BRUNSWICK

A group of volunteers working to bring people back to the former Brunswick Naval Air Station this summer for a reunion is struggling to finance the event and get a head count of just who’s coming in time to finish planning.

Thousands of people served at BNAS before the base was decommissioned in 2011, leaving buildings vacant and surrounding military housing empty and no real reason for them to return. Five years later, the renamed Brunswick Landing continues to transform under redevelopment efforts. Military personnel and civilian employees once stationed at or who worked at the air station are invited to come back to attend the reunion weekend slated for July 15-17.

According to the reunion committee chairman Jeff Simpson, who administers the Remember Brunswick

Naval Air Station Facebook page, the idea was proposed to him on the social media page and he ran with it. He said the idea got a great response, but planning was late getting underway. A lack of seed money to plan the event means the reunion hangs in the balance, and relies on people who may attend to commit as soon as possible.

There is a May 28 deadline for reservations and if not enough people say they are coming, the event will be canceled and meal money returned. The sooner organizers know how many people to plan for, the more they can do.

“The major challenge is we’re starting from zero and though there’s been a few smaller donations, we really don’t have the capital to go forth until we have the guaranteed count. So this May 28 deadline is basically the drop-dead date,” said reunion committee member Read Rich. “In other words, it’s the date we’ve got to decide whether we’re going to forge on and have the reunion, or refund everybody’s money and call it off.”

In August 2005, the federal Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission voted to close BNAS and move its operations to Jacksonville, Florida. There was a strong effort in the Midcoast to keep the base open, but it was ultimately decommissioned on May 31, 2011. Many people stationed at BNAS have returned to the Midcoast after retiring and reunion organizers believe there are hundreds of retired military still living in the area.

“It’s a commemoration, because nobody wants to celebrate the closing of the base,” Rich said.

Rich served as an air crewman on the P-3 Orion airplanes that were a common site in the air above Brunswick. He served on the base as a contractor after retiring from the Navy and now is director of the Mid- Coast Veterans Resource Center on the former base. He said there were many sailors who spent many years at the base, called “homesteaders.”

Many describe BNAS as their favorite duty station. Of all the places he’s been, Rich said the closest relationship between a base and community was at BNAS.

There were 5,000 people on BNAS at every given time, which Rich said gives an idea of how many people there are to invite. The reunion committee has heard from people from as far away as Texas and Ohio who plan to attend. Invitations have gone out through squadron websites to help get the word out.

His own squadron, VP-26, recently came back to BNAS and visited the Naval museum now at the former chapel. They had a tailgate party at Fat Boy Drive In in Brunswick, sharing stories, old pictures and memorabilia. These are the kind of activities he envisions to take place this summer.

During the reunion weekend, a meet and greet will take place Friday night at Yankee Lanes in Brunswick, with golfing Saturday at Mere Creek Golf Course. On Saturday night, there is dinner, dancing and awards being presented under a tent near the chapel. On Sunday, there will be a chapel service led by Pastor Raymond St. Pierre, followed by museum tours.

For more information, to reserve a spot at the reunion or donate to the event, visit bnasreunion.org. Commemorative coins and reunion patches are also for sale and there is a BNAS Reunion 2016 GoFundMe page.

dmoore@timesrecord.com

Planned events

• DURING THE REUNION weekend, a meet and greet will take place Friday night at Yankee Lanes in Brunswick, with golfing Saturday at Mere Creek Golf Course. On Saturday night, there is dinner, dancing and awards being presented under a tent near the chapel. On Sunday, there will be a chapel service led by Pastor Raymond St. Pierre, followed by museum tours.