By RON NEWBERRY

The USS Utah reunion went so well, Cecil Calavan thought it might never end.

Calavan, an Anacortes resident and youngest known USS Utah survivor at age 89, said the banquet on the final night of the reunion in Las Vegas in May was still going after 3 a.m.

Calavan, president of the USS Utah Survivors Association, couldn’t leave.

“I had the keys to the hospitality room,” he said. “I was getting so tired. I said, ‘If you don’t go home pretty soon, I’m going to faint.’”

Calvan said the reunion was “absolutely perfect” with four USS Utah survivors in attendance, as well as four Pearl Harbor survivors from other ships, plus family, friends and caregivers. He guessed about 65 people attended.

The Utah was the first ship hit and sunk at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.

Calavan said watching his fellow survivors have such a good time made him emotional, and he wanted to thank those who made donations, which helped keep costs down at the banquet. The reunion took place May 12-16 at the Palace Station Hotel.

“We had a great reunion,” Calavan said. “We couldn’t have done it without support, especially from your area (Whidbey Island).”