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Cookout to help underprivilegedThrough memorial fund honoring deceased sailorsBy KARINA PMPE For The CapitalIf you believe in causes, then you won’t want to miss the fourth annual Eastport Benefit Show on Sunday.Proceeds from this combination neighborhood cookout and all-day concert will enable 25 underprivileged youths to enjoy one week of free instruction in sailing and boating safety at the Severn Sailing Association this summer.The benefit is sponsored by the Hammett-Wendell Memorial fund established four years ago in memory of Geof Hammett and Marcie Wendell, two Annapolis saUors^^to lost their lives in a boating aident Bar«ri)ecemberfl85. “Both Geof and Marcie were experienced sailors who had been involved with and loved boating since they were children,” said Nancy Noyes, fund spokesperson. “That’s why we thought it was especially appropriate to use the money raised for a boating program for local kids who wouldn’t otherwise be able,to get out on the water and learn how to do it safely.”Last year the Eastport Civic Association received $1,500 from the HWMF to underwrite the cost of its Eastpoit Youth Sailing Program. The program was conceived by ECA president John Rice as a means of doing something for youth in EastportAn organization with 200 member familes, Rice says ECA’s “primary purpose and mission is to maintain and enhance the quality of residential life in Eastport.” But too many times. Rice said, “we are called upon to fight zoning issues ”While real estate professionals will tell you Eastport is an increasingly upscale area with hundred thousand dollar plus price tags, no one considers the contingent of “underprivileged” Eastport families who grow poorer each year as property taxes and high rents take bigger bites out of their minimum wage salaries And yes, as Webster bluntly de fines it the word underprivileged does mean poor But to the streetwise the label simpl} means that somewhere atone the line circumstances conspired tgainsi vou. thrusting the average lifestyle out of reach *nd in today s Eastport those circumstances are becoming more conspiratorial And this \% the FaMportYouth bailing Program ,* irrpor tint La*i vear a croup of ?o vouths got a chance to experience friefh a recreation*! put time which draws so many to this peninsula surround ed b Back Creek, the Severn River and Spa Creek Of those 20. seven earned the State of Maryland's Boating Safety Certificate required of boat operators bora after July 1, 1972. How many of them will ever get a chance to reap the rewards of their efforts is another story, one now in the hands of Lady Luck.But there was a heartwarming side to the program as well. This was seen in October during a special meeting of the Eastport Civic Association when joy lit the youths’ faces as each was signalled out for his or her achievement. And from the audience. parents and guardians beamed with pride after seeing for themselves that their charges had tried at something — and succeeded.That night Elwood Jones, whose two stepsons had participated in the EYSP, thanked ECA for, “reaching out ta the children of the community and making something available to them which they would not otherwise get to experience.”Another parent commented afterward; “At least it kept the kids off the street for a week.” That comment, uttered at a nearby convenience store on she and her son’s way home, reflects a nationwide concern.With both parents working more often than not, or as was the case with many of the program youths, having only one parent to begin with, long breaks from school create problems.The youths are too young to work, don’t drive and have trouble finding constructive activities that encourage skill development to fill the hours each day.But thanks to the Eastport Civic Association’s pioneer effort during the summer of ’88, there could be solutions down the road by putting kids on the water to experience the joy that comes from making your own decisions and being responsible for the safety of yourself and those with youSo if you get a chance, stop by the Eastport Benefit Show between 11 am and 6 pm on Sunday It will be in the backvard of the Raven Maritime Studio at the corner of Second Street and Severn Avenue m Eastport Admission i* 13 If oure worried about going hungry or thirsty. don't There will be hotdogs and hamburgers hot off the barbecue with beer or soft dnnks available to wash them downvelt; Father * Dav i* also on Sunda' But Mop bv anvway and brmg dad with 'ou tw bear Tim Kiny Mavon ^ebaUian Crab Aliev. Mack Bailetr the Outlaw Watermen and the Jello BovsFor more information, call Nancy Noyes at 283-5028 or Howard Rogers at 268-8831
Newspaper Details
Capital Gazette
Annapolis, Maryland, US
Thu, Jun 15, 1989
Page 32
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
WA, USA 18 Sep 2020
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