NMHS:
A CAUSE IN MOTION
The 2018 National Maritime Awards Dinner Mayflower Hotel • Washington, DC • 25 April 2018
photo by andrew snow
photo by andrew snow
With the 8th National Maritime Awards Dinner we brought together America’s maritime community in our nation’s capital, to advocate in strength for preserving our maritime heritage. The leaders of many of the country’s greatest maritime heritage institutions spearheaded this effort to unite behind the cause of increasing federal funding for our maritime heritage, in an evening dedicated to honoring very worthy individuals and their organizations, affirming the positive strides made in the maritime field, highlighting examples of excellence. Dinner co-chairs Dr. Timothy Runyan and Denise Krepp and founding chairman Philip Webster expressed their gratitude to those who generously supported it: Fleet Sponsors J. W. Marriott Jr. and Boysie Bollinger, and Underwriter Howard Slotnick. These leadership gifts are indispensable to the success of the event. John Warner, former senator of Virginia and a past NMHS Distinguished Service Award recipient, joined us to help welcome several colleagues from the Capitol: Rep. Joseph Courtney of Connecticut; Wisconsin’s Rep. Mike Gallagher; Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware; and, from Louisiana, Senators Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy, and Representatives Garret Graves, Clay Higgins, Steve Scalise, and former senator David Vitter. Joining the esteemed group of national legislators past and present was former Connecticut state senator Cathy Cook. Chief Warrant Officer W. Scott Epperson, USCG (Ret.), represented our partner in hosting the dinner, the US Coast Guard Chief Warrant and Warrant Officers Association. What we can never predict is the excitement and fun of the gala as our most distinguished and gifted speakers take the podium and tell their stories. Our first presenter was former Pennsylvania governor Tom Ridge. Although his military service was with the US Army, he explained that it was through his work as the first Secretary of Homeland Security that he became involved with the Coast Guard and came to understand its vital role; he has since become an outspoken advocate for establishing the National Coast Guard Museum. Ridge was honored to be presenting the Alexander Hamilton Award to Boysie Bollinger for his support for the new National Coast Guard Museum being built in New London, Connecticut. The award is named in honor of the nation’s first treasury secretary who in 1790 established the US Revenue Cutter Service, a precursor of the US Coast Guard. Boysie Bollinger spoke of the important role a museum plays in the community in which it is located. As a major supporter of the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, he has witnessed how that institution has contributed to his city by keeping alive the stories of our “greatest generation,” while providing a boost to the local economy; he envisions a similar scenario in New London when the new museum is com(l-r) Dick Grahn, Tom Ridge, Boysie pleted. The museum will celebrate 228 years of Coast Guard service, but will also enBollinger, and Admiral Robert Papp. liven a formidable, historic American port town where whalers, chandlers, merchants, and maritime artisans conducted their business and where cadets come to be educated as future officers at the Coast Guard Academy. In his remarks, Bollinger, who grew up around the family shipyard before taking over as its CEO, recounted what a huge impact the Coast Guard has on everyday life, from law enforcement to search and rescue, from pollution control to fisheries patrol, and much more. Its contribution to our success as a nation needs to be memorialized and interpreted for current and future generations of Americans. Admiral Robert J. Papp, 24th Commandant of the Coast Guard, noted the courage of J. D. Power, James Coleman, and Boysie Bollinger for their unrelenting dedication to this effort, at times through some difficult days. Guests in the crowded ballroom of the historic Mayflower Hotel listened to Bollinger in appreciation and admiration for his indispensable involvement in making this museum a reality. The NMHS Distinguished Service Award was presented by Maryland’s Senator Benjamin Cardin to William Baker, executive director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, for his and the organization’s unremitting work to keep the Bay alive. Baker’s legacy at the helm of the foundation is impressive: today, the city of Baltimore enjoys water quality it never thought possible, seagrasses have been restored with the largest growth in thirty years, and oysters are slowly coming back with the help of conservation programs. Will Baker succeeds by bringing stakeholders from a wide range of interests to the table to support the program: farmers, developers, and government officials—national, state, and local. He recounted that he remembers well the day his father was driving him to school when saw a “Save the Bay!” bumper sticker on the car ahead of them. He asked his dad if the Bay could actually die, and his father thoughtfully answered that indeed it might, unless somebody helps it. And helping it has been Will Baker’s life’s work. The Chesapeake Bay’s environmental turnaround is a global model for improving the health of a major ecosystem. Ben Cardin and William Baker 10
SEA HISTORY 163, SUMMER 2018