USS SaratogaNewsSpring08.indd

SPRING 2008
USS Saratoga Museum Foundation, Inc.
PO Box 28581
Providence, RI 02908-0581
Non-Profit Org
US POSTAGE
PAID
Providence, RI
Permit No. 420
The Carrier
PUBLISHED QUARTERLY
NEWSLETTER OF THE USS SARATOGA MUSEUM FOUNDATION
Congress Appropriates
$282,000 For
Saratoga Project
To Current Resident or
Funding is earmarked for educational
and vocational training purposes
in connection with aircraft carrier
attraction at Quonset/Davisville
On The Horizon
Mark your calendars for the following events.
We hope to see you there!
Armed Forces Salute,
Saturday, May 10, North Kingstown
North Kingston Memorial Day Parade,
Monday, May 26:
Red Sox Legends Golf Dinner
Sunday, June 29
Red Sox Legends Golf Tournament
Monday, June 30
Wickford Art Festival
Sat & Sun, July 12 & 13
Annual Saratoga Reunion
October 1-5, Indianapolis, IN
Monthly Volunteer Meeting
May 20, June 17, July 15
6854 Post Road, North Kingstown
Keep up with the latest events:
www.saratogamuseum.org
Plane Unveiled
The U.S.S. Saratoga
Foundation’s Grumman
F9F Panther was unveiled
Jan. 31 during a reception
co-hosted by the foundation and the Japan America
Society. Come and see the
work in process at the Post
Road Headquarters.
The model USS Saratoga will be out and about again in the warm weather, collecting
donations and raising awareness and enthusiasm. To volunteer for one of the most enjoyable
jobs in the organization, call 401-398-1000. See story on page 2.
Volunteers Make it Happen
The USS Saratoga
Museum Foundation could
not function without its
tireless corps of volunteers.
These dedicated indiviuduals were honored at the
recent 2007 Volunteer
Appreciation Meeting on
March 18, 2008.
Volunteers do everything
from restoring aircraft
and museum artifacts to
fundraising and publicity.
Collectively, our
volunteers gave more than
5,500 hours in 2007, and
2008 is off to an even
better start!
Continued on page 5
Efforts by the USS Saratoga Museum
Foundation to create a family attraction,
educational center and memorial
at Quonset/Davisville took another
major step forward as Congressman
Jim Langevin announced a federal
appropriation of $282,000 to support
the project.
This funding was included in the
$485 billion Omnibus Appropriations
bill passed by Congress. The bill funds
important domestic programs for Fiscal
Year 2008.
“This legislation begins to reinvest
in the priorities of the American people
and provides support to many projects
throughout Rhode Island’s Second
Congressional District,” Congressman
Langevin said in a press release.
Frank Lennon, President of the
Saratoga Foundation, expressed his
delight with this grant. “It’s an early
Christmas present for the hardworking volunteers who have built the
credibility of this project over the years,”
he said. “Just as importantly, it signals
recognition by federal officials that our
concept offers meaningful benefits to the
communities we intend to serve.”
Last year the United States
Continued on page 3
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Park a carrier at the grocery store!
Contact Information
Saratoga Museum and Gift Shop
6854 Post Road
North Kingstown, RI
401-398-1000
fax: 401-885-1290
Mailing Address
PO Box 845
North Kingstown, RI 02852
www.saratogamuseum.org
www.saratogamuseum.org/shipstore
USS Saratoga Association
www.uss-saratoga.com
877-360-7272
Volunteer Meetings:
May 20, June 17, July 15
Monthly volunteer meetings
are held the third
Tuesday of every month.
7 p.m. sharp
6854 Post Road, North Kingstown
401-398-1000
Bring a Friend!
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One of the initiatives that has kept the Saratoga Project afloat over the past
eight years has been the weekend outreach activities all over Rhode Island.
