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USS Pursuit 2007 Reunion Report On or about September 20, 2007, the crewmembers of the USS Pursuit from 1942 till 1960 started arriving in Omaha, Nebraska for their 2007 annual reunion. Omaha was having beautiful weather and the hotel was nicely situated (about 6 miles from the airport and about 4 miles from the tourist part of Omaha called Marketplace). A special feature of the hotel was the free, all day shuttle service to anywhere at a 5 or 6 mile distance from the hotel from morning till 2200 at night. The rooms were good, there was an excellent Continental Breakfast everyday and we had a very nice Hospitality room during all hours. Joe and Carlene Venovich were our hosts, and the arrangements were excellent. They kept the Hospitality room well stocked for the entire duration. Thursday was mostly a day to gather in and meet each other again after a year of being apart. It was a day for good stories and getting caught up. It was also a day of planning for Friday. The local newspaper featured a series of “free” activities, all of which could be reached using the hotel shuttle (and did we use the hotel shuttle? All the time and there was never a complaint). Many of us found out that across the river in Iowa, there were at least 3 major gambling casinos who ran free shuttle buses to all the hotels including ours, (day and night – 24/7). I am not able to provide a full report about the activities across the river. On Friday, groups would informally gather to go to a number of very worthwhile places. One group went to the Omaha Zoo, which really impressed everyone. Another, went to a famous Art Museum and another group went to much publicized park full of natures wonders. A good time was had by all. Saturday was the big group event. The bus picked us up at 0900 at the hotel and first drove us to the SAC Museum where we were able to spend some time looking at some gigantic planes used by SAC. The exhibits were all indoors which tells me it must get very cold and snowy there in the winter. We arrived at the Navy Park right along the river, however the ship we were visiting, the USS Hazard, was parked on the land. The ship was very similar to the Pursuit and was still outfitted as a WWII Minesweeper, guns and all. We climbed all over the ship recalling many of our memories and we were fortunate enough to be with our shipmates who would understand these memories and maybe add onto them. Back to the hotel and preparations for the business meeting that night. Minutes of the meeting will provide the details of the meeting. See you all in Branson, MO next year from November 9 to 12, 2008. John Schulz, Secretary Sites
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