The official publication of the
7th Bomb Wing B-36 Association

XXIII NO. 1     FEBRUARY 2002

(A little bit of history and where we are. Pay attention, it’s about YOU)

Time keeps marching on. During the past five years, an average of 30 flyers per year have gone on their Last Flight. During the preceding five years the average was 25. I guess time does have a way of catching up with us and it seems to be going at a faster clip. I can’t think of a better reason to make it to our upcoming reunion before we get caught up in the wave. Besides, reunions are a time for fun and laughter and if we gotta go, we might as well go laughing.

During the last five reunions (1991 – 2001) attendance at the Welcome Dinner has been about 2/3 (67%) of that for the Banquet. Attendance at the Brunch has been about ½ (52%). In Reunion ’99 we began offering a Combination price for the Banquet and Brunch. Since then, attendance at the Brunch has increased to about 2/3 that of the Banquet. During that same period, attendance at the Welcome Dinner has remained at 2/3 that of the Banquet. During the last five reunions (ten years), attendance at the Banquet has declined 40-50 per reunion (from about 675 to 450).

During the past five years we have published and mailed almost 900 SCANNERS/quarter. The cost to print and mail the SCANNER has increased from about $1.75 per year per member to over $2.25/year/member and the cost will continue to increase. During the same period, the biennial Directory (once every 2 years) cost has been about $1/year/member. In summary, the annual cost to publish and mail the SCANNER and the Directory is about $4/year/member.

During the past 5 years we have had an income of about $10,000 per year ($6000 dues, $2000 from Life Member account --$5 per Lifer transferred to general fund ( plus account interest) -- and $2000 total interest –thanks Bugs). Since it only cost us about $3-4,000 per year to publish and mail the SCANNER and Directory, and since admin expenses were minimal – thanks Dick & Bugs -- we had about $5-6,000/year available to blow on our biennial reunions – which we did to the tune of about $10-$12,000 per reunion -- for beer, freebies and meal subsidies.

At Reunion 2001 it was voted to have a "Mini" reunion during the off years in addition to the "biennial" reunion, and that annual dues would be reduced from $10 to $5 per year ($5 to $3 for widows) and from $100 to $50 for Life Membership. Essentially, this amount is the approximate "break-even" amount required for annual operating expenses, excluding reunion expenses.

It was further decided, that in order to begin a gradual reduction of Association financial assets to correspond with the termination date of the Association (no later than 1 July 2010 – see ARTICLE XII on page 56 in current directory), we would spend all this cash on us members instead of transferring it to some "worthy" cause at a later date. We would do this by additional funding of member reunion expenses by the Association. In this regard, the lump sum price for the Welcome Dinner, the Banquet and the Brunch inclusively for a member and spouse (or one guest) at the upcoming reunion would be $25 for each person. This sum represents about half the cost to the Association for these events.

At the present time the Association has about $35,000 including the Life Member Escrow account. Considering the above data, beginning annual income would be about $6,000 with a net of $2,000 after admin, publication and mailing expenses. If we continue to have annual reunions, attendance continues to decline at about the same rate per year and we continue to offer similar reunion subsidies, we will reduce our net worth by about $10,000 decreasing to $6,250 per year. This means we have about four years to go (2006) before our net worth consists of our annual income and we must discontinue reunion subsidies.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Come to the reunions, enjoy yourself, laugh a lot, get in on the goodies before it’s too late!

SECSEZ
(DICKGEORGE)

      Now is the time for all good men and women to come to the aid of their association.  Yes, dues are due.  I apologize for letting the notices slide last fall.  An event in my life took priority over everything. But, that is now over and I must move on.  There will be no separate envelopes for the dues dun this time.  I must rely on you to provide the method of transmission.  But, send you must.  If the address label on this Scanner reflects the number 2001 or lower, you are behind the times.  So, please remit your dues for the year 2002.  At the last reunion annual dues were lowered to $5.00 for all membership categories except widows and yours were lowered to $3.00.  Life memberships were lowered to $50.00.  Now there is an idea.  Sending $50.00 or any multiple of $5.00 or $3.00 over five (or three) lessens the number of times I have to enter it in the computer.  Think about it.  We now have 298 Life Members.  Why not join them?  If you are making a reservation for the reunion you can remit your dues with the reservation.  If not, just send them in now and I can get that out of the way while I labor over keeping up with the reservations.

