The Fall Field Day '06 crew gathers on the fo'c'sle for a photo on Saturday before lunch.
Fall Field Day '06: A crew of fifteen (15) people joined us for the Field Day this time around. Ten states were represented--Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Virginia, and Wisconsin--with Louisiana having the largest showing for the first time ever. Four (4) former KIDD crew members returned to help maintain their old ship.
The weather was not very cooperative this year, with heavy rains all day on Thursday and half of the day on Friday. The field day crew persevered, though, and just worked indoors for a while. Mack Bradley (DD-661) headed up a crew consisting of George Gordin (DD-661 and DD-531), Mac Mackensen (DD-699), Tom Andreasen (DD-679), and Ed Fuselier (DD-700) that cleaned the Combat Information Center (CIC) from top to bottom. Since CIC can get a little crowded with that many people in there, Tom and Mac did a bit of double duty while the rain was still falling. Tom did some plumbing work, repairing the sink faucet in the Galley and a leaking shower valve in the Aft Head. Mac flexed his electrician's muscles by tracing and replacing a blown fuse in Officer's Country. Ed would later join John Ellsworth (DD-591) in the Aft Engineroom where they furthered its restoration. Richard Ammon (DD-661) continued stenciling, painting, and clean-up in the Aft Fireroom.
Lionel Morales (CV-62) is no newcomer to the KIDD in spite of this being his first Field Day. He's been touring her decks for many years now; whenever he's been in town, in fact. Lionel spent all day Thursday and part of the day Friday giving Radio Central a good cleaning. Unfortunately, a family emergency forced him to depart early on Friday afternoon.
Frank Remkiewicz (DER-322 and CLG-5) flew into town in the midst of the rain on Thursday. We immediately put him to work in the Emergency Diesel Generator compartment removing old batteries. This is a new safety measure requested by the Navy during their annual inspection. George Seal (DD-528) and Russell Rosenberger (DD-528) joined him in lugging these beasts up two levels to the main deck. Frank spent the rest of the weekend doing housekeeping in the generator space, making it the cleanest it has been in years.
The weather was apparently horrid all through middle America. Hank Taddeucci (DD-661) of Loveland, Colorado, had his flight rerouted around storms to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. From there, he got sidetracked to Dallas, Texas, where he spent Thursday night. He finally landed in Baton Rouge on Friday afternoon. He called his wife to let her know that he'd arrived and she answered the phone with the question "Where are you this time?" He made certain to buy a few items out of the Gift Shop just to prove that he'd actually gone to Baton Rouge and not Vegas or Atlantic City.
The weather had cleared by Friday afternoon, so the crew began to move to exterior projects. A former boatswain's mate, Hank restrung the canvas covers on our flag bags as well as the canvas bottom on one of the bunks in the Fletcher Museum. Errol Griffin (DD-678), who was feeling a bit under the weather throughout most of the weekend, lent a hand on restringing the bunk.
We had stripped rotted wood from the gunwale of our starboard whaleboat back in 2004. To date, however, we had been unable to get the woodwork replaced just right. Saturday dawned with beautiful skies so Mac Mackensen, Tom Andreasen, and George Seal teamed up with Ship's Superintendent Bob Holt to rip lumber and finish off this project once and for all. Unfortunately, the task appeared to be beyond the skills of all combined. While Tom was able to replace rotted ribbing in the whaleboat, the gunwale remains amiss. We hope to tap the expertise of some of our local boat builders in the coming month to help us with this project.
Roberta Chapman (Red Stick WAVES) has been involved with the KIDD since she was first opened as a museum. One of her fellow WAVES told her that the Field Days were "just for men" but KIDD staff member Tim NesSmith was quick to shoot that myth down. As a result, Roberta came down on Saturday to lend a hand along with her husband Ronald. They cleaned and polished every dish, cup, glass, fork, spoon, and knife in the Officer's Wardroom. In the process, Roberta discovered that our green felt tablecloth is the very same one that she made for the ship back in 1983 when the KIDD arrived in town.
The LSU chapters of Silver Wings and the Arnold Air Society hosted a regional conference at the Sheraton Hotel on Saturday and that afternoon, the KIDD's decks were crowded with students in dress uniform representing universities in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Alabama. George Seal, John Ellsworth, and Russell Rosenberger were all kind enough to guide these young people through the ship, explaining the sights and sounds. Russell in particular seemed to have an almost-exclusive female fan base. Most of us agreed that it must have been the mustache. The tours continued later that night as Cub Scout Pack # 7 of Scott, Louisiana, and Cub Scout Pack # 357 of Picayune, Mississippi came aboard. Errol, who was feeling much better, toured the kids around the ship extensively.
Of course, a field day just doesn't seem to be a field day without Ben and Jo Ann Fernandez (DDG-16 and FFG-1074). Last year, they served as our galley crew in spite of their home being damaged by Hurricane Katrina. This year, still in the midst of repairs, they continued that tradition like the troopers they are. If there was an MVP (Most Valuable Player) for the Field Day, that title would go to Ben and Jo Ann. They are, without a doubt, the heart of the program.
Back in 2004, Ron Cummings passed through Baton Rouge and heard about the Field Days. Unfortunately, the event occurred on the same weekend as his ship's reunion (he captained a Fletcher destroyer back in the day). Ron liked the idea of the Field Day so much that he sent a donation of $150 to defer expenses, even though he couldn't attend himself. This year in 2006, Ron repeated this generous act, again being unable to attend. We hope to get him aboard for 2007 so that we can finally thank him in person.
This year marked the 10th anniversary of the Field Day program aboard the KIDD. John Ellsworth of Ann Arbor, Michigan, holds the distinction of having attended fourteen out of the fifteen events held in that time. George Gordin got a late start in 1998 but he holds the record for the most consecutive attendance: eleven in row! Mike McGee of Davie, Florida (near Miami), and Benjamin and Jo Ann Fernandez are dogging George's heels with nine appearances each. Now that's dedication!
Our thanks to all of the men, women, children, and grandchildren that have made the Field Day program such a success here at the KIDD. Bravo Zulu, everyone!!! We hope to see you next year.