Volume 4, Number 2 In Salutem Omnium

The Telegraph Northeas t Region BSA — Sea Scout ing Commit tee

May 1999

The Telegraph A newsletter

published by the Northeast Region

Sea Scouting Committee Venturing Division

Boy Scouts of America

Bruce Chr. Johnson

Commodore Robert Legg

Associate Regional Director William R. James

Editor-in-Chief

Robin Ouellette Rafi Y.A. Sharif Associate Editors

If you have a ques-tion or comment about what you read in this newsletter or something related to Sea Scouting, we’d like to hear from you. Please cast us a line at the address listed below.

Deadline

Summer 1999 issue June 20, 1999

Send news of events, people, or story ideas to:

The Telegraph c/o Bill James

425 Wayne Avenue Pitman, NJ 08071

Tel. 609-589-3088 wrjames@jersey.net

The Telegraph is located at www.thetelegraph.org

J ohn Severino has signed aboard as Vice Commodore (Training) in the NE Region. John has come up through Cubs (Arrow of Light 1970) & Boy Scouts

(Eagle 1974). He was inducted into Order of the Arrow’s Unami Lodge #1, served as Senior Patrol Leader, com-pleted Troop Leader Development, earned an Eagle Silver Palm, and received the Pope Pius XII religious emblem. He continued as an Assistant Scoutmaster from 1977 through 1989. During this time he completed Woodbadge and was a council leader to Philmont. Since 1976 to this day, he has also served on the same Campmaster crew at Hart Scout Reservation and Treasure Island.

John graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1981. He served onboard nuclear aircraft carrier USS DWIGHT D EISENHOWER (CVN 69) where he quali-fied as a Surface Warfare Officer. John left active duty and entered the Naval Re-serve in 1998 and was promoted to Commander and reported to the reserve staff of NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic in Washington, DC as Administrative Officer. He holds an MBA and is a graduate of the U.S. Naval War College. While serving in the Navy, John was an Assistant Scoutmaster for an inner-city troop in Norfolk, VA, and for an LDS Troop in Middletown, RI. He has served the Scout movement in Greece, Ireland, and Malaysia. He received the Vigil Honor in Siwinis

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The Telegraph —May 1999 Page 2

T he Venturing Lead-ership Award is pre-

sented by councils, areas/regions, and the BSA National Council to Venturers and adults who have made exceptional contribu-tions to Venturing and who exemplify the Venturing Code. Jerry Crabtree received the first ever Re-gional Venturing Leadership Award during the Regional Committee Meeting March 20. Bill James received the same recognition at the Delaware Valley Bridge of Honor that evening. The recipients have demonstrated exceptional dedication and given outstanding leadership and service to Venturing and to Venturers at the regional level.

S hip 90’s Committee Chairman Donald S. Johnson and First Mate Barry T. Hall

have received the Good Shepherd Award. On February 28th at evening services in the South New Milford Baptist Church, a good number of former sea scouts from the 70’s and 80's were on hand to see ship’s boatswain Jeremiah Johnson present the award to his grandfather Don Johnson. Don has 61 years of service to Boy Scouts of America and Sea Scout-ing. He is an Eagle Scout received the Silver Beaver Award. He earned the Seabadge and Woodbadge Training Awards as well. Pastor Larry Thomas gave an account of Don’s many years of service as a Trustee, Awana Youth Leader, his many building and repair projects for the church and work with missions and church camps in Tennessee, Paraguay and Af-rica. At the First Baptist Church of New Milford, Pastor Dave Riley presented the Good Shep-herd Award to Barry Hall at morning services on March 14 with a good turn out of Sea Scouts on board. Millard Hall, President of the Sea Scout Association and Church Deacon gave a brief resume of his son's ( Barry Hall ) work with the church as Choir director, organizing and working at many of the church dinners and youth groups. Barry holds the Quartermaster

TWO OFFICERS FROM SEA SCOUT SHIP "NORTH STAR" 90 RECEIVE GOOD SHEPHERD AWARDSGOOD SHEPHERD AWARDS

Award, the District Award of Merit and Sea-badge for advanced Sea Scout training. The Good Shepherd Award is presented for distinguished service leading towards the spiritual, physical, mental and moral devel-opment of youth through service to the church and the Boy Scouts of America! Skipper Ron Hall

