Thanks to everyone who participated in this e-waste fund raiser,
both during and before the event.
The team had a good time, and although it was a lot of work, it was
also fun. Everyone worked hard and worked well together. The
fundraiser cost nothing for DART to put on, and the Dock was cleaned
up within 30 minutes of closing time. DART members tightly packed a
giant collection bin to its full capacity. Estimated E-waste was
over 11,000 pounds. Thanks to BobE for providing donuts, coffee and,
later, for cooking hot dogs and burgers. After lifting all this
heavy E-waste, food was appreciated. Rob, Brian and Dennis get the
daily award for staying in the bin and handling and stacking
all equipment. I'm sure the muscles are sore. GregL who stood
in the sun and directed traffic almost all day. 30 years on the team
and he still gets out there and never complains. Other members and
family members logged all E-waste & carried it to the bins like
troupers. A big THANK-YOU ! Great job! & Way to go to everyone.
--RonR
Fireworks Booth
Fundraiser -
was an outstanding success with many members donating their precious time and
expertise at the
booth to help meet our Team's yearly needs for equipment,
repairs, maintenance, and public education. In doing so, we got interact
with fellow team members and educate the public about D.A.R.T. and
about water safety... it may have been a long, hot & grueling time for some of
our members, but it was still FUN ! ChrisM provided many sponsors that
provided both food, music & entertainment On Saturday, July 3rd, Dinger the
Sacramento River Cats Team Mascot, along with the Chick-Fil-A
Cow flagged motorists into the Parking lot area for the Fireworks Booth Sales
and to dance with patrons to the Robot Party Band. More music was provided by
radio Stations FSFM and Hot 103.5 FM. RanierG and family added patriotic
and theme music on July 4th. Bing Cherry drink company provided cases of free
drinks to a thirsty crowd, while restaurants Panera Bread, Panera Catering,
Chipotle, BJ's, Chile's, and Outback provided ample nourishment to all those
volunteers that dared to devote time at the Fireworks booth. Special Thanks goes
out to RonR for commandeering much of the hard details that went into making
this Fundraiser a success, and to ChrisM for working tirelessly behind the
scenes to provide support, food, fun and sponsors.
Summer by the
Water
a News 10 Special Report
Keeping
Our Families
Safe
D.A.R.T.
portions from
13:40min to 15:56min
Coroner's Tour6/15/10 was conducted after a very brief
General meeting
The team was introduced to the many aspects of the Coroner's functions
as well as getting a step-by-step guide to autopsy procedures, and
physical & chemical decomposition. The tour guide explained the
role that DART has taken in recovery of those unfortunate individuals
that were not wearing their PFDs...
All witnesses to this sobering
tour left the building with much to think about.
Women's NCAA Rowing Championships
5/26 through 5/30 in Lake
Natomas at the California State University Sacramento Aquatics Center. DART
Diver Volunteers monitored the starting line of these races to respond to
in-water emergencies of capsized vessels. Thankfully such emergency response was
never needed. This year, we managed to get DART members to fill all
available work shifts, to cover the entire event: 2 Safety Divers per shift, and
with 2 shifts per day for each day. This resulted in the a "most-excellent"
donation to the team. Kudos to JohnM for working with the Aquatic Center
personnel and for energizing the team to signup, and thanks to all the Team
Divers that
gave up their holiday and family time to help DART raise funds. They all should
be congratulated on a job well done. "It is through working together like this
that DART remains a strong dependable organization for the community at large".
Those who gave their time included Brent Littler, Rich Morgan, James Netzel,
Scott Sackett, Renee Gates, Rob Guardia, Ron Roberts, and Tim Stahr. Please let
the rest of the team know what a great job everyone did on this fund raising
project.
