Reunion attendees were:

Randell (Okie) Baughman, Wally and Linda Bensen, Jimmie Doughten, Karyn Fahey and Ginger, John Farley, Eldon and Laura Giesking. Chet and Sachi Haynes, Howard Hensley, Gene and Pat Johnston, Bob Kemp, Ann Ladwig, Tony and Linda Mann, Vernon McCarty, Don Morris, Charlie and Nancy Potts, JB and Kim Satterfield, James and Liz Sparkman, Richard Turcott, Bill Watson, Les and LeAnne Wood.

(I am keeping the roster. I don't have an email address for JB and Kim Satterfield and Stan Rajca. I also have two email addresses and I don't know who they are - hiddencreek1949@gmail.com, and jjackie@yahoo.com. Any help with this would be appreciated. Please notify me of other shipmates to add.

Mardelle Ludwig

This is the newsletter written by Okie.

USS Tolovana AO64

Reunion 9/21/2021

Tulsa Oklahoma

It was another successful reunion for our ship's crew with a packed schedule and great weather. I was the host and Ann Ladwig was my very valuable assistant. I think her title was ASST. It started on Tuesday evening in the meeting room provided by the Best Western where everyone congregated. Sea stories started flying and we realized we needed to eat so Ann Ladwig, Pat Johnson. and Nancy Potts collected money and got Pizza for us all. Pat negotiated brownies for us all. Beer was provided by Bob Kemp and there were plenty of other drinks and snacks.

After breakfast Wednesday morning we had our official meeting. Ann Ladwig presented a memorial for her husband Larry who attended several reunions. Then Karyn Fahey and her daughter Ginger presented a memorial for her husband Don who also attended several reunions. Both will be missed.

Names of everyone and information was collected which totaled 18 crew mates and a total of 30 attendees. It was an excellent turnout with Covid concerns. The interesting thing was there were 5 new crew that had never attended a reunion before, They were Vernon McCarty , Bill Watson, Don Morris, Jimmie Doughten, and JB Satterfield. Those that were hungry after the huge breakfast grabbed something at Baxter's across the parking lot before our afternoon tour.

We were met by Rhonda and Tours of Tulsa for an excellent 2 hour tour of the city.

After our return we had our fundraiser raffle with lots of great things donated. Stanton Handley who could not attend, donated the ships plaque from the bridge of the Tolovana he collected when it was decommissioned. Bob Sanders who also could not attend donated 8 hand carved wooden plaques of the ship. There were many more great items. We made $425 on the raffle and $75 on the sell of Tolovana caps.

Our banquet was at Baxter's restaurant in a private room. It was located just across the parking lot from our hotel. The food and service was great and at a reasonable price. We took lots of photos of the attendee's but I put the one of the crew here in the newsletter. The rest of the photos can be viewed on our Tolovana Facebook page.

We went back to the meeting room after dinner and Kemp surprised us with a little entertainment. He found a construction worker there that did magic tricks for us.

Thursday morning we had breakfast and got ready for a tour of the Tulsa Air and Space museum. Howard Hensley set us up with his friend Dick that was the best tour guide there. The museum also set up hands on tv screens where we fly airplanes and a virtual reality set of a WWII Tulsa bomber. Dick joined us for lunch at a soul food restaurant near the museum.

Back at the hotel we gathered for a photo in front of the hotel for our host hotel Mindy. Everyone carpooled to the Route 66 Village for a tour and Linda provided us with a lecture and explained how the museum will grow.

We had dinner at the Mother Road Market where you could pick out what ever you wanted at any of the local shops and find a bench to eat. It was a different experience for sure.

Friday morning the magic man treated us to different magic show after breakfast which was very entertaining, There was a discussion in the meeting room where we went over the finances and where to have the reunion next year. It was decided that Albuquerque New Mexico was the most popular place. No one offered to run the event so I will set something up by February and send out details. See you next year.

Okie Baughman