The Telegraph — May 1999 Northeast Region, BSA Page 3

1999 REGIONAL SEA SCOUTING

COMMITTEE Commodore

Bruce Chr. Johnson* 410-740-7204

NE Region Assoc. Regional Dir. Robert Legg

609-655-9600 Regional Office Robert Sirhal, Vice Commodore

(Sales) 401-789-7929

John Severino, Vice Commodore (Training)

William R. James*, Vice Commodore (Program & Communications)

Editor-in-Chief -Telegraph Course Director NE-Seabadge X

609-589-3088

David Mosher, Rear Commodore (Liberty Ward Room)

Captain Hugh Stephens

Honorary Vice Commodore Betty Stephens

SD Broder 203-853-9291

Jeremiah M. Crabtree 301-262-0394

Martin Flynn Cyrus Lawyer, Bo’s’n’s Mate

Blake K. Leedy, Boatswain Jeff Murray, QM

301-776-9033

Robin Ouellette, CWO4, USCG Information Officer

Nancy Jean Reeder 716-544-8668

Jack Reeder 716-544-8668

Rafi Y.A. Sharif 410-367-3024

Douglas Yeckley 410-326-4291

Adam A. James, Ordinary Technical Assistant

The Northeast Region Sea Scout Committee and the Liberty Wardroom are pleased to announce the availability of free web hosting for all Northeast Region Sea Scout Ships. Web pages will provide your Ships with an avenue to promote yourselves in their community and to increase the recognition of Sea Scouting worldwide. This will help your Ship in its recruit-ment and publicity efforts. This service is offered with the under-

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Fellow Sea Scouters: I'm pleased to announce that, thanks to the ef-forts of John Wolfgang of the National Ventur-ing Committee, we now have the new Venturing Adult Leader Basic Training course up on the Sea Scouting web site. If you follow the links to the "Training Resources" page, you will find both the general Venturing version of this course, as well as a version that has been con-verted to entirely Sea Scouting terminology. Both are PowerPoint presentation files. The Sea Scouting version is also available from the "Download Area" page. Bruce Johnson

The Telegraph —May 1999 Page 4

Israel Chaparro, 17 years old, is currently serving as Bosun of Ship 272. He is an honor student in his junior year of high school and has earned the Ad Altare Dei religious emblem from the Roman Catholic Church. Israel earned the Able rank in 1998 and is looking forward to complet-ing his Quartermaster requirements this year. Israel’s service project involved con-verting one room strewn with over 10,000 books into two libraries for his alma matter, the St. Jo-seph's School of Yorkville. George Constantine, 15 years old, is cur-rently serving as Bosun's Mate for Program, having served as Bosun last year. He is a freshman at Xavier High School and member of the football team. George received the Able Sea Scout award at this Bridge of Honor and plans to finish off all of his under-way requirements for Quartermaster during the coming sailing season. George's service project involved cleaning and restoration of 12 compartments and the upper decks of the former NOAA research vessel ELIZABETH M. FISHER; now berthed at the Intrepid Sea Air Space Museum. Paul-André LeBlanc, 17 years old, has

served as Crew Leader of Bravo Crew for the last two years. He is a senior and looking for-ward to college next year. Paul-André is currently working toward Able Sea Scout, and plans to stay in the ship next year in order to finish his Quartermaster re-quirements. Paul-André’s service project in-volved training 272's scouts to supervise other youngsters in the building of a wooden boat for Floating The Apple, a community wooden boat organization.

This was the 19th Bridge of Honor for Ship 272, New York. This year Ship 272 hosted the other ships of the Liberty Ward-room, comprising the area of New York City, Northern New Jersey, the lower Hudson Val-

ley and western Long Island. The Apprentice Sea Scout Rank was presented to Louis Bar-bieri, Saori Endo, Glen Grogan, Chris Propo-pio, and Sharon Rosenberg – Ship 51, Mi-chael Martinez and Eddie Twerdak - Ship 228. The Ordinary Rank was presented to Tho-mas Deans, Michelle Kho, Marie McHugh and Jennifer Otero - Ship 272.

