REUNION 2013 - LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment's Blackhorse Association will hold its annual Blackhorse Family Reunion in Louisville, KY, May 30 to June 2, 2013. Hosted by the Association's Gold Vault Chapter, the reunion is open to all past and present troopers who served with the Regiment, the Regimental Community, and all separate units that supported the Regiment.
The reunion will be held at the Hyatt Regency Louisville, 311 S. 4th Street, Louisville, KY. The hotel has just completed a $5.8M renovation; and it has great new facilities, a downtown location near the river, and excellent restaurants. Rooms have been set aside for reunion attendees at a special negotiated rate of $115 per night. Parking in downtown Louisville can be difficult and expensive, but we have negotiated a $10 per day rate in a city parking garage adjacent to the hotel. Attendees are encouraged to make plans early. For electronic reservations at the Hyatt Regency Louisville, go to the special website they have set up for us at https://resweb.passkey.com/go/blackhorseassociationreunion or phone 800-233-1234 (be sure to tell them you are attending the Blackhorse reunion). For additional lodging options, go to www.expedia.com/Louisville-Hotels.
Important Note: Additional Hotel for Lodging at the Reunion
We have had a greater response for rooms in the Hyatt Regency than we anticipated - great news - but the Hyatt Regency is now filled up. We have been able to contract for overflow at the Marriott next door to the Hyatt Regency - at the same negotiated room price ($115). The Marriott is connected to the Hyatt Regency by a covered walkway. Therefore, if you have not yet gotten your room for the reunion, call 502-627-5045 OR go to this link:
https://resweb.passkey.com/Resweb.do?mode=welcome_gi_new&groupID=19506187
Be sure to tell them that you are with the Blackhorse Association reunion.
You may also be able to get a better rate if you qualify for the government rate ($109 for Thursday and Friday nights, and $97 for Saturday night).
Registration fee is $95 for adults and $30 for children 12-and-under who do not attend the banquet. This fee covers reunion mementos, hors d'oeuvres at the Friday evening Stable Your Mount social, the Saturday banquet with wine, and other reunion costs. Please complete the attached registration form and make checks payable to "Thomas Smart (Blackhorse Reunion)". Attendee transportation, including airfare, rental car, and lodging must be organized separately. For more information, see www.blackhorse.com and www.blackhorse.org; or contact one of the following Reunion Committee members: Tom Smart at (703) 973-3703, tom.smart@acrpros.com; Glenn Snodgrass at (703) 250-3064, jgs525@verizon.net; or Wes Walters at (571) 276-9471, wes.walters@saabgroup.com.
Highlights include the Thursday afternoon golf tournament, the Thursday night casual gathering in the Hospitality Room, the Friday morning bus trip to the Patton Museum for (probably) the final memorial service at our monument there (before it moves to Fort Benning), the Friday night Stable Your Mount program, which will include the induction of several new members into the Regiment's Honorary Rolls, the brewing of the Blackhorse Punch, and the Saturday night program featuring MG H.R. McMaster, one of our own, who is the Commander of the Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning, as our guest speaker. There will be lots of free time to connect with old friends and meet new ones, and downtown Louisville is a fun place to enjoy.
Attention reunion Golfers!! Please sign up!!! We need some more golfers to sign up for the tournament on Thursday, the 30th. We will be playing at the Covered Bridge Golf Club, at 12510 Covered Bridge Road in Sellersburg, Indiana, about a 30-minute drive from the hotel. It is a beautiful, Fuzzy Zoeller-designed course. The cost is $55 (includes greens fees and cart and range balls, and the first tee time is 12 noon - please be early. LET US KNOW IF YOU PLAN TO PLAY!! Contact Tom Smart directly at tom.smart@acrpros.com or call him at 703-779-0819.
Silent auction items: The Association is looking for good Blackhorse mementos, or cavalry mementos, or other neat "things" to auction off with proceeds helping us to defray costs of the reunion and going to our scholarship fund. Please contact Rondo Jackson, the silent auction coordinator, at 270-242-2833, or rondo@windstream.net if you have a contribution or donation - you may either send it to him in advance of the reunion or bring it with you, but we would like to know in advance that you are bringing an item. This is important to our fundraising activities.
