BRUNSWICK

Sailors once stationed at Brunswick’s former Navy base will return from far and wide this weekend to catch up with friends, share old stories and see what has changed since the base’s closure.

The second biennial Naval Air Station Brunswick Reunion at Brunswick Landing is expected to draw more than 300 former military personnel who were stationed at the former base, as well as civilians who worked there. Their families are also invited.

The event kicks off with a meet and greet dinner at the American Legion Post 202 in Topsham from 5-9 p.m. Friday, followed by a Saturday morning buffet breakfast at the Fairground Cafe in Topsham from 8-10 a.m.

Tours of the P-8A Poseidon, a maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft will be offered from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aircrew from Patrol Squadron 26 (VP-26) will lead those tours.

There will also be tours of the Wayfair building, the former home to the Navy Exchange before the base closed in 2011, from noon to 3 p.m.

The reunion also gives attendees the chance to attend the 50th anniversary memorial ceremony Saturday for the 24 members of VP-26 lost during two combat mishaps while flying P-3Cs off the coast of Vietnam in 1968. Captain Craig Mattingly, the U.S. Navy commander for the Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing 11, will preside over the ceremony.

Organizer Jeff Simpson said Gov. Paul LePage has committed to attend and speak at the ceremony. LePage’s office said Wednesday he is tentatively scheduled to attend.

The memorial ceremony will be held at 3 p.m. in the Memorial Gardens at the Brunswick Naval Museum located at 179 Admiral Fitch Ave.

A 3:30 p.m. happy hour will precede by a buffet dinner served from 5-6:30 p.m. Saturday under the tent near the naval museum. The evening wraps up with awards and speeches.

Simpson said walk-ins are allowed but meals are limited.

There will also be guided tours of the base Sunday starting under the tent at 9 a.m.

Naval Air Station Brunswick opened during World War II as a training ground for British and Canadian pilots. It was deactivated for five years before the Navy reopened it in 1951. Maritime patrol aircraft operated from the base, which employed about 5,000 people at its peak when there were more than a dozen squadrons stationed there.

The base was decommissioned in 2011. It was renamed Brunswick Landing and continues to transform through the redevelopment efforts of the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority.

The reunion is open to anyone who had any job on the base, at the annex in Topsham or had a family member who served or worked at either location. For more information, visit nasbreunion.org.