News From Fort Schuyler

February 23, 2009 - Volume 9, No. 9

BOOK BEAT - GILES M. KELLY 42 leads an eventful life. After graduation from Fort Schuyler he saw naval service in the Pacific Theater during WWII. Following the war, he attended Williams College, then earned a Master's degree in Public Affairs from Princeton. He worked at the CIA and Foreign Service, with a recall to active naval duty in 1968 (to serve as chief of public affairs at NATO's Atlantic Command in Norfolk) and finally retired from the Department of State in 1974. Since that time, from his home base in Washington, D.C., Giles has worked for the Smithsonian Institution, taught at American University as an adjunct professor, and ran a sailing school. In 1983, at the request of the Presidential Yacht Trust, he took command of the ex-Presidential Yacht SEQUOIA, a position he held for five years. That experience led him to write, "SEQUOIA: Presidential Yacht" which was published by Tidewater Publishers/Cornell Maritime Press in 2004, during NFFS's hiatus. [Yes, the college's Stephen B. Luce Library has this book - 2 copies in fact.]

PRIVATEER FOOTBALL - The Maritime College football team, the only NCAA Division III team in New York City, has shown steady improvement, going from 1-6 in 2006 to 4-5 in 2008. According to the NCAA, teams in this division "feature student-athletes who receive no financial aid related to their athletic ability and athletic departments are staffed and funded like any other department in the university." (www.ncaa.org) To enjoy 'football at its purest' attend home games at Fort Schuyler this Fall on Oct 3, 10 and 24. (News about the doings of the football coaching staff can be found at the college website www.sunymaritime.edu)

1609 AND ALL THAT - This year New York City commemorates the 400th anniversary of the arrival of Henry Hudson aboard the Dutch vessel HALVE MAEN culminating in a special Harbor Day on Sunday, September 13. According to a press release from the Mayor's office " ...the festivities surrounding this exciting anniversary [will provide] a renewed focus on our waterfront throughout the five boroughs, and even more of a reason for locals and visitors alike to take advantage of the great New York City harbors....The first ever Harbor Day will feature events and activities including free...ferry rides to encourage New Yorkers and visitors to enjoy the City's waterfront districts in Manhattan and Brooklyn and on Governors Island. Harbor Day will become an annual event to recognize and appreciate the progress New York City as made in reclaiming its waterfront ..." www.nyc.gov. Perhaps the Bronx, Staten Island and Queens will also have roles in this maritime event by September, since they all had early Dutch settlers and still sport Dutch place names. [BTW - according to the Wikipedia, the SUNY Central Administration Building, located in the restored Delaware & Hudson Railroad Building in downtown Albany, sports an eight-foot tall working weathervane in the shape of the HALF MOON atop its thirteen story central tower.]

NOT SO NEW NEWS - Did you know that since 2000 there have been 31 graduates from the college's associate degree program?

REMUNERATIVE - A recent article in the Buffalo News about SUNY college presidents' salaries noted that ADM. JOHN CRAINE receives $205K.(http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/story/578228.html)

NOVEMBER NUPTIALS - The wedding of JAIME LYMAN 2006 to Cher Meli on 9 November 2008 was reported in the February 15 celebrations section of Newsday. Jaime is an engineer for the American Maritime Officers, Cher is a yoga instructor. They reside in Bay Shore, NY. (www.newsday.com )

EBB TIDE - The Alumni Association website listed the death of two graduates this week:

HARRY NELSON HUGHES Oct 44, was killed in an automobile collision on December 28, 2008. He was 84 and resided in Rockport, TX, near Corpus Christi. An obituary in the January 3 issue of The Rockport Pilot noted that after WW2 service in the Pacific aboard the newly commissioned attack transport USS SHELBY, he earned an engineering degree from NYU and worked for M.W.Kellog and Stone & Webster. Harry and his wife, Anne, raised their two children in Seaford, NY, before moving to Duxbury, MA and then to Texas when he retired in 1983. "He loved being on the water and took his family on many sea excursions on the waterways of Long Island, Connecticut and Rhode Island in their cabin cruiser." He was predeceased by his wife and son and survived by his daughter, two grandchildren and a great grandson. (www.rockportpilot.com)

DOMINIC A. FITZPATRICK 61, who resided in Manhasset, died on February 17, 2009. According to the death notice in Newsday, Dom was survived by his wife, Ann Marie, three sons, two daughters, and seventeen grandchildren. (www.newsday.com)

ALT-CTRL-DEL - Thanks to JANE B. FITZPATRICK for pointing out that the city in Massachusetts is Gloucester, MA - not Glouster (that's OH). [Jane, former Associate Librarian of the Luce Library, is Collection Development and Acquisitions Librarian at