Frau, just got back from our trip to Charleston....so late response to your question. I decided on something nontraditional. An engraved watch was just too serious. My son has a great sense of humor and loves to laugh so I filled a 12"X9"X6" cardboard box with Nuclear Navy Pipeline gag items. Each item had a shipping tag attached with a comment. One was a glass candy thermometer. The tag said "official radiation measuring device....complete with belt clip...conversion scale from degrees F to mR available upon request". Another was a small round, wide angle mirror. The tag said "official SCPO detection device....secure to reactor control panel....caution, items in mirror may be closer than they appear to be." About 10 gag gifts in all, each crudely wrapped in butcher paper and secured with some yellow radioactive warning tape. I also included some bright orange rubber gloves with a strip of radioactive tape around the cuff to clean his bathroom with. That one was funnier than I expected as the pair was inadvertently for two left hands. He laughed and said that they were for a radioactive mutant. The only serious item was a small cannister with flip top lid (wrapped in radioactive tape), just the right size to hold some rolled up 20 dollar bills. The tag said "Open in case of Extreme Nonnuclear Emergency"
After graduation I purchased a nice black ink pen made of hardwood from the souvenir table. It was engraved with "Naval Nuclear Power Training Command, Goose Creek,SC." I'm thinking of having it engraved with his initials, class number, pipeline grad date and give it to him at the end of prototype. It comes with an engraved hardwood case. Should have bought two. I'd like to keep one for myself!
Kathy, VPNM
