The 4th reunion of the USS DONNER LSD 20 was held in Branson, Mo. at the Welk Resort. There were approximately 72 in attendance. Some of the activities were the Welk Show with the Lennon Sisters, the Showboat Branson Belle Dinner Cruise, the Presley Show, the Lennon Brothers and a sightseeing tour. A Memorial Service was held at Tablerock Lake with the Branson VFW Color Guard performing the ceremony. Each morning we enjoyed a full breakfast buffet at the Stage Door Canteen. On the last evening of the reunion we had our Buffet Banquet and entertainment.
126 Shipmates, wives, family and friends attended a patriotic musical & banquet at the Riverview Plaza Hotel, Mobile, AL. The 7th annual USS Donner LSD 20 reunion gave attendees a tour of historic Mobile, City of Six flags: French, English, Spanish, Independent Alabama, Confederate States and USA. Bus tours allowed all to see Old Fort Conde (1702), the Historic Districts of Mobile such as De Tonti Square where tea was served by the DAR at The Richards Ante-bellum House (1860). Then on to USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park, where many shipmates got reaquainted to shipboard life retelling many a sea story. The USS Donner Memorial Service was held aboard the "fantail" of the Alabama. Luncheon in the Aviation Pavilion and tours of USS Drum submarine were available. On the second day, busses were boarded for the Naval Aviation Museum, Pensacola, FL. Lunch was served at the Lighthouse Point NCO Club. Each morning a full breakfast was served in the hotel dinning room to start our day. [7th Reunion Pictures]
More than 90 Donner Shipmates, wives, family and friends attended the two and a half day reunion at Harrah's Reno Hotel, which included "Night on the Town" show by Bareback. The Boatswain's pipe sounded a call to order by Mike Stefanidis at the Donner Memorial Statue and the Memorial Service was conducted by Jim Palmer with the assisitance of his family and shipmates. The newly aquired "Donner ships bell" was rung by Gerry Tesar for each name read by Bob Mclellan, Vic DiChiro, and George Hovey. The memorial wreath placed by retired Captains Richard Hurt and John Stewart. A 20 minute Donner Party film was shown to all Donner visitors. The entire event was covered by the Sierra Sun newspaper featuring quotes by Ed Smith, Ken Winter and Ron Luxon. The buses resumed the tour to Truckee, CA for a lunch, and on to Lake Tahoe in the rugged and beautiful Sierra Nevadas. Many shipmates and wives,family and friends attended the Dinner that evening. The following day the tour traveled to silver mining town Virginia City, NV. Then it was back to Harrah's for Photos and the Annual Banquet, along with door prizes and raffle gifts. After free time for gaming each evening, in the morning a full breakfast was served in the hotel dinning room to start our day. [8th Reunion Pictures]
The 10th Donner Reunion was held May 2-5, 2008 in St. Louis, MO at the Sheraton Hotel at Westport. There were approximately 90 shipmates, wives, and friends in attendance. The festivities began with a Welcome Reception on the evening of May 2. Wine, cheese and hor d’oeurvres were served in the hospitality room. On the morning of May 3, the annual memorial service was held in the chapel of Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery. We then visited, shopped and had lunch at Union Station. We were also able to visit the New Cathedral (at which Pope John Paul once spoke) and the Gateway Arch. A bus tour of the city gave us an opportunity to see Forest Park, the massive Barnes-Jewish Hospital Complex and Washington University. We returned to the hotel for our annual business meeting, which included a beautiful tribute to Tom Nelson, by John Fuchs. The evening concluded with a raffle of wonderful prizes and socializing. On May 3, we took a tour of historical St. Charles, MO, which included a visit to a Veterans Memorial. Afterwards, we toured Anheuser-Bush Brewery, and sampled some of the product. Returning to the hotel, we prepared for picture taking and the Banquet. Entertainment was provided by Oliver Johnson, one man band, and the remarkable St. Louis Strutters. A buffet breakfast was provided each morning, in the hospitality room. Reunion Hosts: Langston and Georgeanna Jackson.
2009 Donner Reunion April 23 thru 26 Alexandra VA.
We just completed our 11th reunion, and all had a wonderful time. Lets take a trip down memories lane to see what went on.Day one: Welcome all aboard, we had a great buffet and were entertained by Old Blue eyes. All the swabies and guest enjoyed the hospitality room. We shared lots of stories about our Donner experiences, renewing old friendships and making new ones.
Day two: Early buffet and liberty call at 0900 for Bus tour to the Naval academy in Annapolis, Md. Tour started with talk and side presentation from one of the retired Navy Captains. We toured the complex saw the midshipmen at the parade grounds for their lunch. We had lunch at the academy and went to the visitor’s center. Some folk’s toured the beautiful town of Annapolis other went to visit the capital of Maryland. In the evening we had our Business meeting had light finger food in the hospitality room. We had our famous raffle. The reunion members donated a fabulous amount of gifts.
Day three: Early buffet and liberty call at 0900 for Bus tour to Washington DC and the Navy Memorial First stop was the Second World War memorial. It was well done honoring all the brave men and women who served during this time in history. Next we visited the Korean Memorial, those bronze figures were breathing taking, sad, but heart warming at the same time. Our last visit to the memorials was the Vietnam. It was a warm day and there were lots of visitors there, the silence was amazing you could feel the compassion of all the visitors there. We then went to the Navy Memorial for the highlight of the trip. We had our Donner memorial service in their beautiful theater was grand to see the USS DONNER LSD 20 in the video slide, we were all so proud. Then we had the pleasure of presenting our plaque for all generation to see. We then toured Washington DC in the bus. Back to the Hotel for dress uniforms, pictures, and the main banquet. We had entertainment DJ who played background music during Dinner. After Dinner we had dancing, and sang Happy Birthday to Peggy. We them did karaoke; the talent was just great, we were sorry to see the evening come to a close.
Day Four: Sad day we said our good bye and on a pleasant note see you all again next year.
John and Dolly Fuchs hosted this Reunion
