Ray Cline and his wife Shirley enjoyed a recent visit from Charles Clemens, an old Navy buddy; Ray and Charles had not seen each other in 57 years. They had gone to A School in Norman, Okla., in 1946, when they were teenagers. Their paths had crossed, unbeknon to them, several times during their Navy careers. Once in 1953, Charles went about the USS Gilbert Island at Quonset Point, R.I., just after Ray had left the ship. Again in 1956 in Oak Harbor, Charles was attached to VH-196 just after Ray had left for Moffett Field, Calif.
Ray saw Charles’ name in a Navy Retiree magazine and called him several years ago. They have been in constant contact since then, mostly by e-mail.
While on Whidbey Island, Charles visited a place in Freeland where he and his family had lived while waiting for Navy housing. He and Ray also visited Coupeville, Anacortes and fields of tulips and daffodils in Skagit Valley.
News from Alaska, sort of …
The much-traveled dog-driver Clint Warnke has been named the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race’s most improved musher. The 32-year-old whose parents are Oak Harbor residents is now in limbo — the dogs that pulled him to a 26th place finish, after a 53rd place in his rookie year in 2001, aren’t his. They belong to Iditarod veterans Sonny King and Ross Adams. King and Adams had commitments that kept them from running in this year’s race, so they brought in Warnke to work with the dogs.
The Bonney Lake musher is happy with the $1,000 check which will help buy dog food. This year’s Iditarod winner was Robert Sorlie of Norway who pocketed $121,000 in cash and prizes. He had mortgaged his home to be able to fund the Alaska race.
Clint Warnke is the husband of Lisa Bailey Warnke, the daughter of Mac and Lorraine Bailey of Oak Harbor. Lisa is an Oak Harbor High School graduate and is employed with Alaska Airlines, based in Seattle.
Adolph and Doloris Meische of Oak Harbor spent a two-day weekend driving back to Illinois to visit friends and relatives. All the way to the Midwest is sa long way to drive, but who wants to fly?
Army Pvt. Raymond A. House has graduated from the multichannel transmission systems operator-maintainer course at Fort Gordon, Augusta, Ga.
House is the son of Pamela F. and Raymond A. House of Oak Harbor.
The private is a 2002 graduate of South Whidbey High School, Langley.
Eastern Washington University recently released its winter quarter Dean’s List. The following islanders were selected for the honor:
Amy Biller of Coupeville; Jami Garcia, Karissa Gavigan, Kelly Linder, Stacie Pate, Mara Russell, Justin Sebens, Ariadne Wilber and Tina Beddingfield of Oak Harbor.
Brenda Tyo, daughter of Larry and Pat Stadtlander of Oak Harbor, graduated summa cum laude from Arizona State University Dec. 20, 2002, with a bachlor’s degree in communication studies. Brenda graduated from Oak Harbor High School in 1988 and now lives in Cave Creek, Ariz.
Air Force Airman Angela E. Fallert, daughter of John Fallert of Coupeville, has graduated from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas. Fallert is a 2002 graduate of Coupeville High School.
Navy Reserve Cmdr. George Marin participated in “Northern Edge 2003” in Valdez, Alaska. The annual event is Alaska’s premier joint/combined military training exercise developed and hosted by the Alaskan Command.
Marin is an intelligence officer assigned to Detachment 122 at Fort Richardson, Anchorage, Alaska, and is the son of George Marin of Oak Harbor. He is a 1974 Oak Harbor graduate and received a bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University in 1981.
More than 1,600 members from all branches of the U.S. military, active and reserve components, including coast guardsmen, participated in the two-week training exercise in and around the Port of Valdez.
Northern Edge is designed to test the readiness of military forces, enhance the capability of all services to participate in large-scale, joint operations and hone warrior’s skills while performing their missions in cold weather conditions.
Navy Airman Jose A. Morris, son of Milagros and Edward R. Morris of Oak Harbor, recently returned from his deployment to the Arabian Gulf after more than 100 consecutive days in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom while assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk, forward deployed to Yokosuka, Japan.
Morris’ ship launched more than 3, 000 sorties and expended 900,000 pounds of ordnance in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Morris is a 1998 graduate of Oak Harbor High School and joined the Navy in May 2001.
Navy Fireman Lloyd W. Dieckman, son of Carol and Byron Dieckman of Oak Harbor, also recently returned from his deployment to the Arabian Gulf while assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk
Dieckman joined the Navy in April 2001.
Naval Hospital Oak Harbor (NHOH) commanding officer, Donald W. Jensen was relieved by Captain Susan Herrold in a change of command ceremony at in Hangar 6, followed by a reception at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station Officers Club.
Capt. Herrold will serve as commanding officer for the next two years. She has spent the last two years serving as Executive Officer at Naval Medical Clinic, Annapolis, Md.
Capt. Herrold received her Master of Nursing Degree as a Family Nurse Practitioner from Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia in 1991.
Captain Donald W. Jensen will return to National Naval Medical Center, in Bethesda, Md. He will be serving as radiologist in preparation for retirement as well as being an ad hoc member of BUMED committees dealing with radiology.
Thirty-five young people from Island County will be able to attend summer camp at Camp Arnold near Mount Rainier this July as part of the Salvation Army’s Service Extension Department and partnerships in the Oak Harbor area.
Scholarships for the camp are based upon family income. There is a $20 non-refundable application fee. Application packages may be picked up at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Island County located at 913 E. Whidbey Ave. in Oak Harbor.
For more information call BBBS, the local program coordinator, at 279-0644.
