Fall 20111 Boating is fun -- we ll show you howuspsd6.org/Documents/Publications/Fall 2011 Color Web.pdf · Fall 20111 Boating is fun -- we ˇll show you how COMMANDER’S O R N E

Page 1 District 6 of United States Power Squadrons Fall 2011

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Fall 20111 Boating is fun -- we’ll show you how

C O M M A N D E R ’ S O R N E R

Greetings All, Sad to say summer is nearly over

and there are just a few weeks of boating left before we turn our atten-tion to preparing our vessels for the hard. Don’t forget to use your “Winterization Check List” to help avoid problems in the spring. It’s difficult to say this while our temper-atures are warm, but we do live in the north.

Speaking of summer, I hope all those who attended, enjoyed our Summer Rendezvous. A lot of work went into this event in a short period of time. The blame for this com-pressed schedule was mine. Not knowing when I would be in the country this summer made schedul-ing difficult to say the least. If it weren’t for e-mails and phone calls from our squadrons, it may not have happened.

Those who attended saw a dif-ferent twist. The event didn’t have a central hotel for our activities. The reason was cost. The Rendezvous Committee was very much in tune with our economic times. With that said the decision was made to hold it during the week (cheaper room rates and dock fees), rent the Community Center for HQ, acquire rooms for

Auburn, NY — 11-13 November Auburn, a thriving community in upstate New York, is home to many his-

torical sites and points of interest, including the home of Secretary of State William Henry Seward, who negotiated the purchase of Alaska from Russia. The history of the area’s agriculture is on display at the O’Hara Agriculture Museum, which is also the site of the yearly Christmas Open House. There are many museums including The Harriet Tubman Home (Underground Rail-road), Auburn Public Theatre, the Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center and the Willard Memorial Chapel. Also we have Bass Pro Shop for the hunters and fisherman at the Mall. Close by we have the Finger Lakes Outlet Mall and, of course, The Cayuga Lake Wine Trail.

Auburn Squadron is proud to welcome you to our home, and to host the Fall Conference. The officers and committees of the district have been work-ing hard to bring you information and ideas for you to use in your home squadron for this meeting. We’ll also be able to enjoy hospitality rooms, lunch and dinner together as we continue old friendships, and make new friends, all in the comfort of the Auburn Holiday Inn. Come enjoy Auburn!

D/C Russell C. Dibble, JN

seminars, plan and hire the meals and let’s not forget the bar. With approval from National, Seneca acquired a Beer and Wine license for this event. Yes you can do this also as long as it is a USPS event. I haven’t seen the numbers yet, but I have to believe this put Seneca in the black. The Rendezvous had events and members at different locations. To help the boaters and seminar stu-dents, Sayre Fulkerson of Fulker-son’s Winery donated the use of his van to transport people to and from events as needed. Ray Margeson and Charles Fausold served as driv-ers. Thank you, Sayre, Ray and Charles for taking a tremendous amount of pressure off our mem-bers. Your efforts allowed them to enjoy.

Our members coming by boat were hosted by Dock Master Terry Stew-art. Terry blocked out slips for this event and held them as long as he could and then gave USPS members a special slip rate. Terry also collect-ed the goodie bags and helped with whatever was needed. Thank you Terry. As a side note, I feel for those who were caught on Seneca during the big blow on the afternoon of 26 July. I was bringing my boat down Catherine Creek toward Seneca Lake, when I turned to line up to my slip; I was blown up the creek and passed three slips in a matter of se-conds. On the third attempt I was able to dock.

To have a successful event it helps to have someone who knows the local area well. Peter Honsberger

(Continued on page 4)

Page 2 The Deep 6 Fall 2011

OFFICIAL CALL & SCHEDULE UNITED STATES POWER SQUADRONS®

DISTRICT 6 FALL CONFERENCE 11-13 NOVEMBER 2011

Holiday Inn, Auburn, New York Hosted by Auburn Power Squadron

SCHEDULE Friday, 11 November 2011

1600-2000 Conference and Voter Registration 1600-2000 Ship’s Store 1700-1830 Dutch Treat Dinner 1900-2000 Town Hall Meeting Led by V/C Jean L. Hamilton, SN, (C/C Rep), P/R/C Robert Brandenstein, SN (NEO Rep.), D/C Dibble and Bridge 2000-2300 Hospitality Rooms open

Saturday, 12 November 2011 0730-0900 Conference and Voter Registration 0730-1330 Ship’s Store 0900-1200 Fall 2011 Conference 1200-1300 Luncheon — Ticket Required Luncheon Speaker: Gary Gibson, Ph.D. His subject is “The

War of 1812 on Lake Ontario” 1400-1630 Education Program 1800-1845 General Reception 1900 Grand Entrance / Invocation / Toasts 1930 Dinner — Ticket Required 2100-2330 Dancing

Sunday, 13 November 2011 0800-1000 District Bridge meets with Squadron Cdrs, XOs, V/C

Hamilton and P/R/C Brandenstein 0900-1000 P/D/C and P/D/Lt/C Meeting 1000-1100 District Bridge with P/D/Cs and P/D/Lt/C Meeting 1000-1100 Education Department meets with Cdrs, SEOs and ASEOs 1100-1200 District Bridge Meeting

Friday Evening Dress Casual

Saturday Dress Day: D/6 Shirts or USPS polo with slacks, USPS Blazer optional Bridge Officers and presenters — D/6 shirts with slacks or skirt Evening: Evening attire, men suits and women dresses or pantsuits Uniforms optional

Sunday Dress USPS Casual for Meetings

Representing the Chief Commander V/C Jean L. Hamilton, SN (See Page 6)

Representing the National Education Officer P/R/C Robert Brandenstein, SN (See Page 8)

D/C Russ Dibble, JN, invites all members of District 6 to attend the Fall 2011 Conference. There will be an official District 6 business meeting including a representative from the Chief Commander, and award presentations. You will have the opportunity to share your comments, suggestions and thoughts with the District Bridge and other members of the district.

Prior to the Conference, all District Committee Chairs must submit a written (or e-mail) report to the District Bridge Officer in charge of their respective committees and to D/Lt/C David W. Schulz, AP, District Secretary.