Fine quality Sea Scout insignia. Silver bullion and silk, custom made Ship patches. 33 knots on blue, white, khaki & green Send SASE to R Sharif 18637 Baltimore MD 21216

The Telegraph — May 1999 Northeast Region, BSA Page 5

The 17th Annual Sea Scout Ball and Bridge of Honor was held in Bridgeport, NJ. Rusty Lacey of Ship 548 was elected King of the Ball and Erin Alexander of Ship 320 was chosen Queen of the Ball. The Emerald Society of Camden County made a stirring bagpipe presentation and Ted Kulesza was chosen to receive the Commander Keane Recognition from the Cradle of Liberty Council. Nineteen Ships were represented at the Bridge of Honor. 1999 Sea Scouts of the Year include Ship 320 Ali Mullikin - SSS Chasseur, Ship 548 Shannon Riley - SSS Sea Eagle, Ship 5 Jason Shepherd - SSS Ex-plorer, Ship 25 Erin Smethurst - SSS Yankee Clipper, Ship 39 Patricia Corke - SSS Ranger, Ship 716 Genevieve Huba - SSS Free Spirit, Ship 1009 Matthew Magorka - SSS Sea Devil Ship 90 Terra Kil-mer - SSS North Star, Ship 243 Jennifer Zatwarnicki - SSS Sea Horse Ship 759 Janet Cuff - SSS Longrider, Ship 361 Alex S. Perry - SSS Columbia Ranger

(From SS Web Space - Continued from page 3)

standing that only Sea Scouting sites with no com-mercial use will be permitted. An additional page with information about your Chartered Organiza-tion ("Sponsor") is permitted, provided that it does not directly advertise (describe products or services for sale). This service is currently limited to Ships located in the area serviced by the Northeast Region, Boy Scouts of America. The SeaScout.Net group re-serves the right to provide services to organizations other then Ships and to Ships outside the NE-R, without incurring a liability to provide the same to others. To reserve your account, please contact

Martin Flynn

(maflynn@worldnet.att.net).

II am pleased to announce that

Ship 12, Newport will be hosting the second annual Sink Or Swim (S.O.S) Rendezvous on September 10-12, 1999 at Fort Ad-ams State Park in Newport, Rhode Island. The weekend is intended to be an informal event, to pro-vide a chance for ships in the Northeast Region and beyond to gather for a weekend of Sea Scout fellow-ship and friendly competition. As with last year, the focal point of the event will be a plywood boat race, with prizes awarded for creativity and design, and, of course, the Sink Or Swim Cup awarded to the first (and, if last year was any indication, potentially only) vessel to complete the race. Full details of the event will be provided in late May, but mark your calendars now. I have already received word that Ship 40 of Falmouth, Mass. has been spending their cold winter months working on next years winning design, so the competition will be stiff! The following is the unofficial materials list for those interested in getting an early start: 3 Sheets 1/4" Plywood (4' x 8') 4 - 12' x 1" x 2" boards 2 - 8' x 2" x 4" boards 6'x8' blue poly tarp 6 tubes SikaFlex291 marine adhesive 20 plastic cable ties

50' 1/4" line Decorative paint (optional but recommended, pro-vided by crews as desired) I would also like to extend a special invitation to Alphonse the Alligator to join us at this year's race. He's welcome to snack on, um, I mean, encourage" stragglers, though, of course, if the race committee determines that he unfairly influences the outcome of the race, I might end up with a new pair of 'gator boots in my closet. Charles Chopin, Skipper, Ship 12, Newport

The Telegraph —May 1999 Page 6

Hallmark Emblems, 2401 Tampa Street, Tampa, Fl 33602. Telephone 813-223-5427, contact is Scott Delarco. Hallmark does excellent work with partly or fully embroidered patches. Send them a disc using .jpg format, fax a drawing or send an old patch.

Lodge #252 and wrote the first Urban Emphasis sylla-bus for the National Order of the Arrow Conference Training Committee in 1996, also serving as a NOAC Trainer in 1998. He was a National Jamboree council leader in 1997. He earned his third Woodbadge beads while serving on staff and was recognized with the Whitney M. Young, Jr. Service Award. From 1996-1998 he was Chairman of the Los Angeles Archdioce-san Catholic Committee on Scouting. He was recog-nized with the Bronze Pelican and Saint George Em-blems. John joined Ship 618 of the King Harbor Yacht Club in Redondo Beach, CA as a Mate in 1994 and gained experience in the program during cruises to Santa Catalina and along the Southern California coast. He was awarded Seabadge and assisted at several South-western Rendezvous events in Long Beach and Coronado, CA. He is now the Exploring Service Team Chairman for the Baltimore Area Council, and served on the International Training Staff for the 19TH World Scout Jamboree in Chile from 1998-1999. He has received the Silver Beaver, Award of Merit, District Committee and Commissioner Keys, Sea Scouter Training Award, Cub Scouter and Den Leader Coach Awards. John has assisted the National Ad-vancement Committee for major revisions of the Bugling Merit Badge pamphlet. He holds over 60 trail medals from every BSA Region as well as 100-Miler hiking awards from three states. The Chapel of the Four Chaplains at Valley Forge, PA awarded him the Legion of Honor, and the Department of Defense rec-ognized his Scouting record with the Military Out-standing Volunteer Service Medal. In civilian life he is a Senior Property Tax Consultant for Ernst & Young LLP in Baltimore, Maryland.

