The Banquet was held on October 18, 2017 at the Tukwila Community Center.

Guest Speaker: The guest speaker was Michael Lombardi, the official Boeing historian.

Banquet Chairman's Message (by Michael Nau):

The 2017 banquet marks the waning days of the year, and this year's banquet was one that people will talk about for a long time. Michael Lombardi the official Boeing historian was this year's speaker and spoke for more than an hour on the history of Boeing. It was clear that he could have kept going for several days with all the knowledge he has, and all the varied history of Boeing. Michael is only the third employee to hold the position of Boeing historian, and his depth of knowledge on the company is unsurpassed. A survey of some people after the banquet showed that his talk appealed to Boeing employees and retirees as well as those that had never worked for Boeing.

The banquet also featured some fantastic food, and lots of it from Maggiano's in Bellevue. We stuffed everyone in attendance, and there was still enough food to send home with several people. The menu consisted of salad, bread, spaghetti & meatballs, lasagna and dessert. We even had Truus bring in some vegetables to balance out the meal. After the great food, and even better speaker, we started handing out gifts. This year we were able to get a prize to every person that attended in addition to a door prize. The Grand Prize was a gold coin that was won by Craig Sheldon's wife. She is part of Craig's family membership, and promised not to give it to Craig.

Overall it was a great banquet that could not have happened without the volunteers. Some of the key people that made it all happen this year were: Truus, Ben, Alex, Dave and Rosanne, and Mike. Each year the team works to do better than the last year's banquet, and I think we did quite well at that this year.

We also announced the Jim Payne award winner, club president Tom Koch. Congratulations!

Club members: please see the Nov. 2017 newsletter for a more extensive summary of Michael Lombardi's talk.

2017 Banquet Photos submitted by David Buehler.

Club president Tom Koch receiving the Jim Payne Memorial Service Award from last year's recipient, Rosanne Buehler.

Various photos of setup, people arriving and buffet line.

Various photos of club members including club president Koch and son (left).

Various photos of guest speaker Michael Lombardi, including introduction by Mike Nau (upper left).

BECC Annual Awards, presented by club president Tom Koch. The final photo shows all the award winners.

Prizes and awards (left); Mike Nau handing out prizes (center/right).

Club medal dies (left); special cake depicting 2018 club medal (right).