#156) Free Librascope Movies Are Still Available

At the 2018 Librascope Reunion recently, attendees enjoyed watching two, professionally produced, Librascope movies from 1983 and 1989. For those who would like to see them again, or possibly missed attending the Reunion, I’m pleased to remind everyone that they are also available for viewing on the “Videos” page (see figure below) of the Librascope Memories website. Currently, there are a total of nine (9) Librascope movies (aka “videos”), including the two shown at the Reunion (Videos #3 and #4 below).

To view any one of these videos, simply click here to open the “Videos” page. Then follow the brief instructions printed at the top of the page that opens in your browser. You may view these videos on either a desktop, tablet, or smart phone. 

Note, the links below each image will re-direct you to YouTube, where you can view the selected videos in full screen if desired. Please click the "Like" (thumbs up) button if you enjoyed the video. Thanks!

Enjoy!

PS - I expect to add video slideshows of the 2016 and 2018 Reunions to the Librascope Memories "Photos" page in the near future. There you will find photos from all the other Reunions since 1999! In the meantime, the 2016 Reunion photos can be viewed from Blog post #144.

PPS - Today, October 20th, marks the 8 year anniversary of this Librascope Memories - News Blog! Hope you are enjoying it.

#155) Announcing the 2018 Librascope Employee Reunion

You are invited to the

2018 Librascope Employee Reunion

A time to greet and enjoy your Librascope friends and colleagues

View Librascope memorabilia and share unique retirement hobbies**

    Saturday, October 13, 2018

10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

The Federal Bar

5303 Lankershim Boulevard, North Hollywood, CA

(818) 980-2555          thefederalnoho.com

Located across the street from the North Hollywood Stations for the Metro Red Line and Orange Line

$5.00 Valet parking available in lot behind building; Ample free street parking; Enter building on Weddington Street

Buffet Luncheon - $30.00 per person

Self serve coffee, tea, soft drinks and No Host Bar at 10:00 a.m.

Lunch is at 12:30 p.m.

Please RSVP to Georgine Archer by October 5, 2018:

By E-mail:  geoarcher@netzero.net    By phone:  (818) 848-5664

With confirmation by check payable to and sent to:

Georgine Archer

509 East Andover Drive

Burbank, CA  91504

No refunds after October 5, 2018.

WIVES, HUSBANDS, and SIGNIFICANT OTHERS ARE also INVITED.

Please help us spread the word to all former Librascope employees and their guests. Former associates of Librascope are, of course, welcome too.

 

Enjoy over 300 scanned Librazettes from 1940 to 1999, plus many other historical Librascope documents at librascopememories.com

 

**Video projection equipment is available to share your hobby at the reunion; please contact Georgine Archer.

#154) New Photos from the June 6th Has Beens Luncheon

Earlier this month, twenty-two (22) Libravets and Associates attended the "Has Beens" luncheon at the Burbank Hill Street Inn. Some had not attended for some time. As always, it was a great opportunity to discuss old times, current events, and personal stories.

Thanks to Georgine Archer for providing the following photos of all the attendees. At the last minute, my wife (Gloria) and I were unable to attend.

Photo #1 of 7 (left to right): Carey Capaldi, and Chris Chandler.











Photo #2 of 7 (left to right):
Don Tubbs, Dan Sibley, Ed Niekamp, and Dan Tubbs.

Photo #3 of 7 (left to right):
Emery Fekety, and Georgine Archer.

Photo #4 of 7 (left to right):
Jim Jaeger, Sharon Ouellette, Ralph Simon, A. J. Pankratz, Norm Wilcox, and Bill Tilden.

Photo #5 of 7 (left to right):
Larry Knowles, Jan Brazil, Mark Brazil, and Don Barton.

Photo #6 of 7 (left to right):
Norm Wilcox, Bill Tilden, and Earl Valdez.

Photo #7 of 7 (left to right):
Steve Lebit, Glen Cheslock, and Gus Montes.

#153) Next "Has Beens" Luncheon - Wednesday, June 6th

The following is an invitation to all Libravets and their guests from Ralph Simon:

To: All Libravets,

Mark your calendar! I have arranged for our next Has Beens' luncheon to be held on Wednesday, June 6, 2018 at the Hill Street Cafe located in Burbank. 

