04/17/2024
Greetings to all my USS Towers, Shipmates!
For some of us the weather is starting to warm up enough to break out the Summer Gear…..others are not as fortunate.
This week on ‘News on the 9’ the focus is on our itinerary for our 2024 Fort Worth, Texas reunion. Working on scheduling in the next couple of weeks an Executive Board meeting to look at our itinerary and see if we can confirm this is what the Association will go with.
I have a list of our Shipmates who have already made their reservations. This list will also have the information that we will use for printing out Name Badges for the Reunion and to update our membership roster. It will have Last and First Name, Hometown, Spouse/Guest (Please let us know if your Spouse/Guest is not coming. We will be printing them a Name Badge also), Highest Rank you held in the Navy, Rank/Rate while on the USS Towers and Years that you were aboard. I will need to keep this list updated so that we can get the Name Badges printed before the reunion. I will only be sending this list to those who have made their reservations with the Marriot Hotel. If you do not get this list, it is because we do not have a record from the hotel that you have made reservations in which case please shot me or David Lillis a message or email and we will make sure that the Hotel gets you on the USS Towers Reunion list.
I do ask that Shipmates, Alex Cloninger, Fred Luebker, John ODell and James Weston please shoot me an email to the Association’s email address so that I can update my records. I do not have your email addresses. Thank you. One more Shipmate that I need the correct email address for is from Tom Holstrom. The one I have on file does not work. Tom, please send an email to the Association’s Address so that I can update our Association roster. Thank you, sir!!
I have added additional information to our Free Time section. Currently I have updated addresses and pricing that I know of as of now. I was going to break down further the places that are in Sundance Square, which is a neighborhood in Fort Worth however, after I went to sundancesquare.com there is no way that I could give you the amount of information that they have on their website. They even go out of their way to find 2.5 hours of Free Parking every day when you visit a Sundance Square business. Go out and take a look at their website, it is very informative.
Again, I need to announce for the 2024 Fort Worth, TX reunion that Mike Duffy is looking to put a fishing trip together. It is $175 per person and there is a 3-person minimum. It is about two hours from Fort Worth. The guide will need two months’ notice to confirm a reservation. Please shoot an email to the Association or message Mike Duffy if you are interested.
HOT TOPICS With Important Information
-Here is just an abbreviated schedule that we are looking to set up and finalize.
9/17 Day 1
Evening-Hospitality Room will be open and stocked. Association will provide the Pizza. I believe that it will be open by 1700ish.
9/18 Day 2
Morning-Tour of US Treasury Mint
Afternoon-Stockyards for 1630 roundup and dinner (Nothing has been scheduled as to any certain restaurant to have dinner. Will look for a place that has a lot of room.)
Evening-Hospitality Room will be available (Hospitality room will have room passes. We will work with the hotel management to find how many passes we can hold or if they have a better solution.) Tentative trip to American Legion HEB Post 379. It is Karaoke Nite till 2100. Hot Dogs and such are on the menu. Opens at 1000 and Closes @ Midnight
9/19 Day 3
Morning-Free Time
Afternoon-Rangers baseball game against Toronto Blue Jays. It is a 1338 start to that game. We are looking to get Group pricing for seats that generally run in the $40 range. If you look at the Rangers website we are looking at Corner Box seats (First and Third base sides), All You Can Eat and the Karbach Brewing Rocking Chairs sections.
Evening-Hospitality Room will be open.
Tentative trip to American Legion HEB Post 379. Marine Corp League has their meeting that night. We can make fun of the marines…..well maybe not. Opens at 1000 and Closes @ Midnight
9/20 Day 4
Morning and Afternoon-Free Time
Evening-Banquet and Action at the Paddock which is on site.
9/21 Day 5
Morning-Association Business Meeting in the Hospitality Room
Afternoon and Evening-Free Time.
Tentative trip to American Legion HEB Post 379. Kitchen is opened. There is Entertainment but, will not know that at this time. More info to follow. Opens at 1000 and Closes @ Midnight
9/22 Day 6
Bon Voyage.
Free Time-The following is a list of places to visit if we have something on the schedule that is not to your liking. It has been updated with addresses and costs:
Texas Motor Speedway, 3545 Lone Star Cir, Fort Worth, TX 76177
According to their website that Track Tours are suspended during the month of September. You can gain entrance to the site for $15.00. Will have to investigate what is there to visit if you cannot take a Track Tour. More information to follow.
Fort Worth Aviation Museum, 3300 Ross Ave, Fort Worth, TX 76106
$9.00
Joint Reserve Base, Fort Worth Front Gate, Military Pkwy, Westworth Village, TX 76114
Sundance Square, Downtown Fort Worth, TX
Go to sundancesquare.com and you will see what they have to offer. Currently their September calendar does not have any entertainment scheduled but, when you do get on the site they have many things going on during the present month of April….Take a look. As we get closer to September, we hope the calendar will start to fill up during the week of our reunion.
