Base meeting was held at the Sioux Falls DAV with Gwen cooking up Gumbo for the guys! The meeting started at 1300 with the reading of the Creed and Pledge Of Allegiance. The boat was ordered to Dive. Invocation was given and members and guests were introduced.Tolling of the Boats was read and given to the March/April losses. Due to I-29 & I-90 being closed to travel our attendance this meeting was lower.

Members attending: Ray Decker, Jim Farquhar, Nick Wentzel, Steve Kyle, Dan Anderson, Ray Turner & guest Marv Drymond?, Bruce Curry, Scott Kelly and Kent Winter.

Secretary/Treasurers reports: Brian submitted a report that account balance was $6725.39; divided out by General Fund: $2690; Torpedo Memorial Fund: $3087; Caps for Kids: $287

Committee reports:
Eagle Scout program: Dan, Brian & Jim did an Eagle Scout presentation to Parker Sisson in Harrisburg on March 5th. They were allowed to make a special presentation on behalf of the USSVI org! Congrats to Parker and special thanks to sub vets involved! WE DO need to purse Eagle Scout ceremony’s in local areas by keeping our eyes and ears open to leads and work with the Sioux Council and any group within.

Kaps4Kids program: Dan Anderson renewed our contact with Avera Children's Hospital to get the K4K's program up and running again after the pandemic, but unfortunately we was not allowed to visit any kids due to pandemic yet.

Yankton Memorial Planning: We need to work with the Yankton VFW to proceed with our plans to display it along with the new Purple Heart signage coming.

Parades: Dan is setting the Base up to participate in the Riverboat Days in Yankton, the Turkey Days in Worthington and if he can other towns like Luverne, Windom & Hills. Hope we can get enough volunteers to make the events!!

Storekeeper: Have 2023 USSVI Calendars still available for $10. I will mail to you for additional $2.

Old/Unfinished business:

Sioux Falls Veterans Park: We have made contact with the SF Park & Rec. Dept to work on our efforts to place a USSVI memorial at the park.
Base member overwhelmingly supported the idea. If you would like to volunteer, contact Brian at 605-413-6811.

New Business:

Facebook - In this world of social media, I researched the following Facebook sites and their likes and followers claimed by each.
Purple Hearts had 215 likes and 228 followers.
Scorpion Base has 2.4K likes and 2.5K followers!
USS South Dakota had 1.1K likes and 16 followers.
Now Ray D. stated that the boat has another Facebook site which shows more usage but this link had not been updated since the Commissioning ceremonies.
WE look pretty good! Thanks to everyone making contact and spreading the word of USSVI.

Holland Club - Brought up 3 new members Bruce Curry, Warner Munger and Bud Walkin that have the qualifications for Holland Club.
Base will submit their names for membership and for Holland Club membership. Base will now use the July 15 th Base meeting to present Holland Club membership as the Memorial Service in May does not give it proper recognition.

Even Month Recruiting trips - Even months arrange visits to towns with AL/VFW support to recruit. Dan A. has suggested and is working towards a Submarine Birthday event at the Sioux Falls DAV on June 17th. We discussed options from dancing to just getting together and the overall consensus was to use it as a recruiting night and invite the hopeful submarine veterans from around the area to come. Much as we thought of doing this in different towns across our region, guess we'll start with Sioux Falls first. Dan is making arrangements with Gwen to cook for the event too!

Sub Memorial at SF VA - The SF VA is remodeling the front entrance area. We are pursuing all options, contacted the VA on display case on model submarines to display at their facilities along with signage to honor those who served.

Sioux Falls Veterans Park - We have met with Park & Rec to discuss what the Base is trying to do and that we want, bench, plaque, etc. at the SF Veterans Park. Found out we have to get on the City schedule to implement any changes in the Park and have done so to start the process.

May Memorial Service - The Base is working with the local Purple Heart organization to make a presentation at the memorial this year inducting all 77 sailors on the USS Scorpion SS 278 into the local Purple Heart club. Ken Tennison of the local Purple Heart org will be doing the honors of inducting the entire crew. A special Purple Heart sign will be erected on the site listing all the crew. Then we will go to the Yankton VFW for a Purple Heart sign inside and see the model Gato sub and plaque honoring the USS Scorpion SS 278 currently on display.

Next meeting/event is the USS Scorpion Memorial Service Saturday, May 20th, 2023 in Yankton SD.
Memorial service will start at 12 noon at the memorial (weather permitting).
This year the Purple Heart organization will be inducting the Scorpion crew into the local Purple Heart org.
Then we will go over to the Yankton VFW to eat and dedicate a Purple Heart sign inside.

Let's car pool together and hopefully with nice weather we can hold the event outside at the memorial.

The 50/50 drawing was held with Nick Wetzel winning the $25 pot!

Meeting Adjourned at 1415. St. Patrick's Day was one cold sob day.

Know we have guys out there that are either sick, helping spouses & family, or maybe just hurting.
Please give your buddies a call and just talk for awhile if you can!