San Antonio convention is a winner
About 600 people attended the 56th annual convention July 27-30 at San Antonio TX. The convention was held at the Hyatt Regency on the River Walk.
Many people arrived Wednesday to take part in the 7A Cattle Ranch tour that evening. Participants were treated to a chuckwagon dinner and some western-style entertainment.
Tours on Thursday included a shopping trip to Gruene TX in the afternoon and a boat trip on the River Walk and a Mexican dinner at Casa Rios that evening.
The Checkerboard Chorus performed Thursday evening for a large crowd. The chorus sang the old favorites and patriotic tunes and had some outstanding soloists. B.O. Wilkins and the M&Ms (Marcel and Mathilde Schmetz) performed, to the delight of the audience.
The Memorial Service was held Friday morning. It always is a highlight of any convention.
Friday's tour was a city tour featuring stops at the San Antonio Shoe Factory and Mission Concepcion. Participants enjoyed a buffet lunch at the Fort Sam Houston NCO Club before visiting the U.S. Army Medical Museum. The tour concluded with a visit to the Alamo.
Free tacos and nachos were served Friday evening and those attending enjoyed the music of Sid Fly, a local entertainer.
Saturday activities began with a program for the women featuring a Mexican folk dance troupe with beautiful costumes and music.
The membership meeting was held at the same time.
The traditional reception and banquet was held Saturday evening. The M&Ms were recognized during the program and expressed appreciation to their American friends. They also informed the group of an increase in vandalism and desecration of the U.S. military cemeteries and asked people to write their congressmen for help with this problem.
Christian deMarcken was the guest speaker and his remarks are printed elsewhere in this issue.
The Diggers, J.P. Speder, J.L. Seel, Marc Marique, and J.L. Menestrey, were present at this year's convention. They gave several standing-room-only presentations about the MIA Project.
