Excessive heat warning for DC metro!

Be smart in the heat, PBC!!!

An Excessive Heat Warning has been issued for the Washington Metropolitan area from noon until 10:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 24, 2010. The Heat Index may reach 110 degrees.

Visit the Centers for Disease Control web site for the warning signs of heat exhaustion and what you can do about it at http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/extremeheat/faq.asp.

Those racing tomorrow up at Diamond State Masters regatta in DE, drink lots of water throughout the day.  Heed the early warning signs of heat exhaustion and dehydration.  Try to stay in the shade when you’re not racing, and GOOD LUCK!

Floyd B. Galler, Potomac Boat Club, Passes Away While Snorkling

Bill Lanouette wrote that Floyd Galler was a stalwart of their Sunday morning rowing group for more than two decades.  They sure seemed sad to hear of his passing.

If you would like to add any thing about Dr. Galler, please feel free to comment via the comment form at the bottom of this post.

In the meantime the following was released in the Washington Post.  Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to Dr. Galler’s family.

Floyd B. Galler, Psychiatrist

Floyd B. Galler, 76, a psychiatrist who had a private practice in Washington since 1968, died June 18, 2010, while snorkeling on vacation in Cancún, Mexico. The cause of death has not been determined.

Since the late 1970s, Dr. Galler had been a forensic psychiatrist for the D.C. courts, specializing in family court matters. He also was a consultant to the State Department in the 1960s, and to St. Elizabeths Hospital in the 1970s.

Floyd Bruce Galler, a native of Chicago, received a bachelor’s degree in 1955, and a medical degree in 1959, both from Harvard University. He moved to Washington in 1966, and spent two years as a commander in the U.S. Public Heath Service, in which he was head of child psychiatry at St. Elizabeths Hospital.

From 1986 to 1994, Dr. Galler was a psychiatric consultant for the Sleep Disorders Center at Georgetown University. Since 1968, he had held teaching positions at Georgetown and Catholic University, among other places.

He was a lifetime fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. His memberships included the Cosmos Club and the Potomac Boat Club. He was a Chevy Chase resident.

Survivors include his wife of 49 years, Nancy Stowe Galler of Chevy Chase; three children, Eric S. Galler of Silver Spring, Heather G. Brandes of New York City and Rebecca M. Galler of Burlingame, Calif.; and five grandchildren.

– Lauren Wiseman, The Washington Post, Post Mortem

Potomac’s Results for IDR 2010

Turns out, the weather up in Philadelphia for this year’s Independence Day Regatta (IDR) wasn’t so bad after all!

Missing from the racecourse, but not the initial heat sheets, was the women’s Masters Rowing Program. We’re told they decided to skip the holiday traffic. Hard to blame them for that! We’re sure we’ll see them up at Masters National Championships in August.

Below are the PBC IDR results we could dig up.  To see all the IDR results, please visit the results page here.

Good job, everybody!

12 Mens Junior 1x (G. Young) – 4th
13 Mens Junior 2x (N. Al-Naji, R. Rasmussen) – 2nd
17 Mens Junior 4x Potomac B.C. A (P. Lacey, T. Myers, E.Meade, J. Hanlon) – 2nd
17 Mens Junior 4x Potomac B.C. B (A. Casey, W. Richhart, G. Gellatly, P. Bates) – 4th
27 Mens Intermediate 2x (N. Al-Naji, R. Rasmussen) – 4th
27 Mens Intermediate 2x (E. Meade, J. Hanlon) - 6th
37 Mens Junior 1x (P. Lacey) – 6th
38 Mens Inter. Light 4x (W. Richhart, D.Thom, B. Vihstadt, G. Gellatly) – 3rd
44 Womens 1x (K. Stainken) – 3rd
44 Womens 1x (L. Krawczyk) – 6th
58b Mens Masters 1x (E) (E. Ryan) - 3rd
58c Mens Masters 1x (F) (N. Young) – 4th

Support PBC’s National Team athletes!

 

Every little bit helps … and it’s all tax deductible!

• Click HERE to go straight to your donation options!

In less than a couple of weeks, our Brendan McEwan will represent the United States in the Men’s Single Sculls at the Under 23 World Rowing Championships in Brest, Belarus (July 22 - 25).  Brendan won his event at trials in June by 3.41 seconds, crossing the line in 6:59.294. He will be joined by Coach Reilly Dampeer, who has done a tremendous job helping him get ready.