Fort Worth Water Garden, 1502 Commerce St, Fort Worth, TX 76102
Free
Fort Worth Zoo, 1989 Colonial Pkwy, Fort Worth, TX 76110
Adults (13+) $20; Children (3-12) $16; Toddlers (2 & younger) Free; Seniors (65+) $16
Winstar Casino, Thackerville, OK (About 50 miles away)
Hop On and Hop Off-The train station that stops at Dallas Union Station is about a 20-minute drive and then the train ride is about an hour long. You can pick up the Hop On and Hop off there at the station or if you want to visit Daily Plaza, it is within walking distance from the Dallas Union Station. I will get better details when David Lillis gets back from his cruise.
American Legion HEB Post 379, 1245 North Industrial Blvd., Bedford, TX 76021
Fishing Trip-Mike Duffy is looking to put a fishing trip together. It is $175 per person and there is a 3-person minimum. It is about two hours from Fort Worth. The guide will need two months’ notice to confirm a reservation. Please shoot an email to the Association or message Mike Duffy if you are interested.
Remember that the Marriot Hotel has amenities:
Jackdaw Fort Worth Restaurant-First floor next to the lobby. Open Mon-Sun 1500-2300
Smokin’ Oak Bar and Grill-Inside Golf Course Clubhouse. Open Mon-Sun 0700-1900
BigShots Sports Bar & Pub Grub-Onsite east of Hotel Lobby. Open Sun-Thurs 1100-2200, Fri-Sat 1100-2300. This also has Top Golf.
Creekside Café-Breakfast area next to Jackdaw. Mon-Fri 0600-1000, Sat and Sun 0700-1100
Routine Information
Please continue to pay your Association dues through the usstowers.com website.
Our Treasurer, Chris Perry has started a ‘USS Towers DDG-9 Association’ GoFundMe page. It is https://gofund.me/55a344a2. The GoFundMe page was created February 11, 2024. I have posted this up on the USS Towers DDG-9 Facebook page. I would like to encourage all my USS Towers Shipmates to share this with your friends on Facebook or printout the poster that can be shared and hang on a Bulletin board or Information wall at work, an office you frequent or any other place where folks will stop and read. There is also a QR code that you can share with folks which I know that Chris just recently used at his band, Enemy of None’s musical event and was successful in getting donations. Please get this out to your friends and families. The Associations Executive Board will use this money to benefit our Association members at the 2024 Fort Worth, TX reunion and we do hope to use this for reunions in the future. We will keep you posted.
-USS Towers DDG-9 Shipmate in the Spotlight. We will continue to spotlight at least once a month one or more of our shipmates. This will be one of the things that we will be uploading to the Towers Website once it is online. This month I would like to thank our 2024 Fort Worth, TX Sponsors for their efforts in setting up our reunion hotel. So far, the site looks amazing. They are continuing to work on an itinerary that the Association can sponsor as well as arrange transportation to and from the hotel, get Group/Military discounts and to arrange for those Shipmates who have disabilities to participate. I know that I look forward to working with our sponsors in arranging fun and interesting tours for all our Shipmates. Thank you David Lillis, Rich Wiltshire and Steve Wallace!!!
Please send your Shipmate in the Spotlight nominations to along with a brief explanation of why your nominee deserves this recognition.
– Shipmates, we have the information needed to reserve your room for the USS Towers DDG-9, 2024 Reunion in Fort Worth, Texas. I do ask that everyone reserve their rooms as early as you can. We want to be able to not only fill up the Block of rooms that we have reserved but, to also be able to know that early enough so that we can negotiate another block of rooms at that discounted group rate we have currently negotiated if needed. Anyone that waits until the last minute to reserve a room could potentially not be eligible for the discounted group rate. It is early…. More information to follow.
Roster Update:
Names on the Roster: 559
Names Verified: 140
I will be contacting all those who have made reservations by Email so that I can confirm the information that I have on these members. We will use this information to print out our name tags used during the reunion. We need to know if your Spouse will be attending or not. We will automatically make a Name Badge for Spouse/Guests if we are not told otherwise. Thanks
If you do not get the ‘News on the 9’ please send us your Email address, First and last name, what years you served and your home City/State to usstowersddgnine@gmail.com
Please visit our Facebook page: USS Towers (DDG-9) https://www.facebook.com/groups/65196440936/
Please visit our Reunion Facebook page: USS Towers DDG-9 2024 Reunion Fort Worth, TX Sept 17-22 https://www.facebook.com/groups/23879762748305308/
Please visit our Associations website at usstowers.com
Please visit our Association GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/55a344a2
USS Towers Association Inc. email address: usstowersddgnine@gmail.com
The Association’s Executive Board has started to look at a Mission Statement. Hope to have that out to the Association’s membership soon for your perusal. Would like to have a final ready for the Business Meeting the morning of September 21st and bring it to a vote. As always, I will keep the Association informed of what is being done with the USS Towers DDG-9 Association Inc. website and update you on our upcoming 2024 Fort Worth, TX reunion when I pen the next ‘News on the 9’!!!
Very Respectfully
Bob Whapeles, President
USS Towers DDG-9 Association Inc.
usstowersddgnine@gmail.com
usstowers.com