Reunion Savannah 2005

517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team

Biennial 517th PRCT Reunion

August 15-19, 2005
Savannah, GA

Print and complete this form and return to Hal Beddow:

Reunion Registration Form in pdf format
Reunion Registration Form in Word format

Registration must be received by July 10, 2005

The Biennial 517th PRCT Reunion will be held in Savannah, Georgia, at the Hilton Savannah DeSoto Hotel, located in the heart of the Historic District at 15 East Liberty Street, from August 15 - 19, 2005.

Reservations can be made by calling Hilton Savannah (1-800-426-8483). If this number is busy, it will roll over to the national 800 number. You may also register online at www.hilton.com code word is 517.

Rates for the rooms are $89.00 per night plus tax, with free covered parking at the hotel. There are also 7 free RV parking spaces, located close to the hotel, which are on a "first-come, first-serve" basis. There are also 3 RV camping areas in the Savannah area, with one being a State Park. If you need information regarding the camping sites or any other information, you may call the Beddows at (912) 925-2766 or email HBeddow@cs.com.

Registration cut-off date at the hotel is July 15, 2005.

You will have a guided tour of the largest Urban National Historic Landmarks in the United States. You will see 270 years of history, ride along cobblestone paved streets beneath moss-draped oaks and experience the “Old South” with its many stately mansions, beautiful squares and the riverfront. You will also see the mansion from “The Book”.

Following the above tour, you will have a police escort to the Mighty 8^th Air Force Museum. The Mighty 8^th is a wonderful museum and features the Combat Gallery, Memorial Gardens, an English Chapel and many interesting exhibits. Lunch will be served in the Art Gallery.

This is something that families with children might want to do. Savannah has its share of ghost stories and was voted “the most haunted city in America” for the year 2002. I have been told this tour is a lot of fun!!

In the morning, we will leave the hotel and take you down Victory Drive to Bonaventure Cemetery, (remember “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil), past the site of the Mulryne Plantation, see the beautiful homes on Bluff Drive at the Isle of Hope, and past the entrance of Wormsloe, the oldest plantation in Georgia. We will also see the beautiful site of the Bethesda Home for Boys. We will then lunch at the Johnnie Harris Restaurant. Due to the fact that this tour takes you to many places where the limbs of the oak trees and the Spanish Moss are so low to the ground, and some streets are very narrow, transportation will be in two 33 passenger (air-conditioned) buses, and offered to the first 66 people.

Starting at 5:00, a shuttle service of trolleys will take people to the Riverfront for a 2-hour dinner cruise on the Savannah River Queen. If we have a group of 150, we can have the entire boat of the River Queen.

Numbers less than that will have us on a deck to ourselves. This tour will take you by old Fr. Jackson. Upon arrival back to the dock, the trolley shuttle will take you back to the DeSoto Hilton. Dress is casual.

Lunch will be at 12:00 with the ladies in the Harborview Room overlooking the skyline of Savannah. After lunch, there will be a Trunk Showing of purses, totes, baby & children’s items and jewelry. The Men’s Luncheon will be in the South Ballroom.

You will want to be in the Atrium at 5:00 for a Patriotic Musical Program presented for you by the St. James Children’s Choir and the St. James Middle School Choir under the direction of Helen Beddow. World War II music will also be presented with guest soloists Del DeMauro and Dr. George O’Neill. Following the Patriotic Program, competition Irish Dancers will give you a dazzling program of the level of Irish Dancing in this city. This program will end at 6:00………but wait……….it leads you to the evening entertainment for those that want to venture out.

You will be on your own for dinner. For those that want to go to Kevin Barry’s Irish Pub, a shuttle will start picking up people at 6:15 p.m. and will run continuously from the DeSoto to Kevin Barry’s to the Savannah Theater until 11:30 p.m. At Kevin Barry’s, you may go for drinks with the Irish music starting at 8:30. Dinner may be ordered from the menu. The cover charge for all Paratroopers and their families has been waived. Several of you have asked that this be included as one of the events………so here it is!!

For those that want to go to Jukebox Journey, you will have 2 ½ hours of singing and dancing. This event takes place in the Savannah Theater built in 1818. This is an excellent evening of entertainment with a 15- minute intermission. This theater is within walking distance of the DeSoto; however there will be a shuttle trolley for your convenience.

And, for those that want to stay at the hotel and visit, the Hospitality Room will be open until 10:00 p.m.

If anyone wishes to take a tour to the beach and to Fr. Pulaski, this is your chance. We will go early in the morning to beat the heat, boarding the bus at 8:15. We will arrive at Ft. Pulaski for a tour at 9:00. Ft. Pulaski is a Confederate fort and was the first assignment for Robert E. Lee. Leaving the fort, we will go to the Tybee Island Beach, and you can walk the beach or relax on the pier. Since this is a small tour, lunch will be at a local seafood restaurant at your expense. We will be back to the DeSoto by 1:30 p.m.

The Banquet will be in the Grand Ballroom with the Social Hour starting at 6:30 p.m. and Dinner at 7:30 p.m.

And you ask…………when do we sleep?? Well, this is a reunion that you can do as much or as little as you want to do. The Hospitality Room is a huge room where everyone can congregate to visit and be with each other. Hours for the Hospitality Room are 10:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m. and if you want to stay later than that, Hal and I will stay with you.

517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team

Biennial 517th PRCT Reunion

August 15-19, 2005 Savannah, GA

August 15-19, 2005
Savannah, GA