The Deep 6 Published three times a year by Syracuse Sail

and Power Squadron, Inc., for District 6 of United States Power Squadrons.®

District Commander D/Lt/C Russell C. Dibble, JN RR 2 Box 26 Columbia Cross Roads, PA 16914-9708 570-297-4199 [email protected] Executive Officer D/Lt/C Charles Gray, AP 6224 County Rt. 27 Canton, NY 13617-3800 315-386-5216 [email protected] Educational Officer D/Lt/C William A. Herrick, JN 74 Conklin Forks Road Binghamton, NY 13903-6811 607-723-4818 [email protected] Administrative Officer D/Lt/C Judith Swanson, JN 218 Summer Haven Drive So. East Syracuse, NY 13057-3100 315-632-4470 [email protected] Secretary D/Lt/C David W. Schulz, AP 241 Higby Road Utica, NY 13501-0511 315-266-0511 [email protected] Treasurer D/Lt/C William M. Warren, P 9304 Jackson Hill Road Cuba, NY 14727-9732 585-968-3215 [email protected] Assistant DEO 1st/Lt Tom Shuell, N 8077 West Rivershore Drive Niagara Falls, NY 14304-4326 7116-283-0457 [email protected] The Deep 6 Staff Editor P/R/C Richard E. Ashley, SN 42799 Seaway Ave. Alexandria Bay, NY 13607 315-440-2729 (Cell) [email protected] Editorial Assistants P/R/C Frank E. Penny, SN D/Lt Grace E. Penny, AP P/C Ann V. Ashley, AP The opinions expressed in The Deep 6 are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of United States Power Squadrons or Dis-trict 6.

Page 3 District 6 of United States Power Squadrons Fall 2011 Meal Reservation Form P/D/C Michael Kelly, AP, Conf. Planning

The Fall Conference Meal Reservation Form is printed below. It was also e-mailed to all squad-ron editors. The process remains the same as in the past. Send the completed form, along with your payment, to the Fall Conference registra-tion chairperson (Timothy Smith). We have add-ed a children’s menu (see menu) for Saturday night dinner. Please notice the late registration charge for dinner. The hotel sets the cutoff dead-line for meals. While we are doing much better meeting the registration deadline, it remains dif-ficult to pass firm numbers to the hotel if regis-trations are late. Registration cutoff for meals is 4 November 2011, at which time the hotel chef will order the banquet food against our firm numbers. A small change in numbers is manage-able, but we want to avoid late registration num-bers. Please meet the 4 November 2011, re-ceived, deadline.

Menu for Fall Conference Lunch

Deli Buffet: Roast Beef, Turkey Breast, Salami, Baked Ham, American and Provolone Cheese, Lettuce, Tomato, Pickles and Condiments, three salads, Cookies, Coffee and Tea.

Dinner choices: Heartland Pot Roast - Slow Braised Round of Beef & Pan

Gravy Garnished with a Vegetable Julienne Chicken Dijon - Sautéed Chicken Breast with a Creamy

Dijon Sauce & Crumb Topping Eggplant Primavera - Baked and filled with a Creamy

Ricotta Cheese & Topped with Marinara Sauce served on a bed of Orzo Pasta with Diced Tomatoes, Chopped Spinach, Onion, Garlic & Herbs

All dinners include Tossed Salad with House Dressing, Seasonal Fresh Vegetables, Chef’s Recommended Starch, Warm Rolls, Folgers Coffee, Lipton Tea and Dessert

Children’s Dinner (12 and Under) Tossed Salad, Chicken Tenders, Fries, Vegetable, Rolls & Butter, Milk and Dessert

Reservation Form for Meals at the Fall Conference 2011 Holiday Inn, Auburn, NY — 11 - 13 November 2011

Name: Rank: Grade: Additional Name: Rank: Grade:

Additional Name: Rank: Grade:

Additional Name: Rank: Grade:

Address: State: ZIP

Phone: ( ) - E-mail Address: Home Squadron: CPS Member: □ Yes □ No

(See complete Menu above)

Lunch: ______ Number of Lunches @ $17.15 $ _____.__

Dinner Choices:

______ Number of famous Pot Roast @ $27.00 $ _____.__ ($32.00 for late registration)

______ Number of Chicken Dijon @ $27.00 $ _____.__ ($32.00 for late registration)

For those with Dietary Requirements:

______ Number of Eggplant Primavera @ $27.00 $ _____.__ ($32.00 for late registration)

Children’s Dinner under 12

______ Child 12 and under @ $17.00 $ _____.__ ($22.00 for late registration)

Total Amount: $ _____.__

Reservation Deadline – Received by 4 Nov 2011 — Cancellation Deadline for full refund – 6 Nov 2011 Please send this form and your check for the

Total Amount shown above, payable (in US Funds) to Auburn Power Squadron to:

Timothy Smith 13 Chestnut Street

Auburn, NY 13021-4001 E-mail: [email protected]


fit that bill and spent countless hours meeting with people and making ar-rangements for places such as HQ and places to hold our seminars. Thank you Peter on another great job.

If something was missed or needed before or during the event, Scott Stevens was there. Scott would ask what do you need and take care of it.

What do you do when you’re not fully ready for advertisement before the last publication is going to print? The answer is, speak to Dick Ashley. Dick took our data edited, formatted it into publication form and then sent it onto Jerry Zambroski. Jerry put it on Sail Angle and the reservations started coming in. Thanks to Dick and Jerry.

The “On the Water” portion of BOC went well for both IN (Inland Navigation) and CN (Coastal Navi-gation). As far as I know, no damage reports as Seneca Lake doesn’t have many thin spots. There are a few les-sons to be learned from the CN “OTW.” If you use parallel rules, make sure your chart has a compass rose. A word of advice: dig out your protractor plotter and practice with that. When plotting your legs, look for fixed objects on your chart, aside from the running fix and two or three bearing fix’s you will perform. If they are there, use them. Make sure your GPS is in proper working order and finally, if you have a bearing compass make sure you are familiar with, use it.

I thank BOC Advanced Certifi-er’s Jack Fletcher and Tom Shuell, along with Boat Owners and Cap-tains Denis Kingsley, Charles Hons-berger, Jerry Tinz and Yours Truly for the use and Captaining of their vessels. Just as last year being on the water with members was fun and a great experience. After watching the candidates on my boat it reminded me that we have so much to offer.

