Boat/Camp !!
Here is a description of Boat Camp - along with some recent pictures
This is an ANNUAL EVENT - so these pictures are a 'preview' of what will happen again in July 2008 .... we can't wait!!!
The story below tells about the event - and thanks the over 70 volunteers who made it possible. If your name isn't there - it could be!
Thanks to all who made Boat/Camp/2007 such a fine success.
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11th Annual Boat/Camp Introduces Campers to Long Island Sound
On Friday, July 27, over 120 campers and counselors from Camp Sunbeam and Camp Hand-in-Hand met up with 20 power boats at the Noroton Yacht Club for a day's exploration of Long Island Sound.
"The event represents a fine collaboration of three organizations in our Town," said David McKinley, Commander of the Darien Sail & Power Squadron. "The campers are from two of Person-to-Person's Campership Camps. The Noroton Yacht Club provides its beautiful facilities as a meeting point for kids and boats, and the Darien Sail & Power Squadron provides the link to local boaters who volunteer the use of their vessels for the day. It all works out, somehow, to be the best event of the summer for captains, crew, and volunteers who just love being with the kids for a few hours."
Ranging in age from 5 to 7, most of the campers have never been on board a boat. Each boat is staffed with a captain/owner, another adult as crew, and one or two camp counselors. "The staff-to-camper ratio is almost one-to-one," adds McKinley. "Since this is such an adventuresome day for the kids, we really want it to go smoothly. It's an opportunity for us to get to know the kids, as well as the other way around. We know this is 'quality time' for the kids, and each boat captain takes special care to introduce boating and the beauties of Long Island Sound to the campers."
"The campers always approach the dock with a bit of anxiety, but the testament to the good job that the captains do is the vision of them stepping off the boats at the end of the trip with newly found sea legs and smiles wider than the counselors have seen all summer," said Meredith deChabert, Director of Camp Hand-in-Hand.
"One look at the kids' faces as we pick up speed and head toward the spray from the fireboat, and anyone can see just how special, fun, and exciting an experience this is," adds Donald Kyle, Director of Camp Sunbeam, referring to the arching plume of water pumped out by the Noroton Fire Department's Marine Unit at the mouth of the harbor. This year the Fireboat accompanied the campers on their adventures - providing a cooling spray on request from the nearby boats.
Several civic organizations contributed towards the success of the day: the Darien Police Marine Unit offered hospitality to a lucky group of campers and their counselors, the Norwalk Seaport Association hosted campers on Sherwood Island, the Coast Guard Auxiliary provided a uniformed escort to the campers (and warned captains of possible sightings of "pirates" (good pirates) in the vicinity, the Coast Guard station at Eaton's Neck Long Island sent a patrol boat for escort duty, and the three-masted schooner SoundWaters sailed by to provide some pirate's loot (packaged candy) for the campers. Dr. Ed Felder welcomed the campers to visit Fish Island, outside of Ziegler's' Cove - to experience a beach and to see what a real island looked like.
A highlight of the trip is a planned visit to a "Pirate Boat" anchored in Ziegler's cove - captained by Bob and Jim Crane, and staffed by a quarrelsome, menacing and unruly group of pirates-for-the-day, who have a heart of gold and give out candy to the passing boatloads of surprised campers. "Being a pirate for a few hours is very therapeutic" adds Commander McKinley, "It's the highpoint of the year to growl ‘Arrrrrrrggghh' before giving in, and tossing some candy to the campers."
Approximately 70 volunteers made the day possible. They included: Rick Allen, Paul Batcho, Frank Bayers, Ruth Burton, David Campbell, Gayle Campbell, Michael Chiodo, Ed Clarke, Jim Cloud, Bob Crane, Jim Crane, Kevin Cullinan, Rick DeForest, Joe DeFranco, Mark Desautelle, George Desrosiers, David Dever, Jeff Eng, Jim Fox, Adam Goldberg, Ted Hawkins, Frank Kemp, Judy Kemp, Judy Kilmartin, Andrew Kirkman, Al LaBanca, Bob Lamkin, Leslie Laughren, Terry Laughren, Christine Lorenzo, Ginny Lovas, Joe Lovas, Ceci Maher, Ray Martin, Gebby McDonald, Sandy McDonald, David McKinley, Mel Orr, Dale Pollart, Maureen Pollart, Jane Roland, Bill Ruscoe, Rosemary Ruscoe, Frank Ryan, Carole Saar, Alan Santos-Buch, Doug Schiff, Bob Stephan, Judy Stephan, Hank Strauss, Ben Sumner, Marina Thomas, Tom Thornton, Charlie Tyson, Peter Ward, and Sid Zacharias.
The Darien Police Boat was crewed by Officers Chris Knight and Dan Noto. The Noroton Fire Department Marine Unit was crewed by Jamie Hunter and Steve Rivieccio.
On board the Coast Guard Auxiliary craft were Jason Farrow, Jay Millard and Hal Erichs. On board the Coast Guard craft were Mike Atheam, A.J. Enos, Justin Rivera, Ryan Saporito and DC3 "NATE" (canine augmentation). The schooner SoundWaters was in the command of Captain Shane Walden.
Judy and Frank Kemp, Squadron members, oversee the planning of the event and conduct the safety briefing for captains and crew prior to the arrival of the campers. Judy Kemp notes: "Boat/Camp works on several levels: the campers love the boats, and the boaters love having the campers on board. That's a given. But the pay-off of this event is that donors know that their contributions to Person-to-Person have allowed Stamford children to enjoy several weeks of summer camp. Without the generosity of the people in this Town, these camper kids wouldn't be back here year after year, having a good time with us."
Frank Kemp adds: "This day 'puts a face' on the donors in the Town, and 'puts a face' on the kids who are the beneficiaries - and doggone it – for a few hours, they really do get to know each other. This Town is full of incredibly generous people, and on Boat/Camp day, Person-to-Person, Noroton Yacht Club, the Squadron, and the boating community really should all be very pleased with the results of their efforts."
Further information concerning the Darien Sail & Power Squadron is available from the Squadron's pages in the Community Organizations section of the Darien Library's web site (dps.darien.org). Information on the Campership program may be obtained by contacting Ceci Maher, Executive Director of Person-to-Person, at 655-0048 ( www.p2p.darien.org ).