(Scout Fleet 2002 – Continued from page 8)

Three years may seem like a long way off, but now is the time to begin planning . The Commit-tee wants to give every unit enough time to make whatever plans are necessary to join us in 2002. If you want your unit be part of the Scout Fleet 2002 celebration, please contact Mr. Fred Irvin, 2070 First Avenue (# 250) New York, NY 10029. Or contact Mr. Irvin by E-mail at <freeze380@aol.com> Let us know who you are, where you'll be coming from, a "guesstimation" of the number of scouts and leaders you think may come, and (if you are coming by or bringing a boat) a description and dimensions of your vessel. If you are interested in participating on the Scout Fleet committee ( and there is plenty to do! ) or wish to share your ideas, please contact

Mr. David Mosher, 6142 Delafield Ave-nue, Bronx, NY 10471. Or contact Dave by E-mail at <projectsail@worldnet.att.net>

B y the time this issue of "The Tele-graph" reaches you, a new edition of

the "Sea Scout Manual" will be only weeks away from arriving in BSA National Supply.

The new, 10th Edition of the "Sea Scout Man-ual" (note the title change) will have a 1999 imprint date and include major re-writes and reorganization of the handbook. This new edition was edited by Na-tional Commodore Jimmie Homburg and me, and has all new illustrations and many changes suggested by Sea Scouts and officers nationwide. The new Ven-

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The Telegraph — May 1999 Northeast Region, BSA Page 7

AHOY, SEA SCOUTS!

Participate in the Top Gun Experience

The U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation and Sea Scouts, B.S.A. are hosting an extraordinary opportunity to be part of a great event from June 27 through July 4, 1999. Twenty-four Sea Scouts will be selected to come to the Washington, DC area to see first hand the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Marine Corps, and Merchant Marine. Participants will stay at Andrews Air Force Base. Guided tours of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Quantico Marine Base, Patuxent Na-val Air Test Center, and St. Inigoes Coast Guard Boat Station are just a few of the planned events. The week will be highlighted by participation in major ceremonial events including a ceremony with senior Navy Ad-mirals at the Navy Memorial. On Independence Day you'll view fire-works on the National Mall from aboard a vessel in the Potomac River. Sea Scouts will discuss and learn from the Navy values--Courage, Honor, and Commitment. They will have an opportunity to make a contract with themselves to bring those values back to their Sea Scout Ships and put them in place. Only then will they win the coveted "Top Gun" award. See John Severino, VC for details

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turing program is reflected in the text, as well as many updates in Coast Guard information. Ad-vancement requirements received only very minor changes, mostly to clarify the meaning of individ-ual requirements. The most noticeable change will be a new Chapter 1. This section will focus on what is FUN about Sea Scouting. The idea for this came from the Quarterdeck of Ship 272 of New York City. (Incidentally, the current manual's cover design was proposed by Ship 272 as well.) Thanks to everyone who offered recommendations for improvements. Stay tuned to Seascout-Net. We will announce availability of the new "Sea Scout Manual" as soon as it arrives. Bruce Johnson Bruce Johnson Scouting Home page: http://www.seascout.org

The Telegraph —May 1999 Page 8

by David Mosher, Rear Commodore, Liberty Ward Room

GG ET READY FOR SCOUT FLEET 2002! Northeast Region to Hold Parade of Sea Scout vessels in New York Harbor.

