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The 2002 Year OverviewI was elected the thirty-first Commander not long after transferring to RMPS as a Past Commander of the Dearborn (Michigan) Squadron. Five members attended the D/27 Coop Charting Briefing in Raleigh. D/27 was the Beta District for the new and challenging electronic data submittal system. P/D/C Joseph E. Hardee,SN, chaired Coop Charting weekend in Belhaven in April. The Squadron and several members achieved the USPS® Coop Charting National Honor Roll. The Vessel Examiners completed 44 Vessel Safety Checks. We received our 23rd Educational Fund Award. We conducted a Spring and Fall Boating Class. Lt/C G. Scott Turner advanced to Advanced Pilot and Lt/C Robert E. Glaser to Junior Navigator. Nine members were certified in the April CPR class. Family Night outings were held twice by the Glasers’ pool, with members bringing their favorite dishes and sharing recipes. P/C Bowie Martin, P, planned rendezvous at Ocracoke and Goose Creek. Adele and Lt Bowie Gray, P, hosted the Goose Creek Cruise at their cottage. Joe Poe provided a fantastic program on the USS Monitor in October. A few stalwart members braved the December Ice Storm and power outages to attend the Christmas Party and Annual Meeting at the Legacy. A quorum was present and held the election of officers for 2003. The Coastal Plains Signal received the 2002 Distinction in Journalism Award and the RMPS website received the 2002 USPS® Website Award. We were also presented the Educational Fund Award. MONTHLY COMMANDER'S MESSAGESJANUARY 2003I hope everyone had a safe and wonderful holiday. I thank all of you that have pitched in this year and brought in another good year for Rocky Mount Power Squadron. Remember we are only as good as our members, so let’s push hard into 2003 and recruit some new members and bring RMPS back. We need new blood to help the Squadron continue. We have a great bridge for the year 2003, but we also need to look into the future and that will depend upon new members. As for Judy and me, it's been very difficult having two residences with me living in New Bern and Judy in Bailey. Even though the house has not sold yet, Judy is moving to New Bern. (She is tired of us being 90-miles apart.) Please make sure that you mark down Friday, 24 January, for the Rocky Mount Power Squadron Change of Watch. The District 27 Change of Watch will be 14-15 March 2003 at the Adam’s Mark Hotel in Winston-Salem. We will combine efforts with the Pamlico and Tar River Squadrons for a fabulous hospitality room. Plan now to attend! See District27 Change of Watch for details and registration form. See you at the Squadron Change of Watch!DECEMBER 2002The Fall Squadron Boating CourseSM graduated 10 students, two of whom have already joined our squadron. Please welcome Stephen Stackhouse and Charles Spencer Whitley. The Spring Squadron Boating CourseSM has already been scheduled! Posters will be available at the Christmas Party. Please tell your friends about the class. We also started a Seamanship Class on Monday, 18 November. Read about it and the Boating Course in the SEO’s report. We will hold our elections at the combination Annual Meeting and Christmas Party on 5 December. See the Nominating Committee report in the December Coastal Plains Signal for the slate of officers. The deadline for updating your information and for placing an advertisement in our new roster is fast approaching. Please have your information to P/C James Dugan by Tuesday, 10 December. See 2003 Roster Update for details. The District 27 Change of Watch will be 14-15 March 2003 at the Adam’s Mark Hotel in Winston-Salem. We will combine efforts with the Pamlico and Tar River Squadrons for a fabulous hospitality room. Plan now to attend! See the Carolina Bitts for details and registration forms. I hope to see you at our Christmas Party and Annual Meeting on 5 December and the RMPS Change of Watch on 24 January. NOVEMBER 2002We are well into The Squadron Boating CourseSM which began in September. Classes will continue at 1900 (7:00 PM), Monday Evenings, at Edgecombe Community College, Rocky Mount Campus through the examination on 11 November. Please volunteer your services to help proctor and grade homework. We especially need your assistance on exam night, 11 November. RMPS will start a Seamanship Class on Monday, 18 November. RMPS and five of our members made the Cooperative Charting Honor Roll for 2002! We will hold our elections at the Annual Meeting on 5 December. See the Nominating Committee report in you November