The USS Shelton, DD790 Reunion
will be held in Nashville, Tennessee,
Sept. 13-15, and will be hosted by the Opryland
Radisson Hotel. The Opryland
Radisson is located at 2401 Music Valley Drive,
Nashville, Tennessee, 37214. The telephone is 615-889-0800 for direct
contact with the hotel. 1-800-333-3333
gives worldwide reservations. Quiana Taylor is the executive sales manager if you need
clarifications. The room rate is $109 plus tax. Ask
the hotel about discounted round trip shuttle service from the airport.
The Radisson
hotel was chosen, because the group was very interested in the Opryland Gaylord which would be very expensive. This Radisson is part of the same Opryland system and has free bus transportation from the
hotel to the Gaylord Hotel, the Wild Horse Saloon, the Grand Ole Opry, and more.
There is free parking at the hotel.
We did not negotiate a breakfast, but the Radisson has a restaurant and
there is a Shoney’s across the parking lot and a Cracker Barrel across the
street.
The Hospitality
room will be open Thursday for most of the day.
People can come and register at any time of the day and visit all day
and tell stories. Also, if there are
places you would like to sightsee; this would be a good time to do so. The Opryland bus
will take you from the hotel to other Opryland
attractions free of charge. I thought
maybe we could all board the bus Thursday evening and eat at the Wild Horse
Saloon and watch or participate in the line dancing.
Many sailors will
arrive a day ahead of time and can spend Wednesday, September 12 together. There will be plenty of things to do. The hotel rates are good for three days before
until three days after the reunion.
Friday,
September 14, 2012
We board a bus at
8AM,
Friday morning for an Experience
Music City Tour. The total cost for
the tour, (lunch included) is $75.50.
It starts with a memorial service at the Nashville
National Cemetery
on Gallatin Road. We will visit world-famous Music Row, the
heartbeat of the music industry where hearts are broken and dreams come
true. We will stop and tour Historic RCA Studio B—Home of 1000
Hits, one of Nashville’s first and
oldest surviving recording studios.
Legends such as Dolly Parton, Roy Orbison, Everly Brothers, Charley
Pride, Jim Reeves and Eddy Arnold all recorded their hits at Studio B. The most famous to record at Studio B was
Elvis Presley who recorded over 260 songs in 50 Master Sessions from
1958-1071. Learn the true secret to how
Elvis created the melancholy lonely feeling in his recording of “Are You
Lonesome Tonight”. We will have a self-guided
tour of the state-of-the-art Country
Music Hall of Fame & Museum and a limited engagement exhibit. “Family Tradition: The Hank Williams Legacy” explores the
connections between country music’s most iconic figure and his creative heirs
showcasing family personal items never before seen by the public. We will have lunch at the glass atrium of the
Country Music Hall of Fame. We will
return to the hotel between 3:45 and
4PM.
This gives
everyone two hours to change (if so desired) and eat at the hotel, Cracker
Barrel, Shoney’s or one of the neighboring fast foods before boarding a 6PM bus.
The Grand Ole Opry
Tour ($43.50) starts at 6PM and
ends at the hotel about 10PM. We will ride together to the world famous Grand Ole Opry—the
longest running radio show in radio history.
This is the #1 reason folks have come to Music
City for the past six decades. From today’s contemporary artists to legends
of tomorrow, we will see and hear a host of entertainers this evening.
Saturday,
September 15, 2012
Saturday, we will
become history minded. The $60.50 cost for the Saturday tour includes a buffet lunch. We board the bus at 9AM and we
will visit the home of the 7th president of the United States-Andrew Jackson, the Hermitage.
Guides in period costume will welcome us to the 1837 mansion. We will see how Jackson
lived and hear behind the scenes stories of Jackson’s
road to the White House. We tour the mansion,
heirloom garden, slave quarters and the tomb of the President and his beloved
wife, Rachel. After the tour we will
enjoy a delicious southern buffet lunch
at Hermitage House Smorgasbord—Home of the Apple Fritter, a Nashville
favorite.
After lunch we
will travel to West Nashville for a Tour of Belle Meade Plantation. Conducted by period
interpreters, this tour takes us through the exquisite 1853 Greek
Revival Mansion
filled with original furnishings and period antiques. A century of Belle Meade’s history is told
through stories of the Harding and Jackson families and the skilled labors that
made the plantation one of America’s
premier Thoroughbred farms. Enjoy wine
tasting at the conclusion of the tour.
We return at 3:30PM to the
hotel and relax until banquet time.
