2000
The very first reunion. It was just supposed to be a fishing trip and turned into something wonderful. There was so much joy for some to see people that they had not seen in many years. There was laughter, tears, and sadness for those who were lost. This was a plain and simple affair as we had no tent, no outside lights, beer in coolers, and the Wall of Honor tacked up on the side of a cabin. It only lasted three days and two nights but those who were there swear it was the best of them all.
2001
There was a larger crowd at this reunion. We had a tent with lights, a beer buffalo, and some tables & chairs. All the cooking was done field mess style, as with all the reunions held at Highland Marina. This was the first year we had a chaplain (Chaplain Richards), color guard, and a bugler. They came up from MCLB - Albany to help us out. There was some rain on Saturday but quit long enough for the ceremony to be held.
2002
This year's crowd overflowed into the Layfayette Garden Inn in LaGrange. The tent was larger than the previous one with more tables & chairs. The chaplain and color guard came up from MCLB - Albany to help us again and brought a brass quartet with them. The weather was not good, there were cool days, cold nights, and rain. It was still a good reunion despite all that.
2003
Highland Marina was booked up by the first of August 2002 for this reunion. The tent set-up grew again. We went from one large tent to a larger tent & two small tents. This was also the first year that a raffle was held. It was a lot of fun and a huge success! There was also a professional photographer to take the photos and the MCLB group joined us again. It did rain on Thursday but the weather was beautiful the rest of the time.
2004
There were more wives and children this year than we had previously had. It is becoming more of a family thing and this was good. Even though it's all about the marines and the honored family, their families are part of them. Most of this reunion was the same as last years but there was a live band for the first time. We did find out that Chaplain Richards was retiring. He will be missed. The weather was great, only a few light showers, and it seems everyone had a great time.
2005
This reunion was not so good weather wise. It poured rain on Friday and there was a river running through the tent and down the hill. It did stop clear up for Saturday, as it always seems to do, and the ceremony went on without any problems. Everything remained much the same as the previous years except that we had a brand-new Wall of Honor that was made for us by Valorie Steele of LaGrange and a new chaplain, Chaplain Headrick. It was also discovered that the marina had been sold and we were uncertain if we would be able to hold the reunion here the next year.
2006
The weather was almost as beautiful as it was in 2000. Some great days and great times this year. The new owners of the marina had made some changes and we were able to move the tent set-up to a more level location. That also gave us a better place to erect the Wall of Honor. It was more visible and looked very nice, especially at night with the lights. Other than that everything was much the same as before.
2007
A lot of changes went on at the marina as the new owners wanted it to be more of a family type resort rather than the fishing camp it was. Beautiful weather this year, no rain and not too hot nor too cool. Something new this year was the additon of four pavilions behind the tent area which gave us more room to spread out. Chaplain Headrick notified us that he would be transferring out to California and there will be another new chaplain next reunion.
2008
The last reunion held at Highland Marina. There was rain this time, especially on Thursday but not on Saturday. The new chaplain is Chaplain Ranard, a very nice man. This year we had Sgt. Maj. Kennedy and Col. Haliday with us along with the rest of the group from MCLB-Albany. We still have the professional photographer, the live band, the beer buffalo, and the same tent set-up. Highland Marina will be missed by most but it's time to move on elsewhere.
2009
This years reunion was held at Hickory Knob State Park in S.C., right off the Savannah River. It was nice to have an air-conditioned meeting room and a restaurant on site that could handle the crowd. The park has a pool, walking trails, a golf course, skeet shooting, boat ramp, and pool tables. We did have an overflow that we housed in the Cullars Inn in Lincolnton, GA and the Savannah Lakes Resort in McCormick, SC. The first ever golf tournament was held with a trophy designed by George Blankenship. There was also a KIA walk organized by Karen Ford. The photograher (Tim McClain) & our friend, George Britt, came to SC with us. We had a color guard from the Marine Corps Reserve in Greenville, SC and the LIncoln County GA High School Band for the ceremony. The weather was great but hot and humid. We had a good time anyway.
2010
The second year at Hickory Knob was not quite as hot as it was in 2009. There were some showers but not anything major. They were remodling some of the rooms while we were there so we were short at least six rooms. The Savannah Lakes resort closed their motel so we didn't have that to fall back on but we made do. The golf tournament was held again and a Skeet Shoot was added. There was a shopping trip for whoever wanted to go. They were to some of the small towns around the park where there are antique shops and some neat little boutiques. The raffle & auction are still being held and they did very well. George Britt brought his entire band this year and they performed on Friday night. We had some dancers but missed seeing Tom & Goodie Wolf dance and also Phyllis Blankenheim. Phyllis had a broken foot.
