NEWSLETTER
August 2006

Dear Shipmates:
                      
Hope everyone is doing well and making plans to attend the reunion in Covington, KY on 18-25 Sept. Sign ups are going well and it looks as if we'll have another good turnout.

City of Covington, Kentucky website: http://www.covingtonky.com/

We have some entertainment scheduled in our hospitality suite on Friday night. In addition to cake & coffee we have a speaker Gary Griesser who will give an entertaining and inspirational program entitled "Proud to be an American." Gary is an accomplished singer and has shared the platform with Billy Graham, Johnny Cash, Zig Ziglar and William Bennett.

We also have the "High Stepping Grandma's", a group of 8 senior ladies (ages unknown) who perform a costumed choreographed dance program. Cake & coffee and the entertainment on Friday is all paid for by the Association which is made possible by the generous donations by many of our members & our raffle so please plan on attending.

Received word that 4 more of our shipmates have passed away.
Donald Fiscus 52-54 Feb.06
Payne Escar SHSN 47-51 Mar. 06
Zech, Clifford QM2 49-51
Herron Jerry 52-54

Frances Honeycutt has MS and has been in the hospital since 17 Dec. 05. Soloman & Francis have attended 9 of our 14 reunions and made many friends, they have also attended all of our San Diego mini reunions except this years. I really missed seeing Francis in San Diego this year, I always looked forward to seeing her at our reunions. As I'm sure many of you will. I'm sure she would appreciate cards from her friends, her address is 3014 "J" St. San Diego, CA 92102.

If you are flying into Louisville, KY and are interested in sharing a rental car with someone contact Sue Birdsong at 951-789-5309 or e-mail her at bnsbirdsong@mindspring.com

For baseball fans the Chicago Cubs will be in town on Sept. 22, 23 & 24th, there is also a great Reds baseball museum in the stadium, which is open daily. You can get details at the front desk.

In our May 06 newsletter we mentioned the South Banks shuttle, a transportation system that goes to all of Cincinnati & Northern KY's riverfront area attractions, hotels, restaurants and shopping districts, $1.00 is the cost.  We are going to put 2 tokens in each check-in packet, we recommend you take the full tour first to determine what you want to stop & see.
Our Springfield, MO reunion memory books were mailed to everyone in June 06. IIf you have not received yours please let me know. If you didn't order one, and want one I have extra's $25.00 each.

Don't forget our raffle, this is our only source of revenue other than dues and donations each year we have had approximately 100 items donated for the raffle. If you are not attending the reunion but are sending a raffle item please don't send it to the hotel, sometimes they don't notify us of the item and 2 or 3 months later they return it to the sender.

If you want to ship anything for the reunion please send it to Franks Potts 2971 Cooper Rd. Cincinnati, Oh 45241 and mark it "For USS F.B. Parks Reunion" Please ship so that it will arrive between 12-18 Sept. Also don't forget to bring the return address labels we all receive in the mail to place on back of your raffle tickets, this expedites our raffle and makes it much easier for Tom.

In the May newsletter I said to call the hotel with your airline, flight no. & arrival time this is causing some confusion (on their part) so when you arrive use the courtesy phone and call the hotel, numbers are posted in baggage claim area.

The Newport Aquarium is a 1 million gal. Aquarium, you walk under water through a special acrylic tunnel. It has 11000 marine animals in 16 separate theme areas. They also have an IMAX theater at "Newport on the levee". Northern Kentucky's new leisure time destination, which offers a unique mix of entertainment, dining and shopping. You will have approximately 3 hours  for sightseeing, shopping and lunch.

Hotel is the Radisson Hotel Cincinnati Riverfront, for reservations call direct at
859-491-1200 or Central reservations 800-333-3333. Deadline for $75.00 rate is Aug. 15, 06.

We're looking forward to seeing everyone in September.

Tom & Robby

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MESSAGE FROM THE CHAPLAIN

Greeting Shipmates,

I hope everyone is enjoying these beautiful summer months that the Lord has blessed us with. Like most summers, it has been especially hot in Georgia and Loree and I have been busy keeping our garden and grass from dying. If our garden is not being scorched by the heat, it is being dug up by our new dog, Prissy, who we got fro the humane society a couple months ago. Though we got Prissy to keep the deer out of our garden, she has become a blessing in both our lives and our family's lives. Though we have done little traveling this summer, we have seen our children and grandchildren many times. In April, Zack turned 16 and he is now able to drive over to our house and see us whenever he wants. Our youngest grandson, Shane, has just finished kindergarten and is excited about traveling to Texas over the summer and starting first  grade in the fall. Truly, Loree and I have much to be thankful for.

Speaking of being thankful, as I began to write this newsletter, I came across a book by Jerry Bridges entitled, The Practice of Godliness and in it I found a section on thankfulness that I felt needed to be shared. The main point that I received from this section was to be thankful to the Lord and both our physical and spiritual blessings. Unfortunately in today's world, people tend to give themselves credit, instead of God, and God has said that he will turn humanity over to ever-increasing wickedness and immorality, if we do not give him thanks for the deeds he has done. With thankness to God come many blessings in our lives, if we give thanks to God, faith, as we have seen his blessings and know that he will watch over us, and contentment, as material possessions will mean nothing and only God's blessings will have worth. I would like to encourage everyone to write a list of blessings you are thankful for, especially your salvation, and I hope you will pray and thank God for it everyday.

In closing, I hope everyone is having an enjoyable summer. I can't wait till our reunion in Covington, KY on the week of Sept. 18th. I hope everyone has made plans and is ready to have a good time. I hope to see both old and new faces alike.

Sincerely,

Herman "W” Carter
Chaplain