And, hey! We’re proud to report again that Rob Rasmussen and Nader Al-Naji are on the Junior National Team roster!  Joined by Coach Deb Dryer, Rob and Nader will be racing in the double at the 2010 World Rowing Junior Championships in Racice, Czech Republic (August 4 - 7).

Crazy kids.  All that energy.  Makes you want to take a load off, doesn’t it?  Well, while you’re sitting there, you’re gonna earn a chance to feel like you’re right there next to the guys when they step up to the winners’ podium … all without leaving your computer!

The charitable foundation created to support our National Team athletes, the Potomac River Sports Foundation (PRSF), figures our team still needs about $7,500 to fund our World Championships effort this year.  Basically, each boat costs about $1700 to rent and transport. The USRowing fee is $1,625 for each athlete. Add another $1300 for coach’s room, board, gear and flight. Well, you get the picture. Being an elite level rower ain’t cheap, folks!

Since we’re pretty sure none of us can cover the entire amount today, tax deductible or not, how about we do this thing together?  Fiddy from her.  A hundy from him.  A couple Gs from you.  And so on.  That way, we’ll all feel like we’re part of it when Brendan, Rob and Nader take those winning strokes across the finish line!

(Of course, if you do throw down the entire $7,500, just don’t tell us, so we’ll all still feel like we did something.  Thanks.)

Okay, so.  Got your credit card ready, PBC?  (Come on!  They need you!  And it’s tax deductible!)  To give using PayPal, click here.

If you would rather pay by check, just make it payable to “Potomac River Sports Foundation,” and then mail it to Paul Knight at the following the address:

Paul Knight, Treasurer
Potomac River Sports Foundation
c/o Nossaman LLP
1666 K Street NW, Suite 500
Washington, DC 20006

By the way, you can give to the PRSF all year long!

Best of luck to Brendan, Rob, Nader, Reilly and Deb! GO, PBC!!!

Stay tuned for a charitable group hug mid-August.

Potomac Gear Galore! Order by July 5th to save.

The Potomac Boat Club JL Racing Team Store is open!

Order by Monday, July 5, 2010, at midnight (PST) to save on your PBC JL Racing gear and get it by the planned ship date of August 3, 2010.  Get PBC hats and Henley-style tees from JL, too!

Check your email for a link to the store and instructions from Club Rowing Committee Chair Sylvia Frayne sent through the Yahoo group today or ask your team captains for more information.

[We'd give you the store link and Sylvia's contact info here, but it's bad enough we like to put on our PBC unis and send her random email messages. She probably doesn't need a thousand Internet trolling strangers doing it, too.]

Oh!  For those of you who wrote us about PBC rowing jackets, we’ve been working with Boathouse Sports (the official apparel supplier of the National Team) on jackets and other gear for the fall.  We plan to have the Boathouse PBC Team ordering site up by August, and the gear into your hot little hands by September.

You didn’t really need a Gortex jacket in August anyway, did you? Click here for a preview of how good you will look in September, but in red.  Even better!

PBC Men go for a cuptastic Henley 2010

From June 30 – July 4, Potomac Boat Club’s Men’s Sweep Team will compete for the Thames Challenge Cup, the prize awarded to the winner of the Men’s Club Eight event at the prestigious Henley Royal Regatta.

The regatta, first held in 1839, takes place annually on the River Thames near the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. More than 500 crews from 20 nations will compete this year, including our own.

PBC men last competed at Henley in 2007. They were the only U.S. crew to make it to the Thames Challenge Cup quarterfinals. A few of the guys from 2007 are returning this year and hope to better their result. We think they will.

The 2010 crew includes Apollo Nguyen (cox), Chad Jungbluth, Paul Holland, John Forrest, Mike McCarthy, Bob Price (PBC President), Brian Wood, Nick Davies, and Tom Brock.

Each event at Henley is a single-elimination competition; in other words, you could be one and done, or get to play all week.  Boats race two at a time down a 2,112 meter-long course so narrow, there are only a few meters to spare when side-by-side. Adding to the potential drama (and undoubtedly, the regatta’s popularity with spectators), the course is lined by floating, unforgiving wooden bars or “booms.” Steering into the boom is known by onlookers as a “Henley Royal F[oul]-up,” and offending coxswains must wear crowns emblazoned with the same for the remainder of the regatta. (Just kidding about that last part. Maybe.)