Commonly called “Collections”
among our volunteers, this
program allows us to reach
shoppers at area Stop & Shops,
Walmarts, Dave’s Marketplaces
and other stores. It informs
the public about our endeavor
to turn the USS Saratoga into a
museum and educational center,
and in turn many of them
donate to our cause.
Jean Cartier and Marco
Marotto have been leading the
crew since the beginning. They
have had a lot of fun going
out and being ambassadors for the
Saratoga. In the past couple of years
Days and locations for the 2008
some of their cohorts have passed on
collections schedule:
or become too ill to be involved, so
they are looking for new people to
May 17 & 18
join them.
Dave’s Marketplace
One of the main attractions for
May 24 & 25
shoppers is the sixteen-foot model of
North Kingstown WalMart
the CV-60. Built by our volunteers in
May 31 & June 1
2002, it holds models of airplanes that
Frenchtown Rd Stop & Shop
would have flown off of the CV-60, as
June 14 & 15
well as a few models of other famous
Hope Valley Stop & Shop
airplanes. Not only is it visually
June 28 & 29
attractive, but it houses speakers that
Dave’s Marketplace
play “oldies-but-goodies” tunes from
July 12 & 13
the 1930s-50s. The music puts people
Wickford Art Festival
in a good mood and draws a lot of
July 26 & 27
interest and questions.
North Kingstown WalMart
A typical day for collections volunteers:
August 2 & 3
Dave’s Marketplace
8:30 am: Meet at Headquarters in
North Kingstown. Travel to
August 16 & 17
Frenchtown Rd Stop & Shop
store location
9:00 am: Uncover model and
August 23 & 24
Hope Valley Stop & Shop
set up tables with merchandise and
donation buckets
September 13 & 14
Ten Rod Rd. Stop & Shop
9:15-12:30 pm: Outreach, talking
to shoppers, selling merchandise
September 20 & 21
North Kingstown WalMart
12:30 pm: Lunchtime!
1:00-4:00 pm: Outreach
4:00 pm: Pack up to return home
Please let us know if you can
devote a couple of days over the summer to furthering the Saratoga project’s
presence in the community and to helping people understand what the
organization is all about! Call 401-398-1000 to sign up.
Is it time to replace that cap?
Or shirt? Or mug? The ship’s store is always
open. Check it out online, or use this order
form to purchase items from our gift shop.
Item
Ship to:
Price Qty Total
USS Saratoga Ball Cap - Ship’s Force CV-3 or CV-60 CV-60A (Circle) $15
USS Saratoga Ball Cap - Rooster Crest CV-3 or CV-60 (Circle)
$15
USS Saratoga Wooden Ditty Box CV-3 or CV-60 (Circle)
$16
USS Saratoga Frosted Beer Mug CV/A-60 or CV-3 (Circle)
$25
City, State , Zip
USS Saratoga Blue Arnold Palmer Golf Jacket XL only
$35
Phone
USS Saratoga Experience T-Shirt (White) Circle size: S, M, L, XL, 2XL, 3XL $15
Email
Ghosts WWII Aviation Calendar, 2008
Name
Address
❑
❑
Check payable to “USS Saratoga
Museum Foundation” is enclosed.
Charge my MasterCard/Visa/Amex/Discover
(pls circle)
Number
❑
Email
Exp. date
Bill me via Paypal at this e-mail address:
Long-sleeve denim CV-60 shirt
$10
Circle size:
$25
L or XL
Sub-total
RI residents add 7% sales tax
10% discount for members. Membership number:
Shipping is $5 first item, $3 each additional item.
