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Photos and Activities for the Month of May

TWRA Class

The squadron started out the month by offering the TWRA license class at the McCallie school as a public service. There were students from the school and from other parts of the community.

Sandy Schoonmaker was the instructor and Linda and Don Grotjan did the hard part by handling all the state paperwork.

We now have 38 newly certified boaters on the water.

Booth at Erwin Marine

Erwin Marine invited the squadron to set up a booth at their customer appreciation day. We had an opportunity to give out information and conduct VSEs  on boats in the marina. Many members were there to support the effort although the free lunch may have had something to do with it.

We did learn one thing, the Coast Guard Auxiliary gets up in the morning before we do.

 

May Member Meeting

Friday was a busy day for the Squadron. After the booth at Erwin's we held the May meeting at Island Cove Yacht Club. The weather was more suitable for our feathered friends here but after a few sprinkles it cleared up. We invited the ducks for dinner but I think they heard that the ducks were going to be dinner, so they went away.
In spite of the weather we had a few intrepid boaters come down to the Yacht Club and some spent the night as it was getting dark by the time the meeting was over.
Our new members Robert and Marty got sworn in. They are from our last ABC class. Give them a welcome when you see them.
Our Chef Norm had other plans and enlisted the help of P/C Tom, who proved to be a master chef himself.  A college professor flipping burgers?  Maybe Tom is considering a professional move.
We had some visibility problems at the meeting. It may have been light fog but I think it was heavy smoke. We had a nice breeze but it was right down the dock from the grill until the fans were found to clear the air and our watering eyes.
Once the air was cleared folks went on with eating and socializing. Clint and John seem to be enjoying both.
Sandy presented Sue with her Certificate for Operations Training that she completed in April. Sue is the "energizer bunny" of our squadron and made time in her busy schedule to attend this all day class.
Out speaker for the evening was Penny Behling. Penny arranges the local Dragon Boat charity event for Chattanooga. Last year she managed a national race here and 5 CSPS members volunteered as safety boats on the course for the two day event.

This year will be just local competitors with Linda & Don assisting on the race course.

Penny gave us a history of the sport and informed us as to the world wide computation that it has become. The USA is kind of a late in becoming involved in the sport, but it is growing rapidly.

Mayor Proclaims Safe Boating Week

Mayor Ron Littlefield is pictured with Cdr. Sandy Schoonmaker and executive board members P/C Joe Blass and Lt/C Rick Schoonmaker as he presents them with a formal proclamation declaring May 21-29 as Safe Boating Week in Chattanooga.  Note that the CSPS members are wearing their inflatable PFDs which we encourage boaters to do at all times.

 

The Dragon Boat Race

Yes Don Helped at the Dragon Boat Race on the 21st but every one was so busy we did not get many photos.