The 1st annual USS William V Pratt Reunion was held August 25th thru August 29th 2004, in Philadelphia, PA at the Sheraton Park Ridge Hotel. The shipmates and guests who attended the 2004 reunion enjoyed meeting new shipmates, re-uniting old friendships, exchanging sea stories, exploring the sights and sounds with tours of the local Charleston area, Naval Installations as well as enjoying food, drinks and entertainment.
The USS William V Pratt, sailors' hospitality room opened at noon on Wednesday August 25th and remained open until noon on Sunday Aug 29th. The Pratt hospitality room is a large room, much like a USO space, where shipmates can relax, enjoy a variety of snacks and beverages, converse with one another and enjoy reliving the good old days on the Pratt with the aid of photos albums, cruise books, videos, and listening to some whopping sea stories. The hospitality room also displays William V Pratt memorabilia that can be purchased from supporting vendors.
We wanted our shipmates to enjoy the sights and sounds of the hosting city and get the feeling of 'being on liberty', so the USS William V Pratt Reunion Association secured tours for shipmates and thier spouses who attended the reunion, with tour agencies in the hosting city. The tours allow our shipmates to enjoy time with each other while simulating "hitting the beach on liberty" as well as learning some very cool facts about the hosting city. This year featured some great tours, which included a tour of the "Philadelphia Shipyards, Lancaster County Amish Country, and the historic sights of the city.
Thursday thru Saturday at 6PM each day, featured the WVP Association and Holiday Inn sponsored "Attitude Adjustment Hour" (Special Beverage Cash Bar for Pratt sailors and thier spouses). Much like a Happy Hour, This time allowed Pratt Sailors and thier spouses time to mingle with each other.
Friday Night featured the informal Buffet Dinner where shipmates enjoyed Salads, Fruits, Grilled Chicken Breast, Sliced Pot Roast, Fettuccine, Rols and Chocolate Mousse.
Saturday Night featured, The Formal William V Pratt 2004 Banquet Dinner, 50-50 and raffle table drawings for Cash Prizes and Pratt Merchandise, as well as Entertainment and Dancing. (We will be posting the winners shortly).
The followng shipmates attended the 2004 Reunion: John Addams, Dan Amick, Johnny Anderson, Tom Ardecki, John Bacon, Anthony Baker, Steven Ball, Fred Bauer, Royce Beaverson, Steven Beekley, John Beisbier, Joeseph Bilotta, Robert Black, Henry Booth, John Bossone, Daniel Bowman, Tom Burek, George Butorac, Bruce Cardwell, Jim Carper, James Chesher, John Cinque, Ivan Coles, Cesar Contrearas, Steven Crane, Manual DeCosta, Fred Denbleyker, Joe Dermody, Donald Ditty, John Dognazzi, Ernest Driscoll, Ronald Duffy, Jerry Dunford, Joe Eagan, Gerald Ensminger, Stephen Entler, Robert Fanesi, Mike Finnegan, Gary Geyer, Jed Graves, Arthur Griswold Jr, Fred Haas, Rodger Hall, James Hammond, Charles Hazzard Jr, Larry Hedrick, Les Henderson, Skip Hepner, Ted Howell, Ken Ingram, James Jarrett, Charlie Johns, Mark Kelly, David Koven, William Krody, Tom Laich, Eric Larson, Glenn Lawrence, Eric Levine, Odie Lewis, Willard Linaberry, Sam Locklear, Walter McDonald, William Mayley, William Martin, Terry McManuels, David Meadows, Albert Meyer, Doug Miller, Larry Minew, Russel Nance, Danny Odom, James Orsine, Joe Patch, David Pazdur, John Perason, William Pere, Mark Piombino, Bruce Pitre, Nick Poljak, Jim Porter, Dave Poston, Sean Reilly, Garry Rogers, Ralph Rosendale, Art Samuelsen, Mick Saravitz, Ted Sheu, Dan Speight, Keith Stillman, David Stoner, Leslie Swinehart, John Szepesi, Dennis Taylor, William Tuck, Robert Van Horn, Tom Vidrine, Tom Watkins, Kurt Weber, Larry Weber, Guy Wilkes, William Wright, Louis Yob.
Below are some of the photos from the 2004 Charleston Reunion: More will be added as we get them in |
