The Reunion Home Base: The Crowne Plaza Hotel, 801 Greenwich Avenue, Warwick, Rhode Island 02886
The 2024 Newport, Rhode Island Area reunion to celebrate the 80th anniversary was a huge success. We had 56 attendees with 5 being first time attendees.
Sunday September 29th at 3:00 p.m. was check- in and the hospitality suite was ready for this year’s attendees at 4:00 p.m.
Monday, 09/30: Newport
Buses departed Crowne Plaza at 10:00 AM with the first stop at the Naval Seabee Museum and Memorial Park. We had lunch at the Quonset Point Officer’s Club. After lunch we enjoyed a narrated tour through Newport area to witness early American history and the stunning wealth of America’s Gilded Age. The tour took us through the breathtaking Ocean Drive and Bellevue Avenue where we viewed the homes of many famous Americans, including the childhood home of Jackie Kennedy, the Vanderbilts, and modern-day celebrities such as Jay Leno and Judge Judy. Our day included a stop at the Marble House which included a self-guided tour through the house and surrounding grounds. We returned to our home base at 5:00 P.M.
Tuesday, 10/01: Fall River, Massachusetts
Buses departed the hotel at 9:00 A.M. for Fall River, Mass with the first stop at the Vietnam Memorial Wall, an 80% scale size replica of the original Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C. We then explored the grounds at Battleship Cove which included our Memorial Service on the USS Massachusetts. We also had the opportunity to tour the USS Joseph P Kennedy Jr DD-850.
We then enjoyed our lunch along the river at The Cove Restaurant. Buses returned to the Crowne Plaza at 3:00 P.M.
Wednesday, 10/02: Mystic, Connecticut
Buses departed the hotel at 9:00 A.M. Our first stop was the Mystic Seaport which included a short cruise on an old-fashioned steamboat. We then had the opportunity to walk through the largest maritime museum in the United States. The rest of our day included a visit to a recreated 18th century town of Olde Mistick Village to explore the village, shop and eat lunch.
Buses returned to Crowne Plaza at 2:00 P.M.
3:30 P.M. We held our USS Massey Association Business Meeting in the hospitality suite, which included spouses and guests.
President Darrell Hanson opened and conducted the business meeting. Election of officers were held. Henry (Hank) Bruggeman was elected President, Frank Tiffinay was elected Vice President and Darrell Hanson assumed the secretary’s position.
Everyone agreed that this year’s reunion’s location was great and voted to return to the same hotel next year. The dates for next year’s reunion will be check-in Sunday 10/5/2025 and check-out Thursday 10/9/2025. Tours will be on Mon, Tues and Wed. The Bruggeman’s and Hanson’s will work on selecting the tours and schedules. Next Spring’s Newsletter will contain all of the details.
6:00 – 7:30P.M. Social Hour + Cash Bar and pictures of all guests being taken.
7:30 Banquet Dinner which included a very special USS Massey 80th Birthday Cake at each table in celebration of this very special year for the USS as seen below with our Honorary Guests Lance and Judy Massey.
Guest Speaker was one of our own shipmates David Johnson who was on the USS Massey as a MM2 from 1965-1966. David was able to gives us just a small part of his life experience in the US Navy but also gave us an insight into his life before and after the Navy. We can only hope that David will be able to share more of his incredible life stories with us at future reunions.