EMAIL ADDRESS CHANGE. The e-mail address that has been used for several years was just one of the eight or so permitted in my own AOL account. It worked quite well until it began to be spammed.  Over the past 6 months the address was used almost entirely by everyone except our members and ranged from The Gap and casinos to porn.  One way to stop this is to start using a new address.  So, I did, hoping that the members could use it for association business, i.e. create documents of their own.  The first day I opened the new address I got 48 e-mails from members, 35 forwarded documents.  There went my effort.  With the forwarded documents came spam.  I am again trying to sort out the junk.  The new address is b36asn7bw@aol.com.   If you will, please send only your originally created documents that deal with association business.  Forwarded mail is very subject to spam and that I don’t need.  Yes, there are hundreds of good articles, jokes, stories, etc. but please don’t bother using the association address.  Send it to me on my other addresses if you must.

SAVING THE B-36 2827.  Those of us who started eagerly restoring the local B-36 seem to get more disillusioned by the day.  We really got a lift early last year when it appeared we were really going to get a museum built at DFW.  Then came the terrorists and 9-11.  The funds were diverted to the security area and are being spent protecting air travelers from idiots like those who ran airplanes into the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon.  The passengers who died in the field in Pennsylvania were the ones with guts. At least they tried to stop the hijacking and in my view succeeded.

DALLAS FORT WORTH NATIONAL CEMETERY.        Until the spring of 2001, the veterans of north central Texas had no national cemetery in the area and had to rely on the likes of Fort Sam Houston and Fort Bliss for internment.  With the activation of the DFW National Cemetery, the need was met and a beautiful facility is now readily available for those around here who gave so much to their country.  More and more promises to the veteran are being kept.  My limited experience with Tricare for Life shows it to be working well also.  I for one am extremely grateful to the many veteran organizations who pushed hard enough to get legislation through congress to make them keep the promise.

• Finally you can eat dinner at 4;00.
• Kidnappers are not very interested in you.
• People no longer view you as a hypochondriac.
• Your secrets are safe with your friends because they can’t remember them either.
• Your supply of brain cells is finally down to a manageable size.
• Your eyes won’t get much worse.
• Things you buy now won’t wear out.
• There’s nothing left to learn the hard way.
• Your joints are more accurate than the National Weather Service.
• You may never need to vacuum under the bed again.

THIS AND THAT FROM HERE AND THERE

We are looking for a picture of B-36 44-92075 for the archives. This was the plane that went down in Canada and was only around from June 1949 to February 1950. This B-36B did not have jets (surprise) and likely had few markings – it probably did not have the large forward numbers or triangle on the tail. 075 did have yellow squadron flashes. Any help appreciated.

JOE WEBER’s account of the B-36 round trip from Carswell to Hawaii and back in the November SCANNER brought up some fond memories for TOM HAYDEN. He was on that flight and even sent us a picture of the crew upon return to Carswell. They look pretty raunchy and beat up but the picture has been turned over to FRANK KLEINWECHTER for our history files, anyway. Thanks, TOM.

It’s a small world. Check out the recent email from MARIAN HARTLEY to the Association: "Today DAN and I took some friends to the club at McChord AFB for lunch and our server was a lady originally from Greenville, MS named LOIS BARROW. When DAN mentioned that his 492^nd Sq. had gone from Carswell to Greenville, her eyes lighted up and she said, ‘My husband was in that squadron; he came to Greenville from Carswell and that’s how we met and were married. He was SGT BILLY J BARROW who was an aviation mechanic. He passed away from cancer on April 27, 1977.  LOIS would like very much to hear from anyone who knew him in the past. Her address is: LOIS BARROW, 8610 Dalton Dr., SW, Tacoma, WA 98498."

