EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR UPDATE... Spring 2009
Bob Anderson

I start this spring update knowing the outside temperature in Pensacola this morning (2 March) was 28 degrees. Although the great fluctuation in temperature in March is common here in Pensacola, it is, in reality, the dead of winter temperature for us spoiled folks of the Florida panhandle.

On 18 March I travelled to the site of the 2009 NCVA reunion in Portland, Oregon. I gave a synopsis of the visit in an E‑mail to the NCVAreflector on the Internet and also in the Summer issue of CRYPTOLOG. Some of the questions I have been asked include: what about the golf advertised in the plan‑of‑the‑day? I have had E‑mails from our host indicating they have a good handle on where and when. Jim Kell will be handling the golf and you will find the Golf Regtistration form on page 7 in this issue of the CRYPTOLOG; it is also on the Web site. And, "why do we have to sign a liability waiver for tours?" The latest from the folks in Portland is "DISREGARD" the liability signing sheet. It is no longer required. See the revised Tour Registration form on the inside, front cover.

Please do not forget the scholarships this year. I will receive them until 30 June. We will be awarding three $1,000 scholarships again this year. We will also have an addition to the by‑laws to be voted on at the general membership meeting in Portland. It will concern the amounts and numbers of scholarships we issue based on the amount of monies that are held specifically for this purpose. Scholarship funds are growing and I expect individual amounts or numbers awarded each year will increase.

The new NCVA history book "Echos of our Past" has gone over very well. If you haven't obtained your copy, get in touch with Steve Roberts in the Ships Store. You can check it out in the new Ships Store catalog that was sent as an addition to the directory this year. Just for information, it is a pull‑out in the center of the directory.

The Command Display at Corry Station continues to grow both in displays and the number of visitors. We have a visitors log that includes visitors from the city of Pensacola, students from the military schools onboard Corry Station, retirees from Florida, California, Washington (state), Oregon, Texas, Georgia, New Hampshire, Maine, Kansas, Ohio, Michigan, Missouri, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, Alabama, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, North Carolina, Indiana, Virginia, Iowa, Tennessee, Louisiana, Arizona, New Mexico, Washington D.C., Massachusetts, Hawaii, New York, and Mississippi. These visitors are all in the last six months. We also host reenlistments, retirements, conduct tours for graduating classes, and host receptions for such ceremonies as the annual "Battle of Midway" commemoration and the Display is normally one of the stops for visiting VIPs.

The "Charlie Walters" library, part of the Display, has really taken on a life of its own. From our meager start in the late 1990s when we had about 75 books, the library has grown to well over 950 volumes today. The titles are all in a searchable data base. One of our biggest contributors has been William Pardue of Wahiawa, Hawaii. We also have a sizable set of volumes from the estate of the late Captain George McGinnis. To list all of the donors is beyond the scope of this update. Suffice it to say we have a record of all donors and there are many. Approximately 98 percent of the books we have are non‑fiction. Many are Naval Heritage volumes.

One of the prized possessions of the library is the eight page letter written by Admiral Husband Kimmel to a Hollywood actress in 1961. It is the Admiral's answers to her queries on what happened at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. It hangs in a custom made frame in the library. If you visit the Pensacola area, let us know in advance and we will set up a tour for you or your group that will include the library.

Take care of yourselves and think Portland, Oregon in 2009.

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Archived Executive Director Updates:
Spring 2009
Winter 2009
Fall 2008
Summer 2008
Winter 2008
Fall 2007
Summer 2007
Summer 2004
Spring 2004

Last Modified: Thursday, 30-Apr-2009 22:12:33 EDT