USAF Helicopter Pilot
Association

P.O.BOX 966
MEDICAL LAKE, WA 99022-0966
www.usafhpa.org

Branson Bag Drag
October 8-12, 2012

Westgate Branson Woods Resort
www.wgbransonwoods.com

1-877-253-8572

CHAIRMAN’S CORNER—BOB PUTLOCK (putlock@aol.com)
First, let me recognize Ron Allred and his committee for the outstanding Jackson Hole Reunion this past June. In every reunion we have had there have always been memorable moments. My wife and I particularly enjoyed the 14 mile river raft trip down the Snake River under the watchful eyes of the Grand Tetons. What fun.

Our next reunion will be in Branson, Missouri. The dates to remember are October 8-11, 2012. (Monday thru Thursday).

Branson’s Motto is “EVERY DAY IS VETERANS DAY” .

For those of you that have never been to Branson and always wanted to go there—you are in for a treat. For those of you that have been to Branson –you are in for a surprise. In either case this reunion will be a different experience for all. Branson offers more activities than any other place in the USA. Our plan is set up for you to determine the best use of your time. We have selected a variety of shows concentrating on the most popular ones in town. You will have the opportunity to attend all or make some changes to suit your own preferences. The most important factor is to spend time with old friends under the best of conditions. The Hospitality Room will be the focal point for that. It’s in a separate building located at the center of all the housing choices.

This reunion will be the first time in our history that we have contracted with a planning service. “Gatherings Plus”(GP) is the #1 military planning service in Branson. Working with Pam Brown of “Gatherings Plus” during our site survey to Branson confirmed the choice. GP has all the appropriate contacts, knows the day to day activities in Branson and is taking care of all the details that will make this a very successful reunion.

Here’s a snapshot of our reunion plans. Future newsletters will have more defined information.

The Westgate Branson Woods Resort is where we will be staying. It’s on a 145 acre beautifully landscaped and wooded parcel of land amazingly close to all of our planned activities. Information on room reservations will be in the next newsletter. You will have the choice of a motel type room, hotel room, condo suite or log cabin. (The log cabins are privately owned time share units outside our contract and available on a limited basis.) Each room reservation will include two breakfasts per day per unit. There are a few “pet friendly” rooms available also. Very nice RV camps are located nearby. There is ample free daily parking for all cars as well as RV’s on Westgate’s property near the Hospitality Room building.

The contracted shows include transportation and will have us back to the resort by 8 PM each evening for continued Hospitality Room visiting. The shows are the Clay Cooper Variety Show and lunch, Yakov’s Dinner Adventure featuring the Moscow Circus, The Branson Belle Showboat cruise, lunch and show, the Andy Williams show with dinner at the Moon River Grill and the SIX Real Brothers Matinee. Each show is separately priced . You may skip any contracted show and substitute a different activity for that time slot. If that is your choice you will need to make your own reservation and provide your own transportation. There are over 140 different activities in the Branson area ranging from seeing other shows, experiencing a wine tasting tour, enjoying Silver Dollar City and even taking a 2 hour full scale railroad scenic excursion into the Ozark mountains. In future newsletters we will provide various web sites on these activities.

We have a time slot for Bill’s golf tournament and during that event there is a separate bus transportation trip to the Branson Military Museum or a shopping excursion for the wives to the popular Tanger Outlet Center.

We are introducing 2 new activities for this reunion. One will be a “Horseshoe Tournament “ and a second activity during the final evening’s “Country Hoedown” will be a “silent auction” hopefully with items donated by members from their part of the country. More details on both activities in a future newsletter.

Branson has a new airport, field elevation 1300 feet, with air service from both Air Tran and Frontier Airlines. Enterprise Car rental is located at the airport. Other car rental agencies have off site locations reachable by their company shuttles. Branson is a 40 minute drive from the Springfield Airport.

Although this reunion is planned for our membership it may be an opportunity for members to have additional family or close friends attend as guests to this unique Branson experience. We would also like to ask our members who are friends of member’s single spouses to encourage them to attend.

Below is the contracted schedule of the reunions activities. The actual 2012 show schedules are not yet set so there may be some future changes. For instance, Ann-Margret may not be in the Andy Williams Show. Andy may not even have a show in 2012. We will work closely with “GP” if changes are required.

SECRETARY’S CORNER---DICK VAN ALLEN

For those of you who are receiving this newsletter via “snail mail,” we have changed our labeling slightly. Your label starts with a request for you to forward your email address to our treasurer; you can then receive future newsletters quicker than through the US Postal Service, and it saves USAFHPA 44 cents each time! In addition, if it looks like your dues have expired (or about to expire) you will note that the date is in red.

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