There’s a new B-36 book out, "MAGNESIUM OVERCAST" by DENNIS JENKINS. It’s a great summary of the B-36 program from inception, production, operation thru conclusion. Lots of familiar names in it (including mine) and many pictures. You can get it for $34.95 plus s&h from "Specialty Press" at 1-800-895-4585 and ask for Mollie or, all you computer nerds can go to "Amazon.com" and get it for about $25 and maybe some s&h cost. That makes a great B-36 trilogy. First, PEACEMAKER by us B-36ers, then CONVAIR B-36 by (fellow B-36er, see Directory) MEYERS JACOBSEN <meyersjacobsen@msn.com> (that’s as big as the other two combined,) and now MAGNESUIM OVERCAST. If you are really hot about the B-36 program, see FRANK KLEINWECHTER at the reunion and he may let you browse through his.

I am home in Heaven, dear ones; Oh, so happy and so bright!

There is perfect joy and beauty, In this everlasting light.

All the pain and grief is over, Every restless tossing passed;

I am now at peace forever, Safely home in Heaven at last.

HELEN wife of COL VICTOR ARMSTEAD
JEANE widow of LTC JACK E CARDWELL
MAJ HOBART N CROCKER JR
JUDY wife of COL RICHARD S GEORGE
MAJ WILLIAM R MCCOOL
LTC CHARLES A RICHARDSON
COL COLUMBUS SAVAGE
MAJ FREDERICK H SHAFFER JR
BETTY wife of MSG WARD A TURLEY
MAJ NEWBY C TYSON

GOLF 1230-1300 "T" Time. Lost Creek Golf Course

REGISTRATION 0900-1700

SOCIAL HOUR 1600-1900 2 kegs free beer

WELCOME DINNER 1700-2100 (Doors open for handicap seating 1855)

SATURDAY 20 APRIL (Coffee and doughnuts - courtesy of Holiday Inn - served from 0800-0900)

MEMORIAL SERVICE 0900-0940

BUSINESS MEETING 1000-1100

SOCIAL HOUR 1600-1900 2 kegs free beer

BANQUET 1900-2100 (Doors open for handicap seating 1855)

BREAKFAST 0800-1000

No registration fee for LIFE members and those members whose dues are current (number "2002" or greater on first line of address label.) All others – Member only - $5. Fee includes dues for 2002.

It will prolong the life of those stuck with making all the arrangements who have their necks stuck way out with the hotel and other suppliers. Also, AL LEFERINK has to get the names to the golf course NLT 8 April so all you golfers get your reservations in early.

Hotel reservations should be made directly with Holiday Inn, Ft. Worth South. Address and phone numbers are listed on the Hotel Reservation form.

Parking at the Holiday Inn is free. Overnight parking of RV’s is permitted for overnight guests ONLY.

Coat and Tie for men and "after five" for ladies at the Saturday Banquet. All other events, "Texas Casual."

As in the past, seating reservations must be made for the Banquet. WARREN ARTHUR will have all the info during registration. Names, not a dash or vertical line, must be placed in spaces. Also, table number must be placed next to your name on the roster of attendees. That way people can decide who to sit with, or stay away from.

There will be two prices for each event. Note that there is a special price for a member and spouse (or one guest), which is about half the cost of the item. The other price is for additional guest(s) who will be required to pay the full price. ALSO, A CHARGE OF $10 WILL BE ASSESSED FOR ANYONE WHO DOES NOT PRE-REGISTER, (send in form with your check!)

Transportation from DFW airport to the hotel can be arranged with "SUPER SHUTTLE" by giving them a call from the free phone station located in the baggage pick up area. They will come by and pick you up. The fee is $24 per person one way. Call from hotel for return trip.

