2022 NMA Reunion: Anchors Aweigh

Members are wandering the hotel. The rehearsal room is open. The volunteers in the registration room are ready for the parade of incoming MUs.

The 2022 NMA Reunion is preparing to get underway. It's a moment we've been anticipating for years since we bid each other farewell after the 2019 reuniong. 

Our time apart has brought us challenges and difficulties. It has brought us sadness--missed opportunities, lost shipmates. 

Time now brings us together. We're a few years older, and maybe wiser. This time apart has certainly brought us a keen appreciation for the reunions of the Navy Musicians Association. For the last few days, members have been filing into the hotel and greeting each other with the usual joy, the typical humor--and a new sense of sincerity. 

We are really and truly glad to see each other. 

 And we're rusty. Maybe not at our musicianship, but at the reunion routines we've developed over the years. We'll relearn some things and develop new habits. 

For those who can't be here this year: we're thinking about you. We will miss you and wish you were here. We'll tell stories about you, and you won't be here to defend yourselves. Yeah, maybe things will get back to normal.

Set the special sea and anchor detail. Single up all lines fore and aft. Let go all lines. Shift colors.

The 2022 NMA Reunion is underway! 

We're a little out of practice

After three years, it's not just musicians who are out of practice. Our registration staff is brushing up on procedures, to ensure a smooth check-in experience.

Here, Deb Holl rehearses the lines she'll need to know tomorrow:

• 

  
  

  "How may I be of assistance?" 
• "And, what is your name, kind sir?" 
• "If you'll just sign in here, I'll gladly provide you with all the information you'll need for a rewarding reunion."
  

 

New Stuff for Old Salts

The 2022 collection provides new, exciting
colors and fashions for the stylish MU.

 

New stuff! New sizes! New colors! Styles for men and women! Hats! Shirts! Et cetera!

Jo Knox concentrates on sorting, displaying,
and pricing our new acquisitions. The
work is exacting and she is not in the 
mood to listen to your playful banter.

Good News From the Holiday Inn

If you're still on the fence concerning your participation in the 2022 Navy Musicians Association Reunion, June 14-19 in Virginia Beach:

Carl Gerhard, our Reunion Coordinator, met this morning with the hotel's Events Staff. Most of the discussion was jibber-jabber that we don't care about. But, he did ask me to share this

One Important Thing: 

The hotel will continue to hold rooms for NMA members at our special NMA group rate of $139 per night through the entire reunion week. 

President Dwaine Whitham and Reunion
Coordinator Carl Gerhard contemplate their
successful meeting with the hotel Events
Staff. (Well, not really. Actually, theyr'e
listening to one of Jim Richards's stories).

So: 

• Yes, you can still change your mind and join us in Virginia Beach. 
• Yes, you can come for the weekend, if your job or other responsibilities keep you busy during the week. 
• Yes, our special rate will be honored through Sunday night, June 19 (checkout Monday morning, June 20.) 

The Countdown Begins

Okay, I got coffee. Task One is completed 

But there's a lot more to do today and a lotta people doing it.

Kim Holl and Rick Jebavy have moved the NMA gear into the hotel. They should get medals and special liberty just for accomplishing this task, but, no, they're still at work, organizing and redistributing computers, xylophones, cymbals, tee-shirts.

Kim isn't the only Holl at work. Deb Holl wants to get the registration room up and running. Stephanie Rowland and Jo Knox have joined her. The reunions starts tomorrow, so they need to be set up today, they know the task, and they will accomplish the task.

Carl Gerhard, our reunion coordinator, is all over the hotel, meeting with hotel staff, checking this, changing that, carrying messages back and forth. Bob Leketa, who did this for so many years, used to refer to the job or reunion coordinator as "putting out fires." I don't expect to see any open flames in the hotel this week, but I can't think of anyone better to handle this position than Carl.

Actually, all positions are well-filled. We're fortunate to have a group of members, directors and spouses who take on these responsibilities with plentiful energy and little complaint.

Especially me. Do you hear me complaining? No. I've got coffee, I've got a computer, and I know how to use them.

I Am Here

 Well, of course I'm here. Wherever I am is here. And today, here is Virginia Beach, site of the 2022 Navy Musicians Association reunion. 

I'm here, baby, and
ready to go!

Jo and I arrived at the Holiday Inn yesterday afternoon, after three days and two nights on the road from Illinois.

Right off the bat, I ran into Art Swanson, who had arrived earlier, after a drive from Arizona (I think he said Arizona--might have been some other foreign country). 

After I checked in, Jim Richards showed up. Jim is one of the NMA's top storytellers. He proved his mettle by cracking me up with medical sagas about his recent surgical adventures.

Jo and I, half-dead, dragged our corpses out for supper and came back for the night and ran into Ray Ascione and Don Keller in the lobby. Jo could see sea stories looming ahead and excused herself. It turned out to be the right decision.

The point of this all is that the cross-country travel is over, today will be a frenetic day of preparing for tomorrow's launch of the 2022 NMA Reunion, and good times are ahead.