DART News

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.

Coroner's Tour 6/15/10 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...

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.

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 Children February 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