News From Fort Schuyler

November 3, 2008 - Volume 8, No. 38

MARATHONS - What with this being marathon season, Ironman and otherwise, RICK BAGSHAW '62 writes of another extreme sports activity in which he recently participated. "... I rode with my roommate of several years, JACK LUDWIG, together with some Philadelphia friends, on road bikes in Oregon this past summer - 500 miles with nearly 31,000 feet of climbing in a tough week. The worst part was the heat which neared 95+F every day. [Sounds like another ideal vacation activity for senior citizens.]

WE ARE SEPTEMBER - The old Mess Deck, which was transformed into the Stephen B. Luce Library Reading Room in 1964, is one of the featured libraries illustrated in the recently published Renaissance Library Calendar 2009. Among the other 11 libraries pictured in this large format calendar are the Butler Library of Columbia University, Lincoln's Inn Library, the Timken Science Library in Wooster, OH, and the new library in Alexandria, Egypt. Fort Schuyler is keeping classy company. (www.renaissancelibrary.com)

COMING LATER IN NOVEMBER - The Waterfront Alliance's 2008 Waterfront Conference on the theme "Solutions for a Healthy Shared Harbor" will take place on 13 November at the National Museum of the -American Indian at Bowling Green in Manhattan. The all-day conference begins with a narrated harbor tour. Among the speakers at the conference will be PAT KINNIER '81, Port Captain of McAllister Towing and Dr. SHMUEL YAHALOM, Professor of Economics and Director of Research at SUNY Maritime College. (For conference information and registration go to www.waterfrontalliance.org)

LONG TIME NO SEE - Rick Bagshaw recently "...hooked up with a high school pal who was also a roommate for our first year at the Fort, JACK COLLETTI. He subsequently left to attend Kings Point. I hadn't seen him in nearly 50 years! The parallels were surprising: we both sailed with American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines, after our respective graduations in their 'Round the World Service'; both sailed in Victory ships - he in the FLYING GULL and me in the FLYING TRADER. He's still working in this own Marine Surveyor business located near Pittsburgh. Jack also kept his USCG license up to date and volunteers to sail in the Victory ship on display in Tampa, FL when they take it to sea for a day annually." For more about the SS AMERICAN VICTORY go to www.americanvictory.org. (BTW, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the AMERICAN VICTORY Mariners Memorial and Museum Ship is Capt. JOHN TIMMEL '81.)

EVENED UP - The Maritime football team is back to .500 with one more game to play - next week's away finale at Mt. Ida College in Massachusetts. To read about the Privateers 36-26 victory over Becker College go to http://www.maritimeathletics.com/News/football/2008/11/1/fbgame8.asp?path=football A win next week would mark the first winning season for the reconstituted football program.

ON THE WEB (CONT'D) - Trolling the internet netted another Fort Schuyler graduate for NFFS. In this instance, HAROLD HALSEY, JR. '42, was a 2005-2006 honoree for the Westhampton Beach Wall of Fame. His citation noted that: "He served as Chief Mate on various freighters during World War II in all theatres of war. He served on the Westhampton Beach Village Planning Board for eight years during the 1960s and served as Treasurer and Head Trustee of the Remsenburg-Speonk School District. Additionally, he also served on the Westhampton Beach School District Board of Education for 25 years. Rounding our his long list of achievements, Mr. Halsey was the first East End County Legislator, a position he held for three terms."

ABOUT THOSE TICKER-TAPE PARADES - An earlier issue of NFFS noted that several graduates of the Maritime College have been honored with ticker-tape parades down Broadway. (NFFS 19 May.) Over the years some 200 parade markers have been created by the firm, PENTAGRAM, for permanent display along the Canyon of Heroes. Each marker is 15 feet long by 8 inches wide and made of black granite with stainless steel letters. The form of the long, rectangular strips was suggested by the ticker-tape itself 'a permanent mark stretched over the sidewalk. These markers are part of the Alliance for Downtown New York's streetscape signage project. (www.downtownny.com)

ALT-CTRL-DEL - LEONARD WEISS reminds the editor that: "MARTY SILVER is Class of 1947. I was Class of Oct. 1946. His older brother Ed, was a classmate of mine at Brooklyn Tech. (See "Word of Mouth" item in Oct 27 NFFS)