Germania Lodge No. 46 F&AM

Report on Benefit at Rock & Bowl for Bro Harry Ravain

The 2 nd benefit event for Bro Harry Ravain at Rock & Bowl was held Sunday, June 14 from 3-9 PM. Many local bands performed including a song by our own Bro Vince Vance. Harry played his own drums for a long session with his band, the Quarter Notes. Harry was noticeably stronger this time than last. There was a Poker Run for motorcycles which ended as the bands began playing. We had good participation from Germania members and families. I will not name them in fear of forgetting someone! There was great Nawlins music, dancing and bowling along with some liquid refreshment and brotherly bonding.

I presented Bro Ravain with $900 cash, collected by Germania members plus he received $100 from another Germania Bro, plus $31 that came in late, for a total of $1,031 from Germania! The entry fees and 50-50 raised about $3500 for a grand total of around $4500 for our Bro Harry!

PLEASE keep Harry in your prayers. His cancer is still determined in spite of all efforts to fight it.

Glenn Cupit, Master - 2009

A LETTER FROM BROTHER AARON RONSKLEY

Aloha all!

After passing my year mark in Hawaii this week, I realized I haven’t written to update everyone in over six months. Everything has been going really well here, having tons of fun. We’ve been busy at work, my parents came to visit, and I’ve moved to a different side of Oahu.

Back in January, after returning from my trip home to Pittsburgh, I was sent to Surface Warfare Officer School (SWOS) here in Pearl Harbor. This is a new program, where they quickly go over many of the things that are important to our job. Prior to this, we were supposed to just learn them as we went. The goal is to get new Officers there immediately after reporting when it is most beneficial. I had been on board my ship for 7 months by the time I went (along with many others in our class), so for most of us it was old news. It did give us a chance to meet people on other ships that we may not have met otherwise. Networking, same as many other jobs, can be very beneficial in the Navy.

While I was in school I was getting home at a decent time and decided to join an outrigger canoe club by my apartment in Waikiki. The canoe club practiced in the canal that ran parallel to the road in front of my apartment. It was very enjoyable and I wish I could have continued with the canoeing. Once I got out of school and came back to the ship, we had begun getting ready for a major inspection in April. I went from getting out of school at 4pm to getting out of work at anywhere from 6pm to 9pm. This killed my chance of making it to canoe practice at 5:30pm.

February was mostly consumed with preparing for our inspection in April, but we did get to go out to sea for a week and participate in the Submarine Commander’s Course. The event was mostly war games and chances for the 3 participating submarines to practice targeting ships. There were 4 ships that participated, three US ships and one Canadian ship. Our ship was never “killed” and we were able to fire one exercise torpedo (runs like a real torpedo in the water, but does not have a warhead). Our torpedo was judged to have “killed” one of the submarines.

After our time out to sea, the rest of February, March, and April were consumed with getting ready for the inspection. The inspection is called Unit Level Training Readiness and Assessment. They basically look at all of our equipment and our training ensuring we are doing what we are supposed to. Once we completed this, life was much easier. I was able to run the Lanikai Triathlon the weekend afterwards, which was gorgeous and right by where I would move to from Waikiki.

In May, which was busy enough already, we found out our landlord was not going to renew our lease since they wanted to sell their house and move into the apartment. So, along with traveling to a wedding and my parents visiting, I needed to find a new place to live. By mid-May I had decided to move in with a new roommate from work in a “beachfront” house in Kailua. We have an empty lot between us and the beach. Kailua is much more peaceful than the touristy Waikiki. We wake up to the sound of the ocean and have a beautiful house with a pool. I have attached a picture of Kailua beach from the air, if you could see our house it would be on the far right side of the picture.

My parents arrived in Maui the weekend after we had gotten our new house, so I spent a weekend over there visiting with them. The following week they came over to Oahu and did all the sightseeing here. I was stuck going out to sea for part of the week, but it was still a great visit.

The summer looks to be quite relaxed, our ship is going through a major maintenance period and we won’t be going out to sea again until August. I hopefully will be in Newport, RI in August for school for three weeks. This is a school that we must complete in order to fully qualify as a Surface Warfare Officer (the main goal of our first 18 months). It should be a great chance to enjoy New England though as well!

In case you were wondering my new address is:

32 Laiki Place

Kailua , HI 96734

From the land of pineapples and palm trees, I hope you are having a wonderful summer. Aaron

ENS Aaron Ronksley, USN. - Electrical Officer - Educational Services Officer

USS Reuben James (FFG-57)

ronkslaw@ffg57.navy.mil - electro@ffg57.navy.mil - 808-474-2087(Ship) - 412-780-3036(Cell)