Hello Bonaire Talk. You may be aware of the topic of this thread from this thread or from this link to the story on Bonaire Insider.

The moderators are planning on sending down BT T shirts for the Wounded Warriors, but we felt that was not enough. We propose BT pay for the Wounded Warriors graduation dinner. We are estimating from the article linked above that it will cost about $690.00 US, for about twenty three people. As we find more information we will keep the users informed.

Please send contributions to Paypal our address there is paypal@bonairetalk.com with Wounded Warriors in the subject line.

We can also accept personal checks or money orders made out to Bonaire Talk Community Inc., and mailed to B.T.C.I. PO BOX 4061, Dana Point, CA 92629

Just sent a donation via Paypal. Can anyone verify when the Also, I am planning to obtain some HSA caps, polos, etc separately from BT from our local HSA chapter (called "Diveheart"). I'd rather ship than carry. Who can I talk to at Divi or Buddy's to agree on accepting the shipment?

Just sent a donation via Paypal. Can anyone verify when the graduation dinner is scheduled?

Also, I am planning to obtain some HSA caps, polos, etc separately from BT from our local HSA chapter (called "Diveheart"). I'd rather ship than carry. Who can I talk to at Divi or Buddy's to agree on accepting the shipment?

Hmmmm... how did that happen??

Mike...hiccup? Got your donation, thanks. We are now at $140.00! Neat that you are taking other things down. We want LOTS of pictures!

We don't have a date yet for the dinner, as we are waiting to hear back from Jack Chalk and TCB. I would not recommend shipping from the states unless you don't mind them getting there in March. I've found that things take a LONG time to get to Bonaire. Maybe folks that are going down can help carry the things down? Just a suggestion.

Cynde, let me extract a check from Eric to add to mine. We'll mail it tonight.

Cynde and Seb. We just sent ours. Glad to help!

Hmmm, am trying to send money by paypal... it isn't working properly right now. Count me in, too as soon as paypal is working again!

We are at $240.00!

Finally went through!

Just sent mine by Paypal. Way to go, BT!!!

Sent mine too via Pay Pal

Thanks BT!

Count me in. PayPal.

Mine's in via PayPal. Semper Fi

Just sent mine via PayPal.

Truly appreciate these fine men and women.

So far $490.00...I have tears and am all choked up! Thank you all so much...you are all the best

Just sent my donation via PayPal. Wish I could be there.

GREAT RESPONSE so far folks; you guys make this job worthwhile.

I talked to someone today involved in organizing the trip for the vets. There is going to be a meeting Friday this week on Bonaire of the organizers; Jack, TCB, et alia. Someone from TCB will be returning to NYC this weekend, and hopefully we will have an event schedule by the 19th or 20th of September. Whatever we find out, we'll keep you all informed.

Schedule so far is Saturday will be a travel/recover day, Sunday and Monday will be intensive diving/certification days, and after that the schedule is TBD (to be decided.)

PayPay donation gone. Thanks, guys, for making this possible for me to give to.

If anyone happens to see this, I'm trying to send my Paypal donation but get a notification that the site is not available... funny thing, I was trying to pay bills and have gotten the same thing from numerous websites...
anyone else???
anyone ???? this is pretty freaky....

I am sending a check.....

LaDonna

I tried last night with no luck. Paypal was being a pain. Since then I realized that I can make my contribution in person, if that's all right. I can make up any difference or pay the tip or buy a round or two.

You all make me proud to be American and also a new member of BT. This is just awesome and I am so happy I will be there for at least part of this to do what I can in person!!

Mike, glad to have you And BT'ers are the best

Cecil, thank goodness you forgot to put that dagnamit ticker in your post...whew ;-)

I just made my pay pal donation without a hitch!
I would love to take part in the celebration if it is possible.

$$ has been sent from Guy and me.
Thank you for the opportunity to be a part of this tribute

Donation sent via PayPal from Linda and myself.

Jake

What's the donation total now?

Tomorrow I will be posting information on the WW event schedule, and I will post a tally tomorrow night.

I'm arranging some items: shirts, pullovers, or swim trunks, etc from our local HSA chapter, as promised. Does anyone know much about the nine veterans? I'm just trying to guess sizing (not enough bucket hats or caps, darn).

Looking forward to the schedule and the tally. I think this is a great thing you (we?) are doing.

Mike, I'm trying to find out sizing info as well for the Bonaire Talk T-shirts.