(D/C Message Continued from page 1) The BOC Seminars were con-ducted on 27 and 28 July. They were well attended and well taught. George Clarke, Tom Schuell, Charles Fausold, Tom Taylor, Charles Honsberger and Michael Sciorra again did a fantastic job and thank you for a job well done. And to Priscilla Clarke, thank you for having the ability and willingness to print the Certificates in real time. Each student in attendance received theirs. That means a lot to people.

You may wonder by now how the money was handled. Dawn Dowdle took care of this. Dawn took care of all receipts and dis-bursements, all reservations for meals and courses were funneled through her. Thank you for your efforts, Dawn.

There are others I have failed to mention, I am very sorry for that, but things started to move fast dur-ing that time and people were step-ping in as needed whether they were from Seneca or another squadron. To all of you thank you.

Every committee had chair peo-ple. Rendezvous 2011 chairs were Merrill and Carrie Sproul. If we knew how much time and effort they totally put into this we’d be amazed. I know while looking at the punch list I said to myself wow. Do we really have the time? As a few weeks went by, I was given a report by the Sprouls. I asked how did you get all this done. Merrill smiled and said connections and a lot of hard work. To Merrill, Carrie and the Seneca Sail and Power Squadron and all others involved, Thank You for a memory I can cherish the rest of my days.

Now for those who attended Seneca Squadron’s operation Flare-Up on 23 May 2010, your IN Fire Extinguisher and hands on training was conducted by the Watkins Glen Fire Department using their Fire Extinguisher Training Simulator. They were your Certifiers and In-structors.

For CN candidates requiring Py-rotechnic Distress Signals, M/Sgt(ret) Terry Stewart NYSP, P/Stf/Cdr Merrill Sproul, Lt Greg Jansen USCG Reserve, Dept of Homeland Security and a Schuyler County Dep-uty Sherriff, Marine Division (forgot his name) were your Certifiers, In-structors and Speakers.

By the time you read this GB will have come and gone and Fall Council will be upon us. I hope you took advantage of the seminar meal special.

I submited a report on GB which is included in this publication.

Please take advantage of the morning presentations by our PDC’s. The subject will be Squadron Of-ficer’s Training. This will prove to be a valuable tool in helping you understand how to do your job and help take the guess work out of it. I hope this will be well received; it is also hoped this will be scenes of coming attractions.

I’m hoping to see positive results on how well the lunch/seminar bun-dle was received. At Fall Council. It will be on the Agenda at the D/6 Bridge meeting as well as the Squad-ron Officer presentation the eve of Fall Council. Since we will know how many people will be attending by then a proactive discussion can take place.

For those who can make Fall Conference Friday night, 11 Nov, I can’t wait to see you. If 12 Novem-ber works, that’s great also. Let’s see if we can be a problem for the hotel by having a large lunch crowd.

Again, I hope you’ve had a great summer and all is well.

Best Regards, DC Russ


Room Reservation Process for Fall Conference 2011 P/D/C Michael Kelly, AP

Conference Planning Committee Chairman

We will continue to use the e-mail process and thereby take advantage of our tax-exempt status by making group res-ervations by Squadron under the Squadron’s tax-exempt number. Meal reservations will continue to be made through the host squadron (Auburn Power Squadron) and are covered under the District 6 tax-exempt number.

SQUADRON MEMBERS: Please send your reservation form below to your Commander. COMMANDERS: Holiday Inn, Auburn, NY, welcomes the squadron reservations by e-mail. The process remains simple. An e-mail form letter was sent to the squadron commanders explaining the process and what rooms are availa-ble for hospitality use. Just fill in the blanks to include the squadron tax-exempt number, room requests and the com-mander’s name and credit card number. Then e-mail the form to the hotel at the address shown on the form. Revisions, such as add-ons, are acceptable and can be forwarded to the hotel using the same form. Upon checkout rooms have to be paid for by cash, squadron credit card or squadron check. Note: those members wishing to by-pass the tax-exempt process and take advantage of credit card perks etc. can register in the same manner by stating they will pay their en-tire bill by credit card at checkout. We have 49 sleeping rooms available for our Fall Conference at a rate of $89.95 per night. Holiday Inn will assign the rooms on a first received basis.

DISTRICT 6 BRIDGE, P/D/C’S, AND CPS attendees and members from other Districts will continue to make their room reservations through the Conference Planning Committee (CPC). For Fall Conference 2011 reservations should be sent to P/D/C Michael Kelly, at 38 Preston Circle, Rochester, NY 14626-1157, PAYABLE TO ABURN POWER SQUADRON and or e-mail at: [email protected]

Have a great conference.

District 6 Fall Conference 2011 11 November to 13 November 2011

Holiday Inn, 75 North Street, Auburn, NY, 13021

Telephone: (315) 253-4531 — Fax: (315) 253-7480 Mary Moore at [email protected]

Room Reservations Room Rate is $89.95 per night — Deadline: 21 October 2011.

Send completed Hotel Reservation Form to YOUR squadron commander.

2011 Fall Conference Hotel Reservation Form Name(s) ___________________________________ Mate: ________________________ Address: _________________________________________________________________ Telephone: (_____) ____________________ Squadron: ___________________________ District: _____ E-mail: _____________________________________________________ Nights Staying: Friday, 11 November 2011 ______ Saturday, 12 November 2011 ______

Accommodations: Double ______ King ______


Visit the District 6 on the web at: http://www.usps.org/localusps/D/6

for the latest news.

Coming Events for District 6

Fall Conference Holiday Inn, Auburn 11-13 November 2011 Auburn Squadron Deadline — Spring The Deep 6 1 February 2012 Spring Council 10-11 Feb 2012 Geneva Lakefront Geneva, NY Spring Conference 13-15 April 2012 TBD TBD

Vessel Safety Check Program D/Lt Marshall Shear, SN

2011 Activity District 6 Vessel Examiners

(VEs) are on course to make 2011 a “VSC Year to Remember” with five VEs already completing 100, or more, Vessel Safety Checks(VSCs) and qualifying for VSC Century Club!

