Marine Corps Cryptologic Assoc (MCCA)Reunion - Norfolk, VA 6-8 Sept 2022
Schedule
Tue, 06 Sep, 2022 at 11:00 am to Thu, 08 Sep, 2022 at 11:45 pm
Location
Sheraton Norfolk Waterside Hotel | Norfolk, VA
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Greetings and Salutations fellow Marines! It's time to get moving on presenting all the necessary preparations for our annual reunion! I've secured a hotel and an agency here in Norfolk called Armed Forces Reunions, inc. to help with the registration and booking of tours/transportation etc.
The Reunion dates are 6-8 September w/President's reception evening of 6th and Banquet evening of 8th. We have a large hospitality room where we will "hang out", swap sea stories, provide drinks and snacks and there will be a smaller room for our board meeting, and we'll use the hospitality room for our "all-hands" meeting.
The hotel I've selected and secured is the Norfolk Sheraton Waterside (see attached photo) Room Rate for Reunion attendees is $119.00 (less tax) per night. Blocked off 10 rooms for 9/5 (early arrivals), 35 rooms for 9/6 through 9/8 and 5 rooms for 9/9 (for those who want to stay an extra night). I can negotiate more rooms, if necessary, based on registration numbers.
This hotel is located at the downtown Norfolk "waterside" district right on the banks of the Elizabeth River and within walking distance to a nautical museum called "Nauticus" which is attached to the Battleship USS WISCONSIN BB-64, as well as the nearby Douglas MacArthur Memorial Museum and the MacArthur Mall (which has far less stores open since the pandemic closed a lot of them down). The Waterside district has a few restaurants next to the hotel. It is also within walking distance to the two other downtown hotels: the Norfolk Marriott and the Norfolk Hilton "THE MAIN" which has 3 excellent restaurants. You're also within walking distance to Granby Street which has many restaurants.
The (Sheraton) hotel has an imbedded restaurant that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner but I have to admit the food is decent but the menu is a little pricey. There is NO complimentary breakfast offered HOWEVER, I can ensure we have plenty of complimentary coffee, juice, water, sodas and pastries/donuts, and fruit, cereal, milk & yogurt every morning in our hospitality room.
The hotel does have small shuttle busses that will take you to the Nauticus, WISCONSIN, MacArthur center with prior arrangements for those who can't walk any distances.
The Hotel is a 20 min. drive from the Norfolk/VA Beach Int'l Airport however the Sheraton does NOT have shuttles to/from the Airport....at least they don't now, however may start up that service by September but plan accordingly, you can take a cab, or UBER/LYFT to/from airport or rent a car if desired. Many of you will drive and I recommended driving if you can, it gives you lots of flexibility, there is amble parking in the adjacent high rise parking garage, there is NO VALET PARKING. (Many services like VALET and Shuttles have been discontinued due to worker/driver shortages caused by the pandemic).
WHAT I NEED FROM YOU RIGHT NOW. I have a few ideas for interesting tours while we're here together in Norfolk. I need you to tell me which ones you prefer, I'm thinking I can make arrangements for two and you would be on your own for the others which are within walking distance.
These will require contracting bus(ses) and arranging for guest speakers (Dam Neck Schoolhouse) and a luncheon at the Military Aviation Museum.
Please indicate in a return e-mail to me which of these you'd like to have offered for this reunion or if you'd rather not participate in any tours. I do highly recommend we try to get as many attending members as possible to come to the Marine Corps Intelligence Schools (MCIS) command co-located with NMITC (Navy/Marine Corps Intel Training Center) since I will need to line up transportation, tours and briefs from CO/XO/SEA of MCIS. The Norfolk Naval Base (home of 2nd Fleet) is currently NOT offering ship tours (Carriers, Amphibs, etc due to COVID protocols, which may be relaxed by the time we meet in Sept).
CHOICES:
1. Dam Neck (MCIS tour and briefs by MCIS leadership, including the Col JIm "Q" Quisenberry classroom and glass-enclosed memorial.
2. Military Aviation Museum (Virginia Beach). about a 50 min ride w/lunch (Mission BBQ) on the premises. An outstanding collection of WWI and WWI aircraft with very talented & knowledgeable docents on the tour. (Highly recommended, very impressive museum). Website: www.militaryaviationmuseum.org
3. Lunch time cruise down the Elizabeth River on the "Spirit of Norfolk" Yacht. Tour includes, buffet lunch, and sailing by the ships in port at the Norfolk Naval Station and downtown Norfolk Waterside area.
That's it for now. Once I get your feedback, in about a weeks' time, I will publish another e-mail with the phone # and/or online registration link to reserve your room for the reunion and fill out the "registration form" to collect money for dinners, tours, registration fee etc. PLEASE DO NOT ATTEMPT TO BOOK YOUR ROOM UNTIL YOU GET MY NEXT EMAIL SOMETIME NEXT WEEK. Not to worry, we have plenty of time and the hotel has blocked off rooms for us already.
Finally, PLEASE HELP ME GET THE WORD OUT! WE ONLY HAVE ABOUT 85 (known) EMAILS FROM MEMBERS....MAKE SOME CALLS, FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO YOUR BUDDIES WHO MAY NO LONGER BE MEMBERS, LET THEIR MEMBERSHIP EXPIRE, GOT DISILLUSIONED SOMEHOW. WITH THE MAJORITY OF OUR MEMBERSHIP LOCATED ON THE EAST COAST (EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI) WE COULD HAVE A GREAT TURN OUT AND A FUN, PRODUCTIVE AND MEMORABLE REUNION. WE'RE NOT GETTING ANY YOUNGER (EXCEPT FOR ME). I WILL HAVE THIS INFO OUT ON OUR WEBSITE (www.mymcca.org) AND FACEBOOK PAGES (MCCA and CRYPTOLOGY MARINES). We'd like to encourage younger members to come to this reunion, and so being a current member is NOT a requirement for attendance at this Reunion. We'll get a lot more SIGNT/EW Marines Past and Present interested if we open it up to non-members and once they attend, we'll give them the "hard sell" to join!
Feel free to call me: 757 275-5833
Semper Fi!
Frank Cubillo
President, MCCA
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Where is it happening?
Sheraton Norfolk Waterside Hotel, 777 Waterside Dr, Norfolk, United StatesEvent Location & Nearby Stays: