July 1, 2010 - Jack Hammett - Remembering Pearl Harbor
A first hand account from Jack Hammett who was serving in the US Navy as a Pharmacists Mate 2nd class at Pearl Harbor when the surprise attack began.
ABOUT JACK R. HAMMETT
No stranger to Costa Mesa as a 50 plus years of service in government and civic affairs clearly demonstrate.
Retiring from the United States Navy after serving for 23 years he embarked on a second career, helping to serve and build the city of Costa Mesa.
He began by joining the Costa Mesa Police Reserve in May 1961, serving the force tirelessly for 22 years.
He attained the rank of Senior Reserve, and was the first reserve officer to retire with more than 20 years of service.
He also served two years as president of the Costa Mesa Police Reserve Association.
At about the same time, also joined the Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce in 1961, (serving two years (1968 - 1970) as President of that organization.
He continued to serve overall for 28 years on its Board of Directors.
He was selected "Man Of The Year" in 1993.
In April 1963, he was appointed to the Costa Mesa Planning Commission, helping shape the future growth of the city.
Of his seven years on this Commission, he served as Chairman for two years.
He was elected as a member of the City Council and served eight years...
During that tenure, he served two terms as Vice Mayor and served as Mayor from 1972 to 1974.
During his years of service on the Council,
he has helped bring to Costa Mesa the recreational lighting facilities at TeWinkle Park in Mesa del Mar,
the underground utilities on Baker Street, the Corona del Mar Freeway (Hiway 73)
and changes to the Orange County Airport flight pattern and environmental problems of jet aircraft exhaust.
As a man who was instrumental in building and opening Bristol Park Medical Group, the largest medical group in Orange County, he instilled his sense of community commitment throughout the organization.
During his 26 years as Administrator for Bristol Park, and through his loyalty to his friends and the business community of Costa Mesa,
he has assisted many people in improving their health and bettering their life style.
His many civic contributions also include: United Fund, Founder of the Red Barons of Orange County, Advisor of Concerned Citizens for Courts, Rotary Club,
Board of Directors of the Orange Coast Association, and Chairman of the Costa Mesa Transportation Committee.
In 1976 he was the City Council representative to the Orange County Health Planning Council and in 1977 was awarded the Government Service Award from the Orange County Bar Association.
His efforts had expanded far beyond the Costa Mesa City limits, and captured state wide attention.
He was a member of the Government Rehabilitation Committee in 1963-1964, and in 1971 was appointed by Governor Ronald Regan to the Governors Advisory Committee on Physicians Assistants.
He then served four years as Vice Chairman on the Board of Medical Quality Assurance and another four years as Vice Chairman of the California Aeronautics Board, again appointed by Governor Reagan.
During this time he was also appointed by Leo J. McCarthy, Speaker of the Assembly, to serve four years on the Advisory Board to the California Department of Transportation.
He now devotes his time to bring "Living History" regarding WWII into the high school classrooms of Orange County as Chairman of the Freedom Committee of Orange County.
July 8, 2010 - Melvin K. Pasley - Accessible SCUBA
In 2009, Melvin K. Pasley, a retired Army Reserve Lieutenant Colonel of Iraq (2006 - 2007),
founded the Disabled Veterans SCUBA Project,
at the encouragement of Nicolas Coster of Challenges Foundation,
to provide adaptive SCUBA instruction to all disabled veterans in California.
With a mission to serve disabled veterans by helping them experience the camaraderie of scuba diving
and the wonders of the underwater world,
Melvin Pasley and a handful of volunteer staff of the Disabled Veterans SCUBA Project
train disabled veterans to become certified scuba divers.
The training is held at the Joint Forces Training Base swimming pool nearly every week,
usually on Sunday evenings.
In the water, interesting things happen to some divers with spinal injuries.
Some report being able to feel things in paralyzed areas of their bodies; others report a lack of pain.
Each has a different experience,
but all have fun and get to be out of their wheelchair and participating for a time
as just another individual enjoying a sport with their friends.
The VA is planning a medical study of the physical and psychological "benefits" of SCUBA diving on individuals with spinal injuries.
Lt Colonel Pasley entered the US Army on March 3d 1972 as an infantry private in the 1/508th Infantry (Abn) 82nd Airborne Division.
As a Staff Sergeant he attended Officer Candidate School (OCS) in the fall of 1979 and
received a commission as an infantry 2nd Lieutenant in January 1980.
Due to a reduction in the size of the active army he was transferred to the Reserves in April 1983,
where he held a variety of positions including Commander of Headquarters & Headquarters company, 311th COSCOM.
Mobilized May 7, 2006 he was assigned to the 1st Infantry Division for training and subsequent duty as a
adviser to the Iraqi National Police (September 2006 through September 2007) a counter insurgency force of light and mechanized infantry.
Upon his return in to Ft. Riley Kansas he was assigned as a patient to the Warrior Transition Unit October 2007-December 25, 2007.
For his service in Iraq LtCol(ret) Pasley was awarded the Bronze Star. On March 24, 2008,
Lieutenant Colonel Pasley retired after 36 years 21 days of service having attained the maximum years of
service as an officer allowed under the law.
Upon his discharge he returned to running Pasley Realty Inc., in Lakewood, CA.
LtCol(ret) Pasley became a SCUBA diver in 2001 and currently holds the following SCUBA Certifications from PADI;
Basic Open Water, Advance Open Water, Rescue, NAUI; Dive Master, Instructor, and HSA; Dive Buddy, Dive Master, Instructor.