Coastal Plains Signal for details. A new life jacket requirement for children goes into effect on 23 December 2002! I hope to see you at the Past Commanders’ Pig Picking on 10 November and also at our Christmas Party and Annual Meeting on 5 December and the RMPS Change of Watch on 24 January. OCTOBER 2002The summer is now over and if I were back in Michigan it would be time to put the boat to bed for a long winter’s nap. Not so in North Carolina. We still have time for boating and to do some more vessel safety checks. RMPS began the Fall Boating Course on 23 September. See the SEO’s report to learn how you may participate and help make the class a big success. Remember USPS® is all about safety, community actives, and education. I would like to remind all that it is merit mark time. If you are a chairperson, let me know all your committee members names and what they did for the squadron. All members may drop me an email or a snail mail and let me know what you did, so I can make sure you get a merit mark for your work done within the Squadron. A merit mark is your Thanks for participating in USPS®. Rocky Mount needs your help to pitch in and get our squadron to grow. Take a class, bring a friend to the boating class, or attend our monthly meeting just get involved in your squadron. Right now we have a slate to run next year squadron but we need a lot of help to keep Rocky Mount going in the years to come. I apologize to all Rocky Mount members for in the middle of my term. As your commander I moved to New Bern to be closer to the water. With my new job I haven’t been able to function as the commander as I would like. It’s hard living away from home. Even through it is only 90 miles, it puts a toll on my wife Judy and this great squadron. I thank all of you that have kept things going for me and for pitching in for a year in which we have not had all of our bridge positions filled. Attention Spouses! Enjoy a tour of the newly expanded North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher or the newly opened Louise Wells Cameron Art Museum in Wilmington on Saturday, 12 October. Both tours are offered by D/27 while your spouses attend breakout sessions. D/27 will include transportation from the Hilton. Either tour is only $5. See the September 2002 Carolina Bitts for details and registration forms. Members: The D/27 Fall Council & Conference will be held in Wilmington on 11-12 October. Breakout sessions are planned for Education, Publications, Computer Information, Membership Involvement, Vessel Safety Check, and Online Cooperative Charting. See the September 2002 Carolina Bitts for details and registration forms. I hope to see most of you at the October meeting and the Past Commanders' Pig Pickin’ in November and at our Christmas Party and Annual Meeting, and the RMPS Change of Watch. SEPTEMBER 2002MEETINGS RESUME THIS MONTHOur meetings resume this month after the summer break. Please make a special effort to attend the September Family Night! Who are we going to get to fill our bridge and committee positions for next year? I ask for all of you to do some deep soul searching and pitch in to keep RMPS a great and productive squadron. It will take a special effort from every member. Please volunteer your services, time, and efforts to a member of the bridge or to me. Help Keep the Squadron Strong!AUGUST 2002Rocky Mount Power Squadron Needs Your HelpFirst, some good news and some bad news. I have taken a job in New Bern as new Manager of Pollock-Best Funerals and Cremations. I will need the help of all of you to fulfill my term as Commander, which I hope to do to the best of my ability. Second, Stan Rogers has resigned as Administrative Officer for work reasons and will not be renewing his membership. Our Executive Officer, Bob Glaser, will temporarily fill this position. Bob will also need help from all of you to carry this double duty. Third, P/Lt/C Kendall Cranston, AP, who has been filling in for Steven Denis as our SEO, just took on additional management responsibilities in Ohio so his traveling will increase. In this light, coupled with the fact that RMPS is down to thirty members, the major question is who are we going to get to fill our bridge and committee positions for next year? I ask for all of you to do some deep soul searching and pitch in to keep RMPS a great and productive squadron. It will take a special effort from every member. Please volunteer your services, time, and efforts to a member of the bridge or to me. Help Keep the Squadron Strong! JULY 2002We have cancelled our regular first