PFD Exchange
5/28/10 at Kohls in Roseville
- Another successful yearly event was completed This annual life jacket exchange
was possible with the combined resources of DART, Boating and Waterways,
the Disney Channel and Kohl's. Many kids got to trade in their tattered vests
for fresh ones as veteran members explained the proper wear and use of their
PFDs. Thanks to Ron Roberts, Dave & Francesca Hall, and other involved DART
members for tirelessly donating their time & expertise in this water safety
endeavor
Classroom Training
for DART Members 5/22/10 was
held in our renovated classroom at the Dock. New & old members participated
in training, which provided a broad knowledge base required for informed,
appropriate and standardized responses needed in rescue & recovery operations.
Newer members got may of the needed signoffs completed & documented. Although we
would have liked greater member attendance, much of the classroom material was
documented on film and on handouts. This may allow those new members a glimpse
at what they missed, and may also allow the possibility of future classroom
training availability year-round in audiovisual format. Hungry trainees were
treated to a midday BBQ of hotdogs, hamburgers, and other delectables in order
to maintain sufficient blood glucose levels needed for learning.
Golden Guardian Exercise -
5/19/10 - Some DART members volunteered their time to act as swift water and
diver safety crew to monitor an inter-departmental agencies practice terrorist
scenario. DART boats maneuvered near FBI / DEA / SWAT teams as they scaled up
the side of a container ship docked at the Port of Sacramento. This large scale
scenario involved many other agencies and included mock hostage negotiations,
rescues, and fires, Thankfully the D.A.R.T. Safety Team did not have to rescue
any personnel that might have fallen off the ship.
Wear-It Campaign at Discovery Park-
5/15/10
Orangevale PowWow Days-
5/15/10
Get Wet- 5/1/10
D.A.R.T. Open House on 4/28/2010 successfully
introduced DART to the general public, and hopefully sparked more
interest for potential members. Our Garden
Highway center of operations became a casual
walk-around-classroom introduction of water safety, basic vehicle
outfitting and operations, In addition to the equipment
demonstrations, we had 2 complete timed Rescue Diver suit-up
demonstrations which allowed everyone to witness D.A.R.T.'s ability
for quick response to water accidents. Hopefully this event helped
those that attended a good idea of our mission, operations, and how to become a volunteer team member. Along
with the various demonstrations, many of our team’s
members were available to answer
questions and provide even more information. Food & refreshments
were graciously provided by some local restaurant
Cesar
Chavez Youth Leadership Conference,
activities Saturday, 3/30/10
8am-3:30pm at Cooley Middle School in
Roseville was a great opportunity for DART to provide Water
Safety info to attending kids from the
the Hispanic/Latin community.Thanks to all who helped.
Feed The ChildrenFebruary 24th, 2010,
partnered with The Salvation Army in Sacramento to distribute 8
trailers full of food and personal care items to 3,200 pre-selected
Sacramento families at Cal Expo. This was the latest stop on Feed
The Children’s "Americans Feeding Americans Emergency Caravan",
which has helped more than 30,000 families across the country in
cities that have been affected by the nation’s economic downturn.
Each family received a 25-pound box of food & a 10-pound box of
personal care items, along with Avon products. The boxes were
designed to help a family for up to one week.
This was a very face-paced and physical volunteer day event,
outdoors, in an uncovered parking lot. DART Volunteers helped lift
boxes and escorted families back to their vehicles using shopping
carts. DART members Neava H and Miguel Z
got especially thick into the action with other volunteer groups
passing food boxes out to families. DART worked with the Salvation
Army, the Star Touring and Riding Association and other volunteer
organizations to help make “Feed the Children” happen.
The Salvation Army provided a full course meal including dessert to
the volunteers from their rehabilitation vehicle. President Victor
Tibbs of STAR’s Lone Eagle chapter of Contra Costa also expressed an
interest in DART. This event was well organized, and everyone
involved had fun and enjoyed giving to those families in need.
