SAC MSET ASSOCIATION QUARTERLY REPORT
SAC MSET NEWSLETTER –August 1, 2009
TO: TEAM MEMBERS
FROM: MSET EXECUTIVE BOARD, MIKE
GENTILE PRESIDENT, [email protected]
REUNION 2009 “OMAHA , NE
OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT:
I hope this finds everyone well and planning their trip to
I received an EMAIL from a retired
NYC Fireman about people in the right place at the right time. His comment was
“I knew the man who stopped for the donuts”. The Email was about several people
who would have been in the Towers during 911 but for a twist of fate were
somewhere else. One man wore new shoes and stopped at a drug store for band
aids; another attend his sons first day in Kindergarten; and the third was the
man who stopped to pick up donuts for his office. This got me to thinking -
hopefully we will have a large group of MSETERS and LG Staff at the right place
at the right time which is Omaha, October 1-4 for our combined 2009 Reunion. We
may or may not have the Donut Man but we will have a host of Story Tellers,
Soap Boxers, our own Allen Funt, and our world renowned expert on rare insects
like the Hucker Pucker Fly. You will also get to see the person responsible
for: identifying the significant major defect “The Bent Vise Handel” and the
“Exceptional Release Spring Tensionometer” that was overdue calibration, the
statistician who formulated the “CHUCK FACTOR” and our Safety Expert who was
the early industry leaders in preventing hearing loss. In addition Walt and Pete have special
speakers that will address the group.
I took one of those walks down
memory lane and found myself standing on the Center Ramp on
As they say in the South “See y'all in Omaha”.
The Proposed Business Meeting Agenda for the 2009
- Holding
future reunions in the central part of the
- How do we increase the attendance at the Annual Reunions
- Drop from our membership any member who is five years or more behind on dues.
A new added feature to our Newsletter is a topic labeled War Story Tellin’. This is where you take a walk down memory lane and provide us an MSET story you would like to share with the group
From the Desk of
the Treasurer
Note from the Managing Director, our Secretary
Summer is flying by as I knew that it would. As thoughts turn to fall, don't forget your MSet reunion the first week-end in Oct. Please note the special request from Pat Harris in Patty’s Tips. Remember to visit our web site www.msetweb.com. Past and present reunion information is there along with lots of photos. Enjoy the rest of your summer and we'll see everyone in October.
Notes from the
2009
OCTOBER 2,
2009 GOLF OUTING
PLACE:
TIME: SHOW
TIME: 8:45 AM
PRICE: $25 INCLUDES GOLF, CART and PRIZES
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PHONE ______________________ E-MAIL ________________________
If you want
to play with particular person(s), include a note with your check
MAKE CHECK PAYABLE TO JOHN COVI.
Must receive by 15 Sept, 2009
For all of you in the
In case you don’t have the dinner and hotel request here they are again.
SAC MSET
REUNION, “
INFORMATION CHECK LIST
To make our
Room rates are Single or Double $139.00 Triple will be $149.00
The dinner will be a seated and serve dinner. We will also have the company of our SAC LG comrades.
Dinner Entrée Selections
All
Plated Dinners include House Salad or Soup, Rolls and Butter, and your Choice of seasonal vegetable, dessert and coffee
service.
1. FILET MIGNON with Wild Mushroom Ragout and
Sauce Diane $45.00 per person
2. ROASTED FREE RANGE CHICKEN Pan Juices $32.00 per person
3. FRESH ATLANTIC SALMON Pesto, Pine-nut and Parmesan Encrusted $37.00 per person
X No of guests: = _______ Please make checks payable to Walt Ide and return NLT September 1, 2009. This will provide sufficient time for bank .
4. Guest Name Tags. Please provide the following information for the name tags:
a. Members first name: ____________________last name: _______________
b. Wife’s first name: ______________________last name: ________________
MSET Section, i.e. EVAL or TECH DATA, AMMS/AMS/FMS/MMS/OMS
Dates assigned Team, i.e. 69-72, 75-79, 88-93:_________________
NOTE If you are not able to make
this
SEND YOUR COMPLETED CHECKLIST TO: WALT IDE, 908 PLEASANT DR.,.
In My View by
Frank Long
---
By Paige Swiney
It was just
another harried Wednesday afternoon trip to the commissary.
My husband was off teaching young men to
fly. My daughters were going
about their daily activities knowing I
would return to them at the
appointed time, bearing, among other
things, their favorite fruit
snacks, frozen pizza and all the
little extras that never had to be
written down on a grocery list.
My grocery list, by the way, was in my
16-month-old daughter's mouth,
and I was lamenting the fact that the
next four aisles of needed items
would pass by while extracting the last
of my list from my daughter’s
mouth, when I nearly ran over an old
man. This man clearly had no
appreciation for the fact that I had 45
minutes left to finish the
grocery shopping, pick up my 4-year old
from tumbling class and get to
school, where my 12-year-old and her car
pool mates would be waiting.
I knew men didn't belong in a
commissary, and this old guy was no
exception.
He stood in front of the soap selection
staring blankly, as if he'd
never had to choose a bar of soap in his
life. I was ready to bark an
order at him when I realized there was a tear on his face. Instantly,
this grocery isle roadblock transformed
into a human.... "Can I help you
find something?" I asked.
He hesitated, and then told me he was
looking for soap.