The banquet will be a buffet with cheesy
beef la- sagna and southern fried chicken. Tentatively
6:30PM
USS Shelton. DD790 dues $10.00
Dues for 2012 remain at $10.00, this covers
postage and printing of the newsletters, unexpected expenses that arise at the
reunions, and this past year we sent a donation to the Tin Can Sailors in
memory of Tom Mark who planned so many reunions for us. Please make checks out to USS Shelton and send
to Dick Petrowich at 308 S. Jackson, New Athens,
Illinois, 62264. Also, please help us find USS Shelton sailors
that we don’t have on our mailing list.
We especially need sailors from the 1960’s and early 70’s. We are losing many from the 1940’s and 50’s.
Eugene, Oregon Reunion Very
Rewarding
The Eugene
reunion turned out to be very satisfactory.
We toured Sea Lion Caves, rode dune buggies, saw the University
of Oregon, ate in a railroad diner,
had Andrew Sisters impersonators sing at the banquet and had a lot of fun. We had a smaller number at the reunion than
we usually have because of several unavoidable situations. With the economy as it is today, hotels are
becoming more rigid in their contracts.
We now have to guarantee a certain number of rooms over the six day
period. If it fits into your schedule and budget, coming for an extra day
really helps the quota. We want you at
the reunion, even if you would camp or stay at one of the cheaper hotels in the
area, but you do not help the quota. We
get reduced rates when we meet quotas.
San Antonio, Texas Site of
2013 Reunion
The USS Shelton,
DD790 voted at the 2011 reunion to let San Antonio
be the site of the 2013 reunion. It is
just a little bit east of the Rocky Mountain
time zone, but we thought it would make a nice location. We will vote in Nashville
for the 2014 reunion. The only city that
has been nominated so far is Charleston,
So. Carolina. I would like to give the group three choices
to vote on. Would you like colonial New
England as a choice? Would
you like to maybe go close to Niagara Falls? Or you maybe have somewhere else in
mind. Please keep us informed.
Help Leon celebrate 100 years!
Leon’s
daughter, Candy sent us this message on Jan. 29: “I wanted to let you know that
we are celebrating Dad's 100th birthday on February 18, 2012 (his actual birthday is Sunday, the
19th) at Eagle Cliff Manor in Billings. We are planning cake, balloons, a local
politician to garner a newspaper story and his favorite thing ever, live
music. Many grand and great grand
children will fly in as well as some old family/friends.”
Muriel’s note: I’m sure he would love
to get some cards from Shelton
sailors. His address is Leon Shelton,
1301 Hardrock, Billings, MT 59105.
Cut-off Dates for Reunion.
The Opryland Radisson will honor the $109 rate until August
14. The bus tour company would like to
have their final payment within 35 days of the reunion. Please try to make reunion reservations no
later than June or July to lower Dick Petrowich’s
stress level. Let’s set August 1 as a
final cut-off date. We will send you
back a refund in most cases, and if you cannot make reservations until later in
August we can probably get you registered.
Just call 618-475-3248.
We can send
updates throughout the year by e-mail, but many of you do not keep us informed
when you have changes in e-mail addresses.
Also, if you are ever travelling through
southern Illinois, look us
up. You are always welcome in our home
and the state where the former governors make our license plates. Come visit.
USS SHELTON REUNION
SEPTEMBER, 13-15, 2012
RESERVATIONS FORM
Please send to:
DICK
PETROWICH
308 S. JACKSON
NEW ATHENS, IL 62264
Phone:
618-475-3248
No. Total Cost
Registration fee $15.00/ person
Dues (if not already paid) $10.00/ sailor
Friday, Sept. 14, 8
AM tour $75.50/ person
Includes
bus, Experience Music
City tour
Lunch, and more
Friday, Sept. 14, 6
PM evening tour $43.50/ person
Grand Ole Opry tour, this is the # 1 reason
Folks have
come to the region for the past 6 decades
Saturday, Sept. 15, 9
AM $60.50/ person
Includes
tour of The Hermitage (Andrew Jackson’s home),
Buffet
lunch at the Hermitage house smorgasbord, and
a tour of
the Belle Meade Plantation.
Saturday, Sept. 15, banquet, 6:30 PM $35.00/ person
Buffet with Cheesy beef lasagna & Southern
Fried Chicken
Grand total (tours and meals)
*Sunday, Sept. 16, breakfast and farewells
*You might want to make a copy of this for your own
information
**Remember to make your hotel reservations with The
Opryland Radisson, located at 2401 Music Valley Drive, Nashville, Tennessee, 37214. The telephone is 615-889-0800. Tell them you are a part of the USS Shelton
reunion. Also, ask the hotel about
discounted round trip shuttle service from the airport, if it is needed. Please try to make reservations by Aug. 14.
Names
for nametag purposes.