The Coast Guard personnel
from Station Fort Lauderdale and
Air Station Miami (Opalaca) enjoyed food, drinks, live music and
the company of friends. Two Coast
Guard ships were tied up dockside.
The mood was festive and the holiday decorations at Briny’s were
superb, according to Robert N.
Hein, the council’s public relations
officer.
The event was held to thank the
Coast Guard men and women who
interdict drugs, stop human smuggling, respond to natural disasters
and help those in distress on the
water.
St. Augustine Honors
Four Coast Guard
Sailors of the Year
The St. Augustine, Fla., Council on
Dec. 3 honored four Coast Guard
Sailors of the Year for their achievements during the past year at the
A1A Aleworks in historic downtown St. Augustine.
More than 40 Coast Guard officers and crew, as well as 40 Navy
League council members, attended
the packed luncheon. Honored at
the event were Machinery Technician 2nd Class Louis Pichardo,
of the Aids-to-Navigation Team
Jacksonville Beach; Damage Con-trolman 2nd Class Michael Rhea,
of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter
Hammer; Machinery Technician
2nd Class Eric Prieto, of the
Cutter Maria Bray; and Chief
Machinery Technician Benjamin
Mills, of the Cutter Kingfisher.
All distinguished themselves by
providing strong leadership examples and excellent skills at sea, said
William M. Korach, the council’s
vice president for Legislative Affairs.
Bob Russell, the council’s director of Community Relations, presented each honoree with gifts to
be used in St. Augustine, including
rooms at a local hotel, dinner for
two, a sailboat cruise and $100 in
cash, among other awards.
Sacramento Council
Receives Grant Check
From Sam’s Club
The Sacramento, Calif., Council
received an early Christmas gift from
Sam’s Club when Rick Lindley, club
manager, and Patty Frank, membership manager, presented the council
with a grant check for $1,500. John
Meyers, the council’s vice president
for Military Affairs, accepted the
check on behalf of the council,
according to Joe Fraccola, the council’s public affairs officer.
In return, Meyers presented a
Certificate of Appreciation to Lindley. The ceremony took place Dec.
15 during Sam’s Club’s open house
to all nonmember veterans in the
community.
The grant will be used to help
the council’s youth programs and
the Navy League Foundation
Scholarship Program. The council
is involved in supporting and promoting youth-oriented organizations and activities in Sacramento, such as the U.S. Naval Sea
Cadet Corps, the Young Marines,
the Navy Junior Reserve Officers
Training Corps (JROTC) program
at Luther Burbank High School and
the Marine Corps JROTC program
at J.F. Kennedy High School,
according to Fraccola.
The grant also will be used to
purchase equipment, awards, administrative supplies, maintenance
and repair of equipment, as needed.
Short Bursts
■ NJROTC cadets from Waiakea
High School in Hawaii joined the
crew of the Coast Guard Cutter
Kiska at Hilo Harbor in October for
drills and training. The cutter and
NJRTOC unit are adopted units of
the Hilo Council. While the cutter
was tied up alongside the pier, the
cadets took part in onboard damage control drills, with a smoke
machine making for very realistic
training, according to Council
President Dannie R. Coates.
Then it was underway for navigation drills and training, anchoring drills and a few at-sea man-overboard drills. Some of the
From the left, John Meyers, Sacramento Council vice president for Military Affairs;
Rick Lindley, Sam’s Club manager; Patty Frank, membership manager; council
members Mike O’Docharty, Joe Fraccola and Zoe Ann Murray; and Council
President Malcolm Tucker, with a check presented to the council by the company.
