Volunteer Connection
May 4, 2010
Greetings, Friends!
Membership Meeting…
The Michigan Maritime Museum will hold its annual meeting Saturday, May 22nd, 2010. The meeting will be held at 1:00 pm in the Padnos Boat Shed on the Museum Campus. All members are welcome and urged to attend.
The Museum was saddened to learn of the recent passing of good friend and former Friends Good Will Captain during the 2006 season Captain Jerry Lawrence~
Jerry Lawrence, 1947-2010
Chicago police detective, Fire Department official, tour boat captain
By Trevor Jensen, Tribune reporter
6:33 PM CDT, April 26, 2010
Ask a group of boys what they want to be when they grow up, and the answers might read something like Jerry Lawrence's resume.
He was a Chicago police officer and detective who went on to work with the Fire Department, piloting a fireboat to warehouse blazes along the Chicago River. A captain of tour boats and tugboats, Mr. Lawrence came to Chicago in the mid-1960s to work at a Top 40 radio station — another job that produced many a long night's worth of entertaining stories.
He collected a thick stack of business cards documenting his many pursuits. For a gag, he slipped in one belonging to John Wayne Gacy, the serial killer whose crimes Mr. Lawrence helped investigate while with the Chicago Police Department's homicide unit.
"He just aggressively pursued his interests," said Michael Mealer, who got to know Mr. Lawrence when he was director of Mealer's church youth group. "He enjoyed doing those things that have a lot of camaraderie with them."
Mr. Lawrence, 62, died of complications from liver disease on Sunday, April 25, in his home east of downtown Chicago, said his son, Jerry Jr.
Over the last decade or so, Mr. Lawrence sported a beard and reveled in his final professional persona as the captain of Chicago tour boats, including the Tall Ship Windy out of Navy Pier.
"He just hammed it up like the old sea captain," his son said.
He certainly had tales to tell. Raised in Sandusky, Ohio, Mr. Lawrence was the nephew of the city's deputy fire chief, and the boy was regularly hoisted aboard fire engines for hair-raising rides, whetting a lifelong appetite for action.
During high school, he started working with local radio stations. In 1966, he joined the staff at WCFL-AM in Chicago, working as an engineer for disc jockeys Barney Pip and Ron Britain and hauling recording equipment for news crews covering the 1967 fire that destroyed McCormick Place and other stories.
A moonlighting Chicago police officer working security for the station suggested Mr. Lawrence try out for the police. He harbored a desire to be a firefighter, but was too short for the city's requirements. In 1968, he completed the police academy and took to the streets as a patrol officer.
He made a name for himself as a hard-working officer out of the North Side Town Hall District and was in short order promoted to homicide detective. In December 1978, he was among investigators called in on the Gacy case as officials strove to find and identify the serial killer's many victims.
Active with the Addison Street Community Church, Mr. Lawrence helped start a Chicago chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Peace Officers. It was through the church that he met Mealer, a member of the youth group who went on to join the Police Department and is now a district commander.
Mealer said Mr. Lawrence, while working the Gacy case, was one of the early responders to the 1979 DC-10 crash near O'Hare International Airport, typical of his careerlong habit of responding to any call.
"He'd go into it," Mealer said. "He was just a driven guy."
With his production skills, he took over the Police Department's television unit. A habitue of the Billy Goat Tavern and a good friend of scribes, including the Tribune's longtime police reporter Philip Wattley, he also taught media relations to other officers.
Around 1983, he was asked by new Chicago fire Commissioner Louis Galante to join the Fire Department's media relations unit. He went on to become director of media relations and later director of communications when the department had its own call system.
An avid sailor since his boyhood days on Lake Erie, he got his captain's license and began moonlighting with the Mercury and Wendella cruise lines.
The license also got him an assignment behind the wheel of the Fire Department's boat. That job combined two prime passions, being on the water and chasing fires.
"I think my dad always wanted to live in a firehouse, and he never really did until he lived on the fireboat," his son said.
