The bold and brave that played these tunes
That echo now on older moons

Are glad their music has not fled
To other worlds as they when dead.

Back home to hear on Muster day

 The stirring songs that once they played

And view the Ancients grand parade

From secret shadow, silent shade.

by Bobby O’Brien 1929 – 1977

 The shrill of fifes with air did fight

And wrestled ears on whirling heads

The beat of drums did thunder run

To summon home brave heroes dead

As promised, more wedding photos. And as Clint commented, what an attractive wedding party!

The Mariners, looking good across the Mystic drawbridge.  The current incarnation of this ‘bascule’ bridge dates to 1924, and counterweighted by 460 tons, requires only 80 horsepower to open and close.

Live webcams without the Mariners are available here, though I much prefer this view:

Here we go!

So apparently, one must rehearse how to march a parade in some Corps.  Yet another great reason to be a Mariner: marching is merely the means to the pub, I mean end.

Speaking of the end, the final moments of this video show the fife and drum unit of ‘The Old Guard,’ the 3rd US Infantry.  The Mariners own Eric Chomka is second row, second from the left of the screen, that giant ‘Mountain’ of a fifer.  Go Eric!

From The Day, Nov 12, 2008, by Kira Goldenberg

Stonington - When state voters had the chance to decide Nov. 4 to allow 17-year-olds to vote in primaries if they turned 18 by the general election, Corey Prachniak was especially thrilled.

”When I got my absentee ballot in the mail and I saw it, I was really excited. It’s all about getting people involved, and I think this will enable schools to teach students better about primaries,” Prachniak said of the ballot question, which voters approved by a wide margin.

The Georgetown University senior, who is majoring in government, was part of a group of Stonington High School students who first floated the idea before state lawmakers in 2005.

Social studies teacher Richard Walter said his government students that year were discussing the history of voting rights when students asked whether voting could be opened to younger people. Research revealed that the U.S. Constitution’s 26th Amendment forbade denying people over 18 the right to vote but did not prohibit voting at a younger age – and that many other states already allowed 17-year-olds to vote in primaries.

”We were all kind of political science geeks, so we would spend a lot of time talking about this kind of stuff in private,” Prachniak said.

Walter abetted their wonkiness by reaching out to local lawmakers, and four students addressed the Government Administration and Elections Committee that year, including Prachniak.

”[Y]ou don’t really have full voting rights at 18 if you can’t select who you’re going to be voting for at 18,” he said before the committee in 2005.

Lawmakers, especially State Rep. James Spallone, D-Essex, expressed optimism about the idea. But Walter said he learned that what his students proposed as a bill would have to be a state constitutional amendment, and the idea grew dormant. Spallone contacted him in Winter 2007 to help reintroduce the idea, Walter said, and students again participated, this time by discussing the issue with Spallone and Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz, who supported the amendment.

It passed on Election Day, and the state joins nearly 20 others in permitting younger voters a say in primaries.

”I was very happy,” Walter said. “It was kind of strange because there was so little attention given to it. Even now, I’m still out there, trying to bring it to people’s attention that this was a student-driven initiative.”

Here’s Citizen Dick, not in teaching garb, another fine example of Mariners making a somewhat different contribution to our Communities.  Good Man Richard!

One of my favorite pastimes as a younger Mariner was visiting older Mariner’s houses and, beer in hand, staring at the ‘Family Photos’ of Deep Rivers, Westbrooks and Guilfords past.  Some went back to the sixties, some of the faces I’d recognize, most aged since then, some gone to the great Muster beyond.

The Mariners, time and technology march invariably onward, and somewhere on this march, the Family Photo tradition died.  Professional photographers couldn’t cover costs doing it in the digital age, and I hear, that someone, somewhere building bonehenge out of the photographer’s staging one drunken night didn’t help.

Proudly, this year, The Mariners managed to loosely organize ourselves and a camera at Westbrook.  Here’s the result, and here’s to future generations of Mariners wondering what happened to Dan’s hair between the last family photo and this one and whose face is behind Woody’s Ale, if they can figure out who’s who at all.

“”To reap the rewards, you have to do the work.” In its Zen-like simplicity, this is what PMC Founder and Executive Director Billy Starr took home from a 400-mile hike through the northern and most challenging part of the Appalachian Trail. This knowledge, learned years ago, has not only shaped his life but has enabled him to run what is today the single most successful athletic fundraising event in the nation. “  –from Pan Mass Challenge Website.

The Mariners support a variety of causes each year, two of the most notable being Joe Mawn’s (Vice Commodore) and Dick Walter’s (Chief Bass Drummer) marathon bike rides.  Joe rides across Massachussetts in the Pan Mass Challenge, while Little Dick cruises between Boston and New York in three days in the Tri State Trek, benefitting the ALS TDI, frequently giving up the fabled Deep River Muster weekend to do so.

Last weekend, Joe hosted a sunset cruise around Boston Harbor as part of his fundraising efforts. (and what’s a boat ride without a touch of rum?)

Both ride hundreds of miles during the event and untold miles in training, in memory of friends and loved ones lost to cancer and Lou Gehrig’s disease.  The Mariners have lost more than their share to both, and we (and I) thank Joe and Dick for their respective parts, and indeed, work,  in raising awareness and funds..

Both are still actively fund raising for this year’s events if you are so inclined.   Click here for Joe, here for Little Dick, Rider 29.