Here are some of the E-mails sent or received so far to provide a little more background. Already (at time of writing) I have over 150 E-mails about the reunion in my files! Once we can get most contacts signed up on the mailing list (see main page), I will try to post some of those messages to the list.
This one was written after our first get-together at the Yacht club.
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G'day everyone....
Nice to see most of you at the Yacht Club on Sat last. I guess
some of us
had not been in touch since the mid-60's, so it was great to find
out that
we could still recognise each other {:-)) And (more importantly)
that we
all seemed to get on pretty well, as if only a few weeks had
passed since
those crazy days in South Aus.
For Clive and John's benefit (the only other ex-BlueSteeler's
email
addresses that I have at the moment) - I finally got off my bum
and did
something that I had been threatening to do for a couple of
years! That was
to get as many of the Canberra Ex-BSer's together (good acronym
that one),
to plan a much more major get together, before we all shuffle of
this earth.
So we actually all met last Sat at the Yacht club to have a few
sociable
drinks and to catch up, and plan. It was a super do I thought.
Everyone
except John & Sylvia Flaxman (who had prior commitments)
turned up (less a
couple of wives) - even Edie (Pete B's Ex) got to hear about it
and came
along {:-)) We agreed (I think) that I should organise a full
weekend
reunion next year in the best Canberra season - Autumn, probably
sometime
in April - not in the school holiday period. Will work out some
possible
dates later. We would probably have at least a couple of meals
(say a lunch
and a dinner/dance?) plus sightseeing for out of towner's, etc.
Plenty of
offers of spare rooms to put up visitors. All suggestions for
activities
will be gratefully received.
So at the moment we are in the collection phase. Top priority is
contact
information and names that we have not remembered so far. To this
end I
have attached a list of those I know and that we added to on Sat.
Any
additions and modifications will be gratefully received. As well
as Names,
addresses, and phone numbers I'd particularly like Email address
info as
it's so much easier (and cheaper) that other methods.
The second Item is that Ginge Booth made an impassioned plea for
written
"BlueSteel experiences" and has volunteered to put them
together into a
full multimedia book, web site, etc! Bet you didn't expect to do
that Ginge
- but I'd be happy to help. Please forward your literary
masterpieces to
Ginge at his Email address above. Personally I hardly know where
to start -
from initial impressions of Australia (everything hung on
poles!), to the
Woomera trips (up and back in a day - those Vanguard Sixes could
fly!), to
falling out of the sky in a Victor (and the aftermath). So get to
it Y'all.
Lastly I would like to suggest that it's not too early to start
looking
for all that memorabilia from those days - photos, newspapers,
ties, etc.
We will definitely be doing some good copying and perhaps
swapping business!
So I anticipate we will be having at least one more
"meeting" (a few
social drinks), to plan some more detail. In the meantime -
please keep in
touch and keep those suggestions, names, contact details,
memories, etc.,
flooding in.
All the best...JohnS
P.S. The attachment is a M$ Word 6 document MIME encoded. If you
have
trouble reading it - let me know. Alternatively I have put it up
on my Web
page at..
http:\\www.pcug.org.au\~jsaxon\bluesteel.htm
P.P.S. I took some photos at the Yacht Club, but they are Nbrs
2,3,&4 of a
24 roll, so developing may take a while. But when I get them I
will scan
and post them. Roll on affordable digital cameras!
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Here's a more recent one
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G'day everyone....
Trust y'all had a great festive season.
Although the dust hasn't fully
settled, a new year is a time to realise (among other things)
that the clock
is ticking and we are already into the real countdown for April
24th.
This is to let you know that I have updated
the Blue Steel page (link at
the bottom of my page) with the photos (pretty crumby) that were
taken at
our first meeting (just scroll down below the names table). I
have posted
for all to see so that our appearance is not too great a shock
for those who
don't live in Canberra! I'll try to take some more (and better
ones) at our
next gathering. There's also a photo of a BlueSteel on display at
Woomera -
not too sure if it's still there though.
I've been busy swapping numerous E-mails with
people associated with
BS - mostly ex-RAF types in UK who are restoring several Vulcans
(there are
none still flying) but they are working towards it. I've also got
a message
posted on the Woomera site and have sent an inquiry to DSTO - no
answer yet.
And I've made a verbal inquiry to the War Memorial Annexe guru
who is trying
to find the whereabouts of one they had there. It may be the
Woomera display
one? So far no portable memorabilia have turned up - but I live
in hopes.
Lastly I will look into setting up a mailing
list for this group so that
any messages posted by anyone go to all!
I've also finished my computer mag article so
will start to map out some
reminiscences for Ginge Booth's opus - hopefully you will all be
doing that
as well!!! <Hint Hint>
So have a good "rest of the holiday season" and be
WARNED - I will be asking
for VOLUNTEERS shortly!!!! Of course you could always cut me off
at the pass
by volunteering (for something you know you will enjoy) before
conscription
begins!
All the best for 1999..... John & Betty
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Finally here is a message sent today
(hopefully the last not on the official mailing list)
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G'day all...
For those of you who are still in the Canberra
area - I would like to
propose another 5pm TGIF drinks and meeting at the Yacht Club a
week today
on Fri 15th Jan. Betty & I will be there, and we hope you can
make it as
well! With luck, we can make this a bit more of a "working
session" - but a
couple of drinks would probably go down well!
But judging by the join up rate to the bluesteel@onelist.com
mailing
list (Hint!), I'd judge that many of you are enjoying the coast
or other
holiday destination. But be warned! However many turn up next
Friday will be
judged to be an official quorum!!
I guess priorities can be set - something
like:
1. Contact info
2. Getting the word out
3. Getting a rough idea of numbers by end Jan
to assist with bookings
4. Deciding what we will do! Suggestions so
far are for a Dinner
(dance?) perhaps at the Yacht Club (must book soon). A lunch -
possibly at
the Woden Tradies club upstairs 83-restaurant. A few more -
Barbecue (any
volunteers?), Drinks, sight seeing (Gold Creek - English Pub, New
Parliament
house, War Memorial, Etc.). More suggestions needed!
5. Finding and dusting off those photos and
Memorabilia - and MOST
IMPORTANT contributing to Ginge Booth's memorabilia book and Web
pages!
One more thing. I have completely re-vamped
the BlueSteel reunion home
pages. As it was starting to grow, I put it into a separate
sub-directory
for convenience. It can be found at
http://www.pcug.org.au/~jsaxon/bs/bluesteel.htm
but will be linked from near
the bottom of my main page as usual. So please update your
bookmarks/favourites if you want to go directly to the pages and
avoid the
other stuff!
Hope to see lots of you at the Yacht club next
Friday.... Cheers....
JohnS
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