The Reunion in Dayton, Ohio

On Wednesday, everyone arrived as expected and several stopped by the hospitality suite for a visit and to get an idea as to what was planned. Next day several groups met in the hotel dining area for breakfast before boarding a bus for a tour of the Dayton area and some of its significant sites.

A number of items on the tour surprised lots of people. Dayton has always been a real hot bed for invention. It wasn't just powered flight that was invented here, it was also pop tops for cans, electric ignition and starters for automobiles, methods of flood control, code breaking machines during WWII - the list continues.

On Friday, we headed off to an ancient Indian village that is being actively researched by archeologists; it dates from about 100 A.D. It has several reconstructed pole, daub, and thatched buildings. Numerous poles were also placed to mark significant seasonal events (summer/winter solstice, spring/winter equinox) which helped them know when to plant and harvest their crops.

After lunch at one of our local historical parks, we toured the park and learned even more about the area. Dayton at one time had six different automobile manufacturers, and they had one of the actual planes used by the Wright brothers to do their continuing research on powered flight (Charlie thought this was the greatest part.)

That evening was an evening of smooth jazz for several of us. Others were in the hospitality suite watching videos of the 1913 flood in Dayton as well as a program on the development of the code breaking machine by NCR ( The Bombe).

On Saturday, we met and left for a day of aviation discovery with a long visit at the National Museum of the US Air Force. After returning, we met for our family dinner. At the Saturday evening dinner, Arthur Mussatt's son and daughter-in-law who live in the area joined us. Bill Blenko and Dolores Hogan brought some colorful Blenko glass bowls as door prizes.

The business meeting concluded with a discussion on where to have the next reunion. The overwhelming opinion was in England. Make sure you check out the article in the last newsletter.