Century Club recognition for completing at least 100 VSCs in a year has been earned by Kevin Parks (109 VSCs) and Mike Kelly(103 VSCs) of Rochester Sail and Power Squadron. This is the first year in Century Club for both of them and the first year that Roches-ter has had Century Club honorees. Bruce King (110 VSCs) and Mar-shall Shear (159 VSCs) of Iroquois Sail and Power Squadron have qualified for Century Club- Bruce for the first time and Marshall for the 7th year. Also, Bill Favro of Syracuse Sail and Power Squadron (100 VSCs) has qualified for the first time and is the first VE from Syracuse to qualify. The five Dis-trict 6 honorees exceeds the best performance of any USPS district nationwide over the past two years.

District 6 currently has 67 VEs who have completed 949 VSCs (as of late August). This level is about 5% ahead of past year’s at this point in the boating season and places Dis-trict 6 in the top 7 districts nation-wide — the highest ranking ever achieved.

The top 5 squadrons in District 6 include Iroquois (372), Rochester (258), Syracuse (150), Swiftwater (112) and Lockport (38). On a pre-liminary basis, VSC Squadron Hon-or Roll has been earned by Iroquois with Rochester and Syracuse qualifi-cation dependant on final numbers.

By the Numbers … The USCG Auxiliary had 5432

VEs in 2010 who completed 124,209 VSCs. Meanwhile, the 2165 USPS VEs completed 32807 VSCs. The total of over 150,000 is impres-sive but suggests that with 12.5 mil-lion registered boats — and millions more that are not required to be reg-istered- that there are still millions of recreational boaters who could bene-fit from a VSC.

Paddle Craft The new Paddle Craft VSC form

7012A is now available from Na-tional. We used the form starting in early summer and found it excellent in the way it focused on the equip-ment requirements for paddle craft and the recommendations it made for open water paddling and for en-suring a safe journey. The paddle

craft form is applicable to kayaks, canoes, row boats, paddleboards and sculls. It can be used for individual craft VSCs or for VSCs at paddle craft outfitters. A related decal that can be given to paddle craft owners is a Vessel Identification Sticker where they can use a waterproof marker to write in their name and contact infor-mation and place it on their paddle craft. This may help recover missing paddle craft and may allow authori-ties to avoid an extensive search when a paddle craft is found without an operator. This decal is also availa-ble from National.

Carbon Monoxide Alarms The latest recommendation from

the Coast Guard is that onboard CO alarms be replaced every 5 years as these alarms reach the end of their service life. Do not rely on the “test” button as that only confirms that the electronics are operational- not that the CO sensor is functioning. VEs should encourage boat owners to check the date or “replace by” date of their carbon monoxide alarms and to replace them as appropriate.

Musings from the District Executive Officer

D/Lt/C Charles Gray, AP

courage all squadrons to begin their Fall Classes as soon as possible. With education comes numbers and we need numbers and GOOD mem-bers.

For the latest information about the Executive Department please go to the USPS Web site and click on the Executive Department. That will allow you to read all articles that may interest you, and give you some ideas for use in your squadron. A short message this time. I en-


National Secretary V/C Jean Hamilton, SN Representing the Chief Commander at Fall Conference

From the District Administrative Officer

D/Lt/C Judy Swanson, JN

Some of you who are really pay-ing attention have noticed that the US Customs and Border Protection has come out with a new reporting system for us boaters!. The Thou-sand Island Sun has had articles

about it this summer but it has been at the same time as the flap about the drift fisherman having to pay $1000.00 or have his boat confiscat-ed for being in Canadian waters without checking in. That has since been rescinded but many missed the new program with all of that news going on.

It is called the Small Vessel Re-porting System (SVRS) and it is FREE, This is not the Nexus, I 68 or the other programs which have been around. This is only for pleasure boaters. "The SVRS will allow a par-ticipant, under certain circumstances, to telephonically report the arrival of your vessel, make customs declara-tions and submit any additional in-formation and may be cleared with-out a face to face inspection.. Of course immigration status and citi-zenship must be valid. This is for arrival in US only. No more travel-

Jean joined Houston Sail & Power Squadron in 1984. However, her first rendezvous was around the age of 7 in the Jacksonville SPS. The family continued squadron in-volvement in the Chicago and Shrewsbury squadrons. Highlights in the Houston squadron include serving as Co-operative Charting chair, teaching Weather, teaching in the boating courses, other electives and advanced grades, and serving as SEO.

Nationally, she chaired the Weather Committee, then added Cruise Planning when the committees merged in 2000. At the request of the Chief Commander, she created and chaired the ad hoc Environmental Committee, taking it to formal committee status in the Executive Department one year later. She next was elected to Assistant National Secre-tary, and now serves as National Secretary. Simultaneously, she was elected to the District 21 bridge, serving as Admin-istrative Officer, Executive Officer and Commander. She is a certified instructor and an advanced BOC certifier.

Jean started on-the-water training at the Florida Yacht Club in Jacksonville racing her Optimist pram The Blue Dolphin. Simultaneously, the family participated in many FYC & JSPS cruises aboard the Miss Ill Guided & the Blue Darter. Moving to Chicago she decided the water was too cold and tasted funny. Fortunately that was only a two-year interval until moving to Rumson, NJ, and living on the Shrewsbury River…still cold, but better tasting. It was a perfect one-day trip to leave the dock, round Sandy Hook,

cross Raritan & Lower Bays, cruise under the Verrazano Nar-rows Bridge, proceed up the East River, across the Harlem River through Hell’s Gate, then cruise back down the Hudson River and home – the Hamilton “Circle Line” tour on board the Panacea. Since you couldn’t drive up there until you were really old…the kids all had Boston Whalers, Jean’s was the Buzzie. As a graduate stu-dent at Duke, the Buzzie became the Research Vessel Buzzie, & the primary means of transport to her thesis area on Shackleford Banks. As a “grown-up” she bareboat char-tered most of the Caribbean, Mexican Riviera, Tonga, Tahi-ti, out of Long Beach, and cruised again with her parents on board Altair. She recently sold her 27’ Catalina Witch of Endor, and is “between boats.”

Jean has a bachelors degree in geology from Vanderbilt University, and a master’s in geology from Duke. Her en-tire career has been at Marathon Oil Company, working in various geoscience positions.

