USS Orleck Home

18 June 2013
23:20

DESTROYER USS ORLECK DD 886
NORTHERN KENTUCKY
June 20-24, 2012

General Information

We had a fine time at the 2010 Newport RI reunion and there you voted to have our next event in Northern Kentucky, a wonderful military reunion destination point. The Cincinnati Riverfront and the Newport and Covington side of the river are so chuck full of great things to do. I speak of this as our Northern Kentucky Reunion but actually, Cincinnati Ohio, Northern Kentucky and Dayton, Ohio are the venues for this upcoming reunion. Our base of operations will be the upscale Holiday Inn at the Airport. So the place has been picked, a class hotel has been chosen, the events have been arranged and now pre-reunion registration is complete. The dates are June 21 (Thursday) through June 24 (Sunday). Many of you have said that 3 days for a reunion is not enough so I have built into the schedule a 4th optional day on June 20 at the Kentucky Horse Park. The other optional event is the Reds/Twins Major League ball game on June 24th. The Cincinnati Reds are currently in 1st place and those attending the game will be treated to an all-you-can-eat variety of foods in the Fox Champion Clubhouse during the game.

Most folks are driving but those flying in will be picked up at the Greater Cincinnati Airport (located in Kentucky) in a complimentary shuttle. Call the Hotel from the Airport for a shuttle pickup.

Most of the activities at the Airport Holiday Inn, our base of operations, will take place right in our hospitality room. We will have a total of 6 meals in that room. Our hospitality room will also be used to finalize our registration so as to provide you with all the information you will need to make the reunion a fun success. There we will sell shirts and caps and display our auction and memorabilia items. We will have the model of the USS ORLECK that was given to Bob by the Turkish Navy personnel. We will have soft drinks and snacks there (hotel will be providing ice and cleanup for us). Lunch will be served on registration day at in the Hospitality Room. You will be treated to gourmet Skyline type chili, a local specialty. The lunch is included in your registration fee. On Friday our night banquet will be in the same room and I have arranged to have buffet breakfasts served there as well from 5:30 AM to 9 AM each morning Thursday through Sunday the cost of which is included in your registration fee. If you arrive early or stay late the Hotel will provide you with a coupon for breakfast in their restaurant for those days.

The room rates you will be responsible for are $89.00 per night. These rates are extended for 3 days prior and/or after the event dates. The cutoff date for that special rate is June 6.

We will be having a raffle and auction for items you bring as we always have in order to help defray the costs of the reunion that are over and above the registration fees you pay. We spend more on you than the registration fee so we make up for it in this way as well as with the voluntary dues that some of you pay. We also earn room nights based on the number of nights you all rent and we get an money award from the N. KY CVB for rooms used. These funds go to defray the costs as well.

The reunion is close so if you have not registered so far, you will need to call Bob Orleck to be included at this late date. His phone is 802-728-9806 or you can email bob@ussorleck.com.

Plan of Day-Wednesday, June 20, 2012 (Optional Day)

Action Items:

  1. 12:00 PM-12:00 AM-Hospitality room open (hours dependent on people to man the room)

  2. 11:00 AM-Board buses for optional event registrants to go to Kentucky Horse Park.

  3. 12:00-Arrive at Kentucky Horse Park.

  4. 12:00-12:30 PM Lunch at Kentucky Horse Park for optional event registrants.

  5. 12:30 PM-Enjoy the Kentucky Horse Park.

  6. 5:00 PM-Board Buses at Kentucky Horse Park for return to Holiday Inn.

  7. Evening-Dinner on your own.

Information:

The reunion does not officially start until June 21, 2012 and the Kentucky Horse Park trip is an optional one. The price of the option is $45 per person that includes the bus, lunch and admission to the Park. It will require a fair amount of walking and more stamina than some of us have and so it was made an optional trip. The Park takes in more than 1,200 acres in the heart of Kentucky’s famous Bluegrass region and is the home to about 50 different breeds of horses. There are shows, film presentations and a fantastic presentation of what you would expect at a real working horse farm in the heart of Kentucky.

A suggestion was made to me regarding the Horse Museum. You can get stuck there because there is so much to see and learn. For some that is fine. For others, you might miss things you would not have wanted to miss. If you make the Museum a place to be at by 4 PM, you can tour it until it is time to board the bus. The location is close to where the bus boards. Just a suggestion!

Many of you will be arriving on the 20th so you will be all set for the events that begin on the 21st. We will have the hospitality room open at 12:00 noon on the 20th so you will be able to gather and catch up with old friends and make new ones. In order for the room to stay open for that time we must have volunteers who will stay there to keep an eye on the items displayed. For those choosing the optional trip to the Kentucky Horse Park you probably will be arriving on the 19th in order to take part in it. Breakfast coupons will be made available to you so you can start this day off right.

Plan of Day-Thursday, June 21, 2012

Action Items:

  1. 5:30 AM-9AM--Breakfast at Holiday Inn in Hospitality Room.

  2. 10:00 AM-4 PM-Hospitality room open

  3. 12:00 PM-3 PM-Registration in Hospitality Room.

  4. 5:30 PM-Board buses for dinner in Newport Kentucky.

  5. 6:00 PM-9:00 PM-Dinner at Hofbrahaus Newport House.

  6. 9:00 PM Return to Holiday Inn

  7. 9:30 PM-12:00 AM-Hospitality Room open.

