Past Events and Activities in 2025
March 19: Public Presentation: A Shipboard Museum to Highlight American Commercial Maritime by Rik van Hemmen. n
Rik van Hemmen has been involved in American maritime all his professional life. Maritime strength has created strong beneficial trade boosted to an incredible level by containerization. However, American maritime, both naval and commercial, is suffering from high vacancies and low recruitment. His presentation focused on both aspects: the use of an early pioneering container ship as a floating museum to tell the maritime history, spell out maritime career benefits, and attracting recruits to maritime. He described an alternative approach to raising maritime awareness by focusing on the industry as it exists today Museum ships are an extremely difficult financial proposition and it is unclear if they actually have an effect on the general population’s awareness of maritime. Most museum ships refer to past history and the public is not aware that maritime continues to be a vital, but generally ignored, component of national and New Jersey's wealth, and continues to offer individual opportunities to enter the middle class.
Bahrs served up a delicious and wide choice of meats, pasta, and fish, with brownise and Key Lime Pie for desert. Martin Ottaway was the corporate sponsor for the before dinner cocktail party, including popcorn shrimp and fried calamari, while the bar servers did their jobs very well.
The Board of Trustees held its Annual General Meeting at Grover House where the 2024 activities were highlighted, plans for 2025 were outlined, and the assembeled Members voted for Trustees for 2025. The current slate was reelected. |
He will also took us on a tour of the club, formed in 1880, and its large collection of historic photos. He will describe past and present iceboats and safety on the ice.