Three years from now Sea Scouting will celebrate its 90th birthday. To commemorate this milestone in our program, Sea Scout vessels from up and down the coast will converge in New York Harbor for a parade of "small ships" and a public exposition on sea scouting and nautical skills. Scout Fleet 2002 will be the national celebration of Sea Scouting’s 90 years of service. The purpose of Scout Fleet 2002 is to accomplish three things: 1. To provide a program that will be worthwhile, fun and memorable for the participating Sea Scouts. 2. To celebrate 90 years of Sea Scouting in the United States; its history, and the contributions it has made to thousands of young people in America. 3. To create an event that will be capable of focusing national media attention on Sea Scouting. On the morning of Saturday July 26, 2002 the fleet of Sea Scout boats will depart from the Intrepid Sea Air Space Museum (centered around the historic aircraft carrier USS INTREPID), form up and parade past the Manhattan waterfront to the Statue of Liberty and back to the museum. Following the return of the fleet, there will be an Anniversary Ceremony and Sea Scout Exposition aboard the 330 foot barge which the museum is providing for the Region to hold this event. For years, dozens of Sea Scout vessels have made the pilgrimage to New York harbor to watch the parades of tall ships put on by Operation Sail. This time they will get to be the parade! The Sea Scout Exposition will give every participating unit a chance to share what it does best with the pub-lic. Boats can begin arriving at the museum on Friday July 25th and can stay until noon on Sunday the 27th. Units with trailerable boats may wish to drive to the Hudson River where they may launch their boats just a few miles north of the museum. Greater New York Councils has offered space at Camp Alpine, (nearby the launch site) for camping overnight and parking of cars and boat trailers. The Scout Fleet Committee is planning to provide patches for participating Sea Scouts, flags for the parade vessels and souvenir T-shirts for the general public. Also being planned is a Scout Fleet Journal, giving the history of the program, stories from Sea Scouts - past and present, and profiles on the participating vessels, with photographs and information on each Ship.

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The Telegraph — May 1999 Northeast Region, BSA Page 9

Yes! I am interested in your Seabadge Course. Please send me a registration package explaining more and what is expected of me as a course participant. My name is ___________________________________ My address is __________________________________ __________________________________ My telephone number is ______ _____________ My e-mail is ____________@______________ My position in Sea Scouting is ______________________ I understand that to be accepted as a participant of Seabadge NE-X that I must have completed Sea Scouting Basic and been actively involved in Sea Scouting for at least one year prior to the course.

Saturday, 13 Nov 1999, 1100 is the date & time of the Regional Committee meeting. Location will be the NE Region Office in Jamesburg, New Jersey.

SSS # 1, "Billy Bones", of Virginia Beach, Va., is hosting a Long Cruise from Little Creek, Va. to Tangier Island in August. So far we have 8 Ships interested. Planning has begun by the bosun and the crew. Ya’ll are invited. First leg out, is from Little Creek inlet to the WW2 concrete liberty ships sunk off Kiptopeake State Park on the Eastern Shore. They form a breakwater, the park is clean, has camping sites and showers. All types of vessels are welcome. Sea Ya ! Barnacle Bill, Skipper, SSS 1 Virginia Beach

The Telegraph —May 1999 Page 10

NEW TRAINING EMPHASIZES SAFETY AT UNIT LEVEL (A rewrite from Scouting magazine (pg. 10, September 1998 Robin Ouellette) A new council health and safety course, for unit leaders, and district and council staff, focuses on safety at the unit level. Emphasizing the fact that most serious injuries and fatal accidents in Scouting happen at that level, the 90-minute course is designed to: § Help unit leadership understand and accept responsibility for the well being and safety of Scouts in their

care during unit activities. § Identify areas of risk in Scouting activities, especially at the unit level, and define key safety procedures for

each activity. § Acquaint unit leaders with BSA resource materials for planning safe activities. § Introduce the “Sandwich Principle” in BSA Safety—that Scouting safety is produced when “sandwiched”