AVIS Rent-A-Car will provide a compact for $24.99 per day. That’s about $75 for 3 days or $50 for a two day period, from noon Friday to noon Sunday. Be advised that because of taxes, airport charges, etc., the total cost will be about $40 per day. To get this rate call 1-800-331-1600 and give AWD number "J991433."

On the other hand, if you have been really good, maybe you can talk a local friend to pick you up at DFW. In that case, call them.

If you fly into Love Field, Dallas, your best bet is the rent-a-car and it will be a little cheaper than DFW because the airport charge is less.

You will note on the Reservation Form that there is a place to indicate how you will get to Ft. Worth. If we find out that many of you come by air we will work harder to do what it takes to get the "Transportation" cost down.

Golf will be held at Lost Creek Links, just off I-30 and west of I-820. T-off time will be 12:30 to 1PM with 4-player scramble (whatever that means). It is "unisex" and ladies are invited. Entry fee is $45 and includes shared cart, free drinks on the course and prizes. Rental clubs are available. Transportation will be by private auto so if you don’t have one of your own, get friendly with someone who does.

CLICK HERE FOR MAP
(Holiday Inn is at the red star between Crowley and Cedar Hill)

_________________________________________________________________________________________

NAME TAGS TO READ__________________________________________________UNIT_____________

____________________________________________________________________

ADDRESS:_______________________________________________________________________________

FEE: Life and Current Member ("Life" or "2002" or greater on address label) FREE!!!

Non-Current: "2001" or less on address label. FEE includes dues for 2002 ($5) ______________

EVENTS: prices are PER PERSON COST X #PERSONS

Golf Tournament $45 X ________ = ________________

(Member and Spouse (or one guest)

Welcome Dinner $10 X ________ = ________________

Banquet 10 X ________ = ________________

Brunch 5 X ________ = ________________

(Additional Guests)

Welcome Dinner $15 X ________ = ________________

Banquet 20 X ________ = ________________

Brunch 10 X ________ = ________________

TOTAL ________________

Will arrive on (Date)________ (Via) Airline __ Auto __ Buggy __ Foot __ I live here, stupid __ (check one)

NAME(S)_________________________________________________________________________________

HOME COURSE________________________________________MILITARY? YES_______NO__________

HANDICAP OR AVERAGE SCORE(S)________________________________________________________

Need Rental Clubs: YES______NO______RH______LH_______

I wish to play with the following individuals:_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

HOLIDAY INN FORT WORTH SOUTH

100 Alta Mesa East Blvd, Ft. Worth, TX 76134

Ph: 817-293-3088 1-800-800-HOLIDAY (Mention 7BW B-36 Association)

TYPE ROOM #ROOMS RATE (To hold room beyond 6PM it must be guaranteed by

Single/King Bed, 1 or 2 persons ______ $69 Credit Card.)

Double/2 Double Beds, 2 persons ______ $69 Credit Card Type________________

Credit Card #___________________

Expiration Date_________________

YOUR NAME______________________________________________________________________

ADDRESS_________________________________________________________________________

PHONE #__________________ARRIVAL DATE________________DEP DATE________________

NOTE: Make phone reservations or fill out and mail card to hotel NLT 2 April 2002.

During the last reunion we sold caps and pins that we had left over from previous reunions. Sales were brisk and we ran out of caps and pins before we ran out of customers. BUGS WARNER found us a solution. He went out and bought some more. But best of all, he got us a great price!! B-36 hats, with all the braid and lettuce, will be only $5. B-36 stick pins will be just $2.

Then BUGS pulled another deal and got GEORGE STEGER to run the store during the reunion. Now, both of these guys are CPA’s. I wonder if they are trying to cook up something? ENRON comes to mind so, soon as you get here, get your hands on these goodies before they run out (Goodies or CPA’s?)

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