Schedule of Activities: Thursday, May 30:
- 8am – 5pm: Registration/Hospitality Room/Silent Auction
- 8am – 5pm: Blackhorse Store Open
- 12pm: Golf Tournament first tee time at Covered Bridge Golf Club, 12510 Covered Bridge Road, Sellersburg, IN, about a 30-minute drive. Cost $55 (includes greens fees, cart, range balls).
- Sightseeing on your own:
- 9am – 5pm: Louisville Slugger Factory & Museum
- 9am – 5pm: Frazer History Museum
- 930am – 5pm: Muhammad Ali Center
- 9am – 10pm: Louisville Mega Cavern/Zip Lines
- 8am –5pm: Kentucky Derby Museum
- 7pm – Until: Cash bar in the Hospitality Suite/group picture (about 8PM)
Friday, May 31:
- 8am – 5pm: Registration/Hospitality Room/Silent Auction
- 8am – 5pm: Blackhorse Store Open
- 830am – 845am: Load buses for Memorial Service. Buses depart at 845am.
- 845am – 4th Annual Reunion Motorcycle Rally – the BHRCM will lead the buses to the Patton Museum near Fort Knox.
- 10am – Memorial Service at the Regiment’s Monument at the Patton Museum near Fort Knox. NOTE: No lunch at Patton Museum, anticipated return to hotel around 1230
- Sightseeing on your own (see Thursday options above plus Belle of Louisville riverboat [Lunch 1130am – 2pm] [Dinner 630pm – 9pm])
- 6pm – Until: Stable Your Mount casual evening social (bar opens at 6pm and program begins at 7pm). Cash bar with heavy hors d’oeuvres – culminated by the brewing of the Blackhorse punch.
Saturday, June 1:
- 8am – 3pm: Registration/Hospitality Room/Silent Auction
- 8am – Until: Blackhorse Store Open
- 8am – 9am: Association Directors closed meeting
- 9am – 11am: Association Annual Business meeting. All members are encouraged to attend.
- 11am – 12pm: Memorial Service
- Sightseeing on your own (see Thursday options above plus Belle of Louisville riverboat [Lunch 1130am – 2pm] [Dinner 6:30pm – 9pm])
- 6pm – 10pm: Cocktails/Banquet (Coat & Tie). Cocktails begin at 6pm, dinner at 7pm. Program includes the announcement of scholarship recipients for this year. Keynote speaker is MG H.R. McMaster, current Commander of the Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning, GA, who served with the Blackhorse at Fort Irwin.
Sunday, June 2:
Registration fee is $95 for adults and $30 for children 12 and under who do not attend the banquet. This fee covers reunion mementos, hors d'oeuvres at the Friday evening Stable Your Mount social, the Saturday banquet with wine, and other reunion costs. Please complete the attached registration form and make checks payable to "Thomas Smart (Blackhorse Reunion)".
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE REGISTRATION FORM
Attendee transportation, including airfare, rental car, and lodging must be organized separately. For more information, contact one of the following Reunion Committee members: Tom Smart at (703) 973-3703, tom.smart@acrpros.com, Glenn Snodgrass at (703) 250-3064, jgs525@verizon.net, or Wes Walters at (571) 276-9471, wes.walters@saabgroup.com.
Our Reunion Mission
Our Regimental Association mission and objectives are:
- To honor comrades who gave their lives in the service of our country and Regiment.
- To preserve and strengthen comradeships formed in the Regiment.
- To provide educational scholarships for the children of those who served in the Regiment.
- To proclaim and publicize the achievements and traditions of the Regiment.
- To support the troopers serving in the active Regiment.
In order to accomplish the first two objectives the Blackhorse Association conducts frequent reunions to bring together Blackhorse veterans and their families from all eras of Regimental service.
- In May of 2000, we had a reunion in Fulda, Bad Kissingen, and Bad Hersfeld, Germany
- In June of 2005, we held a reunion in Fulda, Bad Kissingen, and Bad Hersfeld, Germany along with our sister regiment, the 14th Cavalry.
- In June of 2007, we held a reunion in Williamsburg, VA
- In May of 2008, we held a reunion in Las Vegas, NV
- In June of 2009, we held a reunion in Fulda, Bad Kissingen, and Bad Hersfeld, Germany
- In June of 2010, we held a reunion in Houston, TX
- In June of 2011, we held a reunion in Las Vegas, NV
- In June of 2012, we held a reunion in Williamsburg, VA
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