From the Executive Director
by Tom Drugan

Spring, 2004

Reunion:

As you may have noticed, we are two weeks late in publishing our J-Bulletin. We did this in order to bring you up to date information regarding the third annual reunion held April 15-17. Elsewhere in the Bulletin you will find photos of the festivities.

This year we had eight golfers, up from four the previous year. They played one of the finer courses in Tucson under perfect weather conditions. One of the tours this year went to the historic Tubac community and then to San Xavier and Tumacacori, two 400 year old missions in the Tucson area. This proved to be a very successful tour and the participants claim it was one of the best tours they have ever seen. We may offer this tour again next year. Finally, we sent a group to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. This also proved to be a successful tour as everyone spoke highly of the experience.

Thanks once again to Jim and Mary Truitt who provided all the refreshments and snacks for the hospitality room in addition to supporting the reunion with hard work and financial help.

We have some of the commemorative reunion T-shirts available. The shirts are a dark tan with a B-17 and 390th crest in color. We also have some of the 2004 reunion pins available. You can order these items while they last by using the form on page 15.

The reunion next year is March 10-12, 2005. The weather should be Arizona ideal so plan now to attend and support your museum while having a great time.

Volunteer in the spotlight:
Each quarter we try to single out one volunteer from our group of outstanding people to introduce him/her to the membership. Our purpose is to let you come to know them better. This time we feature Dean Floerchinger, one of our youngest volunteers. He is that very rare young man that everyone would like to have as a son. We are proud and pleased that he has chosen to give us some of his valuable time as a docent. Read about Dean on page 6.

Membership:
We have now topped 1,300 current and life members. Our goal is to continue to grow. The more members we have the easier it is to spread the cost of maintaining your museum. We are continuing our efforts in this respect but need your help. Please urge your family and friends to support our mission of preserving and passing on the legacy of courage established by the Greatest Generation.

Changing of the guard:
After serving two terms as president of your foundation, Frank Drain has stepped down. He will remain on the Board of Directors where his experience and skills will continue to benefit the museum. Much has been accomplished under Frank’s leadership and we thank him for his valuable service. Mary Pennebaker Truitt has been elected as the new president and we look forward to working with her.