Jean is single, no kids, but most people would be happy to come back in a second life as one of her dogs. Marie Ga-lante & Justinian have made many rendezvous and confer-ences, as did their predecessors Sutherland, Lydia, and Hot-spur.

ing many miles in the wrong direc-tion just to find a video phone. I was faced with this many times when sailing from Selkirk on Lake Ontario to Kingston and back!

The only difficulty I see is that all passengers must also have their SVRS number and may be asked for other identification numbers. They are also enforcing the requirement that all foodstuffs be declared. All those without a SVRS are required to report to the nearest Port of Entry within 24 hrs.

As a member of your district bridge and Syracuse Commander, I thought it only fitting that I attempt to obtain a SVRS number to see whether it is as easy as they claim. First, you must go the website for Customs and Border Patrol at www.cbp.gov. There is an applica-



The USPS social activities committee needs your help. Please bring to the Jacksonville, Florida, Annual Meeting and Governing Board new items for the silent auction table. These should be of modest size, as many of our bidders will be flying home. Gifts for grandchildren, graduations, weddings, and of course, for boats, will be gratefully received. The items may be, but not neces-sarily, nautical. This traditional auction event at our annual meeting has regu-larly offered unique items and the committee looks forward to your creative donations. Please deliver to the auction display table. We hope not only the District Bridge, but also each of our squadrons, will be represented. See you in Jacksonville.

HELP, PLEASE!

Grace Penny and Judy DeMeglio.

Teaching Aid Competition Do you liven up your classes

by using teaching aids? What “tools” do you use to help stu-dents understand the material you are teaching? Please share the aids you use by entering them in the teaching aid exhibit and com-petition that will take place dur-ing the D/6 Fall Conference, No-vember 11-13. Teaching aids used in any USPS courses and/or seminars may be entered. Any-thing that helps students to un-derstand the material being taught qualifies as a teaching aid: from simple handouts, to a sketch or diagram, to a video, or even a performance skit.

Specific criteria for judging are being developed and will be distributed to D/6 SEOs and post-ed on the District website. En-tries must help students learn a specific concept(s) in one of the USPS courses or seminars. Ap-plications must include (a) a statement of purpose, (b) con-struction plans, (c) operating in-structions, and (d) the specific course and concept(s) for which the aid is designed.

After a lapse of several years, the National Teaching Aid Com-petition is being reinstated this year. Each district’s “Best of Show” winner at their Fall Con-ference will be entered in the na-tional competition to be held at the Annual Meeting in Jackson-ville next January. Hopefully, District 6’s entry will be among one of the national winners.

If you have questions, please e-mail me at [email protected]. Tom Shuell, N, D/6 ADEO

tion for yourself and to register a boat if you have one. That was very straightforward and easy. They then ask you to make an appointment on line with your nearest border patrol

(AO Report Continued from page 7) office. That too was easy. I was one of the first to appear at the Thou-sand Island Bridge US border. Ap-pointment or not I got to wait about twenty minutes for my driver's li-cense and boat registration to be

checked and I was out the door. The next day I received my password and SVRS number. So I can say it was easy and free. Now if I can just get all my potential passengers signed up too!

P/R/C Robert E. Brandenstein, SN, Representing the NEO Bob is a 47 year member of USPS,

Pittsburgh Power Squadron, and Dis-trict 7. He is a member of the USPS Finance Committee, and the Marine Environment Committee. He has taught all USPS courses, especially Celestial Navigation and Weather. In addition to being Past Commander of District 7, Bob is also Past Rear Commander of our Weather Course, and of our Cruise Planning Course. He led the rewrite and production of Weather 08, the Onboard Weather Forecasting Seminar, the Trail-ering Your Boat Seminar, and the Boating on Rivers, Lakes, and Locks Seminar.

Bob and his wife Jane, also a Past Commander, have cruised extensively under sail along the East Coast, from Nantucket down through Newport, the Chesapeake Bay, the Carolina Sounds and south as far as Florida. They have also sailed in the Caribbean on numerous cruises in the Virgin Islands and the Windwards, plus the Gulf of Mexico, Tampa Bay, the Great Lakes, and a bit of the Pacific off Southern California and the San Juan Islands in the Pacific North-west. Their two sons are also avid sailors who are passing on their love of tack-ing and jibing to their own families.

Currently they keep a 35’ C&C sailboat on Lake Erie at the Ashtabula Yacht Club.

Jane is a retired Physical Therapist, active in the Arthritis Foundation and related charities. Having retired from Mellon Financial Corp., Bob is now an itinerant musician, arranger, and Yoga teacher. He is also a licensed Coast Guard Captain and Master of power and sailing vessels on the Great Lakes and Inland waters.


Ideas for your squadron: ⇒ Editor’s Note: Some of these

items are articles right out of squadron publications, and some are “borrowed” by me to try to share ideas between squadrons. Hope they help YOUR squadron.

⇒ Regularly publish a list of the members of your squadron who are VSC Examiners in your squadron newsletter. This will both recognize their efforts and let your members know who to contact for a VSC. Shouldn’t every USPS boat have a VSC sticker?

⇒ Regularly publish a list of the members of your squadron who participate in Cooperative Chart-ing. This will, again recognize them for their efforts, and let membership know who they can go to for help in filing a correc-tion. It also might get other members to participate when they know there is someone there who can help.

⇒ From Lt/C Thomas Axx, AP, Executive Officer of Iroquois Sail and Power Squadron, this thought from a recent issue of Smoke Signals: Preparation for 2012: As part of my preparation for 2012, I will be calling every squadron mem-ber over the next few months to understand desires and capabili-ties to help support and carry out both small and large tasks. My main interest will be in the areas of both membership and public education. We need more in-volvement as instructors for all member courses as well as Adult and Youth Public Safe Boating Courses. For those members cur-rently in a Commander’s ap-

pointed posi-tion, please consider if you would like to con-tinue or per-haps work in a different area.

⇒ Several squadrons publish all activities for the next two or three months — including dis-trict and national — which might build interest among the members in upcoming activities, and to help them understand their squadron is NOT boring and inactive.

