Rocky Mount Power Squadron - Reflections in the Past

USPS^®

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ROCKY MOUNT
POWER SQUADRON, INC.

A Unit of District 27
United States Power Squadrons^®
(USPS^®)
Sail and Power Boating

REFLECTIONS ON THE PAST
2006

P/C Cathy A. Payne, S

Year 2005 Overview

I was elected the thirty-fifth (and first female) Commander. Our boating activities included outings at Belhaven, Edenton, Holiday Island, Washington, and Holden’s Beach. P/C Benson scheduled several nautical CoOp Charting events, some of which were changed due to bad weather, however we are already scheduling co-op charting for next year. The squadron and eight members made the Co-op Charting Honor Roll. 26 members received merit marks. Lt/C Lorraine Ryan and 1/Lt Dave Bock did an excellent job of arranging a variety of interesting Family Nights each month. October featured the Past Commanders’ Pig Picking. The Educational Department held one boating course at Edgecombe Community College. Eight members completed Advanced Piloting, nine Piloting, three Instructor Development, and twelve Red Cross First Aid. We have fifteen Certified Instructors for 2007. Our six Vessel Examiners performed 51 Vessel Safety Checks. RMPS was recognized for our 27^th Educational Fund Award. Our Annual Meeting / Christmas Party was held at Something Different Café in Wilson where the food and entertainment was enjoyed by all. 90% of the upcoming bridge attended the Winter Council meeting in Durham and learned all about their new positions. Lorraine Ryan and Betsy Vick were presented their P/Lt/C flags at the Change of Watch.

Back to Reflections on the Past

MONTHLY COMMANDER'S MESSAGES

January/February 2007

In this, my last Commander’s Message, a review of the year’s activities and achievements is in order:

Our boating activities included outings at Belhaven, Edenton, Holiday Island, Washington, and Holden’s Beach.

P/C Benson scheduled several nautical CoOp Charting events, some of which were changed due to bad weather; however we are already scheduling co-op charting for next year. The squadron and eight members made the Co-op Charting Honor Roll.

Lt/C Lorraine Ryan and 1/Lt Dave Bock did an excellent job of arranging a variety of interesting Family Nights each month. October featured the Past Commanders’ Pig Picking.

The Educational Department held one boating course at Edgecombe Community College. Nine members completed Piloting, three Instructor Development, and twelve Red Cross First Aid. We have fifteen Certified Instructors for 2007.

Twenty-six members received merit marks. Our six Vessel Examiners performed 51 Vessel Safety Checks. RMPS was recognized for our 27^th Educational Fund Award.

Our Annual Meeting / Christmas Party was held at Something Different Café in Wilson where the food and entertainment was enjoyed by all.

Ninety percent of the upcoming bridge attended the Winter Council meeting in Durham and learned all about their new positions.

It was an honor and pleasure being your thirty-fifth (and first lady) Commander.

See you at the Change of Watch,
Saturday, 17 February!

July-December 2006

In lieu of a commander's message during the summer season, we have featured our cruises and programs and a poem by our Squadron Secretary, Lt/C Jackie Tripp, S:

A CERTAIN PEACE

Lt/C Jackie G. Tripp, S
Secretary

There is a certain peace I Love my friend

which is found only by the sea

It is a great tranquility

which I know was meant for me

I walk along the beach so free

and look upon the vast and roaming sea

while I taste the air of it’s great mist

and encounter the creatures

in this environment forever to be

I may stroll along a dock

by some enchanting waterway

or look at it’s sunrise

and watch the gleam of its moon

upon its majestic surface

and ponder and wonder along my way

I may make a friend

as I walk and dream and create

and I hold my thoughts of all of this

to share some day

Now as I know this place

along the beach and by the sea

I am certain that it must be eternal

for you see, it is home to me

the fabulous coast for all it is to be

and the reality is

that it is life in great splendor

and the essence of our eternity

June 2006

For those of you who may have not renewed your membership, please remember that 31 May was the deadline to get your payments to our Squadron Treasurer Lt/C Betsy Vick, S. For those of you who are not sure if you need to renew, remember the reason you joined.

Another boating class has been completed and two students have become new members. I would like to welcome Jim and Barbara Jones to the Rocky Mount Power Squadron. The piloting class has been completed and the grades are back. Congratulations to those members on a job well done.

It’s getting warmer which means boating season will get heavier as the days go on. Let’s get our boats ready for the Memorial Day weekend cruise in Edenton. After that will be the Luau at Holiday Island on 17 June. Get into the sprit with Hawaiian dress. There will be lots of food, fun, and stories to tell. We hope to get some co-op charting in on Sunday for those of you who want to stay the night.

