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PRESS
RELEASE
Contact Courtney Guertin
cguertin@battleshipcove.org
(508) 678-1100
Countdown
to Launch
Students Complete Course and will Launch Wooden Boats
this Tuesday
Fall River: Students from the Henry
Lord Middle School, participating in Battleship Cove Community Boating's
(BCCB) after-school wooden boatbuilding course, have completed the
construction phase of the project, utilizing their wood working
shop, and will launch three new boats on Tuesday, June 10th, at
3:00 PM, at the Battleship Cove Community Boathouse.
The Superintendent of the Fall River school
system will participate in the launching and Thomas Robillard, President
and Chief Operating Officer of New England Gas Company and BCCB
sponsor, will award BCCB with $5,000 for youth scholarships.
In collaboration with the Fall River School
Department's 21st Century Community Learning Centers Grant, students
spent fifteen (15) weeks with Trevor Perkins, Battleship Cove Director
of Sailing and Waterfront Activities, Harry Miller and Roland Cote,
Navy veterans and tenured volunteers, to design and construct a
pair of 14 - foot wooden boats.
Students that participated in this new and
innovative program employed a variety of different skills and learned
how to read two-dimensional building plans to construct a three-dimensional
working watercraft. The wooden boats will remain at the boathouse
where they will become an integral part of the summer youth boating
program.
BCCB is in its third season of sailing instruction
in partnership with Massachusetts DEM. The boating program provides
safe and affordable sailing instruction to youths aged ten through
sixteen, with sessions running mornings and afternoons. Battleship
Cove provides full and partial scholarships to area youth and those
participating in summer camps offered by the Greater Fall River
YMCA and Thomas Chew Memorial Boys & Girls Club. As such, many
Fall River area youths who would not otherwise have access to marine
related recreation and education are given an opportunity to explore
sailing for the first time.
The Battleship Cove Community Boating Program
is operated by Battleship Cove, a nonprofit maritime heritage museum
preserving the world's largest collection of historic naval ships.
Adult instruction, memberships, and boat rentals also offered. To
request a community boating program brochure and schedule, or to
learn about volunteer and sponsorship opportunities, please call
(508) 678-1100.
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