⇒ From Swiftwater Power Squad-ron comes the a new member idea: They are holding a Holiday Party with food, prizes and en-tertainment. Last year’s attend-ance was over 60. They are even making it easier by allowing split payments. But the big item is a way to “DID YOU SAY GO TO THE PARTY FOR FREE?” You bet! Right now, Judy and Tom Shuell are in the lead! They have brought in five new mem-bers since the contest started. Thank you Tom and Judy. But, it’s not too late — the contest runs until 1 December.

⇒ Make sure that new members are listed in your squadron pub-lication. This should help them feel more welcome, and some of your current members may know them, and actively wel-come their friends into the squadron.

⇒ USE SAILANGLE TO COM-MUNICATE! I do not know how widely it is used elsewhere but Syracuse Squadron uses it as a solid communications tool for meetings, events and programs.

Cooperative Charting Syracuse Squadron combined

cooperative charting and Happy Hour on 21 July at Judy Swanson’s dock at Wellesley Island Yacht Club in the Thousand Islands. Yes, that was a record breaking heat day and, although the river temperatures were slightly lower, we were all undone by the heat. Bill Favro had offered his Mainship to take 10 of us for the cruise which would have been won-derful. However, due to the high winds that day we didn’t want to risk going out.

We saved the day by crowding into Bill’s air-conditioned salon and having a meeting to review the pro-cedures needed to identify and sub-mit corrections. My goal was to demonstrate how easy it really is so that the rest of the committee would team up and investigate their own areas during August. We then ad-journed for our Happy Hour on the terrace at Joey’s restaurant and ar-rived at the dock when the sun was lower for hamburgers and other won-derful dishes brought by everyone. It was another example of one never knowing how the day will turn out if it involves boats.

D/AO Judy Swanson, JN


SQUADRON 31-Aug-10 31-Aug-11 CHANGE

PLUS MINUS Auburn 27 27 Buffalo 65 62 3 Hamburg 34 31 3 Iroquois 76 71 5 Ithaca 48 45 3 Lockport 52 47 5 Niagara 21 19 2 Oak Orchard 21 18 3 Red Jacket 49 42 7 Rochester 111 107 4 Seneca 89 87 2 Southern Tier 27 15 12 St. Lawrence 26 31 5 Susquenango 105 106 1 Swiı water 141 152 11 Syracuse 113 117 4 Uı ca 60 65 5 Totals 1065 1042 26 49 Net 23

District 6 Membership Report 2011 Fall Council — 24 September 2011

Geneva, NY While nationally membership for the year 31 August 2010 to 31 August 2011 increased by 468, as shown below over the same period D/6 decreased by 23 from 1065 to 1042. Five squadrons have gained in that same period: St. Law-rence (5); Susquenango (1); Swiftwater (1); Syracuse (4); and Utica (5). Congratulations to each commander and their Membership Committees.

A commander submitted that the highest membership of USPS was December 1991 with 62,156, which means a loss to today of 28,365. Although some would describe the increase as a matter of opening membership through different requirements and different incentives, it is good to see the membership grow-ing . The name of the game is — if things are not working then try something different. It is reassuring to see that Russ, and his Bridge, are receiv-ing such great support. D/Lt Tom Dixon, P, Membership Chair P/R/C Chris Tertinek, SN; P/C John Dial, SN

OWEGO AREA FLOOD PHOTOS at right: As every-one in District 6 knows the tail end of Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee hit the Southern Tier of New York, not with hurricane force winds, but with enormous amounts of

RAIN. The photos above, taken from the web and by Grace and Frank Penny (labeled GEPFEP), give on indi-cation of the amount of damage that was done. These are primarily from the Owego area. If you have friends in the area, and you have not done so, you might want to give them a call — to cheer them up, or give them some help. One bookstore dumped thousands of books at the curb as trash; their entire first floor had been flooded. Check the

web for more photos and videos. It is amazing that water can be so destructive, and yet so much fun. Good news is that there was NO loss of life!

Owego Elementary School

Rescue Worker at Main & South Av.

Rescue workers looking for stranded residents

GEPFEP

GEPFEP

GEPFEP


Notes from GB meeting in Greensboro — D/C Russ Dibble at the September D/6 Council

First are comments from the Chief Commander. • We have a working agreement with the Coast Guard

Auxiliary and with that the Auxiliary is looking at our programs and courses as the Coast Guard has changed the Auxiliaries post 9/11 mission. The Chief stated we are looking at selling our material to the Flotillas.

• The Chief is asking us to work with the Auxiliary, reach out to them. Commandant Jim Vass is asking the same thing of the Flotillas.

• The Chief went on to say that the “On the Water Train-ing” was produced with a Coast Guard grant and be-longs to the public. The “OTW’ program continues to be funded by the CG. The “Boat Operators Certifica-tion” or BOC is totally funded by USPS.

• Now, when it comes to “OTW” operations, the Auxil-iary has no insurance to cover this type of training; it is doubted that this would happen for awhile. Therefore, if Flotillas want to train using this program, they would have to become members of USPS.

• The Chief is asking Squadrons to invite Auxiliary members to our courses and charge them your member rates. The Coast Guard wants USPS and the Auxiliary to work together.

• It was interesting to note that National receives over $600,000.00 in CG grants. Some of this money pays for three employees at National.

• Our material must be good as the Australian CGA is also looking at our material.

• The Chief would also like us to get to know our State Boating Law Administrators and ask them how we can help them.

• At the conclusion of the Chief’s remarks there were a few questions. The questions were “are grants availa-ble to train Flotilla members”? The Chief said that would be looked into.

• The other question was “what if the Flotillas don’t want to work with the Squadrons”? The Chief answered your D/C’s know who to contact at HQ. (I do know who to contact and I understand issues are quickly cor-rected).

• V/C Bob Sweet spoke about sale of Education Materi-al. Bob suggested squadrons come up with an MSRP for sale to the public, discounts for members and wholesale to squadrons. His belief is if you want to be known, you must get our material into the public’s hands. He further stated self study has a value but classroom teaching has a higher value.

• Our education material that was for sale to the public (with the exception of ABC3) on the National website has been pulled. It should be noted sales if any were minimal.

• Classroom training is our forte; however people are looking for more hands on training such as “OTW”.

• Last year ABC sales were around 1500. As you can see those sales are incremental. Not a budgeted item.

