As I write this, we are just a little over three months away from the reunion
and I hope that you are planning to join us for a real fun time in the Missouri Ozarks.

To give you some idea of what we have planned for you, the reunion will officially begin
on Wednesday the 21st, but several of us will be arriving before that time
to get everything ready for your arrival.

Others have made reservations to check in early
to have some extra time to view the many sites that Branson has to offer.

When you arrive at the Resort and check in, we will have a hospitality room set up
for your convenience in room's 104, 106 and 108. We will have some refreshment's
for you to enjoy during your stay here and these rooms will be available to us
for informal gatherings all during the reunion. On Saturday night the 24th,
we are planning a Banquet at the Resort where we will enjoy a dinner that is fully funded
by the group through your generosity.

Various fund raisers such as the Raffle Ticket's that we sent out for the two Grand Prizes
is one of the ways that we are able to do this.

We are also planning to have an Auction at the Saturday night Banquet using items
that we hope will be donated by many of you. Auction's in the past have been a lot of fun
and has been a successful way to raise funds for the group.

At the last Reunion in Mystic, Herb Hughs donated a M1 Military Rifle that raised
several hundred dollars for the group and Ed and Marilyn Czarny donated a German Beer Stein
that was made especially for Ed when he was in the 3/71st.
If this had been mine, I could not have gave it up, but Ed and Marilyn graciously
donated it to our group as a fund raiser. The Beer Stein raised a cool one hundred dollars
for the group.

Many other items have been donated such as wood crafts, bird house's,
a 3/71st belt buckle, Christmas tree's and a beer Keg hat.
It's through your generosity of donating and the generosity of the buyer's
that we are able to do the things that we do.

Another method that we use to raise funds is with drawings for prizes through out the evening.
We sell something like four or five tickets for a buck to those that want to participate
and it helps in raising a few dollars for the group. The prizes that we give out
are donated by the members for this purpose.

It does not have to be expensive for this group to have some fun. It can be something
that you have made or some small trinket that you may have picked up someplace.

I remember one year I won a yard stick.
No, it was not the kind that you measure with.
It was a actual stick out of someone's yard with a cute poem attached to it
and the poem said that they did not want it back. I still have it today.
Maybe someday I will use it to help start the fire in my fireplace,
but for now, I'll just keep it and remember good times with some good friends.

So, if you can help us with the auction and the door prizes, it is very much appreciated.
One thing that I would like to mention is that as a Veteran's group,
there are no fee's or due's to belong.

If you served in the 3/71st and you want to be part of our family group,
just let us know and you will receive all of our mailing's and never be billed for anything.
It's through the generosity of the member's that we are able to operate this way
and this is our seventh reunion so we must be doing something right.

On Sunday Morning we will all meet and have a farewell breakfast in the cafeteria
at The Welk Resort.

For those that are staying at the resort, a continental breakfast is available each day
to all registered guests at no cost, but on Sunday Morning we will all meet
and enjoy a full Branson style country breakfast that will be funded by monies
from the fund raisers. As you can see, we have not taken up much of your time
during your stay in Branson because there is just so much to see and do.
We just want you to join us and have a good fun time and when you leave Branson,
we hope that you will have renewed some old friendship's and made a few new one's.
One other thing to be thinking about, where will the reunion in 2004 take us to???
If there is one or two of you that would like to volunteer to host a reunion
and have us visit your area in 2004, just let us know.
We will help you all that we can.

We hope to see you in Branson.

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