Shipping total
Total
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The Taps List:
HONORING OUR SHIPMATES
CDR Waldo Born
CVA-60 2007
Dennis Jones
CVA-60 2007
Timothy A. Bray
CVA/CV-60 2007
CAPT Howard Soester
CV-3 2007
Bruce Caldwell 2007
CWO Harold F. Sessions
CV-3 2005
Angelo Cirinelli
CV-3 1997
Robert F. Runge
CV-3 2007
Jake Durr
CVA-60 2008
Bill D. Yeargin
CVA-60 2007
Allen “Big Al” Goffstein
CVA-60 2007
CWO4 Charles D. Wickliffe
CVA/CV-60 2008
Stewart F. Hare
CV-3 2007
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
as of April 20, 2007
Francis L. Lennon,
President and Treasurer
Bradley A. Senter, Vice President
William E. Sheridan, Secretary
Jo Ann Engelhardt, Director
RADM Donald E. Weiss, Director
Joseph B. White, Corporate Counsel
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
2008
Red Sox Legends
GOLF EVENT
The Alpine Country Club
Cranston, Rhode Island
Pairings Party, Dinner and Auction
Sunday, June 29, 6:00 p.m.
Golf Tournament
Monday, June 30, 12:30 p.m.
Proceeds to benefit:
• The establishment of a satellite Ted Williams Museum in Rhode Island
• The restoration of the U.S.S. Saratoga Museum Foundation’s Korean
War-era fighter jet, a Grumman F9F Panther, the same type
Williams flew in Korea.
Reserve your slots now!
Participation limited to 36 foursomes!
Golf Day: $225 per Individual, $800 per Foursome
Dinner the night before: $55 per Individual, $95 per Couple
Tee signs and major sponsorships available
For information or reservations, call 401-398-1000
or email [email protected]
Co hosted by The Ted Williams Museum and Hitters Hall of Fame
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Congress Appropriates $282,000 For Saratoga Project
Hon. Robert Weygand, Chairman
BG Louis Abbenante, USA (Ret)
Dr. Vernon Alden
BG James A. D’Agostino, USAF (Ret)
LTG Robert F. Foley, USA (Ret)
CAPT James “Lou” Gorman USNR (Ret)
James M. Halley, EdD
ADM James Hogg, USN (Ret)
Professor Sergei Khrushchev
Ambassador Arthur W. Lewis
Roy J. Nirschel, PhD.
CAPT Richard D. Suttie USN (Ret)
Spencer W. Viner, Esq.
Frederick C. Williamson
SPECIAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Hon. Robert Weygand, Chairman
Robert L. Crandall
Laura M. DiSano
Elizabeth Dolan
John Evans
Bob Galkin
Warren Galkin
Gail Ginnetty
Tom Harper
Richard P. Honack
John Martin
Dr. Edward Mazze
Malcolm McGuire
A. Ralph Mollis
Jennifer Murray
Colonel Sherwood “Woody” Spring USA (Ret)
Michael Stenhouse
Department of Agriculture’s
Community Facilities Program set
aside funds to guarantee $6.5 million
in long-term project financing from
Independence Bank of East Greenwich.
Today’s appropriation reinforces
the perception of continued federal
support, and provides encouragement to
Foundation leadership as they work to
obtain long-sought final approval from
the State to relocate the carrier
to Davisville.
Lennon hopes this grant will also
result in additional corporate support.
“Business leaders can now see that
the United States Government has
taken a hands-on approach. We hope
this funding commitment will ‘prime
the pump’, so to speak, and result in
additional corporate sponsorship.”
The grant will be administered
through the Small Business
Administration. Funds will be used
to plan, design, develop and equip
workforce development and job training
programs and facilities, which have
always been a major element in the
Saratoga plan.
While the eventual goal is to use the
fully-equipped machine shops aboard
the ship for extensive school-to-career
programs, the funding will be put to
immediate use even before the aircraft
carrier is donated by the Navy.
“For a number of years we have been
building relationships with educational
institutions, ranging from Davisville
2009
Calendars!
Coming soon!
Look for more news in
the next issue.
Middle School to URI’s Graduate
School of Oceanography,” Lennon said.
“While access to the machine shops and
other facilities aboard the ship would
geometrically enhance future vocational
training capabilities, this funding
enables us to invest today in pilot
programs which we can test before the
aircraft carrier comes across the Bay.”