Chris and I were on vacation and wouldn’t you know it, we had rain two out of the first three days. We did however get to go out Sunday on the Sallbe II with Phil and Sally. It felt great to have the water instead of the road under us for a change. We hope to get more boating in this year than last if the gas price lets us.

Just a reminder to those of you that have not yet paid for your ad to get the money in as soon as you can, and thank you.

Hope to see everyone for the Memorial Day cruise.

Safe boating!

May 2006

Spring has sprung forward, flowers are in bloom, and the birds are singing. This could mean only one thing; that it’s the beginning of our boating season. As we wash and polish our boats let’s keep safety in mind. Check your PFD’s, fire extinguishers, and make sure your flares are still in date. Then call one of our Vessel Examiners and let them do a Vessel Safety Check. The goal this year is to have 100% of our squadron members’ vessels examined.

Those of you that just finished a boating class take a second or two to try out the new things you learned in class. As for those that didn’t just take a class, keep in mind the things you learned in previous classes.

With the first Co-Op charting to be held on 22 April, we hope to get the year started off right with a good turn out. Remember the best part of all we do is the camaraderie between friends. Let’s all say a little pray that gas prices will stay down so we can afford to do more boating this year.

I look forward to seeing you all in upcoming events.

March 2006

Our Change of Watch on 28 January at Something Different Café in Wilson had a great turn out. I want to thank each of you who attended for your continued support and encouragement of RMPS. We were honored to have present D/C Ben Reed and his wife P/C Lorrie Reed, District Educational Officer Larry Colwell and his wife P/C Joyce Colwell, and District Treasurer D/Lt/C Ann Bailey. I was really pleased to have D/C Reed install me along with our other bridge officers. The presentation of the blazer by D/C Reed, P/C Benson and P/C Payne was a real shock and honor as well. A special thanks to Mary Vann Sitton for her years as educational officer - Job well done!

This year Chris and I hope to attend more events than we had a chance to last year. We are looking forward to all the different actives that your Power Squadron Committees have planned. If weather permits we will try going on a rendezvous each month. I hope to see all of you there. This year in May we will be going to Edenton where we can dock at the city dock and walk the historic town. We can also walk to several nearby restaurants. In June we will go to Holiday Island for the second Luau. In September we will be going to Holden Beach and be hosted by Bobby and Lynda Brown. There are also co-op charting events and several other rendezvous planned. I thank our committee chairs P/C Glaser and P/C Benson for their hard work to date.

We just had our first Family Night and Bridge Meeting for the 2006 Bridge. Both were held in Rocky Mount with unbelievable turnouts at each event. It is my understanding that our Bridge Meeting broke another record with the business portion being completed at 2005 and finishing around 2030. I hope that we keep getting that type of participation at all the functions.

The district Change of Watch is in Greenville this year on 10-12 March 2006. I encourage all members to attend. It will be a great chance to meet your District Officers as well as members of nearby squadrons, not to mention to see what goes on at the district level. Anyone wanting to reserve a room can call the City Hotel at 252 355-8300, which has been added due to the Hilton being full.

Safe Boating!

February 2006

As the New Year starts, I sit back to think of the fun times I had this year. These include The Little Circle Cruise from NC to Virginia and back, the Past Commanders’ Pig Picking (great job Commanders!), the entire group of speakers that presented at the family nights, the “shiver me timbers” co-op charting, and the Christmas party. I can still hear the laughter and see all the smiling faces.

The thing that most sticks out is that I was asked to be the 35^th Commander of the RMPS, for which I feel privileged. Not only am I the first female Commander but also the first to have a spouse that is a Past Commander. I hope that there will be more husband and wife teams to come. I know I have a lot of great Past Commander’s shoes to fill but with the help of the new bridge it is possible. I thank P/C Phil Benson and his bridge for the great job they did in the year 2005.

I joined the Power Squadron in 1999, when Chris and I bought two Jet Skis for our daughter Crystal (who was 15 at the time) and me. Chris told Crystal and me that we needed to take a boating safety class before we took the jet skis out by ourselves. Clay and Wilma Helm informed us of the classes that USPS® gave at the community college. All three of us took the class. That turned out to be one of the best things we could have done. Not only did we learn new things about boating but also we meet some of the most wonderful people that are now very dear in our lives. One thing I keep in mind is that no matter how long you have been boating, there is always something that can be learned from taking the boating class.

My hopes for this new year, if weather and gas prices permit, are to have more rendezvous, co-op charting, and geodetic marker recoveries. Remember, with each of these, come fellowship and good food. Hope to see all of you this year at many of the events.