CAROLINA PIEDMONT BASE MEETING MINUTES
Meeting Date: August 22, 2026
CALL MEETING TO ORDER
• Base Commander Mike Hubbell called our meeting to order at 1355 hrs. at VFW Post #9138 located in Fort Mill, SC.
• The meeting followed our potluck meal including homemade desserts brought in by our base families.
INVOCATION
• Base Commander Mike Hubbell started off our base meeting with an invocation.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
• All joined in saying our nation’s Pledge of Allegiance, led by Base Commander Mike Hubbell.
USSVI CREED
• The USSVI Creed was read today by Lowell Kemp.
TOLLING OF THE BOATS
• Tolling for the 5 boats, which were lost during August months past, was presented by Rick Petitt and the bell was rung by Bill Strand.
MEMBER INTRODUCTIONS
• 20 base members plus 10 ladies were present at today’s meeting.
• One new person joined our base today, Jim Greiner from York SC. Jim knew about USSVI but was reminded about it again when he met Tom Kelly at an early SC voting site where he was volunteering. Jim didn’t waste any time joining; he located the USSVI website and joined right after that.
• Jim qualified aboard USS Bluefish (SSN-675) in 1980. Welcome aboard Jim!
SPECIAL EVENTS
• Holland Club Inductions – Joel Tuchfeld Presenter
Joel Tuchfeld ceremoniously inducted newer base member Lowell Kemp to the prestigious USSVI Holland Club. Lowell qualified aboard USS Woodrow Wilson (SSBN 624) in 1973.
The Holland Club is a tradition, established nationally in 1964, which honors submariners who have been qualified in submarines for 50 years or longer.
• Veterans’ Service Dog Training Presentation
Mike and Glenna Hubbell invited Jennifer Barnwell President of Carolina Veterans’ Service Dog Training (CVSDT) to our meeting today to present to our members a new program which was started in 2025 which teaches veterans to train their own dogs to be service companions to the veteran.
Jennifer, who is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force herself, explained that classes are held in York SC, and take about a year to complete, are highly structured, and are of no charge to the veteran.
The legal requirement for entry into the program is, the dog must mitigate a veteran’s disability.
CVSDT is an approved 501(c)(3) organization and is funded by private donations. Our base contributed to CVSDT today; see New Business below for more information about our donation.
For more information, see their website at: CarolinaVeteransServiceDogs.org. or contact Jennifer directly at 803-627-8234.
REVIEW OF LAST BASE MEETING MINUTES
• Members are reminded that minutes for each previous month’s base meeting are posted on our Carolina Piedmont website at carolinapiedmont.org for their review. Members are encouraged to read the previous month’s meeting minutes prior to attending our next base meeting.
No comments or corrections were received on our last meeting minutes.
READING OF THE TREASURER’S REPORT
• Base Treasurer Bill Strand read our latest treasurer’s report. Combined monies in all base accounts stand at $12,769.01 as of 08/22/2026.
BASE STOREKEEPER REPORT
• Jeff reported he is now taking orders for the USSVI 2027 calendars which will feature the Ohio class boomer submarines.
• Jeff Nieberding, our base storekeeper, is our contact for ordering patches, vests, challenge coins, calendars, parking signs, and other USSVI items.
OLD BUSINESS
• None
NEW BUSINESS
• The Wall That Heals – Mike Hubbell
Mike let us know there’s a traveling exhibit called the Wall That Heals that will be coming to Lancaster, SC from November 5th thru 8th this year. The Wall That Heals is a three-quarter-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., that travels to communities across the country. The exhibit honors the more than 3 million Americans who served in the U.S. armed forces in the Vietnam War and bears the names of 58,281 service members who made the ultimate sacrifice or remain unaccounted for.
Volunteers are needed to help set up the display and to stand watch during the 4-day, round-the-clock, 24-hour times that the exhibit will be open to the public; (ironically, Jim Greiner, our newest base member, volunteered during the graveyard shift at The Wall That Heals back years ago when it was displayed at Spartanburg, SC). Jim has graciously indicated he would volunteer again when the wall arrives in Lancaster.
Mike indicated that donations are accepted by this organization, therefore, our base passed a motion to donate $250 to the Wall That Heals organization.
• Carolina Veterans’ Service Dog Training (CVSDT) Donations
As explained under Special Events above, CVSDT is a 501(c)(3) organization, that operates on donations only, to help veterans train their own service dogs.
A motion was passed to donate $100 to CVSDT and our ladies also donated $250 to CVSDT, and the two checks were presented to Jennifer Barnwell before she left our meeting.
GOOD OF THE ORDER
• Kaps-4-Kids Report – Dave Violette
Dave reported we had another successful K4K visit on August 11th at Levine Children’s Hospital. Dave, along with Bill Strand, Steve Rodgers visited with a small number of young patients and their parents.
Dave’s updated schedule includes the upcoming next two Kaps-4-Kids events (shown below):
9 Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026 5:30 to 7:00 PM Ronald McDonald House in Charlotte
10 Wednesday, October 14, 2026 11:00 AM till Noon Jeff Gordon Children's Center
Dave, along with Joel Tuchfeld and John McHugh, will be attending the September 23rd event.