between a “cover” of leaders who provide qualified supervision and a “foundation” of discipline. The course features a new 10-minute video, “Scouting Safety…Begins With Leadership.” The tape presents unit situations involving automobile travel, boating, and hiking, pointing out how strict adherence to BSA safety guidelines and practices can prevent tragedies in each case. The training also includes a review of the “Guide to Safe Scouting,” the contents of which include key BSA safety policies: “Sweet 16 of BSA Safety,” “Safe Swim Defense,” “Safety Afloat,” “BSA Bike Safety,” and “Climb On Safely.” Other course content includes a review of standards found in “Tours and Expeditions;” and the careful driving and vehicle maintenance practices needed to avoid entering motoring’s “Risk Zone” (see Scouting magazine, pgs 10-11, Scouting magazine, May-June 1998). All leaders are urged to participant in and repeat this training once a year. This training has been made avail-able either at council training sessions or district roundtables. NOTE that this training does not fulfill the re-quirement for your completing the “Safe Swim Defense,” and “Safety Afloat,” courses as required for the Lo-cal Tour Permits. We of Sea Scouting are about to embark into the active portion of our Ships’ annual calendars. Weekend ac-tivities from Friday evening into Sunday afternoon/evening are very energy draining events. A BSA campaign aims to keep scout leaders who drive young people to and from events ever-alert for signs of drowsiness—the cause of about half of all fatal highway accidents. PLEASE take the time to read this. We do not want you to become another statistic DANGER: ENTERING ‘THE RISK ZONE’ (A portion of Bill Sloan’s article from Scouting magazine (pg. 10-11, May-June 1998) … You nod off. Your eyes seem to close for only a split second, but by the time you jerk awake, two wheels of the van are almost on the shoulder of the road. You shake yourself vigorously and turn up the radio. “I’m O.K.,” you tell yourself. “I just a little groggy. I’ll be fine in a minute.”

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The Telegraph — May 1999 Northeast Region, BSA Page 11

(Continued from page 10)

WHEN ACCIDENTS HAPPEN Whether you know it or not, you’ve just entered “the risk zone”—a dark region of physical and mental fatigue in which sudden death could lie in wait for you and the Scouts whose safety is in your hands. More than 43,000 Americans died in traffic accidents in 1997. According to studies conducted on several ma-jor U.S. turnpikes, drowsy motorists who ignored “the risk zone” and kept on driving caused roughly half of all fatal crashes. So what are you to do? There comes a time when no amount of cold water or hot coffee or telling yourself your fatigue is under control does any good. When that happens, you will go to sleep at the wheel if you don’t stop. Many adults simply don’t understand this. STOP AND TAKE A BREAK When you find yourself in “the risk zone,” the National Safety Council, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, and other authorities unanimously urge stopping the car as quickly as possible and allowing the fatigue and drowsiness to pass—even if it means being late to your destination. Statistics show that 2 PM is one of the most dangerous times during the daylight hours for fatigue-related colli-sions. Your taking even a short break can help significantly. Get out and stretch your legs. Even if you have to take an hour nap in a roadside park, that’s a lot better than eternal rest. The most dangerous time for driv-ers, however, is late at night, the average of collisions ever increase between 7 PM and 2 AM. Even professional drivers can’t always determine their own mental condition, and there’s also a lot of denial about being too tired to drive. It is hoped that this training will raise your awareness regarding the risk factor for driving when one is not in tiptop condition for it.

It’s time to wake up and see how closely some of us may be flirting with disaster.

HOW TO AVOID THE RISK ZONE To recognize when you’re in “the risk zone” and help you steer clear of it, safety experts offer the following tips: § Make sure to get plenty of sleep the night before a trip. § Drive only during the daytime. Stop and sleep at night. § Take a break every 75 to 100 miles, especially in the afternoon. § Travel with two adults in each vehicle whenever possible. If this can’t be done, assign an older youth to be

your “co-pilot” and make sure he stays awake. § Always stop when you detect even one of the following critical warning signals: Ø continual yawning; Ø difficulty focusing or keep your eyes open; Ø trouble keep your head up; Ø wandering or disconnected thoughts; Ø drifting between lanes or onto the shoulder; repeatedly jerking the steering wheel to stay on course; and, Ø missing traffic signals and warning signs.

The Telegraph —May 1999 Page 12

— Friday 9 April 1999 Jimmie Homburg, Commodore of the Sea Scout Fleet, BSA and Mr. Charles Holmes, National Sea Scout Director and Director of the National Venturing Division announced that the Central Region Sea Scout Flotilla Committee was officially authorized as of that date by the Boy Scouts of America. Tom Smiele has been appointed Commodore and a member of the National Committee.

