagpiper was in our midst for a Memorial service along with a firing of the 5 inch gun three times. Don Boisell led us in prayer and there were comments from our reunion coordinator, Bob Studzinski, and President, Jim “Buck” Buclous. Our members were invited to attend a memorial service in the city of Baton Rouge. We were recognized by the Mayor of Baton Rouge, Melvin “Kip” Holden, and invited to attend a luncheon hosted by the city. Shipmates were given “liberty” for the afternoon to tour and shop.
Saturday, the 12th, we left the hotel for the Cajun Pride Swamp Tour. We boarded a boat and taken into the swamp where we observed the Guide feed some alligators. A Cajun lunch was served along with a cake decorated with a picture of the USS Benham.
Later in the day the annual meeting was held and in the evening the Set Sail Dinner took place in the banquet room of the hotel. Our guest speaker was Maury Drummond, Director of the USS Kidd. Following his speech was a comedian presenting hilarious Cajun jokes
The 12th annual reunion of the USS Benham Association was held in Philadelphia, PA on October 7-11, 2004 at the Sheraton Society Hill Hotel. Tom & Marge Piacentino and Jim & Cher Gaverone, reunion coordinators, served fine Philadelphia style food. Roast Beef, hot roast pork, hoagies and of course Philadelphia pretzels were served on the first day of the gathering! (I wonder if they bought the pretzels at the stop lights on Broad Street.) On Thursday many walked to Penn’s Landing where we boarded the Spirit of Philadelphia and took a cruise up and down the Delaware River, past the old Navy shipyard where the USS Benham visited in the past and also got a good look at the USS New Jersey permanently moored on the Jersey side of the river. After the cruise busses took us for a tour of the city. On Friday we filled a bus and headed to Atlantic City for a buffet lunch and a chance to help the local economy (or Donald Trump!) by gambling. Saturday morning we held a service at the Korean War Memorial honoring our deceased members and those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country. At the business meeting a vote was held to move the 2005 reunion to Baton Rouge, LA due to the high costs in the Chicago area. Erv Matulka was also gracious to accept the challenge of holding the reunion in Omaha, Nebraska in 2006. Dick Giacin motioned to retain the existing President and Treasurer for the next two years. Jin Buclous and Doug Heim accepted the assignment. Sunday was a free day and shipmates and family enjoyed visiting and touring Philadelphia. Sunday evening the Set Sail Dinner enjoyed the Benjamin Franklin as the Guest Speaker. Plans should be getting underway for the reunion in Baton Rouge, LA.
The 11th annual reunion of the USS Benham Association was held
October 22, 23, 24, 25 & 26, 2003 in San Diego, California. Registration
and welcome was on Wednesday.
Dick Spangler and his wife, Margaret, manned the registration desk in the
lobby of the Hilton for most of the afternoon, and later was moved to the
Sausalito Room of the hotel where we had our hospitality room. Shipmates
gathered, talked about old times and renewed friendships.
On Thursday about half of us went to the San Diego Zoo and the other half toured a light cruiser that was in the harbor at the time. The bus picked up both groups and we to the Pepper Grove Park and enjoyed a box lunch. Everyone was on their own that evening. On Friday the bus picked us up and we headed south of the border, to Tijuana, Mexico. There the crew enjoyed liberty and was on their own to shop and barter with the various vendors along their main thoroughfare, Revolution Ave. The tour company recommended a nice restaurant where we had lunch. Everyone was on their own Friday evening. Saturday morning we loaded the bus for a tour of the city of San Diego. We toured the world famous Coronado Hotel (very beautiful), Balboa Park, the Gaslamp Quarter, and the Seaport Village, where there are various little shops for souvenirs and restaurants. From the Seaport Village we went to the Bali Hi restaurant, for lunch. After lunch, we went to the Rosecrans National Cemetery on Point Loma where approximately 85,000 are buried. The San Diego bay on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other provide a beautiful and tranquil scene. We had a brief memorial service with some comments from some of the members. When we finished there wasn't a dry eye around. We boarded the bus and headed back to the hotel. At about 3:00 our business meeting commenced. We deleted the articles in our by-laws that were advertised in the Benham Salts regarding the election of officers. Officers who are elected can continue their term as long as they wish, unless someone else wants to run against them. We also added to our executive board, all past presidents. Since there was no election, the President asked for a site for the 2005 reunion, which would be held in the Central part of the country. There were no volunteers. The President had spoken to Bob Studzinski, of Illinois, who couldn't be at the reunion, and he agreed to take on a 2005 reunion in Chicago. Later in the evening we assembled in the banquet room and a photographer took some pictures. We had some cocktails and dinner was served. Lt Bill Benham was our guest speaker. Some door prizes were passed out and that ended our evening. Dick, Margaret Spangler and their son Mike did the bulk of the work for this reunion, and they deserve a lot of credit and thanks. They did an outstanding job.
The 10th annual reunion of the USS Benham Association was held on
October 11, 12 & 13, 2002 in Mobile, AL at the Adams Mark Hotel. Fred
Heferly and Ed Pelton did a fine job of setting up this reunion. Friday was
registration and Hospitality Room bull sessions. Saturday we boarded Motor
Coaches and toured Dauphin Island Estuarium and a beautiful view of the Gulf of
Mexico. Saturday night was a free night for groups to get together. On Sunday we
toured Mobile and then progressed to the USS Alabama and Battleship Park. Lunch
was served aboard the Battleship. After lunch we toured LST 325 recently
returned from Greece by a crew of WWII veterans. Sunday evening was the annual
business meeting where our new leader for the Association, Jim "Buck" Buclous,
was elected. Don Boisell, who was the Chaplain, gave up the job because of ill
health. With the agreement of the Executive Board we appointed Bob Enlow as our
new Chaplain. The 2004 reunion will be held in Philadelphia. A committee to
undertake that job was set up. The speaker at the diner was Captain Hal Pierce,
who was instrumental in bringing the LST 325 back from Crete, Greece. On Monday
those who were left in Mobile took a tour of the Bellingrath Gardens in the area
of Mobile. There must have been about 40 or 50 members at this reunion.