On Saturday, June 26th, if all the guys make it into town on time, PBC will tune up and shake off the jet lag at the Reading Town Regatta.  Once racing starts at Henley, you can follow the guys as they battle through the competition by signing up for Twitter, Facebook or any of the other Henley results services offered at http://hrr.co.uk/pdisp.php?pid=316.

In the meantime, below we’ve included an alphabetical list of the clubs PBC will have to beat to advance, followed by a list of past PBC winners at Henley.

Safe travels and best of luck to Apollo and our crew. Row hard, guys!

~

The Thames Challenge Cup
Current holders: Molesey Boat Club A

1829 Boat Club
Abingdon Rowing Club
Agecroft Rowing Club
Broxbourne Rowing Club
Carlow Rowing Club, Ireland
Combined Services Rowing Club
Curlew Rowing Club
Durham Amateur Rowing Club
Galway Rowing Club, Ireland
Henley Rowing Club
HSBC Rowing Club
Kingston Rowing Club
Lea Rowing Club
London Rowing Club ‘A’
London Rowing Club ‘B’
Maidstone Invicta Rowing Club
Molesey Boat Club ‘A’
Molesey Boat Club ‘B’
Potomac Boat Club, U.S.A.
Putney Town Rowing Club
Reading Rowing Club
Runcorn Rowing Club
St. Michael’s Rowing Club, Ireland
Sons of the Thames Rowing Club
Staines Boat Club
Star Club
Thames Rowing Club ‘A’
Thames Rowing Club ‘B’
Thames Rowing Club ‘C’
Thames Tradesmen’s Rowing Club
Twickenham Rowing Club
Upper Thames Rowing Club
Vesta Rowing Club
West End Rowing Club, New Zealand
York City Rowing Club

~

Past Winners of the Henley Royal Regatta - PBC and Washington & Lee High School

1964

Washington-Lee High School

Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup

1969

Washington-Lee High School

Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup

1973

Potomac Boat Club

Silver Goblets & Nickalls Challenge Cup

1975

Potomac Boat Club

Stewards’ Challenge Cup

1980

Potomac Boat Club

Silver Goblets & Nickalls Challenge Cup

1996

Potomac Boat Club & National Training Ctr.

Double Sculls Challenge Cup

The Race for Steve Vermillion

Steve Vermillion’s brother, Ryan, sent the following update earlier this week through the Potomac Boat Club Yahoo Group.  We wanted to be sure to share it with all of Steve’s teammates, friends and supporters out there, so we reprinted it below.

We’re thinking of you, Steve.  Hurry back.

---

I wanted to bring you up to date on Stephen and ask for your special thoughts and prayers tomorrow. As many of you know Stephen has been battling leukemia for over 18 months. That is a long time, for someone to stay strong, upbeat, thankful and appreciative for everyday he has while battling a disease that ultimately wants to kill him.

Stephen has been a real warrior, trooper, stud or whatever adjective you want to use during this period of time. Think of what you have been through the last 18 months, we have had 2 Christmas’s, 2 New Years Eve’s, 2 St. Patty’s Days, we have all had our birthdays and some of us have had 2 birthdays since Stephen’s diagnosis. We have had births, deaths, times to smile and times to cry, good times and bad times. We wake up and complain about the rain, the snow, our jobs, our class work but we wake up and move on with our day. Stephen wakes up with leukemia every single day. He has to go through another day of chemotherapy, blood transfusions, bone marrow biopsies, spinal taps, platelets, IV antibiotic drips,  CT scans, radiation, skin biopsies and coughing down more pills than 10 people should take.

At times he is his old self, talking, laughing, teasing but other times he is tired, quiet, reserved, in pain, dizzy, nauseated, cold, hot, irritated but he pushes forward not knowing where this journey will take him. He has been declared cancer free, he has been told he beat it, he has received a bone marrow transplant that was supposed to be the answer. He has been told he is strong and not the normal patient, that is body is in great shape and the chemo has not had any detrimental effects on his organs but … he still has leukemia. He has done everything the doctors have asked him to do. He told me one time he would give his left leg if that would cure him, he is willing to do anything to continue to be a husband, father, son, brother, cousin, and friend.