"Any one in
particular?" I continued.
"Well, I'm trying to find my wife's
brand of soap."
I started to loan him my cell phone to
call her when he said, "She died
a year ago, and I just want to smell her
again."
Chills ran down my spine. I don't think
the 22,000-pound Mother Of All
Bombs could have had the same impact. As
tears welled up in my eyes, my
half-eaten grocery list didn't seem so
important. Neither did fruit
snacks or frozen pizza. I spent the
remainder of my time in the
commissary that day listening to a man
tell the story of how important
his wife was to him -- how she took care
of their children while he
served our country. A retired, decorated
World War II pilot who flew
over 50 missions to protect Americans
still needed the protection of a
woman who served him at home.
My life was forever changed that day.
Every time my husband works too
late or leaves before the crack of dawn,
I try to remember the sense of
importance I felt that day in the
commissary. Sometimes the monotony of
laundry, house cleaning, grocery
shopping and taxi driving leaves
military wives feeling empty -- the kind
of emptiness that is rarely
fulfilled when our husbands come home
and don't want to or can't talk
about work. We need to be reminded, at
times, of the important role we
fill for our family and for our country.
Over the years, I've talked a lot about
military spouses...how special
they are and the price they pay for
freedom too. The funny thing is,
most military spouses don't consider
themselves different from other
spouses.
They do what they have to do, bound together not by blood or merely
friendship, but with a shared spirit
whose origin is in the very essence
of what love truly is.
Is there truly a difference? I think
there is. You have to decide for
yourself. Other spouses get married and
look forward to building equity
in a home and putting down family roots.
Military spouses get married
and know they'll live in base housing or
rent, and their roots must be
short so they can be transplanted
frequently. Other spouses decorate a
home with flair and personality that
will last a lifetime. Military
spouses decorate a home with flare
tempered with the knowledge that no
two base houses have the same size
windows or same size rooms. Curtains
have to be flexible and multiple sets
are a plus. Furniture must fit
like puzzle pieces.
Other spouses have living rooms that are
immaculate and seldom used.
Military spouses have immaculate living
room/dining room combos. The
coffee table got a scratch or two moving
from Germany, but it still
looks pretty good. Other spouses say
good-bye to their spouse for a
business trip and know they won't see
them for a week. They are lonely,
but can survive.
Military spouses say good-bye to their
deploying spouse and know they
won't see them for months, or for a
remote, a year. They are lonely, but
will survive.
Other spouses, when a washer hose blows
off, call Maytag and then write
a check out for having the hose
reconnected. Military spouses will cut
the water off and fix it themselves.
Other spouses get used to saying
"hello" to friends they see
all the time. Military spouses get used to saying
"good-bye" to friends made the
last two years. Other spouses worry about
whether their child will be class
president next year. Military spouses
worry about whether their child will be
accepted in yet another school
next year and whether that school will
be the worst in the city...again.
Other spouses can count on spouse
participation in special
events...birthdays, anniversaries,
concerts, football games, graduation,
and even the birth of a child. Military
spouses only count on each
other; because they realize that the
flag has to come first if freedom
is to survive. It has to be that way.
Other spouses put up yellow
ribbons when the troops are imperiled
across the globe and take them
down when the troops come home. Military
spouses wear yellow ribbons
around their hearts and they never go
away. Other spouses worry about
being late for mom's Thanksgiving
dinner. Military spouses worry about
getting back from Japan in time for
dad's funeral.
The television program showing an
elderly lady putting a card down in
front of a long, black wall that has
names on it touches other spouses.
The card simply says, "Happy Birthday,
Sweetheart. You would have been
sixty today."
A military spouse is the lady with the
card, and the wall is the Vietnam
Memorial. I would never say military
spouses are better than other
spouses are. But I will say there is a
difference. I will say, without
hesitation, that military spouses pay
just as high a price for freedom
as do their duty husbands and wives.
Perhaps the price they pay is even
higher. Dying in service to our country
isn't near as hard as loving
someone who has died in service to our
country, and having to live
without them.
God bless our military spouses for all
they freely give.
God bless America
Tips from Patty:
For those of us who have our G'kids for
some of the summer. This is a
fun project for them and it even lasts to put on the Christmas tree.
If you prefer you can use cookie cutters
and make ornaments that are
not of Christmas.
CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS for kids
1/2 C. WATER
1/2 C. SALT
1/2 C. FLOUR
water paints
Mix well and knead for about 5 minutes.
Put on flour cloth, roll and
cut. Make shape. Line pan with wax
paper and cook at 250 degrees till
firm. The thicker the dough the
longer you cook. Cool and paint.
(flour cloth is
just a cloth covered in flour so the dough doesn't
stick.) I still have the ones Miki made
when she was little and she is
45 now.
Now to see if you are really reading
this, I need a favor. Possibly
from the men. I would like
pictures of the bases that SAC visited.
Clearly noticeable as
SAC bases, such as front gates or buildings with
the name on them. I am
thinking of making several lap quilts to
raffle off at the next reunion.
Any help would be appreciated
Pictures must be clear, black &
white or color, and people are ok if
you can recognize the base from it.
War
Story Tellin’
Future
The 2010 Reunion is scheduled
for Branson
Please remember we will need
inputs during the 2009 Reunion in
MSET Secretary
Judy Guzman