Retirees Nick Williams (Electronics Engineering, 2002) and Leo Gross (Mechanical Engineering, 1999) are actively involved with the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary. Leo is a pilot and Nick flies as an Observer aboard single and twin engine aircraft flying out of Livermore airport on safety patrol missions for the Coast Guard. Patrol areas can vary, but most frequent are the Delta patrols which include the entire San Francisco Bay, through San Pablo, Grizzly Bay, Suisun Bay and the deep water channels to Stockton and Sacramento. Coast Guard Auxiliary members look for anything out of the ordinary from boaters and ships in trouble, hazards to navigation, and environmental concerns such as oil spills, security area violations, or buoys out of position. Leo has his own single aircraft and has qualified it for use for the auxiliary. Both retirees volunteer their time and aircraft for this important mission for the Coast Guard.

Jan and Harold Pfeifer (EPD, 1993) recently flew to the Antarctic via SFO, ORD, Buenos Aires & Ushuaia, Argentina, and Orient Cruise Line (MV Marco Polo). They toured Buenos Aires which, is a very nice city. They flew to Ushuaia (billed as the southernmost city in the World) where they boarded the Marco Polo. For the next 3 days they sailed to the Antarctica Peninsula. They passed through inland waterways; inlets with glaciers and icebergs, observed many birds, whales spouting, and of course, islands with penguins. They visited 3 penguin colonies (1 each day) via Zodiacs to/from the ship. They saw penguins "up close and personal." You could watch these animals for hours, but the constraints of time and yes, the weather, prevented too much viewing. They observed a variety of penguin species on each of the three landings. "Truly, penguins to behold." After their return to Ushuaia, They visited Tierra del Fuego Park. The mountains, flat lands, small lakes, and rivers presented many 'photo stops'.

The Travel Group meeting is Tuesday, March 28th at 2:00 p.m. in the Community Room of the Livermore Police building, 1110 South Livermore Avenue. The topic is "Art Tour of Spain and Portugal", by Margo and Arnie Kirkewoog.

March’s Retiree luncheon will be at noon on Wednesday, March 15th at the Elks Lodge in Livermore, 940 Larkspur Drive. Our speaker will be John Marchand, Senior Chemist for the Alameda County Water District. His topic is entitled: "All About Water."

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.