2011
Reunion 2011 is now over and it's kind of a bittersweet ending for us since this is our last year to host it. We will still be dealing with the honored families though. I do believe that the ceremony this year was the best ever. Our guest speaker was R. V. Burgin, the author of "Islands of the Damned". He gave one of the best speaches I have heard in a while. Another exciting thing about Mr. Burgin was the fact that he got to meet a man who was in the same place at the same time during WWII at Peleliu, Orin Whitman. The Honored Family this year was from Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada. The Wolos family (Paul Wolos), a very nice bunch of people. Oh, forgot to mention, we had a new chaplain to join us from Parris Island, Chaplain James Hightower. He and his wife, Libby, were very nice people and we hope to see them again.
Claudia Nicholson made a beautiful quilt to auction off this year, and also a picture that was made with the scraps left over from the quilt. Steve Cottrell was the lucky winner of the quilt drawing and also purchased the picture at auction. We had some nice things to auction off this year. The George Britt Band gave us some outstanding music and we want to thank them for going all that way to entertain us.
The winner of the golf trophy was George Blankenship and there was a winner in the skeet shoot, can't remember who. If you know please tell me! We had a ladies luncheon this year and that's something we've never had before. Thank you to Karen Ford who thought of that. Karen also worked very hard on the KIA walk and she has our thanks for that. Thanks also go to Jerry Bain, Jim Bisesi, Val & John Smith, and Paul Smith for helping with the auction/raffle. Many thanks to Dee & Ken Godkin, Kay Groves, & Kathy Christy who assisted me with the T-shirts & hats this year. It took a load off of me! Thanks too to all those who helped erect the Wall of Honor and take it down. These folks also helped with the clean-up afterwards.
A huge "Thank You" to all the employees & staff of Hickory Knob State Park for all their help and hard work, and for putting up with us for the last three years! We are going to Cadiz, Kentucky folks!
Thank you everyone for a great twelve years!
Semper Fi,
Brenda & Curtis Eidson
For a link to photos of all reunions, please click HERE
For a link to Tim McClain's photos, please click HERE
If you would like to have a Cd of the photos that Jake Bortscheller took, please contact Jake HERE.
The very first reunion. It was just supposed to be a fishing trip and turned into something wonderful. There was so much joy for some to see people that they had not seen in many years. There was laughter, tears, and sadness for those who were lost. This was a plain and simple affair as we had no tent, no outside lights, beer in coolers, and the Wall of Honor tacked up on the side of a cabin. It only lasted three days and two nights but those who were there swear it was the best of them all.
2001
There was a larger crowd at this reunion. We had a tent with lights, a beer buffalo, and some tables & chairs. All the cooking was done field mess style, as with all the reunions held at Highland Marina. This was the first year we had a chaplain (Chaplain Richards), color guard, and a bugler. They came up from MCLB - Albany to help us out. There was some rain on Saturday but quit long enough for the ceremony to be held.
2002
This year's crowd overflowed into the Layfayette Garden Inn in LaGrange. The tent was larger than the previous one with more tables & chairs. The chaplain and color guard came up from MCLB - Albany to help us again and brought a brass quartet with them. The weather was not good, there were cool days, cold nights, and rain. It was still a good reunion despite all that.
2003
Highland Marina was booked up by the first of August 2002 for this reunion. The tent set-up grew again. We went from one large tent to a larger tent & two small tents. This was also the first year that a raffle was held. It was a lot of fun and a huge success! There was also a professional photographer to take the photos and the MCLB group joined us again. It did rain on Thursday but the weather was beautiful the rest of the time.
2004
There were more wives and children this year than we had previously had. It is becoming more of a family thing and this was good. Even though it's all about the marines and the honored family, their families are part of them. Most of this reunion was the same as last years but there was a live band for the first time. We did find out that Chaplain Richards was retiring. He will be missed. The weather was great, only a few light showers, and it seems everyone had a great time.
2005
This reunion was not so good weather wise. It poured rain on Friday and there was a river running through the tent and down the hill. It did stop clear up for Saturday, as it always seems to do, and the ceremony went on without any problems. Everything remained much the same as the previous years except that we had a brand-new Wall of Honor that was made for us by Valorie Steele of LaGrange and a new chaplain, Chaplain Headrick. It was also discovered that the marina had been sold and we were uncertain if we would be able to hold the reunion here the next year.