Joint ventures with local schools
and universities will form the backbone
of this effort. “We have ongoing
relationships with the North Kingstown
School Department, Roger Williams
University, CCRI and URI, “ said
Lennon. “This grant will allow us to
explore new relationships with other
facilities such as the Chariho Career &
Technical Center, and perhaps some inhouse corporate programs.”
Recognizing that 2008 will be an
extremely tight budget year for state
funding of workforce development,
Lennon also intends to explore working
relationships with the RI Economic
Development Corporation, the Quonset
Development Corporation and labor
unions with apprentice programs.
The Saratoga Foundation plans
to use its existing aircraft and vehicle
restoration projects, particularly the
“Ted Williams Airplane,” as the catalyst
for these job training initiatives.
John Gibbons is project manager
for the restoration of the “Ted Williams
Airplane,” an F9F Panther jet, the same
type flown in combat in Korea by the
Red Sox slugger when he was a Marine
Corps fighter pilot. “The combination
of the connection to baseball with the
chance to restore a fighter airplane
should be an irresistible combination for
youngsters seeking to learn a trade,”
Gibbons said.
Plans are to modify a portion of
the museum’s headquarters, located at
6854 Post Road in North Kingstown to
accommodate these restoration projects
while awaiting final state approval of
the relocation of the aircraft carrier
to Davisville.
Under the watchful eye of qualified
instructors, students and trainees will be
able to help volunteers and staff restore
other important artifacts, such as a
landing craft now on Prudence Island.
Centerpiece of the restoration efforts is
the 1938 Ford sedan driven to battle on
December 7, 1941 by Saratoga veteran
and Pearl Harbor Medal of Honor
recipient LT John Finn.
Students will be able to learn about
woodworking and Fiberglas when
working on Paramount Pictures’ 39foot-long model of the USS Nevada,
battleship of Pearl Harbor fame, used
in “Winds of War” and other motion
pictures.
On the marine trades side of the
operation, some of this funding can
be used to plan the construction of a
replica of the very first USS Saratoga, a
68-foot long 18-gun sloop launched in
1780. “Based on the hugely successful
reconstruction of the Amistad at Mystic
Seaport, we intend to pursue a similar
project for students and community
volunteers,” said Lennon.
“These vocational training
programs, which we can start almost
immediately, should help provide youth
with useful skills and experiences to
help them become productive members
of society,” concluded Gibbons.
Once the Foundation takes
ownership of Saratoga, funding would
cover refurbishment and upgrading
of existing machine tools and other
equipment aboard, and the acquisition
of additional tools, chucks, and
computerized elements in order to
create the most advanced job training
facility in the state.
On the culinary training side,
a relatively small investment in the
existing, fully-equipped institutional
kitchens would result in the creation
of a low-cost training facility.
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SARATOGA MUSEUM FOUNDATION RECEIVES SIGNIFICANT
EXHIBIT FROM US NAVAL ACADEMY
Graphic display panels depicting Naval WWII
history now on display in North Kingstown.
The US Naval Academy has
transferred one of its most significant
exhibits to the USS Saratoga Museum
Foundation for permanent display here
in Rhode Island. The donation consists
of interpretive/educational signage plus
a number of museum-quality display
cases. The collection includes more than
30 large panels, consisting of photos,
texts and interpretive graphics, which
tell and show the history of the US Navy
during World War II and the Cold War.
Several of the panels are interactive
with video and audio; the Pearl Harbor
display, for example, includes speakers
which broadcast President Franklin D.
Roosevelt’s “Day of Infamy” speech. The
average panel is six to seven to feet tall
and three to four feet wide, although one
is eleven feet long and eight feet high.
The museum in Annapolis closed in
December for 18 months to allow for a
complete renovation and makeover of
the facility.
“This exhibit was designed in 2000
as a prototype for the type of exhibit the
new museum would contain,” said Frank
Lennon, president of the USS Saratoga
Museum Foundation.
