December 2014

Yesterday, Sunday, December 7th, the funeral for Ed Leonard was held at the Peninsula Church Center in Seaview, WA. Vic Yoakum, Chuck Diver, Nels Delisanti and George Luck attended. George Marrett, one of Ed's squadron mates from SEA and his wing man during Ed's last flight, was there and gave the eulogy. Afterwards, we all formed up in front of Ed's portrait at the alter and rendered honors. In the church entrance, there were large photos depicting Ed's life; a recent portrait, an infant picture, a youth photo of Ed in his aviator uniform, Ed and his Skyraider, his Freedom Flight, his arrival at Clark AB, and his welcome home parade at Winlock, WA. (Photos will be posted soon)

The NW Falcons are gathering at Ivar's Salmon House at 401 NE Northlake Way, Seattle, WA, 206-632-0767, on Mon, Dec 22 at 11:30 AM. Deke Johnson recently lost Sally, and he will be with us for the gathering. Please contact Vic with your reservations: vyoakum@comcast.net or 253-514-1954. This is a drag event, and all of the NW ladies are invited.

August 2014

On Thursday, August 7th, the '60 NW Falcons held a gathering at the home of Chuck and Edie Diver overlooking the beautiful Skagit River Valley. Those attending were: Nels Delisanti, George and Carolyn Luck, Bev O'Rourke, Vic and Suzanne Yoakum, Chuck and Edie Diver, Dennis and Linda O'keefe, Bill Zersen, Louisa Congdon, Bobbi Mason Star and Paul and Kay Vallerie. The luncheon menu featured many favorite recipes of the crew, but the hit was the pulled pork by Chuck and Edie.

Vic and Chuck

Bev and Linda

Louisa and Bobbi

Edie

Suzanne

Nels and Carolyn

George

Bev

June/July 2014

On Wednesday, June 11th, George Luck and Chuck and Edie Diver flew down to Astoria, OR to have lunch with Ed and Suzanne Leonard. The Leonards met the crew and they toured Astoria with a special fish and chips lunch in an Astoria park, served from an old wooden fishing boat. Next was a tour of the Columbia River Museum and a visit to the Coast Guard exhibit featuring a 44 foot Motor Lifeboat (MLB). The 44' MLB is a steel hull boat with twin diesel engines. It has one water tight compartment (WTC) forward to carry uninjured victims and two WTCs aft to carry litter patients. It is designed to right itself if capsized. The training school for the MLBs is at Astoria where they use the rough surf over the Columbia River Bar.

July 2014

On Tuesday, July 22nd, several of us went sailing with Nels on Commencement Bay (near Tacoma, WA) in his beautiful 35' sailboat. The conditions were mostly calm, so we mostly motored around the bay. We had a great lunch at a waterfront restaurant and did some sailing on the return voyage. Those attending were: Nels Delisanti, George and Carolyn Luck, Vic Yoakum, Chuck and Edie Diver, Louisa Congdon and Bev O'Rourke.

31 May 2014

The Northwest Falcons held a gathering on Wednesday, May 28th at Bahama Breeze Restaurant in Southcenter in Seattle. Those attending (including all five of the Puget Sound members) were: Nels Delisanti, George and Carolyn Luck, Bev O'Rourke, Vic and Suzanne Yoakum, Chuck and Edie Diver, and Dennis and Linda O'Keefe. Jim O'Rourke's funeral will be a grave side service at the Academy cemetery on Wednesday, June 18 at 11:00. There will be a reception immediately following the service at the golf club. At the reception, Bev and her family will present a slide show reviewing Jim's life.

The next gathering will be a sailboat outing on Commencement Bay near Tacoma with Nels and his 35 foot sailboat. We should arrive at his marina by 10:00 on Thursday, June 26th. We will stop for lunch at one of the water front restaurants. Nels' marina address is: Tyee Marina, 5718 Marine View Dr, Tacoma, WA 98422.

17 May 2014

On Thursday, April 17th, the NW Falcons gathered at the Museum of Flight Restoration Center for a behind-the-scenes tour of current projects. Attending were George Luck, Nels Delisanti, Dennis O'Keefe and Chuck Diver. We walked through a Comet airliner in restoration, and viewed the first Air Force test Jet Star and an early Navy Vought F7U Cutlass. The Center had just received the full scale mock-up of Boeing's SST, and we saw parts of it as it was being uncrated. We planned a crawl through of a B-52G, but it was raining so hard that we cancelled the Buff tour. We also planned to see the ME-262 project, but that program had ended, and there were no airplanes to see. They had started to restore a Zero, but it was still crated. We enjoyed a nice luncheon at Ivar's Mukilteo Landing.

The next gathering will be on Wed May 28 at 11:30 at Bahama Breeze, 15700 Southcenter Parkway, Seattle, WA 98188. This will be a drag gathering, so all of the ladies are invited. Carolyn and I are picking up Louisa Congdon as we drive down. Louisa has an earlier appointment, so we may be a bit late. Please email me with your accept or decline plans so that I can reserve us a table.

13 March 2014

The '60 Northwest Falcons gathered at Hector's Restaurant in Kirkland, WA on March 13th for a luncheon. It wasn't planned that way, but there was an empty place set at the end of the table - where Jim O' normally sat. It was a semi-fun gathering. It was great visiting and telling stories, but we really missed Jim's ever-present smile and quick wit. Our Class lost a giant with Jim's passing.

Next month, we will gather on Thursday, April 17th at 09:30 at the Museum of Flight Restoration Center at 2909 100th St SW, Everett, WA at Paine Field for a "behind the scenes" tour of the center; then on to one of the few surviving B-52Gs (George used to fly it at Castle) for a crawl through; and next to a tour of the ME-262 Restoration/Mfg. Project (in the fighter alert barns that Dennis used to stand alert in his F-101 from Klamath Falls, OR). At noon, we will have a lunch at Ivar's Mukilteo Landing at 710 Front St, Mukilteo, WA 98275 (next to the Whidbey Island ferry dock).

Deke Johnson has a new address: 650 S Arbor Ln Apt 205, Meridian, IOD 83642-3024.

The attached photo is of the Crew at Hectors.