Wayne DeWitt (SSEC 2001) and Sue DeWitt (BBRP 2001) had a busy 2004.  Wayne is crewing on an old pirate ship, a 100' schooner, taking Amelia Island visitors on 2-3 hour tours.  Sue is still volunteering at Baptist Hospital. Sue took a week in February to meet her sisters, Linda Croft and Terri Reeves, in Cancun.  They had a great time catching up and enjoying the beautiful beaches. In April, Wayne and Sue chartered a sailboat in the warm and tropical British Virgin Islands taking their CA friends, Gladys and Larry Birdsong on their first sailing trip.  It was smooth sailing with good friends.  Everyone is looking forward to our next voyage. This summer Sue met up with Janet Welch (Earth Sciences ????) and Barbara Bryan (Earth Sciences ????), for a cruise to Bermuda.  They really enjoyed their time together and the cruise was wonderful.  Yes, they really do have pink sand in Bermuda. In December, Wayne and Sue, along with Nort Croft (HR 2001) and Linda Croft, took a once in a lifetime adventure cruise on the Rio Amazonas, a small riverboat that sleeps 40 passengers, along the Amazon River round trip from Iquitos, Peru, to Leticia, Colombia, and Tabatinga, Brazil.  They visited Indian Villages, learning about their cultures.  Their guide took them on long walks through jungles and rain forests observing unique plants, a large variety of Parrots and other birds, Poisonous Frogs, Centipedes and Tarantulas.  They also encountered amazing wildlife including 3-Toed Sloths, Squirrel Monkeys, Tapirs, Jaguars, Boas, Anacondas, Caimans, and Pink Dolphins.  One of the highlights of the trip was Piranha fishing.  Sue was the first to catch a Piranha.  This was a very active and a truly memorable trip. After returning home, Wayne and Sue took a short cruise to the Bahamas before traveling to California to visit family for Christmas. 

We received an e-mail from Tom (Electronics) and Joan (Telecommunications, 1990) Lincicome’s niece, Roberta Sloat Rackers. She found their name on the Internet in the July 2004 Retiree’s Corner, while looking for ancestral information on the family for her son’s 7th grade school project. She lives in Jefferson City, Missouri and Tom is her mom’s brother. She was pleased to find that Tom and Joan finally became grandparents. She asked us to say "Hi" from her.

Dick Eddy (Z Division & NAI, 2000) and his wife, Pat, have been active turning their avocation (playing bridge) into an occupation (working as Bridge Directors on cruise ships).  During 2004, they spent almost five months on cruise ships, visiting Hawaii, Mexico, Bermuda, east and west Caribbean, and just completed a two-month cruise from Beijing, China, to Capetown, South Africa, in December. They were in Phuket, Thailand, just 3 weeks before the tsunami hit.  Dick and Pat are keeping up their "less-than-six-months-a-year-at-home" pace.

Thanks: To all of the retirees whose time and knowledge was so generously given to identify hazards we might encounter while demolishing obsolete facilities, please accept our most sincere appreciation. Protecting our employees today paves the way for the successful future of the Laboratory. Your efforts remain as significant to the Laboratory’s future mission as was your prior service. You have made a significant contribution to the Space Action Team's ability to provide a sustained record of superior safety performance by sharing your knowledge. The safety of LLNL’s employees, which was protected through your assistance, is invaluable. To those of you who will be contacted in the future, we look forward to talking with you about your knowledge and experiences, so that we may continue to protect the LLNL’s employees who work on these de-construction projects. Very truly yours, Mitch Waterman, Team Leader

The Travel Group will be on Tuesday, February 22nd at 2:00 p.m. in the Community Room of the Livermore Police building, 1110 South Livermore Avenue. The topic is "The Rockies, Arches and Other Sites of Colorado, Nevada and Utah," by Bob and Juanaita Berlo.

There will be a regular Retiree Luncheon at the Elks Lodge in Livermore at noon on Wednesday, February 16th. The speaker will be Rose Chaco, Vice President of Risk Management and Audits of UNCLE Credit Union. She will discuss "Identify Theft: How to avoid it and what to do if you are a victim."

Please send any news or input (please include the date and department from which you retired) to Jane or Gus Olson. E-Mail: Jane@LLNLRetirees.org or Gus@LLNLRetirees.org.

This article appears in the February Retirees' Corner in Newsline.