If you do let me know. By default I'll get XL if nothing else. Not sure about the trunks, maybe Large.

I believe there is a female in this group of brave people... Ron

If we have excess money..can we pay for their marine park tags?

Good evening. I talked to TCB NY today about the schedule.

ETA Air Jamaica #66 at 1430 Saturday. There will be an airport welcome for the troops.

Saturday and Sunday will be orientation, training, and certification diving.

There are two days open to us for the BT party, Monday or Thursday. There will be a dinner event each night, the question is which we'd rather sponsor.

Monday night at Rum runners will include Moogie and Captain Don, I believe that is as per usual.

Thursday night there will be a week in review from Habitat with a 10-15 minute video of the weeks highlights and CDRs for the troops.

Friday there is going to be a parade through town to the Governor's House.

Saturday will be departure day.

I have not yet got any idea of a price yet. I think we have a total of $700 something last I looked. We certainly intend to spend all the money on the troops one way or another, Meryl, be it tags or something else.

Seb, what is a 'CDR'?

Can you get sizes from TCB?

GH,
A CDR is a Compact Disc that one can Read --
it may have data or, better yet, pictures, maybe even a short video.
Mare

I vote for Monday!!

Monday please, we leave on Wednesday. We will be at the airport for the arrival. I can't wait for that.

My family and I will be on the same plane. We will get to meet these fine people in M/B. By all means Monday would be my choice. Cecil swayed my vote! lol... Ron

Barring objections, it looks like Monday will be the winner.

TCB is working on T shirt sizes, I hope to have them in my e mail tomorrow.

Did we ever get anything on

TShirt sizes?

Confirming the dinner day?

Any welcoming 'party'?

Anything else?

Hi Mike we really never did but we are sending 5xl and 5 large with Norma Cynde's neighbor who will be there as well.. Looks as if Monday is the dinner day at Rum runners and if there is anything else I have missed it.. anyone out there want to add to this??? Cynde, Seb, Tom ,Martin???? Angela??

T shirts sizes are a work in progress. The BT sponsored party day will be Monday, the place will be Rum Runners. There will be a welcoming committee at the airport, the flight is AJ # 66 ETA 1430. Otherwise schedule as posted above in my post #66
Oh yeah, and we decided to just pay the bill for the party and stop worrying about the cost.

Thanks sweetie!! :-)

I know Mike wanted the sizes, I am hoping to get them this week, but that has been sort of ongoing.

I'm pretty sure we are just sending the 5 XL and the 5 Lg

Thanks everyone! I'll work with this and see what I cna come up with from the HSA group. Been planning this long enough that 8 days until arriving seems like tommorrow.

Yep, my friend will be bringing 5 L and 5 XL shirts. She will also be donating toward the dinner, and then taking care of the bill, and then BTCI will reimburse her. I need to get a final figure on how much we raised, and then how much on top of that we can go max, so that we don't end up...er..."overdrawn?" She is also a photographer (she's gonna love me putting that on the net) so has promised me that she will get a LOT of pictures

I can't wait to see the pics - boy, I wish we could be there....

ditto boom...! Great job everyone...

Dear Bonaire Talker's,

I would like to personally thank each of you that donated time, effort and cash to the planned BT Dinner on Monday evening the 16th of October. You guys are great.

I also want to apologize in advance for I will be unable to attend Monday evening due to a scheduled business trip to Europe that could not be rescheduled. I will be returning on the 18th and will be spending as much time with the group as possible.

I would like to ask for a number of Bonaire Talk members who plan on attending the dinner on Monday evening so that I may inform the restaurant so the appropriate number of tables and seats may be reserved. (Seb maybe you can coordinate this for me and send by e-mail).

I would also like to personally invite each of you to attend our "Meet the Captain Party" from 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. with free fruit punch, rum punch, snacks and music by Moogie. (Hi Mod's...hope this is not considered self promotion).

Again, thank you for your kindness and generosity towards this very special group of people who have given so much and have asked for nothing in return.

Jack Chalk, GM
Capt. Don's Habitat

Jack, thank you, and no, it's not self-promotion ;-)

Folks, please post on this thread if you will be attending the dinner.

I know that Normal will, she's bringing the t-s, and taking care of our donation. Darlene, I'm assuming you're there too, heh? Take lots of pictures folks

Normal, Darlene, and Rhonda (wish I could be with you all)

Thanks again Jack for helping coordinate this with us. And this is what BT'ers love to do

Of course it would be an honor to be there to celebrate with the Wounded Warriors!