Thursday Family Night because it fell on the holiday. We hope you enjoyed the Fourth! A few weekend’s ago, Judy and I went down to Beaufort and checked out Bowie Gray’s new Formula 40, the Real McCoy. He was docked next to Bowie Martin’s Formula 41, the Melba D VI. After a very windy Saturday, the winds let down on Sunday for at great trip to Swansboro for a Mother’s Day Lunch. The boat handled very well and Captain Bowie was grinning ear to ear. Remember that the District 27 Rendezvous is to be held in Edenton 26-27 July 2002. Details and registration forms are on the District website and in the latest Carolina Bitts. The rendezvous is sponsored by Pamlico Sailing and Power Squadron. If you have any questions please contact me. 31 May 2002 was our annual renewal deadline. If you have not received a new membership card with an expiration of 2003, contact our Treasurer, Lt/C Chris Payne, immediately. We will purge non-renewals from the mailing list before the next newsletter and we do not want to lose you! Although Rocky Mount is a small squadron, we have a great group of members who are working on education and having fun at our social events. So please keep us strong by paying your annual dues and remember to participate in all of our activities. I enjoyed the 6 June Family Night at Bob and Millie Glaser’s residence. Although nobody brought their swimming suits, we all enjoyed the party by the pool. The dishes brought to share were delicious and we are looking forward to the Rocky Mount Power Squadron Recipe Book that is being compiled by Millie, Tere Dugan, and Pat Hardee. As you may recall, our July Family Night was to be replaced with a cruise to Cape Lookout. The cruise has been postponed until September. More details will follow. I hope to see you at the July Bridge Meeting. JUNE 2002I’ve asked P/C Bowie Martin, P, to write about the Goose Creek and Cape Lookout Cruises. MAY 2002Mother nature has done it to us again. We have bypassed spring and gone right into summer. Can you believe this hot weather we’ve been having? Even Michigan, where I’m from, has had the same type of weather. We can’t change the weather, so lets enjoy it and do some boating. Boating is a word we all understand as enjoyment and also safety. So to make sure your boat is properly equipped, have one of the Rocky Mount (Top Notch) Vessel Examiners give your boat a Vessel Safety Check to begin this boating season. Also the word safety means we need to refresh our boating knowledge. The May Family Night program will provide a refresher and will be very informative, so please come for the fellowship and this great program. I would like to thank everyone who participated in our Cooperative Charting weekend. We had ten members and three boats participate. The boats were Bowie Martin’s Melba D VI, Al and Dot Paetzell’s Miss Anne, and Cathy and Chris Payne’s yet unnamed new boat. Our Vessel Examiners checked and passed each of them. This year D27 squadrons will be participating in a trial run to input coop charting information to NOAA via the Internet. Now for some information that was discussed at the April Bridge Meeting: First, there will be no Thursday Family Night Meetings in July or August, as we will incorporate them into our Rendezvous. Even if you don’t have a boat or can’t bring your boat, please join us for a day or the whole weekend and participate in the fellowship with our squadron members. Second, we will be ordering ten copies of the new America’s Boating Course to be sold outside our Squadron. The course is set up to be either a classroom course or a self-study program for those who can’t attend our spring and fall classes. We can administer the exam on request and maybe get some new members this way. I want to congratulate all who took part in our April CRP Class and Certification. We had 13 members take part. We had a great instructor in Sherry Overton. Many thanks to Chris Payne for coordinating the course. APRIL 2002It is that time of year again Rocky Mount calendar is being filled with activities for the spring and summer events. Thanks to Bowie Martin and his cousin Bowie Gray our rendezvous schedule is set for this year. So please check the dates and mark them down so we can see everyone at these events. Note that as of 29 March 2002 a new PFD law goes into effect. Children under 13 years of age must wear a PFD. RMPS April family meeting will be Saturday, 13 April 2002, at Bill’s BBQ in Wilson. A CPR class will be offered but you must register beforehand (see article under "Events"). Please note that the CPR class will