The 28th Annual USS Cony DD/DDE 508 Ship Reunion was held this year from May 18th through the 23rd in Branson, Missouri. The Lodge of the Ozarks served the ‘base of operations’ for this year’s reunion attendees. Although there were no formal activities planned on the 18th and 19th, many reunion-goers came on those dates to enjoy the perennial favorite of all Cony reunions - The Hospitality Suite! Our ‘Hospitality Suite Captain’, Ken Cox, performed above and beyond the call of duty, ensuring that his shipmates had an ample supply of munchies and drinks, including beer, wine, and liquor at their disposal. God bless him! Rumors circled that we may have to promote him to ‘Hospitality Suite Admiral’ if he keeps this up!
Day 3 of the reunion took attendees to the Veterans Memorial Museum, which covered historical periods ranging from WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and the Persian Gulf. The museum was extremely well done, as it flowed nicely from one area to another and the write-ups were quite moving. In fact, more than one attendee shed a tear reading the histories so near and dear to all of us on that day. Later that same day, everyone headed across the street, literally, to be heartily entertained by Jim Stafford with his timeless charm, humor and music. The show was very entertaining and enjoyed by all. Reunion attendees received a special treat by participating in a pre-arranged ‘meet & greet’ with Jim Stafford himself after the show. Jim is a very patriotic man and wanted to take some time with the Cony crew to express his thanks and host any questions from the group. It was most enjoyable and it seemed obvious that he enjoyed us, as much as we enjoyed him.
Day 4 yielded another show, ‘The Hughes Brothers’, containing a wealth of singing, dancing and musical instrument performances. The Hughes Brothers are the World’s largest performing family with their wives, step sisters and children joining in the show. Every reunion has a highlight. For me, this year’s reunion highlight happened during the Hughes Brothers show. At the end of the show, the Hughes Brothers announced to the entire audience that they were about to sing ‘God Bless America’ AND for those in the audience from the USS Cony, we were about to receive a very special treat. After a few seconds of the song, the big, jumbo screen monitors on either side of the stage came to life with gorgeous photos of – The USS Cony! It was incredible and there were dozens of great shots of our beloved ‘Big Tin Girl’! The whole audience stood up and started singing! It was an unforgettable moment and I am grateful to those anonymous good souls from the Cony who helped to coordinate it. Great job guys!
The Friday evening buffet was, as always, a scrumptious feast for reunion participants, who enjoyed their choice of Roast beef, pineapple glazed ham or Roast Pork Loin with apple chutney! The evening concluded with the “Cony Idol” karaoke contest. Several people participated in the karoke singing and had a wonderful time. Sadly, there can only be one winner. Although, for us this year, there were four! The ‘kids’ of the reunion, the Vietnam guys, hit the stage hard with a rousing rendition of “YMCA”! Yes, song and dance included ! The quartet split the $100 prize money four ways and went off on their merry way to start rehearsals for next year’s contest! Good luck guys!
Saturday’s Cony Association meeting resulted in a decision to hold next year’s reunion in Norfolk, Virginia. The reunion ended with the Saturday night Farewell banquet. This year, we had not one, not two, but three of our Boys in uniform! Woo-hoo! That Ken Jimmison is such a trend setter J During the banquet, several raffles were held and left many reunion goers very happy. Specifically, Frank Correia won the men’s door prize, Mary Lane won the women’s door prize, Russell Kelling won the 50/50 prize of $123, and Perlie Lang and Boyd Lane were our 2 grand prize winners of 4 nights paid hotel bills! Congrats to you all! Thanks to all who attended and helped in making this year’s reunion another grand event!
The ‘anonymous’ good souls who brought about the Hughes Brothers USS Cony photo presentation have been identified as Debbie Latzig, from the Lodge’s Sales department, Roger Rieman and Ken Cox. Kudos to all!