• To interject my own comment on ABC3 sales in New York; when a purchase is attempted, the buyer is asked in which state they reside. When they click on NY, they get an alert message that online study is not ac-cepted in NY. The exam must be proctored.

• ABC3 sales are only one at a time to reduce the chance of mass sales. The V/C did say that large sales would be considered for areas not serviced by USPS.

• V/C Sweet asked that squadrons work together with Flotillas in presenting seminars.

• We continue to work with CPS sharing and co-developing materials.

• Sweet reminded us we can sell our material to the pub-lic at the squadron price. He also said National would like to see squadrons sell this material at Boat Shows.

• V/C Sweet then reviewed public sales with us. Under-standing that sales have been basically nil and with the exception of ABC3, all other courses are designed for classroom study, a straw poll was taken. One D/C was opposed to public sales and all other D/C’s and DXO’s approved. Keep in mind this vote had no meaning oth-er than to test the water.

V/C John Alter was the chair of our D/C, DXO meeting, and here is what was discussed; • Districts should help with BOC in making sure this

program flies. Some Districts have no certifiers. (As you have seen in D6 the last two rendezvous have in-cluded BOC).

• Change the role and function of Districts. Let the Dis-tricts change as they see fit. Districts should change to a help mode. (D6 is firmly headed in this direction).

• Let squadrons run with a two or three person Bridge. Allow them to function like a Provisional squadron. This will allow them to concentrate on survival. There are only six things a squadron must do.

♦ Hold a public boating course. If no one shows you still attempted to hold a course.

♦ File your 990 with the IRS. Every squadron must do this for your non-profit status.

♦ File your TR-1 with National. This proves you filed your 990 with the IRS.

♦ Squadrons must hold an election. ♦ A Roster must be submitted to National. ♦ Merit Marks must be submitted. ♦ Everything else is optional.

• Design a seminar for squadron simplification. • Regarding Leadership Training, we’ve had AO and

XO. Cdr is rolling out. What about dropping the name and letting all officers take it. This is an expensive “road show”. Can we do a Webinar?

• After lunch there was an update regarding the USPS 100th anniversary. The items were;

♦ 100th anniversary logo under consideration.


♦ Postage stamps are being looked at. ♦ Marketing starts in 2013 for the 100th. ♦ Jacksonville will have the celebration. What

that celebration will be has yet to be deter-mined.

♦ Trudy Brown heads the 100th celebration com-mittee.

• Regarding future GB’s, cities such as Boston were looked at. However prices were too high. DC is anoth-er possibility and that is being looked into.

• We had a little time before our next speaker so we hit ABC3 again. We are all having trouble getting people into our ABC3 course. What if we were to tailor our seminars to lead people into our ABC3 course? We know that young people like self paced, self study when they want it. Would a short seminar hook them?

• A squadron uses “Americas Boating Club” as their headline presenter with USPS in smaller letters under it. It was reported it works for that squadron.

Next up was Connie Beckman. Connie had a few items to discuss. • Membership is up for the first time in 10 years. • 2/3 of the six month free membership people become

members. • By Oct 15 have cyber membership updated on the web-

site. Most are generation “X” and want to stay there. • Would like to see cyber members on the District ros-

ters. • Find ways to market our districts better. • The average age of our squadron members is 59, while

our cyber squadron member’s average age is 47. • Please let Connie know how well the national member

representatives are doing. It’s getting time for their reviews.

Tom Kemp was our last speaker. He gave us a brief over-view of Social Networking. • Tom reminded us to use our PR department and use the

PR catalog. • 1 in 10 households own boats. 75 million people boat-

ed in 2010. Most people who own boats, own boats

that are inexpensive, small and their boating is season-al.

• We need to reach the younger boaters. Generation X was born after 1982 (I hope I got that correct). Their free time is family time and they respond over the inter-net.

• U Tube has boating videos. They watch mooring and docking videos four times more than any others. This is on the National web site.

• In the US there are 150 million people using Face Book.

• Twitter should be monitored daily and is a powerful search engine.

• Linked In handles requests for endorsements and has a professional slant.

• U Tube offers video hosting with 15 minutes being the longest allowed.

• Tom went on to say that Terri Flagg has been hired as a consultant for Social Networking. Yes this is our own Paul and Maxine Flagg's daughter.

• Since none of the DC’s or DXO’s were able to attend the Social Networking seminar Tom has offered to e-mail his presentation. I will make that request.

• I firmly believe we must use Social Networking in at-tracting new and younger members. I don’t know that much about it but I understand I must learn about it.

• P/D/C Zambroski will contact Terri on ways Terri can help our district. It may also be a possibility Terri could give our squadrons a presentation.

I know this report is lengthy, but I hope all will get at least one thing out of it. It would have been very difficult to pre-sent this yesterday and have any time left for the P/D/C and P/D/Lt/C presentation which I felt offered more to you our squadrons. There is to be a full report of the D/C DXO meeting forth coming. I will pass this on when received. I would also to thank the presenters from this weekend. I hope it demonstrates we do hear you and will do our best to assist you in any way we can. Please let me know your concerns and comments and I’ll answer any I can. Thank You All and Best Regards, D/C Russ

The Friends of Sampson State Park Marina Committee Announces Life Jacket Loaner Program By Don Kloeber, Seneca Squadron & Co-Chair of the Friends of Sampson Marina Committee

The Friends of Sampson State Park is pleased to announce initiation of a life jacket loaner program to promote safe boating on Seneca Lake. The loaner program will be offered to the public free of charge by Friends of Sampson Marina Committee members, our sponsor and donors. The program will focus on youth and infant size life jackets to help ensure safe boating for our youth. A few adult and Type IV “Throwable” cushions will also be made available to interested boaters.

The marina committee would like to acknowledge and thank Seneca Meadows Inc, Waterloo, for agreeing to sponsor the pro-gram and providing funds to match donations of life jackets from other area marinas and sporting goods retailers. When confirming sponsorship Seneca Meadows Inc. stated that “safety is so important to our youth, and we are proud to partner with the Friends of Sampson Marina.”

