The Perfect and "Wicked" Weekend part 2

Sun is back out this morning, but rain is in the forecast. The spots on the ground that are getting plenty of sunshine have lost the snow, those confined to shadows most of the time, still have some piles of dirty snow about.....I'm guessing most will be melted by the weekend, if the 50 degree temps stick around, as forecast.

We finished up Dartball play last night at St. Johns, only next Monday's banquet to go. Playing for the South squad, we scored 4 runs in the top of the 9th to win the opener 8-4, the North bounced back in game #2 for a 5-2 win. After the North scored a run in the bottom of the 1st to open the deciding game #3, we bounced back with 4 straight and took a 4-1 lead into the bottom of the 9th...after 1 out, they had 3 of their next 4 batters stroke singles, the with an 0-2 count, and 2 outs, one of the boys from Schumm Lutheran knocked down a triple to tie things up...the next batter countered with a single to give the North a 5-4 win and take the series 2 games to 1, which ended a 3 year run by the South...pretty good stuff for a change, I had an average night, going 5 for 11 with an RBI. The All Star contests usually are not that close, and usually are done in 2 games, but the guys put forth a good effort last night. With the warm weather in the forecast, Dartball will be gone until the middle of Autumn, and we will go back at it again.

The Mini Reunion, Saturday_____

20 or so of us met down at Packy's for breakfast on Saturday morning, before heading over to the Air Force Museum....several gallons of coffee were consumed, and we continued with "War Stories" and impressing the wives(yes, I'm kidding). Amazing when you get to be somewhere in the 60 year old range(some folks even younger), how 9pm seems late. I think Patricia was in bed by 9 Friday Night, while I managed to stay at Packy's and finally hit the hay in the late hour of 10pm.

Saturday would be a much later night, so I guess we needed the sleep.....

At 10 we jumped in our cars and vans, and headed down 444 towards the AF Museum Gate...parking in the back area of the lot(where the SP Defensor Fortis Statue is located), the entire gang along with a dozen wives, children, and friends, gathered for more conversation, photos, and prayers for those fallen brothers of the Air and Security Police that went before us. 111 or more Air/Security Police were lost in the Vietnam War, with the exception of those men that flew bombing runs and sorties, "Sky Cops" were without a doubt the most dangerous of Air Force career fields in Southeast Asia.

My buddy Wayne DeZarn, who will be heading back to the war in the Middle East as a Security Consultant, lead us in prayer....and did an outstanding job. Wayne, along with the late Larry Dotson, Mike Tillman, Rick Adams, and me, were the original 5 that gathered together at the Museum back in February 2007, to begin what has become the Dayton/Wright Patterson Mini Reunion.

Events Coordinator Jane Leach had a section of the Cafeteria located above the Museum Main Floor set aside for our group again this year, so we could continue with photos and conversation for a couple of hours....then we would head down to the Vietnam Section of Museum to meet with Terry Aiken, the Senior Curator of the Air Force Museum. Mr. Aiken talked with us for 15 or 20 minutes to inform us what expansion plans the Museum had for the Vietnam area, and the parts he would like to assign to the Air and Security Police.....we had questions, and he provided the answers he could.

We then broke away for more photos, and many headed for different sections of the Museum...some of us gathered to discuss plans for the remainder of the day...for Patricia and I it would be to head back to The Hope and Packy's...a lite dinner, a couple of beers, and we would get ready for "Wicked"....the rest of the gang would plan their night at the Hope and Packy's...to tell the truth I was torn between staying with the gang and partying with them, and going to the Musical....since "Wicked" was a gift from the kids for Christmas, there of course was no decision to be made, "Wicked" it would be, and it was worth the 3 hours of sitting sober.

Prequel to "The Wizard of Oz"____

Patricia and I changed and got ready to head to downtown Dayton. To insure good parking, we left early. The play had a 8 O'Clock start time, and we arrived at the Parking Garage right at 7, and made our way to the Schuster...we walked around and watched others arrive, the doors would not open until 7:30.

Our seats were in the Upper Balcony, "nose bleed"? Guess you could call them that, but this place was sold out...all 2300 tickets were sold, and the 3 week run had been a sell out from the get-go. Not a bad seat in the Mead, and Patricia and I, despite being in the upper section, had seats right at the stage center.

My first ever, Off Broadway Musical, went well...3 hours sitting(except for a 15 minute break about an hour and a half in), was rough on my back...but the acting was excellent, the music, although not my type, was good, and the performance was as advertised....I do not regret going, sometimes you have to expand your horizons, it wasn't Hockey or Baseball, but it was pretty good.

We arrived back at The Hope and Packy's at 11:30 but the place was empty of Sky Cops...which was OK, we were beat and ready for bed....after an hour or so of watching TV Crime Dramas, I was ready for bed....we would have one more get together in the morning, with a buffet at Packy's...some left early, some stayed later, I'll talk about that in tomorrow's posting.

Today____

Will enjoy one more day of sunshine before the rains make a show....then tonight I will hook up with oldest son Sam, for another Baseball Rules Meeting, this one at Marysville with our Southwest Ohio, Top of the Hill Association....tomorrow it's on to Van Wert, for a Northwest Meeting and I'll have more than enough sessions to fill my requirements...then I can pick and choose, the ones I want to attend.

More on the Reunion tomorrow, a list of the attendees, more photos, and some final salutes and comments....back later

Photos- All photos except "Wicked", The B-52, and the cafe table photo are by Mike, our photo guy for Saturday.(1) 2nd Photo on Header is of the 22 of us at the Defensor Fortis Statue on the Air Force Museum Grounds(2) My wife, Patricia, and me at the Statue...our hair can't be that white, can it?(3) 15 of us at the Vietnam Section of the Musuem...the other guys were somewhere around BSing and looking for planes they guarded(4) The refurbished B-52, all of us who worked SAC(Strategic Air Command), "humped" these behemoths on Nuclear Uploads more than once, in all kinds of weather(5) A group of some of the original gang that got this event started, minus the late Larry Dotson...left to right, Wayne DeZarn, Rick Adams, Mike Tillman, Big Sam Lewis, Jack "the old cowboy" Smith, and me.(6)l to r, Rick Adams, Cincinnati, Tom Oller, Morrisville, Illinois, and a fellow Nha Trang Veteran from Beavercreek, Ohio, Tommy Webb.(7) And Patricia and my programs from "Wicked" which topped off our Saturday.