I think we should start a cut and paste list for Jack right here on this thread.

Darlene
Norma
Rhonda

Ron, are you going? Anybody else, let me know ASAP and I will e mail Jack.

Cecil
Mike O'Brien
Darlene
Norma
Rhonda

Jack/Seb,

I don't know if Linda and I will be able to make it to the dinner on the 16th yet, but Linda did drop off presents from her and I for the Wounded Warriors and their escorts with Claire at Habitat a couple of days ago.

Jake

We are planning to be there, 2 witht he wife. I'll have some Diveheart HSA stuff (trying to avoid shirts)

Jack: I missed what night the "Meet the Captain" party is, I'll check the posted schedule, must be there.

Hi Mike,

Sorry, it's the same night as the BT hosted dinner here at Rum Runners...Monday night.

Cecil
Mike O'Brien
Darlene
Norma
Rhonda
Ron G.
Diane G.
Randy G.
Susan G.

Yes Seb wewill be there.

Cecil
Mike O'Brien
Darlene
Norma
Rhonda
Ron G.
Diane G.
Randy G.
Susan G.
Jake
Linda

Cecil
Mike O'Brien
Darlene
Norma
Rhonda
Ron G.
Diane G.
Randy G.
Susan G.
Jake
Linda
Susan D.

Isn't Cecil bringing Sue with him?

My bad I swore they were on the earlier list. BSM already.

Cecil
Sue
Art
Terri
Mike O'Brien
Darlene
Norma
Rhonda
Ron G.
Diane G.
Randy G.
Susan G.
Jake
Linda
Susan D.

Mike, Lee Ann will be there too. Right????

What the heck is this, forget your S.O. week?

Forget who???

Cecil, LOL! pick me up off of the floor!!!

S.O. = Significant Other
or, in our case
S.A. = Spousal Agent

then there's the
M.S. = Main Squeeze
B.D.B. = Best Dive Buddy

oh the list goes on.....
(is there a thread in this?)

Mare

Jack, many of us also want to thank you and everybody at Habitat and Rum Runners for all that is being done for these heroes and their spouses.

Mare, Eric is my Spousal Unit. More commonly, my Sweetie Pie!
Say, how much money did we raise for this event? Just curious if we met our goal. Sorry if I missed that figure somewhere.

Tom, no thanks needed...it is an honor

CB, I'm working on that figure right now, I'll have it in about an hour

Darlene, yes Lee Ann will be there also...

Cecil
Sue
Art
Terri
Mike O
Lee Ann O
Darlene
Norma
Rhonda
Ron G.
Diane G.
Randy G.
Susan G.
Jake
Linda
Susan D.

OK folks, wow, I am stunned. I haven't looked at the tally due to work and health issues the last couple of weeks, but, drum roll please.....

$1,005.73

BT'ers ROCK

Thank you all!

Excellent!

Although I'd like to confirm my understanding that all of us attending the dinner on October 16th who are not part of the Wounded Warriors contingent (which I understand to be 20 folks), are paying our own way for dinner. The money raised should be exclusively for the Wounded Warriors and their companions, I would think.

BTW, Seb - please add Bas & Yana to the dinner list, but they will probably be happy to have a table to themselves away from all the hubbub.

Jake

Jake, yes, you are correct that the funds listed above are for the Wounded Warriors contingent only. Everyone else should expect to pay their own way.

Cecil
Sue
Art
Terri
Mike O
Lee Ann O
Darlene
Norma
Rhonda
Ron G.
Diane G.
Randy G.
Susan G.
Jake
Linda
Bas
Yana
Susan D.

Wow! Great job all...Can't wait for the pictures. Have a great time everyone and please send our Thanks and Appreciation to these men and women! Their BRAVERY,COURAGE and DEDICATION is an inspiration to us. Thank you!

Hi All,
Thanks for your Support!!! I will leading this group down and getting them certified. I am Big Wave Dave from the Scuba Tour/DEMA. I am looking forward to meeting some of you during our stay. This is my 6th trip to Bonaire and have loved all of them. Of course this one will be extra special!! I any one would like to help out with the training dives let me know. I also can answer most questions on what's happening/schedules/size/any other questions

"Tanks" again in advance

I also posted this in another area

I've puzzled out all the last names for Rum Runners except Art, Terry, and Rhonda. Anybody know? Mail the mods please, and thanks.