Tomorrow Stephen will be receiving his second bone marrow transplant at Johns Hopkins University Hospital. This time he will be receiving his bone marrow from his 13 year old daughter Sarah. Can you think of a better gift you can give a parent, life. We would all want to give our parents the gift of life, they gave it to us and how great would it be that we could give it back, well Sarah will be doing just that tomorrow morning. Sarah will give her father the gift of life through her bone marrow. Tomorrow morning think of and pray for Stephen and Sarah, that their day will go well and that ultimately this bone marrow transplant will cure Stephen. I know that is what Sarah wants and she believes she is going to save her Dad. We all have busy days, we are pulled in many different directions, demands on our time are always there. When you think you are having a bad day think of what Stephen and Jennifer have gone through the last 18 months.

Tomorrow morning  think of and pray for Stephen, give him the strength he needs to continue the fight. The Doctors are amazed at Stephens physical condition, his ability to tolerate chemo, his mental fortitude they can’t understand it and they don’t have an answer. There is someone who has the answers, our mother. She knows where Stephens strength comes from, it comes from your continued prayers and thoughts. There are thousands of people praying for Stephen, please keep it going, it is working. One day Stephen will finally be able to say he is cancer free.

Thank you for all you have done and will continue to do for Stephen, Jennifer, Sarah and Joe.

I know I have missed family and friends with this email, please forward it on to any of Stephens friends that I have missed, the more people praying the better.

God Bless you all,
Ryan

Ryan P. Vermillion
Head Trainer
Carolina Panthers
Charlotte, NC

2009 - 2010 Annual Report, The Potomac Star

Potomac Boat Club, Publications Committee
Chair: Penelope Wrenn Walz
Subject: Annual Report

---

I. First, thank YOU!

We have many people to thank for the success of the Potomac Star (the Star) this year, including Reilly Dampeer, Nick Davies, Camilla Durfee, Eric Edmonds, Marc Edmonds, Jim Edmonds, John Forrest, Marc Gwadz, Jim Hatch, Nick Holland, Jean Hopkins, Greg LeSage, Owen Lewis, Matt Madigan, Elizabeth Mygatt, Bob Price, Ed Ryan, Dick Schwartzbard, Chuck Selden, Julia (and Margot!) Shumway, Tom Stork, Cal Sutliff, Susan Trice, Steve Vermillion, but, most of all, YOU (now you can’t say we left you out).

II. About

A. Background

The Potomac Star is Potomac Boat Club’s online rowing news and information resource. It was launched in March 2009, as a replacement for The Blade, the semi-annual club newsletter previously published in hard copy format and distributed via regular mail to club members. The Potomac Star is produced by a volunteer staff with input invited from the club at large.

Please send your comments or suggestions for new content to Penelope at editor@potomacstar.com. Penelope may not respond right away, but she’ll try really hard to get back to you in a few days. If she doesn’t, please feel free to send her a very sweet and understanding reminder to respond.

B. Content

o Pages

§ Home

§ About

§ Club Rowing

§ Racing Programs

§ PBC Calendar

o Columns

§ PBC News

§ The Race Report

§ Special Reports and Polls

o General content and other features

§ Club information

§ News, articles, surveys, comments

§ Content sharing through AddtoAny

§ Google calendar

§ Youtube video feed

§ Password protected areas for member only information

§ Photo galleries fed by Flickr

§ Links to other PBC communication areas, including Potomacboatclub.org, PBC Yahoo Group, PBC  Member Bulletin Board

§ Word Press publishing platform

§ Google Analytics and Google Apps

III. Newish on the Star!

A. USRowing News – Now you can access all the latest USRowing news via Twitter from the right sidebar of the Star

B. Twitter at pbc_potomacstar

o Reach includes members, other clubs and a few vendors

o Emergency information

o Notices and reminders

o Links to new posts on Potomacstar.com

C. Facebook moderated by the Star’s Abner Burnside

o Reach includes members, former members, remotely located members, mobile members

o Emergency or urgent information

o Notices and reminders

o Links to new posts on Potomacstar.com

o General commentary

IV. Interesting stuff … about you

A. A note on your privacy

Thanks to Google analytics, we get to see a certain amount of visitor information, like what browser and operating system you’re using, what city you’re visiting from, the keyword search you used to find the Star, and other information that we hope to use to understand what you’re really interested in and the things we might do in the future to make the Star better. Don’t worry, though … we don’t know exactly who you are, and even if we did, we wouldn’t tell anyone!

B. Visitors from all over!

Due to our small target user base (i.e., friends and members of Potomac Boat Club), and to avoid some of the administrative headaches that come with a heavily trafficked site, we haven’t made a huge effort to optimize the Star for search. In general, we use a subscribe-to RSS feed, the Yahoo group, Twitter, and Facebook to let people know when there is something new on the Star. We do on occasion optimize a particular post, like the post announcing open registration for the 2009 Head of the Potomac, or a particular page, like our Racing Programs page.

