USS Hornet pulls out all the stops for New Year’s Eve gala … again

For the 17th year in a row, the USS Hornet will be holding a New Year’s Gala on Tuesday night featuring an auction, swing music provided by two bands and … who knows? Maybe even a marriage proposal.

At last year’s event Nate Segi dropped to one knee and popped the question to Tara Wolski.

She said “yes” and the couple are still married, but no word on whether they plan to attend this year’s gala.

“We hope for similar excitement this year,” says Russell Moore, the Hornet’s Chief Experience Officer.

In addition to the swing era music and life changing proposals, the gala also provides an opportunity to bid on some very distinctive, one of a kind items.

Many with, naturally, a nautical theme.

One of this year’s standout items on the block includes an original 1942 US Navy chronometer used on the decks of warships during WWII. A Hamilton M22 model, it replaced the M21 model that was difficult to repair.

The “watch” is in excellent running condition and is an “important collector grade timepiece, as well as a wartime artifact,” says Moore. It’s valued at $3,000.

Another sea-worthy rarity up for grabs is a French-made silver Athenian incense burner in the shape of a Lion’s Head dating back to somewhere between 1850 and 1899.

“This antique incense burner exudes the grandeur of ancient civilizations,” says Moore, who adds it’s worth $250.

Reserve values and opening bids for auction items have yet to be determined.

While the staff of the USS Hornet make the transformation of a WWII era warship — the very one that scooped up first-time moon walkers Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin at sea when they came back to Earth in 1969 — into a dance floor look easy, it is anything but.

In order to get the Hornet ready for the evening, wooden tiles that lock into place with each other have to be laid down directly over the metal ship’s deck — a process that takes days. Once the dance floor’s in place, the tables, stage, food and bar set ups are put into place.

“Most of that final set up will happen the day of New Year’s Eve since we are not open for normal museum business that day,” says Moore.

Returning to the Hornet’s stage this year will be last year’s bands, Nick Rossi and Swing Six, back for the second year, as well as longtime gala band mainstay Three O’Clock Jump led by Alameda-based musician Gus Wedemeyer.

Rossi’s Swing Six band, the “house” band at San Francisco’s Top of the Mark where they’ve been in residency for the past two years, is a favorite on the Bay Area’s swing music dance scene.

“Our repertoire has continued to develop as we have dug even deeper in the late-1930s through mid-1940s swing era for inspiration and material,” says Rossi, the group’s leader and guitarist.

This emphasis on swing music from the time the Hornet was built isn’t an accident either.

“As we always do when we have the good fortune to play the USS Hornet, we will be paying special musical tribute to the early-to-mid 1940s from which the ship emerged, highlighting compositions from that era,” says Rossi.

Joining Rossi onstage will be Kamrin Ortiz (tenor sax and clarinet), Clint Baker (trumpet), Charles Chen (piano), Mikiya Matsuda (bass), and Benny Amon (drums).

The evening’s other band, Three O’Clock Jump is the brainchild of Wedemeyer who put it together in 2005 when he was asked to assemble a swing band to perform at a benefit dance. Since they had such a good time they decided to stay together.

It’s no great jump in logic to see how the name was derived at either. After all, there’s Count Basie’s One O’Clock Jump and Harry James Two O’Clock Jump. So why not Three O’Clock? Indeed, why not.

While Swing Six focuses on “jump swing,” Three O’Clock is rooted in swing and standards but “we add a lot of Latin flavor,” says Wedemeyer. To that end look for the group to bust out some mambo, samba and tango numbers.

Three O’Clock Jump includes Wedemeyer’s wife, Laura Brady, on vocals and piano, Mike Wilson (lead saxaphone), Lee Siegel (lead trombone), Eddie Catihanan (lead trumpeter), featured French horn player Adrienne Chambers, drummer Bill Swanson, and Claudio Medeiros on piano and accordion.

For more information on the USS Hornet’s annual New Year’s Eve gala, visit uss-hornet.org/events.

Paul Kilduff is a San Francisco-based writer who also draws cartoons. He can be reached at pkilduff350@gmail.com.