16.05.2003
THE GUZZO GANG - eine Schulklasse feiert mit den AA-Skippern
Last night there was a very special event in Newport. It was not a compulsory occasion for the Around Alone skippers, but it was the one event in the calendar that all of them wanted to attend. Mrs. Guzzo’s second grade class was throwing a bash and it was one of the hottest tickets in town. It was not just an ordinary party. Mrs. Guzzo knows how to put on a good affair and she rented a marquee at Oceanside, one of Newport’s most exclusive venues. With the wonderful backdrop of Newport harbor, the Around Alone skippers were honored by a happy band of schoolchildren that had followed the race and raised money to come to Rhode Island to meet the skippers.
Mrs. Guzzo’s second grade class are a great example of how this race inspired people from all walks of life. These school children from New Jersey have been totally immersed in the Around Alone since the start in New York last year, reading the daily updates from the skippers and plotting the positions of the boats as they sailed around the world. Along the way they learned about the sea, the geography of the stopover countries, and about inspiring by example. They celebrated the finishes and high points of each skippers journey, and commiserated with them when the conditions were awful or the boats suffered damage. In the end it was a unanimous decision; they had to get to Newport to meet these sailors that had become such a part of their lives. And so the fundraising began.
More than 20 children with a parent each made the trip to Rhode Island. They chartered a bus and left New Jersey before sunup on Thursday morning. They were at Newport Shipyard before lunch, and before long they were on board the boats exploring the inner- workings of an Open Class yacht. But the big event, a New England clambake, was still to come. The highlight of the evening were a number of dance routines that the kids performed with a particularly great tribute to Emma Richards. While all the sailors were held in high regard, it was clearly Emma who stolen their hearts. Not surprisingly Emma’s sponsor, Andrew Pindar, was also recognized for his contribution to the race. Andrew may have started out as one of the competitors sponsors, but along the way he became an integral part of the event, first helping out Tiscali with the use of his ocean going tug to transport the new mast to Spain, and then stepping in to help Derek Hatfield after he was dismasted off Cape Horn. Andrew is a man with a big heart and a generous spirit and that fact was not lost on these schoolchildren.
|
Billy Black photos: www.billyblack.com
Emma Richards and Andrew Pindar pose with the Guzzo gang - Billy Black
The AA-skippers join in a dance with the Guzzo kids
Brad Van Liew at the Guzzo Gang party
|
