In January we will have our Winter Work Party from 17-25 Jan. If you want to arrive on Thursday the 16th of Jan, you may be able to stay aboard that night also, but please be sure to ask me about that when you confirm your participation via email.
We now have the ability for women to stay aboard the USS Yorktown aircraft carrier, a 5-minute walk from our Laffey Chiefs Quarters. Having women stay on the Yorktown will require some specific planning and commitment- call me if you think you might be interested.
We have a specific list of projects that we will be working on in January, which are primarily in the aft fire room: cleaning, painting, light metal work (grinding filing), and welding/fabricating (John, Harry & Ernie will be there). We are continuing to work towards getting the aft fire room open to the public in the foreseeable future. We are getting close! As always, we also have less vigorous work for those who would like to contribute in these ways: meal prep/cleanup, supply-run errands, and administrative paperwork. So, regardless of your skill set or strength, we do have many meaningful ways for everyone to contribute. Males over 18 may stay on board the Laffey. Meals for all workers are paid for by the Association. Call or email Mike (President@Laffey.org ) with any questions or suggestions that you have.
When you email me ( President@Laffey.org ) to confirm that you plan to join us in January, I will add you to the “Frequent Worker” email distribution list. If you plan to attend in the future and would like to be added to the “Frequent Worker” email distribution list now (you will receive multiple emails during the weeks leading up to a Work Party, rather than just a single email), please let me know. The “Frequent Workers” emails will include our current attendance count for the upcoming Work Party, indicating your ability to attend. This attendance count is very helpful for meal and bunk space planning as it lists what dates you will be onboard to work and shows whether you will be staying on the Laffey, the Yorktown, in a RV at Patriots Point, or in a hotel.
Folks… the future of our Association and our work contributions to the Laffey are in your hands! We really need for each of you to take an active role in recruiting new work party participants. We are down to a small and finite group of our original crewmembers that are still able to attend work parties. If every member of our Association could recruit just one son, daughter, or grandchild of a crewmember to come join us, we could continue our work into the future. If relatives are not available, think about Veterans you know or patriotic friends who would like to give back and ask them to contact me via phone or email.
Please send these links to friends:
https://www.volunteermatch.org/search/opp3843713.jsp
https://laffey.org/wordpress/index.php/work-party/
Our Spring Work Party will run Tues, 8 April through Monday, 14 April. Our reunion will run Monday, 14 April – Thursday, 17 April. More details to follow.
Regards,
Mike Honsinger
President, USS Laffey Association
President@Laffey.org
MikeHonsinger@SBCGlobal.net
281-923-4969