He left the Fire Department in the 1990s and from then on put in full summer seasons as a boat captain, working some winters on tugboats pushing barges.
An accomplished cook, at one point he was kicking around plans to open a restaurant.
"That was going to be the next phase," his son said.
Mr. Lawrence was twice divorced. Other survivors include a daughter, Melissa, and six grandchildren.
Services will be private.
Front Desk Staff Needed…
The Museum is seeking individuals to run the Museum Store Front Desk on Saturdays and Sundays in May. If you can spare a few hours on a Saturday or a Sunday, please contact the Volunteer Coordinator at mstephens@michiganmaritimemuseum.org. Thank you!
EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY…
"Now Hear This" all you wooden boat enthusiasts out there. The Documentation Committee, a subcommittee of the Museum's Collection Committee at Michigan Maritime Museum is attempting to sponsor a class on Surveying Wooden Boats to be held at the museum in September. This class would be put on by the WoodenBoat School of Brooklin, ME, and the Museum. It is a week long class taught by a professional Marine Surveyor with years of experience in surveying wooden boats. The class will be divided roughly 50/50 between class room study (in the Padnos) and field work actually surveying several wooden boats, starting with our own Evelyn S. and Jim Schnieder's Frigate Bird. The cost for the class will be between $650.00 and $700.00 and will result in a certificate from WoodenBoat School at it's completion. Student limit is 12 students maximum, we currently have room for up to six Students in this class. If you're interested please contact Pete Mathews at 269-628-2339, or leave a message at the Museum with your contact information. ~ submitted by Pete Mathews
A Call to Arms!
Calling all Friends Good Will crew to defend the honor of our Captain, Crew and Ship. On Saturday, June 5 at 0830 hours in the mess of Friends Good Will, the BLACK POWDER TRAINING for the armament of all able bodied crew of Friends Good Will will commence. Tony Ostenburg, certified National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association Black Powder instructor, will lead training in the art and safety of Black Powder firing of muskets, hand weapons, and cannons. At the end of the training session, each participant will be awarded a national Mussel Association certificate of competency in all aspects of black powder operation and firing. The class is a requirement for assisting with the gun, which should get a lot of "exercise" this ASTA summer!
The class will last until early afternoon and will be necessarily limited to the first 15 persons who enroll with Mary Stephens. Those already having taken the class last year need not take it again this year. Certifications earned last year are good through 2013, as indicated on the card. We will also schedule gun drills at other times, to be announced, for veterans already holding certificates. With so many new members of the Ship's Company, let's fill up this class and assure that there are an adequate number of us, trained to defend these Great Lakes and respond to commands, "Ram Home and Give Fire!” ~ submitted by Dan Sippel and Jim Spurr
The Grass is Greener…
The Museum is currently seeking someone to assist with mowing the Museum lawn on a weekly basis. If you can help, please email mstephens@michiganmaritimemuseum.org
Ship’s Company Training Sails…
Captain Sikkema added additional training sails to the schedule:
- Wednesday, May 12, 6-8 PM
- Wednesday, May 19, 6-8 PM
- Wednesday, May 19, 6-8 PM
Also,
- Friday, May 14-Sunday, May 16—Please note: To be eligible for this mid-May extended crew training sail, crew must have met the following criteria:
- Current Museum Membership
- Successfully passing a 5-panel pre-employment drug test
- Current Michigan Charter Boat Association Membership Card on file
- Completion of the Basic Seamanship Sail Training Classes I, II, and III
- Completed emergency contact form on file
Space is limited. Please let us know in advance if you are planning on coming by emailing mstephens@michiganmaritimemuseum.org. Thank you.
Museum Open Seven Days per Week…
The Museum is currently open seven days per week from 10 AM- 5 PM. Stop in and say, “Hello!”