2006
The weather was almost as beautiful as it was in 2000. Some great days and great times this year. The new owners of the marina had made some changes and we were able to move the tent set-up to a more level location. That also gave us a better place to erect the Wall of Honor. It was more visible and looked very nice, especially at night with the lights. Other than that everything was much the same as before.
2007
A lot of changes went on at the marina as the new owners wanted it to be more of a family type resort rather than the fishing camp it was. Beautiful weather this year, no rain and not too hot nor too cool. Something new this year was the additon of four pavilions behind the tent area which gave us more room to spread out. Chaplain Headrick notified us that he would be transferring out to California and there will be another new chaplain next reunion.
2008
The last reunion held at Highland Marina. There was rain this time, especially on Thursday but not on Saturday. The new chaplain is Chaplain Ranard, a very nice man. This year we had Sgt. Maj. Kennedy and Col. Haliday with us along with the rest of the group from MCLB-Albany. We still have the professional photographer, the live band, the beer buffalo, and the same tent set-up. Highland Marina will be missed by most but it's time to move on elsewhere.
2009
This years reunion was held at Hickory Knob State Park in S.C., right off the Savannah River. It was nice to have an air-conditioned meeting room and a restaurant on site that could handle the crowd. The park has a pool, walking trails, a golf course, skeet shooting, boat ramp, and pool tables. We did have an overflow that we housed in the Cullars Inn in Lincolnton, GA and the Savannah Lakes Resort in McCormick, SC. The first ever golf tournament was held with a trophy designed by George Blankenship. There was also a KIA walk organized by Karen Ford. The photograher (Tim McClain) & our friend, George Britt, came to SC with us. We had a color guard from the Marine Corps Reserve in Greenville, SC and the LIncoln County GA High School Band for the ceremony. The weather was great but hot and humid. We had a good time anyway.
2010
The second year at Hickory Knob was not quite as hot as it was in 2009. There were some showers but not anything major. They were remodling some of the rooms while we were there so we were short at least six rooms. The Savannah Lakes resort closed their motel so we didn't have that to fall back on but we made do. The golf tournament was held again and a Skeet Shoot was added. There was a shopping trip for whoever wanted to go. They were to some of the small towns around the park where there are antique shops and some neat little boutiques. The raffle & auction are still being held and they did very well. George Britt brought his entire band this year and they performed on Friday night. We had some dancers but missed seeing Tom & Goodie Wolf dance and also Phyllis Blankenheim. Phyllis had a broken foot.
2011
Reunion 2011 is now over and it's kind of a bittersweet ending for us since this is our last year to host it. We will still be dealing with the honored families though. I do believe that the ceremony this year was the best ever. Our guest speaker was R. V. Burgin, the author of "Islands of the Damned". He gave one of the best speaches I have heard in a while. Another exciting thing about Mr. Burgin was the fact that he got to meet a man who was in the same place at the same time during WWII at Peleliu, Orin Whitman. The Honored Family this year was from Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada. The Wolos family (Paul Wolos), a very nice bunch of people. Oh, forgot to mention, we had a new chaplain to join us from Parris Island, Chaplain James Hightower. He and his wife, Libby, were very nice people and we hope to see them again.
Claudia Nicholson made a beautiful quilt to auction off this year, and also a picture that was made with the scraps left over from the quilt. Steve Cottrell was the lucky winner of the quilt drawing and also purchased the picture at auction. We had some nice things to auction off this year. The George Britt Band gave us some outstanding music and we want to thank them for going all that way to entertain us.
The winner of the golf trophy was George Blankenship and there was a winner in the skeet shoot, can't remember who. If you know please tell me! We had a ladies luncheon this year and that's something we've never had before. Thank you to Karen Ford who thought of that. Karen also worked very hard on the KIA walk and she has our thanks for that. Thanks also go to Jerry Bain, Jim Bisesi, Val & John Smith, and Paul Smith for helping with the auction/raffle. Many thanks to Dee & Ken Godkin, Kay Groves, & Kathy Christy who assisted me with the T-shirts & hats this year. It took a load off of me! Thanks too to all those who helped erect the Wall of Honor and take it down. These folks also helped with the clean-up afterwards.
A huge "Thank You" to all the employees & staff of Hickory Knob State Park for all their help and hard work, and for putting up with us for the last three years! We are going to Cadiz, Kentucky folks!
Thank you everyone for a great twelve years!
Semper Fi,
Brenda & Curtis Eidson
For a link to photos of all reunions, please click HERE
For a link to Tim McClain's photos, please click HERE
If you would like to have a Cd of the photos that Jake Bortscheller took, please contact Jake HERE.
Vietnam Veterans of 3rd Bn, 5th Marines
Reunions