Interestingly, despite our somewhat intentionally low profile, last year, we found the Star was growing regular readership from all over the country … and even the world! Was it crack journalism? (Doubt it.) Prolific use of eco-friendly manure? (Could be.) The addition of our Men’s Sweep Gallery, which continues to be huge in the Netherlands, Brazil and Croatia? (Most likely.)

Well, whatever the reason, welkom, bem-vindo, and dobro došli! The following is a list of the Star’s top ten countries/locations (by number of visitors):

1. United States; top ten states are the following:

i. Virginia

ii. Maryland

iii. California

iv. DC

v. Massachusetts

vi. New York

vii. New Jersey

viii. Washington

ix. Texas

x. Illinois

2. United Kingdom

3. Canada

4. Australia

5. Germany

6. Italy

7. New Zealand

8. France

9. The Netherlands

10. Ireland

C. You lookin’ at me?

Google analytics prove to us that, like the rest of the world, many of us at PBC like to Google ourselves … and a few of you even have a number of friends/fans/cyber-stalkers who like to Google for you!

Below is a list of the top keyword searches that led folks to the Star. We’ve excluded the names of individuals to protect your privacy!

1. potomacstar.com

2. potomac star

3. potomac boat club

4. national team rowing

5. rowing club dc

6. scull Washington

7. rowing camp junior

8. row crew virginia

9. masters national championships

10. crew dc club

D. Top Posts of 2009

We’ve published 72 posts since the Star’s launch at the beginning of 2009. The following is a list of the top five posts of the year:

1. Our first PBC Profile: Guess who? (April 20, 2009)

2. Board to establish fund in Challinor’s memory (July 12, 2009)

3. Safety lesson learned the hard way (January 5, 2010)

4. Register for the 29th Annual Charlie Butt Scullers’ Head of the Potomac (August 21, 2009)

5. Let’s GO, Margot!!! (August 12, 2009)

V. Keep it coming!

The Potomac Star’s regular staff is a staff of one, one who realizes that she chairs a committee of zero other members (yet regularly uses plural pronouns when referencing staff), that further, she invented a staff member born approximately 165 years ago to find friends on Facebook, and that even right now, she is writing in the third person. Kind of pathetic, isn’t it? Yeah. We think so, too. But this is why you are so important to the Star’s future success! Please keep sending us your story ideas, photos, comments, and other suggestions for content! This is your Potomac Star, PBC! Thanks for letting us be part of it!

It’s Spring 2010. Finally!

Just when you thought we were living in Buffalo, spring arrives!  The four-oar rule has been lifted, the Annual Meeting is around the corner, and W-L is already one deep in its race schedule … with a few wins, too!

With more people starting to use the club again, I wanted to send out the following safety tips, etiquette reminders, and general housekeeping practices, to get us all on the same page and safely into the spring season:

- If you haven’t yet signed up for your new access code, please contact security@potomacstar.com to set up your new code.

- Early spring also means it’s still dark in the morning and early evening when many of us get out on the water.  All shells must carry white lights fore and aft, before sunrise and after sunset.  There are lights available by the logbook.  Use them!  Also make yourself easy to see by wearing light, reflective colors.

- Remember to follow the proper traffic patterns, and know where those rocks are … even when the buoys aren’t!

- When you’re finished erging, please wipe the machine and the surrounding floor area clean.  I recently noticed many of our newest ergs with very filthy tracks … makes it feel like the seat is rolling on a gravel road.  If you don’t find paper towels in the ballroom, then find some in the bathroom.  If we’re out, then be creative – don’t just leave a mess behind.

- And, finally, I couldn’t do one of these things without my usual in-one-ear-and-out-the-other reminder (to the Men, at least) to PLEASE take your post-workout gear home with you.  We just completed the floor renovation in the back locker room and it smells much better back there - - don’t let your nasty gear hang around and ruin it.   Soon we’ll be going through and clearing out the junk on top of the lockers, so if any of it is yours, please remove it now.

After two blizzards and a flood, we’re due some quality water time, aren’t we?  Respect the club and fellow members, respect the river and be safe.

Thanks.  And see you at the Annual Meeting on April 7th!

Bob

Bob Price
President, Potomac Boat Club

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