Anyone interested in learning more can contact Committee Co-chairs Terry Bonter (585-259-7177) or Don Kloeber (607-562-7540), inquire at the marina or visit the website

www.sites.google.com/site/FriendsOfSampsonMarina/


source. Get a core group of members who can work this and offer the course 3 or 4 times a year, whichever you can manage, and promote using every free resource available to you. Don’t be disappointed with small response from the public. It’s a fact of life that times have changed and people’s priorities don’t include safe boating courses until they need them. Our job is to get in front of the pub-lic to let them know we’re here when they are ready.

Take advantage of the 6 month membership offer and embrace any-one who accepts. Invite them to a

(DEO Continued from page 14) wings and pizza session to explain who and what squadron is. Call them to attend meetings. Make your meet-ings interesting so they’ll come back.

Seminars are a real hot item and they offer terrific potential, but only with a well organized marketing ap-proach. That means organizing mem-bers to promote, teach, proctor and all the other things that need to be done. Focus. Pick 2 or 3 seminars that you’re comfortable with and go with those. Let people know, with brochures and posters, about all the seminars we offer and if they express sincere interest in any of them con-sider adding that to your curriculum.

fering them, and providing the best package for the student that is possi-ble. Since I’ve been out of the loop (sort of) for a while, I decided to see just how many Seminars were avail-able. When I saw the list, I really understood the magnitude of the challenge, and reinforced my view of picking a few to go along with your regular course offerings.

But it is up to you —we need to teach, and we need to grow with new involved members!

Or tell them “Oh yeah, we teach that one to members.” Might work.

Don’t refuse to teach a small class. We’d all like to have 30 or 40 students in front of us but if doesn’t happen suck it up and teach that one person who shows up. They’ll appre-ciate it after the embarrassment wears off.

As always, District is here to help you. If you have questions or need suggestions, ask. Sometimes we have things to say that can help, but I know that in the past 6 years I’ve always learned something new from any squadron that has asked me for help. We’re all in this together.

Bought a new computer recently. It is an adventure. Windows 7 and Office 2010 are different. I’m not sure whether better or worse than XP and 2007, but different for sure. One area that they are not “better” is in compatibility with earlier versions of non-Microsoft programs. In particu-lar, pdf programs. So I bought a new one, well reviewed on-line, and for writing pdf’s it is O.K. in most cases. However, it does not currently have the capability of extracting photos from pdf material; my old one did, but the latest version is outside my budget. We’ll work on it for the next issue.

I am sure that all of you have heard of the storms that have buffet-ed the Southern Tier, especially the Binghamton and Owego area. I have included several photos from the web, and from Grace and Frank Pen-ny who where there in late Septem-ber. It is a true disaster, with historic buildings being swamped with con-taminated water, not to mention homes and businesses. This has been a major impact on the area for, in

particular, Susquenango Squadron. So, if you have friends in that area, be sure to seek them out, extend your regrets, and perhaps on a squadron to squadron basis offer some help.

When I reviewed our DEO Bill’s article (page 12, and continued be-low) I agreed totally with picking a few Seminars, and focusing on of-

USPS University – Seminar Series USPS University is here with new programs targeted to a range of boaters and types of boating. The hallmark of this concept is the Seminar Series. These short seminars are targeted to specific topics and needs with a two-hour format, and valuable take-away guides. Each seminar provides credits toward the Boat Operator Certifica-tion program, and credit toward elective courses. These seminars are available now.

Several more seminars are nearing completion and will be available soon: Knots for Mariners, Onboard Emergencies, Using Digital Charts, and Heavy Weather Sailing.

Advanced Powerboat Handling Anchoring Basic Coastal Navigation Basic Weather and Forecasting Boat Handling under Power Boating on Rivers, Locks and Lakes Emergencies on Board Fuel and Boating How to Use a Chart Hurricanes and Boats Knots, Bends and Hitches

Marine RADAR Mariner's Compass Mastering the Rules of the Road Paddle Smart Partner in Command Sail Trim and Rig Tuning Tides and Currents Trailering Your Boat Using GPS Using VHF & VHF/DSC Marine Radio

Ye Olde Editor’s Corner by P/R/C Dick Ashley, SN

Page 14 The Deep 6 Fall 2011 THE DEEP 6 — Fall 2011 Official Publication of District 6 of United States Power Squadrons®

P/R/C Richard E. Ashley, SN, Editor 2641 Brynwood Drive Trinity, FL 34655-2204 [email protected] If undeliverable, do not return.

Educational Corner D/Lt/C William A. Herrick, JN

Fall is upon us again. Days are getting too short, the leaves are com-ing down and boats are coming out of the water to wait for us to prep them for the cold season. The good news is that a new school year has started and we have the opportunity to showcase ourselves to the public and reinforce our bonds to our squadron.

National continues to work hard to develop new tools that should help

us accomplish these missions. This summer an agreement was reached to acquire a leased boat, trailer and truck to support the Inland Naviga-tor level of the Boat Operator Certi-fication program and the new Prac-tical on Water Training seminar. The boat is a twenty foot Boston Whaler and is pulled by a Ford F-150. There was a call for volunteer truck drivers to move the package up and down the East coast and sev-eral District 6 members stepped up to offer their expertise. Their ser-vices will be used in the coming months as programs are developed by squadrons to capitalize on this resource. Watch for more news about this showing up in District 6 for testing next summer.

It seems that we’re told there’s a new seminar available almost eve-ry month. Currently there are 21 seminars listed in the course catalog with the newest being Emergencies on Board and Fuel and Boating. Even more seminars are under de-

velopment to fully complement our Advanced Grades and Electives.

With all the changes in the Edu-cational Department squadrons can easily become overwhelmed by all the buzz. Updated courses, new sem-inars, old seminars, declining mem-bership, diminishing member partici-pation. National would have us jump on the newest and latest with the de-termination that would make every program a success, and this would be great if your squadron has the num-ber of willing members who can in-struct and manage more than 35 course and seminar offerings, not to mention the BOC levels, as well as a receptive student base interested in all that. Off hand, I don’t know of a squadron that can.

I’d suggest it’s time to sit back, take a deep breath and decide how to address all this “noise.” Take your squadron back to basics. Cultivate your ABC3 offerings; focus on that since that’s our prime membership


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www.usps.org/localusps/D/6 Check out The Deep 6 in full color!