Fill
the Boot for Burns annual event Saturday February 13th, 2010 at the Sunrise Mall from 10 am to
3pm
for the Firefighters Burn Institution that helps both burn
survivors and firefighters.
more information is found at
http://www.ffburn.org/ D.A.R.T. was
invited to join this fundraising event and responded dutifully with
six dedicated members:
BobE, JohnM, NeavaH, MiguelZ, StephenF, JamesN & wife Melissa
A variety of agencies joined in with the local fire departments, EMS
agencies, CERT, Cal Star, Reach and Sac Metro's Rescue Huey
helicopters. This was DART's first time joining "Fill the Boot for
Burns" fundraiser. DART members also got to interact with
these agencies that have helped with the many aspects of DART's
mission throughout the years. This was a well organized and
important fundraiser.
6th
Annual
Crab Feed & Silent Auction Fundraiser
Friday 1/22/2010 at the Sacramento Elks Lodge was an awesome
success considering the economic downturn. Silent Auction items were displayed
from 6pm on to about 10pm. Dinner @ 7pm. Auction items donated by various
businesses, individuals and organizations were bid on and sold to provide the
valuable monetary support of D.A.R.T. The crowd of over 350 people enjoyed Food,
Raffles, Music, Dancing and warm-hearted socializing. Many commented on the good
tasting pasta and the sweetness of the Crab. Veteran crab feed aficionados
brought their own specialty sauces, butter, warming crab cracking tools &
warming dishes. Ranier of Clear & Distinct Music and veteran DART member was DJ
& Master-of-Ceremonies and dutifully announced the silent bid & raffle ticket
winners.
President's
Dinner
was held 12/13/09
at the 4th Street Grill
400 L Street in Sacramento and summarized a rather
eventful year 2009. Pictures were viewed, Awards were given and
Congratulations were shared by all Team Members during a
sumptuous dinner at this cozy venue
LGS Dive & Shore Operations
Training - October 1 thru 4th,
2009
This included classroom training Thursday evening at the Sheriffs
Academy; Continued equipment practice & tender-diver dress rehearsals and line
tending practice at the Dock on Friday thru mid-afternoon; then members were off
to the American River to conduct hands on training Friday afternoon, all day
Saturday and most of Sunday. We polished off the intensive training with a
written test; Finally, Awards & Certificates were handed out by Andrea and Ron
amid the applause & hand shaking
We learned a lot, and the team is
better because of it. I want to thank each and every
member for all your participation. Almost everyone was
there and had a role in the training. Over 47 hours
which included a call out Sunday evening.
I want to especially thank Jim who
went out with me last Sunday to search out dive
locations which turned out to be a pretty good spot. At
least we weren't in 4 feet of water. The average spot we
dove was 14 feet down. He also helped me with tank
fills. Now you may think that isn't much but after
lifting 27 bottles into the truck, then once at dolphin,
into the shopping cart, filled, then back into the truck
and finally unloading back at the dive site. Now times
that by all the times we did that. Can you say "Heavy
Lifting" Talk about tired.
I can't say enough about the team
as a whole. So many people did so many things from
diving, to shore, to team leading, to working on
equipment, to clean-up. Everyone took a role and did a
fantastic job. You should all be proud of yourselves and
what you accomplished. We will now take it from here and
build to make this an even better team.
THANK-YOU ALL!
-- RonR
This will be an every three year event from now on which gives the Team
more time to obtain the necessary funding
All American BBQ
at the
Aerospace Museum, held on
8/15/09, was a surprising success considering the low initial turnout
and our relative naiveté of this new venue. Much of members have never
been aware of the Aerospace Museum existence, and most of us had never
visited it until we hosted this fundraiser. This venue was a hands-on
fun-filled adventure for all. The large numbers aircraft, space exhibit,
art gallery, hanging models, full size engines, provided a many
interesting attractions for all ages. DART supporters roamed through
helicopters, cargo planes and Coastguard Rescue planes as well as
inspecting fighter jets parked on the tarmac. Plus, participants
experienced extra G-force in a space simulator. Add to this event a
Silent Auction, a No Host Bar, an all you can eat BBQ, and
Music-by-Ranier with a little bit of dancing, and DART Supporters got a
fabulous night out to help fund our Team