“However, Naval Academy officials
decided not to include it in the new
facility, which will ultimately focus
on the history of the Naval Academy
and the contributions of Annapolis
graduates, rather than the history
of the Navy.
“We were able to pull this off
thanks to the resourcefulness and
responsiveness of our volunteers,”
Lennon stated. Richard Picard of
Woonsocket and Patrick Twohey of
North Smithfield flew to Baltimore
on January 12, and picked up a prearranged rental truck close to the
airport. They then drove to Annapolis,
where USNA Museum Curator Scott
Harmon was awaiting their arrival.
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“We were able to pull this off
thanks to the resourcefulness and
responsiveness of our volunteers.”
Assisted by Twohey’s uncle,
Annapolis area resident James Donahue,
they dismantled the exhibit and
loaded the truck until dark. “We took
everything we could, and filled every
inch of that truck interior,” said Picard.
The panels now at the Saratoga HQ
in North Kingstown formed the heart
of an exhibition entitled “100 Years and
forward...” which was opened in April of
2000. The cost for the entire exhibit in
2000 was in the vicinity of $1.5 million.
In addition to depicting the history
of the Navy from the beginning of the
19th Century through Vietnam, “...the
exhibition serves as a prototype for a
new approach to exhibits that will be
installed in the near future in a renovated
Preble Hall. These exhibitions will
combine art, artifacts, models, text, and
audio-visual presentations to interpret
in a more exciting and engaging way the
history of the Academy.”
A slideshow depicting the fullymounted exhibit in Annapolis can still
be seen at the Naval Academy Museum
website: http://www.usna.edu/Museum/
hundredslideshow.htm
These photos show the fully-mounted
exhibits, complete with artifacts and
memorabilia which have been retained
by the Naval Academy. The Rhode Island
donation consists of the graphic panels
and empty display cases only.
“This exhibit puts us in the
education business immediately,”
says John Gibbons, one of Saratoga’s
project managers. “Because of its size, a
permanent display of the whole exhibit
must await the opening of the aircraft
carrier Saratoga. In the interim, we
would welcome working with another
group or organization with a space large
enough to effectively display it all.”
For now, segments of the exhibit
will be on display on a rotating basis at
the Foundation’s headquarters, 6854 Post
Road, North Kingstown. For further
information, please call 401-398-1000, or
visit http://www.saratogamuseum.org.
Holiday Cheer
The artifact-filled downstairs of the Varnum
Armory was the setting for 2007’s festive holiday
party. The USS Saratoga Museum Foundation and
the North Kingstown American Legion Post 12
came together to celebrate the spirit of the season.
Volunteer Appreciation Meeting
Continued from front page
Volunteers have
made it possible for
The Foundation to come
within reach of our goal to
Save Sara!
However, we can always
use more help! Please call
401-398-1000 to to find
out about all of the many volunteer
opportunies available.
Thank You Volunteers:
1000+ hours
James “Edge”
Edgerton
600-999 hours
Jean Cartier
John Gibbons
Marco Marotto
201-500 hours
Ed Bowers
Dave Gamache
Monty Gomez
Paul Haas
Greg Maruska
Al Metzger
101-200 hours
Bob Albee
Angel Cogean
Crystal Cogean
John Graham
Armand Guertin
Marie Lucas
Larry Meersman
Dick Ricker
1-100 Hours
Joe Bedard
Linda Bowers
Richard Crudele
Brian Haas
John Kramer
Jimmy Lent
Yma Maruska
Pete Papa
Maureen Ricker
Pete Sauvegeau
Hours Not Submitted
Jakob Conroy
Carol Dale
Jane & Mickey
Deptula
Tony Jandron
Cecilia Leary
Don Marcum
Emile Munschy
Richard Picard
Charlie Ross
Peter Squibb
Jen St. Peter
Doug Wilkey
*We apologize for any omissions
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