The 2010 Patrol Gunboat Association will be held in Nashville, TN.

THE REUNION.........

The Radisson Hotel Nashville Airport will be hosting the 2010 Patrol Gunboat Association Reunion. Primary dates for the 2010 Reunion are from Wednesday, August 4 through Sunday, August 8, 2010.  The special group rate is $79.00 for single, double, triple quad.  This rate does includes breakfast for all registered guests.   To book your room, call the hotel at (615) 889-9090 and ask for "Reservations". When you call, let the hotel know that you are with Patrol Gunboat Association.  

Wednesday will be an early arrival date with no scheduled tours or meals. We will be opening the hospitality room at noon with check-in starting around 3:00. As usual, we will have commemorative coffee mugs and a free gift for each member along with an opportunity to get a free ball cap with the purchase of raffle tickets. We will also be selling tickets for the 50-50 drawing. As always, there will be free snacks, soft drinks and beer.

THURSDAY TOUR

Thursday, have breakfast and then let the fun begin. At 8:40 we will board our motorcoaches and head out with our guide on the Nashville City Tour. Our tour will include a drive by of the Bicentennial Mall, Historic Second Avenue, Music Row, Vanderbilt University, The Parthenon, etc. The tour includes admission into the Historic Ryman Auditorium, Known as the “Mother Church of Country Music”. After lunch on our own in downtown Nashville we will head to the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum. Our schedule has us returning to the hotel at 4:00.

THURSDAY DINING OUT

We are planning an evening dining out with dinner and a show at Nashville Nightlife Dinner Theater. You can check out their website at www.nashvillenightlife.com for more information about the restaurant and show. My plan is to arrange special seating for the group like I did in Virginia Beach. Nashville Nightlife Dinner Theater comes highly recommended by both the hotel and the Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau. We will be arranging carpool transportation to the theater like we have in the past and of course will have designated drivers to ensure a safe trip back to the hotel. For those who want to venture out on their own or have dinner at the hotel, the hospitality room will remain open for the evening.

FRIDAY TOUR

Grab breakfast early on Friday morning and be ready to board our motorcoaches at 8:45 for the next tour. Friday we will head out to The Hermitage Mansion Tour, home of Andrew Jackson, our nations seventh president. . – Enjoyed a tour of the stately manor where you will be guided by costumed historical interpreters, weaving tales of Jackson’s colorful and controversial life, stories of his family and the slaves who lived and worked there. The tour is highlighted by the complete restoration of the mansion that appears just as Jackson would have seen it in 1837. The tour will also include a film, museum, church, formal garden, Jackson’s tomb, and original log cabins. After a break for lunch on our own, we will head out to the Belle Meade Plantation. The centerpiece of the property is the Belle Meade mansion built in 1853.  This Greek revival house was home to five generations of the Harding-Jackson family, original owners of the Belle Meade Farm.  In the late 19th century, the farm encompassed 5,400 acres and was one of the largest private estates in Nashville.  The farm was a thoroughbred nursery famous for breeding and training championship race horses.  Recent Kentucky derby winners like Funny Cide and Barbaro, even racing legends like Secretariat can trace their bloodlines back to the breeding stock at Belle Meade.

FRIDAY BUFFET DINNER

Friday evening is usually our traditional buffet dinner. This year I decided to do something different. Rather than our normal buffet dinner, I decided to try a Nashville Style Southern Cookout. Weather permitting, we will have the cookout outside on the hotel's "Heck of a Deck". In the unlikely event of bad weather, we will move the cookout inside to one of the hotel's ballrooms.

SATURDAY BUSINESS MEETING

Saturday morning we will take a few minutes and discuss the future of the Association at our 2010 Patrol Gunboat Association Business Meeting. Topics will include finances, membership issues and the date and location of the 2011 reunion. We will also be taking questions and comments from the membership. Those who attended the Buffalo or the Seattle reunion may remember the trip to the cemetery. I am still working on this for the Nashville reunion and if it can be arranged we will attempt to do it again. Otherwise we will have free time following the business meeting until we gather for the banquet dinner.

SATURDAY BANQUET DINNER

The bar will open at 6:00 and everyone should be seated in the banquet room in time for us to start the opening ceremony promptly at 7:00. I am still working on arranging a guest speaker as well as entertainment for the evening following dinner. We will also be drawing the winning tickets for the annual raffle table drawing as well as the winning 50-50 tickets. Remember, for the 50-50 cash prize, you do not need to be present to win.

Sunday morning many of us will meet in the hotel lobby to share some hugs as we promise to meet again at the next annual Patrol Gunboat Association reunion. The hospitality room will close at noon.

If you would like a copy of the reunion itinerary and registration forms, click on Download to view forms with Adobe Reader. You can also download a copy of the 2010 50-50 ticket sheet by clicking Here.  These forms can be printed and mailed once filled out.  Hard copies of 50-50 tickets were sent out with the last issue of the Gunboatriders newsletter.  Registration forms are also included in the March issue of Gunboatriders.  It went to the printers on March 25 and should be in the mail by April 2, 2010.

Updated by Terry W. McManuels