July 12-13, 2010 - Champion Ghost Town Trip OUTSIDE ACTIVITY - non sponsored trip advisory
If you have any questions, please give Allan Smith a call and he can give you more details.
This will be an outstanding trip into a secret ghost town in which many artifacts are still there and the locals have erected a museum with items on display.
A trip not to be missed, but do keep in mind that it is over 8,000 feet and the physical climb is a bit grueling.
The Adventurers' Club of Los Angeles®
July 15, 2010 - Bern Heimos - Vintage Flying
A few summers ago a vintage 1939 Piper Cub and its pilot, Bern Heimos flew from Corona, California to Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, home of the original Piper Aircraft manufacturing plant.
From Lock Haven they flew to Oshkosh, Wisconsin to attend EAA’s AirVenture, after which they toured grass strips in the Mid-West before crossing the Rocky Mountains and heading home.
Bern will join us to present his adventure and the 26-minute DVD "Flight Home."
His photography of America from the low and slow flying Cub will captivate you.
The diminutive 12 gallon fuel tank meant 54 fuel stops to cover 5,200 miles, burning 358 gallons with a total flight time of 72 hours on the 37 day adventure.
Along the way, the views flying low and slow over America undeniably speak to an adventure every pilot needs to make once in his or her life.
A collection of his images can be found on his website:
www.vintageflying.com.
Bern is a member of a number of EAA chapters and vintage airplane associations across America.
He has been published in EAA magazines and shared this presentation with over a thousand pilots across the country.
Join us to see and hear about a vintage airplane and its pilot’s experiences.
July 22, 2010 - Dave Finnern - Ghost Ports and Lost Ships of the Colorado Pierre Odier - Kandihar, Pakistan, Afghanistan and China
Member and Past President Dave Finnern will present the first part of tonight’s program.
In 1852 riverboats began plying the Colorado River bringing needed supplies to the landings, forts and mines which began lining its banks. Ocean-going ships would leave San Francisco for the sometimes torturous voyage to the mouth of the Colorado in Mexico, where goods and passengers would then be transferred to the steamboats. David Finnern has spent over 30 years searching for the ghost ports, landings and shipwrecks associated with this historic period that helped opened the West; an era when Indian uprisings, gunplay and hardship was the norm.
David Finnern has spent over 35 years searching for shipwrecks and submerged ruins. As an award-winning writer, he has published hundreds of stories on underwater exploration and has written on-assignment for such magazines as Skin Diver, Western and Eastern Treasures, Underwater USA, Western Diver and Immersed. Finnern is the author of several books, including The Sport Divers’ Guide to Sunken Treasure, Passage Through Deep Waters and Lost Below: The Southwest’s Most Intriguing Shipwrecks, Sunken Aircraft, Submerged Ruins and Undersea Treasures. He has been a featured speaker at various functions throughout the United States and has appeared as a guest and on-air technical consultant on national and international television. He is a member and former president of both The Adventurers’ Club and California Wreck Divers, Inc., and was elected a Fellow of The Royal Geographical Society in 2002.
The second part of tonight’s program will be another Member and Past President Pierre Odiere who will talk about his recent visit to Kandihar, Pakistan, Afghanistan and China. When not seen at our club quarters Pierre is usually trekking across some remote location of the globe where he is gathering many experiences before returning to share his varied experiences with his brother adventurers. On this recent adventure Pierre narrowly escaped from a deadly explosion that claimed the lives of 114 souls. It's not surprising that Pierre has been the recipient of the prestigious Adventurer Of The Year Award.
July 29, 2010 - Filmmaker Ted Faye - Weird Adventures in Death Valley
Ted Faye is a guy from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania who moved to California more than 20 years ago to pursue an acting career.
In that first year he and a friend decided to go camping in Death Valley.
After all, it was December, and Death Valley would be nice and hot!
When the temperature dipped to 33 degrees Ted knew that his ideas about America’s deepest, driest, hottest valley were all wrong.
Years later, after swapping out acting for producing documentaries Ted turned his attention to Death Valley once again.
He became fascinated with those who lived there producing his first film, "Death Valley Memories", which aired on regional PBS stations throughout the West.
His next two films, "The Twenty Mule Team of Death Valley" and "The Great Desert Railroad Race," tell the stories of mules, mines and railroads in the Death Valley.
From there he went on to produce "Chasing the Rainbow, Adventures of the Desert Prospectors" and "Death in the Desert."
For Ted, it seemed that he had covered all of the bases in terms of Death Valley’s history. And then things got weird.
Stories of aliens, strange happenings, ghosts, underground bases, military secrets, caves with mummies, hidden gold, lost cities, reptilians and other bizarre phenomenon began to surface.
It was time for Ted to investigate these tales.
And a new series was born, "Weird Tales."
And so, Ted Faye and his company Gold Creek Films have begun investigating the stranger side of the great American desert.
Join Ted Faye as he takes you on his own personal journey through Death Valley where the West is both Wild and... Weird!
Ted Faye is owner of Gold Creek Films and specializes in telling the stories of the West.
He works independently and also works with communities in rural Nevada to help them tell their stories – through film, audio tours, walking tours and even creating signs in historic areas.
In 2009, Melvin K. Pasley, a retired Army Reserve Lieutenant Colonel of Iraq (2006 - 2007),
founded the Disabled Veterans SCUBA Project,
at the encouragement of Nicolas Coster of Challenges Foundation,
to provide adaptive SCUBA instruction to all disabled veterans in California.