take the place of the regular Thursday Family Night. Congratulations to Joe Hardee and Dave Clements. They received their Life Member Awards at the D/27 Change of Watch. Also at the D/27 COW, Scott Turner won a hand-held bearing compass in a drawing held for all successful Piloting course students. Scott is planning to use it at the coop-charting cruise on 20 April. The Spring Boating Class is underway. Thanks to all the members who showed up to help. In addition, I thank Kendall Cranston for great job putting it all together and filling in as temporary SEO. One last thing. I would like to congratulate P/C James Dugan, JN, for his Excellence in Journalism Awards for the Coastal Plains Signal, our monthly publication. James also maintains our informative and very easy to navigate web site. THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR HARD WORK!MARCH 2002March is here and the boat shows are getting us ready for a new season on the water. We will be spending a lot of time with what we all love - our boats (that big hole in the water into which we keep throwing money). With that thought, we need to refresh ourselves in high standards of Seamanship & Navigation. The best way to do that is help your Squadron put on our Spring Boating Course. Classes begin 4 March at Edgecombe Community College. This course is a traditional civic service of USPS®. Since 1914, local squadrons have presented the course to anyone who wished to attend. Learning to boat safely is important and increasing your boating safety knowledge will enhance your safety on the water and the enjoyment of this sport. Any member willing to help or takeover as the Squadron Educational Officer please contact Kendall Cranston or me. [Contact information is in your roster and on the cover of your newsletter.] The member we elected to be the Squadron Educational Officer is relocating out of North Carolina. Kendall has served three years as SEO and was supposed to be a P/Lt/C. He is helping us right now by filling in as SEO, but we are in dire need of someone to fill this office. At the last bridge meeting Lt/C Chris Payne brought up the idea of having a program to educate/re-certify us in the field of CPR. We are planning to hold a Saturday Family Day so we can become certified (the typical Thursday night Family Night does not allow time for a class). We are considering a Saturday in April. Please let me know if you would be interested in attending. Hope to see many of you at the 7 March Family Night at Silver Lake Restaurant in Wilson. About six members of our squadron will attend the NOAA Cooperative Charting Workshop so they will update our members on the new methods for entering data gathered in our Co-op Charting efforts. Hope to see you at the March Family Night!FEBRUARY 2002I thank all of you for the privilege to serve as Commander of the Rocky Mount Power Squadron. I feel qualified to accept this position, having previously served as Commander of a squadron in Michigan. A little information about myself: I joined USPS® in 1986, served as Commander of the Dearborn Power Squadron, and have been married 28 years to my first mate Judy. Thanks to the efforts of P/C Gainey, the RMPS Bridge is in place for another productive year. But remember, the number one ingredient to make the Squadron work is the member. Please participate in your Squadron by taking an educational course and attending the monthly family night meetings, cooperative charting weekend, and the summer rendezvous. We are looking forward to P/D/C Hardee’s Cooperative Charting Program at our February Family Night. Following up on his presentation will be the D/27 NOAA Cooperative Charting workshop to be held in Raleigh on Saturday, 2 March. This is much closer to home than ever before and I encourage all members to attend. Our Spring Boating Course will begin on Monday, 4 March, at Edgecombe Community College. Please inform all of your boating friends to attend! Volunteer your services to our educational officer. This is our first contact with most boaters and a great opportunity to spread the word about USPS®. Details of all these activities are presented in articles throughout this website in our monthly newsletter, The Coastal Plains Signal. We are looking forward to a banner year!
Page updated 27 August 2005. |
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Please send comments to P/C James F. Dugan III, SN, Webmaster, at: rmps@duganotero.com Copyright © 1997 - 2007 Rocky Mount Power Squadron, Inc. ® All Rights Reserved.
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