1999 USA JUNIOR OLYMPIC SAILING United States Sailing Association Tel: (401)+683-0800 Fax: (401)+683-0840 NATIONAL JUNE 21 USA Junior Olympic National Sailing Champion-ship REGIONAL APRIL 24-25 USA Junior Olympic Sailing Festival-Florida JUNE 18-20 " " " " " - Upper MW 26-27 " " " " " - Lower MW 26-27 " " " Windsurfing Festival JULY 09-11 " " " Sailing Festival - Chesapeake 15-18 " " " " " - California 17-24 " " " " " - Texas 20-23 " " " " " - New England 26-27 " " " " " - NY/NJ/etc. 31- USA Junior Olympic AUGUST 1 Windsurfing Festival 04-06 AAU Junior Olympic GAMES 12-14 USA Junior Olympic Sailing Festival, NY 17-19 " " " " " , MASS 25-29 " " " " " , OR/WA DECEMBER 03-05 " " " " " , Stuart, FL 26-30 " " " " " , Miami, FL

1999 US SAILING ADULT CHAMPIONSHIP REGATTA MAY 22-23 US Sailing Women's Open Championship JULY 30-02 US Sailing Independence & N American Chal-lenge Cups

AUGUST 30-02 US Sailing Independence & N American Chal-lenge Cups 11-15 US Sailing Single handed Championships 24-29 US Sailing Women’s Championship 24-29 US Sailing Men’s Championship 27-29 US Sailing Team Race Championship SEPTEMBER 19-25 ROLEX International Women’s Keelboat Cham-pionship OCTOBER 05-09 US Sailing Match Racing Championship 14-17 US Sailing Championship of Champions 29-31 US Sailing Offshore Championship Information: http://www.ussailing.org Toll Free Info Fax: (800)+US SAIL-6

The Telegraph — May 1999 Northeast Region, BSA Page 13

Th e Seventeenth Annual Delaware Valley Sea Scout Ball and Bridge of Honor was conducted on the weekend of March 20th-21st. The event was held at the Holiday Inn in Bridgeport, New Jersey. Sea Scouts from all over the area checked-in during the morning and afternoon of Saturday. At 1800 the Bridge of Honor got underway and was crewed by Ship 548, from Southern Maryland. Numerous awards were given in recognition for those active in the Sea Scout program. Commodore Johnson of the NE Region, advanced Ship 361’s Cyrus J. Lawyer III to Regional Boat-swain’s Mate, and Blake Leedy of Ship 320 to Re-gional Boatswain for 1999-2000. After the ceremonies were concluded, the scouts hur-ried back to their quarters to dress for the Ball. The Ball was very successful. Leaders and Scouts went to bed that night with a tune. Sunday morning the scouts packed up, said good-bye to their friends and made sail for home.

David R. Riter will be awarded the Silver Beaver, from the Greater New York Council on May 17th.

Bob Sirhal will be awarded the Silver Antelope Award by the Northeast Re-gion in San Diego May 28.

The Telegraph —May 1999 Page 14

Marisol Cheng of Ship 272, New York, NY, has earned the Quartermaster Award, becoming the first female

ever in Greater New York Councils to reach this plateau. In the process she proved, quite unintentionally, that its not over until its over; by completing her last requirement on the very last day before her 21st Birthday! Marisol joined Ship 272 in April of 1992. As the younger sister of 272's first Quartermaster, Freddy Cheng, she already had a good working knowledge of sea scouting when she was registered after her 14th birthday. Marisol became a key member in the ship in just a few years. By 1995 she had already served one term a Crew Leader, one term as Bosun's Mate and had earned the Able award. She has always been known for her steady but supportive personality and her sometimes zany sense of humor. In addition to Sea Scouting, Marisol has had a variety of other irons in the fire. She is a multi-talented athlete who has partici-pated in championship level Karate and would have been offered a spot on the women’s pro baseball league had she not been a minor. Marisol also spends a lot of time working with children, as a coach, a counselor and a lifeguard. . It was her variety of interests, coupled by the seeming ease with which she rose to Able which led Marisol to nearly loose her chance to reach Quartermaster. The death of her father caused Marisol to take some time off from many things in her life. Also, she needed to go to work to help the family and pay for her college costs. Finally, last fall, she realized that the dream she once held was about to slip away from her. By Febru-ary she had completed all the requirements but the service project. Organizations who had promised her

cooperation were not able to provide the materials they promised and Marisol had to come up with an approved service project at the eleventh hour. With 10 days to go before her 21st birthday, Marisol got a neighborhood park association and a community sports center to support her park beautification proj-ect. She recruited 16 scouts plus 2 of her neighbors to complete the project. Following her 21st birthday, Marisol "signed articles" as the newest Mate in Ship 272. She will continue working with the Ship as its newest adult leader and is looking forward to cruis-ing with the ship this summer.