Event Success!

Last night's party was a hit! We had a great turn out of people, including some very distinguished guests. Jim Dietz, my UMass Amherst coach, is also the Vice President of US Rowing and has quite an extensive and impressive history as a rower and coach. Hart Perry is another icon in the world of rowing and currently runs the National Rowing Foundation which supports Olympic athletes as well as others. David Vogel, a former Olympic athlete also works for the National Rowing Foundation and was in attendance last night.

There was representation from several boat makers including Dave Dickison from Vespoli, Jeff Sturges and Bernard Taradash from Resolute Racing Shells, and Paul Milde from Peinert Boat Works. Representatives from both New Bedford High School and Greater New Bedford Vocational-Technical High School were there; Carrie Cetnitch and Mike Shea respectively. Liz Labelle from Whaling City Rowing was there as well, which is a group of whale boat rowers (you'll see them in our regatta!) There was great support from Community Rowing, including Maura Hammer, Jane and Bob Morse, Rob Mayo, Ryan Banks, Bill McGowan, Alice Taggart with G-Row, and several more Boston area people made the trip.

I would like to thank all of the people from the Economic Development Council who were on hand: Angela Johnston, Joyce Goodman, Derek Santos, and Pat Daughton. It was wonderful to see Bill Burns and Stephanie Poyant from the office of The Mayor, and Kristin Decas, the Executive Director for the Harbor Development Commission. Many of our board members were with us, Rob Sudduth, Tom Gonziorowski, Anne Eisenmenger, as well as Laurie and John Bullard.

The highlight of the evening were of course our speakers: Tom Weil as our keynote speaker got a few laughs, but also a few "hmm...never realized that" reactions to some of the points he made. Our Mayor, Scott Lang, gave a great speech and showed his passion for this club. Matthew Morrissey, the Executive Director for the Economic Development Council started off the evening while Bruce Smith, Executive Director for Community Rowing Inc. closed out the evening. I spoke a bit, but I think my favorite speakers would be Patryk Backiel and Danielle Lopez - two of the youth athletes that started rowing with us this summer and will be racing this fall. They captured the hearts of everyone in the room. Seeing the other kids in the crowd (Tyler Hemingway, Alyssa Jorge, Dylan Maciel, and Andrew Pereira) was the icing on a delicious cake.

There were many more people there and I wish I could thank them all. Charis Anderson, a reporter for the Standard-Times, covered the event but she's also a rower so I appreciate her working when she should have been strictly a guest. Look for her article! We also had our coaches (hopefully recruiting) at the event: Briana Blood, Mohammed Jafri, and Ken Clark.

Lastly, The Coalition for Buzzards Bay was a fantastic location for us to have our event and Mark Rasmussen, Lynn Coish, and Donna Cobert were wonderful. Mike Galvin from Cork Wine & Tapas Bar, in conjunction with Rose Alley Ale House and Pizano's Pizza supplied delectable food as well as wine, and Brian Roussell with Narragansett Beer provided the brew.

Thanks to everyone for all of the efforts and support getting this club off the ground, and making this party happen. Many more good things are on the way so stay tuned!