To other members, please respond to Dave if you are available and willing to attend any of these K-4-K visits, which will be made on a first response basis.
You can also call Dave on his cell: 704-651-6320 if you have any questions.
Bravo Zulu to Dave Violette for his continued dedication to our Kaps-4-Kids program!
• JROTC Presentation – Bill Strand
Bill has reached out to 9 area high schools, now that schools are back in session, regarding having our members present the submarine information program.
So far Bill has received interest from 3 area schools, and the first visit will be September 17th at the Ft. Mill High School. A second event is tentatively scheduled for Nov 4th at the Nations Ford High School.
Please contact Bill to let him know you would be interested in joining him at any of these high school submarine presentations.
• Fall Picnic at Catawba Nuclear Station Park – Tom Kelly
Tom announced the following regarding our next base fall picnic which will be held on Saturday, September 26th, and will be held at the Catawba Nuclear Station picnic pavilion in York, SC.
The gate will be opened at Noon, and you can arrive any time after that. Tom reported the park was recently refurbished with upgraded restrooms and the pavilion was refreshed also with new ceiling fans.
The barbeque meat will come from City Barbeque which opened a new location in Newport SC this year. Tom has ordered brisket, pulled pork and even some pulled chicken for some of our members, and will come with buns, plates, napkins, utensils and extra barbeque sauces.
Our families will bring all the delicious side dishes for the picnic.
Maps will be sent out with the picnic announcement two weeks prior to our next meeting.
• USSVI National Elections – Mike Hubbell
Mike informed us that voting for the USSVI National Elections continues for all the National officer positions which are up for election/re-election. As stated earlier, even though none of the National officer positions are contested, there is voting for Regional Director, which is also uncontested, as well as a proposed amendment to our Bylaws to allow Associate Members to obtain National Life Memberships, that need to be reviewed and voted on.
Voting ends at Sept. 4th, 2026, and voting can be done online, and an email should have arrived in your inbox from “Election Buddy” providing instructions and a link directly to the voting page.
GOOD OF THE ORDER (cont.)
• Reminder USSVI National Convention Sept 6th through 11th – Michael Hubbell
Mike reminded us of that he, Rick Petitt, Glenna and Cindy will be attending this year’s 2026 USSVI National Convention which is being held in Corpus Christi, Texas.
• Kings Bay Annual Tolling of the Boats November 4th thru 7th – Mike Hubbell
Mike reminded us that the annual Kings Bay Tolling of the Boats Ceremony will be held the weekend of November 4th thru 7th at the Kings Bay Submarine Base.
Hotel reservations can be made at the Sure Stay Plus Hotel in Saint Mary’s Georgia.
Mike sent out an email on August 19th with all the details and the registration form if you are interested in attending this event. Deadline for registration is October 16th.
• USSVI Scholarships – Rick Petitt
Rick reported that 95 kids across the U.S. got awarded scholarships from the USSVI National Scholarship Fund for 2026. Our base donates to the Joe Clark portion of this fund which is awarded annually.
Rick reported his granddaughter was a recipient this year of one of the scholarship awards and Bill Strand also indicated that his daughter received two scholarship awards previously.
• Dues for 2027 – Bill Strand/Mike Hubbell
Looking ahead, we are beginning to remind members that base and National dues will be collected for 2027 starting next meeting and our goal is to have all members’ dues paid by our November Thanksgiving base meeting.
Members are reminded that base dues are due for all members and National dues can be paid at that time also for persons who are not presently USSVI lifetime National members
NEXT BASE MEETING (FALL PICNIC)
• Our next base meeting will be our Fall picnic and will be held on Saturday, September 26 at 1300 at the Catawba Nuclear Station picnic pavilion. Gate opens at the park at Noon, set up for the meal will be around 1230 with lunch served from 1300 to 1400 and then the meeting will start after lunch clean-up.
MOTION TO ADJOURN
• A motion to adjourn the meeting was made at 1518 hours. Motion passed.
BENEDICTION
• Raymond Zieverink closed our meeting with a prayer.
RAFFLE RESULTS
• Dave Violette won today’s meeting raffle and Dave graciously donated his winnings to the Kaps-4-Kids fund. Congratulations Dave and thank you for your generosity!
Today’s meeting attendees are listed below:
August 22, 2026, Meeting Attendees:
• Steve Bell
• Bob Bunney – Kathy
• Greg Crystal
• Mary Gilles
• Jim Goins – Marsha
• Jim Greiner – Meika (1st Timers)
• Jim Harris
• Mike Hubbell – Glenna
• Dan Johnson
• Tom Kelly – Susan
• Lowell Kemp
• John McHugh
• Jeff Nieberding – Michele
• Rick Petitt – Cindy
• Steven Rodgers
• Don Schob – Angie
• Bill Strand
• Joel Tuchfeld – Anna
• Dave Violette
• Raymond Zieverink – Linda
Minutes Respectfully Submitted by:
Tom Kelly