Please join us at 11:45 AM to share old war stories and current ailments at our usual spot in the back of the restaurant. I have made arrangements for a special menu with a set price of $17 per person including an entree, soup or salad, soft beverage, tax and tip. Of course, you're on your own for any bar drinks.

See you there,

Ralph Simon

PLEASE RSVP to ralph3222@gmail.com by Monday, June 4th. Ralph will need a total head count for the restaurant by that date.

Hill Street Cafe in Burbank.

3301 N. Glenoaks  Blvd.

http://www.hillstreetcafeonline.com/map.html

PS: Previous Has Been Luncheons are described in Posts #151, 149, 133, 132, 121, 120, 94, 91, 78, 51, 50, 28, and 25.

#152) Want NASA to Leave Your Name On Mars?

Perhaps for public relations purposes, NASA has set up a website where you can easily sign up to have your name placed on a tiny microchip and sent to Mars next year. It will fly aboard the InSight spacecraft built by Lockheed Martin. In addition, if you also sign up for NASA’s “frequent flyer” program, they will credit your account for the 33.9 million miles travelled to Mars, including any future flights you may sign up for.

The next mission to Mars; i.e., the InSight Mars Lander, will launch in May, 2018 and land on Mars in November next year. Its mission is to study the interior of Mars and listen for Mars quakes.

The InSight lander is being built at Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver. In the attached photo, a spacecraft specialist in a clean room, affixes a dime-size chip onto the lander deck. This chip will carry all the names submitted online by the public from all over the world.

Applicants who opt to include their email address will become a “Frequent Flyer”. NASA will then automatically keep track of all the missions you participate in. They will also store copies of all your boarding passes, and notify you whenever new flight opportunities become available.

To put your name on the “passenger list”, simply Click Here and type it in. Note, press #4 at the top of this NASA website to learn more about Mars and the InSight.

IMPORTANT - The last day to submit your name is Wednesday, November 1, 2017. To date, about two million “passengers” have signed up.

#151) The October “Has Beens” Luncheon - Photos

Several Librascope “Has Beens” gathered this past week to discuss both current events and past experiences. These periodic get togethers started about twenty years ago, a few years before Librascope moved to Manassas, VA!

Attending this luncheon were Gus Montes, Ralph Simon, Georgine Archer, Don Tubbs (and his son), Don Barton, Steve Lebit, Earl Valdez, Carol Wong, Shep Girion, "AJ" Pankratz, Dan Sibley, Emery Fekety, Larry Knowles, Bill Tilden, and Gloria & Carl Sorensen (camera shy).

BTW, Georgine mentioned off-line that she would like to have the next Has Beens luncheon in April, followed by our bi-annual Reunion in October or early November. Comments?

#150) Our U.S. Navy’s “Boomer” Submarines

The U.S. Navy’s fleet of 18 “Boomer” submarines, a.k.a. Fleet Ballistic Missile (FBM) submarines, are the most feared weapon on earth. Recently, several impressive photos of these Ohio Class submarines were compiled and distributed. This collection is presented here in the form of a video slideshow for easy viewing.

My thanks to Don Barton for forwarding these photos. BTW, Don was the Program Manager for the mass memories that were installed in each of these FBM subs Integrated Radio Room.

To view this short 4 minute video on YouTube, simply click here. 

PS: Don't forget the Has Beens luncheon is next week (October 11th).

Enjoy! Carl

#149) Next "Has Beens" Luncheon - Wednesday, October 11th.

The following is an invitation to all Libravets and their guests from Ralph Simon:

To: All Libravets,

Mark your calendar! I have arranged for our next Has Beens' luncheon to be held on Wednesday, October 11, 2017 at the Hill Street Cafe located in Burbank. 

Please join us at 11:45 AM to share old war stories and current ailments at our usual spot in the back of the restaurant. I have made arrangements for a special menu with a set price of $17 per person including an entree, soup or salad, soft beverage, tax and tip. Of course, you're on your own for any bar drinks.

Ralph Simon

PLEASE RSVP to ralph3222@gmail.com by Monday, October 9th. Ralph will need a total head count for the restaurant by that date.