Ship’s Company Meeting Recap
On Sunday, April 25 at 12:30 PM in the Padnos Boat Shed, Captain Sam Sikkema led a Ship’s Company meeting. Topics discussed included the following:
I. The summer schedule
- Training sail and classes
- Day sails--crew needed
- Trips, dates and requirements (drug testing and completion of all 3 Basic classes)
II. Crew Scheduling—All Ship’s Company crew are requested to email the Volunteer Coordinator their crewing dates for the entire season by May 21. The schedule can be viewed at http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=bar79gq7ajag87kjckjuhv0p7s%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/New_York
Captain Sikkema is asking crew to select a day of the week to volunteer aboard ship and either crew the afternoon sails or the sunset sail, thus forming crew teams.
III. Drug testing and Michigan Charter Boat Association membership
- Crew must be drug tested
- Crew must be in the random drug testing pool
IV. Introduction of relief captain, Captain Eric Dunckel
V. Ship’s Company needs to keep the Padnos Clean—we share the space with others
VI. Thanks to Eric Standen for rigging organization
VII. Thanks to Jim Spurr for help with dredging the turning basin
VIII. Big Thanks to all for leading the volunteer training
IX. Crew Shirts
Save the Dates…
Join us each month for our Volunteer Potlucks. Bring a dish to pass and get to know your fellow volunteers! From 6-8 PM on the following Tuesdays: May 25, June 29, July 27, August 31, and September 28.
Docent & Front Desk Staff Training Dates
Please join us at the Michigan Maritime Museum on Wednesday, May 5, 3-5 PM to view Dick Brunvand’s DVD introduction to the Museum and join Frank James on a guided tour through Evelyn S. and the Coast Guard Building, or learn how to work at the front desk with trainer Diane Schlanser.
Join us on Wednesday, May 12 from 3-5 PM for docent training on the educational programming aboard Friends Good Will. Docents are needed to help lead educational tours that teach students about the life of a Great Lakes sailor. Training materials will be provided and new docents have the opportunity to shadow the Museum’s veteran docents. For more information contact the Volunteer Coordinator at mstephens@michiganmaritimemuseum.org
Ship’s Company Crew Shirts
The Museum is offering these shirts to all Ship’s Company Members:
- 100 % Cotton Pique Golf Shirt by Outer Banks
- Available in Men’s & Women’s sizes
- Color: Black with CREW embroidered under logo on left
- Pre-payment required
- Cut out order form below & submit with payment
- Cash, credit card, or checks accepted
- Make payable to Michigan Maritime Museum
- Payment & Order Deadline: May 25, 2010
- Please return directly to the Volunteer Coordinator
Suggested donations:
Small–XL are $18.85 (based on a total order of 48 shirts)
2XL are $42.89 (based on a total order of 6 shirts)
Friends Good Will Ship’s Company Crew Shirts
Friends Good Will Ship’s Company Crew Shirt Order Form
Name:_________________________ Email: ____________________________________
Address, City, State, Zip: _______________________________________________________
Quantity: _______________________ Phone: ____________________________________
Size: __________________________ Circle One: Men's or Women's
Form of Payment: _____________________ Billing Zip Code: __________________________
Credit Card # __________________________________ Expiration date ________________
Michigan Maritime Museum Blog…
To view past issues of the “Volunteer Connection,” please visit the Michigan Maritime Museum Blog. The address is http://michiganmaritimemuseum.blogspot.com/
Upcoming Activities at the Museum:
Date: Event:
Wednesday, May 5, 3-5 PM Museum Docent & Front Desk Staff Training
Wednesday, May 5, 6-8 PM Ship’s Company Crew Work Session
Wednesday, May 12, 3-5 PM FGW Docent Training
Wednesday, May 12, 6-8 PM Crew Training Sail
Wednesday, May 19, 6-8 PM Crew Training Sail
Wednesday, May 19, 6-8 PM Crew Training Sail
Saturday, May 22, 1 PM MMM Annual Member Meeting
For the good of the cause,
Mary Stephens
Education & Volunteer Coordinator
Michigan Maritime Museum
260 Dyckman Avenue
South Haven, Michigan 49090
voice: 269.637.8078
fax: 269.637.1594
www.MichiganMaritimeMuseum.org
