FMSAA
News From Fort Schuyler
May 6, 1999 - Volume 3, No. 23
HONORING ANOTHER ONE OF OUR OWN - This Saturday, at the graduation ceremony, the college will be conferring an honorary Doctor of Letters degree on JOE GERSON, Class of 1947. In his April 28th letter to the college community, President DAVID C. BROWN wrote: "I hope that all of you will join me in recognizing the achievements of the Class of 1999 and Joe Gerson's many contributions to the College at our 143rd graduation ceremony on May 8th." Congratulations to all.
GOING PRIVATE - In the same letter, Admiral Brown announced "... the decision by RICH BIZAR [Class of 1961,VP for Administration] to take advantage .. of the .. early retirement option. Following 37 years of public service, Rich wants to try his hand in the public sector." Bon voyage, Rich !
REMEMBERING CLASSMATES CLAIMED BY THE SEA - The Maritime Industry Museum at Fort Schuyler is compiling a list of name, class and photo, if available, of all Maritime College graduates who have been lost at sea during wartime OR peacetime. If you can suggest candidates for this memorial, please e-mail the museum at: maritimemuseum@juno.com If you want to call or write, go to the museum home page for information via http://www.sunymaritime.edu
ANOTHER SORT OF UNDERGROUND COMMUNICATION - "In 1991," writes MICHAEL L. YARRINGTON, Class of 1992, "I heard Maritime possibly had its first pirate radio station, called WRFM 101.2 (Radio Free Maritime.) There were rumors that I had a show .. at 8 PM ..with ANTON POSNER [Class of 1992], called 'The Landon Hour,' with news, commentary and music, followed by 'The Heavy Metal Show,' at 9 PM w/the Metal Mouse. Due to the legal implications of an unlicenced radio station, I must stress that this was 'rumored' to have occurred. As the rumor goes, the station was broadcasting from the Student Activities Building. Thanks to the wonderful education the engineers received at Maritime, we were rumored to have built a transmitter out of scraps from local electrical stores, capable of broadcasting to about a 1-to-2 mile radius." (Ed. - Perhaps that explains why teams from Fort Schuyler are called the 'Privateers'.)
MEMORIES OF MUG CRUISES - The virtual cruise piece in the April 19 NFFS elicited a number of memories. From the 1940's, IRV WILLIAMS, Class of 1947, comments: "Right on, Terri !" while JOE McNEILL, Class of 1948, writes "I enjoyed TERRI THOMPSON's 'Reliving Mug Cruise.' In '46 we had only salt water showers. What a lather the soap would make !" Several graduates from the 60's also sent responses. AL AYMER, Class of 1967, "..enjoyed Terri Thompson's..suggestions for recreating the 'ambiance' of a MUG cruise. Now that I think about it, those suggestions brought back memories as clear as a clang on the ST. MARY's bell in the Sallyport. With very little effort, I can even smell the wonderful odors coming from the TSES IV galley ' not to mention the aroma from the GI cans we had to dump over the fantail while serving as mess cooks." Finally, this from JOHN G. INGRAM, Class of 1964: "[Terri] Thompson only had to live/exist on the EMPIRE STATE for two years. Class of 64 boarded the ship during Hurricane Donna in 1960 and lived aboard her for three years and moved into the new dorms in Sept 1963. We lived aboard the ship longer than any class in the history of the school."
TRIP TO THE SUNNY SIDE OF FRANCE - If you are footloose this Fall, the Class of 1946 has organized a trip to Provence and Paris from September 30 - October 8. EVERETT A. ROSENBLUM, Class of 1946, confirms that this travel opportunity is NOT restricted just to members of the Class of 1946. For details go to: http://www.fsmaa.org
MARRIAGE VOWS IN VIRGINIA - A message from STEPHEN DROGALIS reported that ROBERT KENNEY, Class of 1992, married his bride Sharon in Virginia Beach on April 24. A large contingent of classmates attended. "On hand for the big gala was ROBERT KALL, a Riverhead police officer; CHRISTOPHER DEMPSEY, who works for Stolt Parcel Tankers; REGINA ALBERT, who will be getting married in August; SEAN MEMMEN, who is still in the Navy; BILL WENZEL, an AT&T engineer; and STEVE DROGALIS, a LAN Administrator for the Economist newspaper. SCOTT FARR was supposed to attend, but was sent to Kosovo. We all wish him the best."
"All had a great time and caught up with old times as well as the sea stories. We all wish Bobby and Sharon the best in their life to come."
TAKE A HIKE, PAL - Cadet JEREMY TRAVERS, Class of 1999, has taken a leave of absence for an unusual reason. He is heading down to Springer Mt., Georgia, to embark on the four-month, 2160 mile trek to Mt. Katahdin, Maine on the Appalachian Trail. A "thru-hike" in that time is really pushing it. Visit the Appalachian Trail home page at: http://www.fred.net/kathy/at.html
ALT-CTRL-DELETE - "Thank you for the promotion, but I am a LCDR in the USCG Reserves. I wish were a Captain," writes PETER A JENSEN, Class of 1978, referring to the April 19 issue of NFFS.