Information:

During Hospitality Room opening you will receive your name badge, a packet of information that will have up-to-the-minute information on the reunion and how you can best negotiate through the event and take advantage of what is offered to you. Please do the best you can to get your registration finalized between the 12:00PM-3 PM time frame!

A special gourmet Cincinnati Chili lunch will be served in the Hospitality Room starting at 12:00 PM.

We usually have dinner at the hotel on our opening night but we are varying from this in Kentucky. We have the opportunity to have our first banquet at the Hofbrahaus Newport. “Where it’s Oktoberfest Everyday!” The restaurant has a weighty responsibility that they say is “…upholding a tradition of superior brewing and world-class enjoyment that started over 400 years ago in Munich, Germany. We are 100% committed to continuing this tradition in Newport. We celebrate many of the old-world traditions and also create some of our own with the help of enthusiastic guests like you.” The food is authentic German cuisine and this is the first replica of the original German Hofbrahaus in the USA.

Plan of Day-Friday, June 22, 2012

Action Items:

  1. 5:30 AM-9AM--Breakfast at Holiday Inn in Hospitality Room.

  2. 7:30 AM-8:30 AM-Business Meeting in Hospitality Room.

  3. 9:30 AM-Board Buses at Holiday Inn for day’s events.

  4. 9:45-10:30-Memorial Service at Peace Bell in Newport, Kentucky

  5. 10:45 AM-Board Buses at Peace Bell for BB Riverboat.

  6. 12:00-2:00 PM Luncheon Cruise on Paddlewheel Boat on Ohio River with Banjo Bob.

  7. 2:15 PM Board Buses for tour of local area as we return to hotel.

  8. 3:00 PM-6:00 PM-Free time and Photo Session with Professional Photographer at Hotel.

  9. 6:30 PM-9;00 PM Dinner at Hotel, auction, program & entertainment by Mari Mazziotti.

  10. 9:00-12:00-Hospitality Room will remain open.

Information:

The day is filled with activity but it should not be too hard on anyone. All of the events are close by and most of the time you will be seated, eating and enjoying entertainment or just talking and visiting with each other. Joe Correia (Padre), our Chaplain will lead our Memorial Service at a very special place in Newport Kentucky, the World Peace Bell. Right after the service we will make our way and board the BB Riverboat for a luncheon tour of the Ohio River. I hired Banjo Bob (not me) who is a great entertainer to accompany and treat us to his talent. Following that we will see some of the local sights by bus on the way back to the hotel where you can gather in the spacious lobby with friends, have your individual picture taken there and then go to your room for a nap to prepare for a wonderful evening banquet at the hotel, special entertainment, our reunion auction, speakers and a fine dinner.

Plan of Day-Saturday, June 23, 2012

Action Items:

  1. 5:30 AM-9 AM--Breakfast at Holiday Inn in Hospitality Room.

  2. Hospitality room will close at 9 AM.

  3. 8:30 AM-Bus will board for those going to the Creation Museum.

  4. 9:30 AM-Bus will board and take first group to the Cincinnati Museum Center.

  5. 10:00 AM-Bus will board and take second group to the Cincinnati Museum Center.

  6. 1:00 PM-Buses will pick up museum attendees at both Museums and return to Hotel.

  7. 2:30 PM Board Buses for Wright Patterson Air force Base in Dayton, Ohio.

  8. 4:30 PM-Group will visit historic Air Force One planes.

  9. 6::00 PM-10:00 PM-A special time and Banquet at the National Air Force Museum.

  10. 10:00 PM-Board buses to return to Holiday Inn.

Information:

The day you will begin with a good breakfast then be transported to the Museum of your choice. Your attendance fees are all a part of your paid fee. Some will go to the Creation Museum and others to the Union Terminal (Cincinnati Museum Center. The buses will pick up the Museum attendees at 1:00 PM sharp to return them to the hotel to prepare for the trip to the National Air Force Museum so be on them please. When we arrive there we will have the entire place to ourselves from 6 PM until 10:00 PM. Prior to that we will even be touring former Air Force One aircraft including the one that brought assassinated President John F. Kennedy back from Dallas. This museum has the largest display of aircraft in the world and our banquet will be right in the middle of it between those planes that served in Korea and those planes that served in Vietnam. We are honored to have as our keynote speaker, Curator of the National Air Force Museum, Terry Aitken. Also to have the Air Force Band of Flight and an active duty Air Force Color Guard. It will be an awesome night to remember!

Plan of Day-Sunday, June 24, 2012

Action Items:

  1. 5:30 AM-9AM--Breakfast at Holiday Inn in Hospitality Room.

  2. 7:30-8:15 AM-Chaplain Joe Correia will lead our Church Service.

  3. Shuttle to airport for those flying.

  4. 11:30 AM-Those going to Reds/Twins game board bus for Great American Ball Park.

  5. 1:10 PM Ball Game Begins

  6. When game is over, board buses and return to Holiday Inn.

  7. Reunion complete. See you next time!

Information:

We will be having breakfast starting at 5:30 for those that have to leave for the airport and the breakfast will continue until 9:00 AM. That will mean that breakfast will be happening for some the same time we have the Church Service. Hope that does not distract from the worship but wanted to accommodate everyone who was still at the hotel.

For those doing optional tour it will be off to the Great American Ball Park for fun and food!

 

Click here to download/print registration form (pdf format)

Click here to download/print Holiday Inn information (pdf format)