Hill Street Cafe in Burbank.

3301 N. Glenoaks  Blvd.

http://www.hillstreetcafeonline.com/map.html

PS: Previous Has Been Luncheons are described in Posts #133, 132, 121, 120, 94, 91, 78, 51, 50, 28, and 25.

#148) Roy Dean Bartlome, 1928 - 2017

Roy Bartlome, a long time Libravet known by all, has passed away. Roy's daughter, Laurie, kindly sent us an advance copy of his obituary which will appear in the LA Times' Glendale News Press tomorrow (Wednesday). A reproduction follows:

Roy Dean Bartlome, 89, of Glendale, California passed away on Sunday, July 30, 2017. Born in 1928 in Montpelier, Idaho to Fred and Lena Bartlome, he was one of eight children. Although raised in Idaho, he spent most of his adult life in the Los Angeles, California area.

Roy graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles with a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering and, in 1952, earned his Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering. Beginning in 1956, he dedicated his professional life to aerospace at Librascope (Singer Corporation) based in Glendale, California. He led a distinguished career in program management as Director of Naval Weapon Systems until he retired as Vice President of Navy Modernizations Programs in 1991.

Roy was a loving and devoted husband to his wife, Patricia, until her death in 2009. He was a proud father of his only daughter, Laurie Brighton, of Sydney, Australia, and adoring of his companions in later life, Burton Johnson and Kelly Cassidy. He is survived by them and by his brothers, Gordon and James Bartlome of Utah, and by his sisters, Helen Portela and Linda Aland of Idaho, as well as by many loving nieces, nephews and dear long-term friends.

In Roy’s own words, he felt “gifted to have lived his life with honor, courage, laughter and love.”

A celebration of his life will be held at the Hillside Chapel, Gate 17, Rose Hills Memorial Park, Whittier, California on Wednesday, August 9 at 3 p.m., followed by a graveside service.

Attention Blog (e-mail) subscribers: If you received this post as an e-mail and wish to add a comment, click here and then click on "comments" at the bottom of Post #148. Or, you may send your comment to me as a "reply" to this message, and I will post it for you. Thanks, Carl

#147) Robert "Bob" Chambers, 1935 - 2016

The other day, Georgine Archer unexpectedly discovered Bob Chambers’ obituary in the May 2, 2016 issue of The Record-Courier, serving Minden-Gardnerville & Carson Valley, NV.

As most Libravets know, Bob was a very highly regarded systems engineer at Librascope who made many important contributions. In 1989, for example, he was the AN/BSY-2 Program Director. See page 2 of the December 22, 1989 Librazette (click here).

Bob's 2016 obituary follows:

Robert "Bob" Chambers, long-time resident of Gardnerville, Nevada, passed away at home on Friday, April 1, 2016. Bob and his wife Brenda moved to Gardnerville in 2001 from June Lake, California. Bob loved the Sierras and his new home in Gardnerville. He became active in the community as a member of the Douglas County Library Board and as President and Treasurer of Friends of the Library. Bob was born in Los Angeles, California on May 26, 1935 and lived most of his life in Burbank before retiring to June Lake in 1997. He was a graduate of UCLA and had an MBA from Pepperdine University. Bob was a consummate engineer and spent his entire working career of more than 30 years with Singer- Librascope in Glendale.California. After retiring to June Lake, Bob became involved in various community projects including the June Lake Water Board, the Mono County Library, and Friends of the Bodie Railroad. Bob's smile, energy and hugs will be missed by family and friends. He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Brenda, son Richard (Pamela) of Downey, California, grandchildren Jamie Chambers of Minden, Jeffrey Chambers of Simi Valley, California and Steven Chambers of Huntington Beach, California. Bob was preceded in death by granddaughter Bridget Chambers. Bob will also be missed by former daughter-in-law Terri Chambers of Minden and step grandchildren Stacey Tauson of Los Angeles and Stephanie Tauson of Downey, California. A memorial event will be planned for a later date. Arrangements were in the trusted care of Autumn Funerals & Cremations.

PS - Bob’s wife, Brenda, passed away December 3, 2016. She was 82 years old.