Anonymous
Unregistered
Posts: N/A
Registered: N/A
Member Is Offline
|
|
(Release) John Paul DeJoria Joins Fight to Save the S.S. Catalina
Press Release:
Laguna Niguel, CA ?John Paul DeJoria, Chairman and Co-Founder of John Paul Mitchell Systems, Chairman and CEO of Patron Tequila, has demonstrated his
firm resolve to help return the ?big white steamer? to California by serving on the advisory board of the Raising the Catalina Association to save
this historical landmark. The world-famous ship currently sits half submerged in Ensenada Bay, Mexico in danger of being demolished.
DeJoria, a first generation American turned entrepreneur, philanthropist and pillar of the business community noted for his humanitarian efforts,
explains that his happiest childhood memories are of summer days spent playing on Catalina?s glistening sandy beaches.
?We were very poor,? he states, ?but every summer my mother managed to take me and my brother to that magical island. We?d ride the trolley from Echo
Park to the beach, take a bus to San Pedro and there boarded the S.S. Catalina. Like most kids, we loved running and playing on her decks and
believed her to be the world?s largest and most magnificent ocean liner taking us on a great adventure. When I read that a nonprofit organization was
formed to restore the S.S. Catalina, I knew I had to be part of the mission.?
?We are honored to have John Paul DeJoria?s participation,? enthuses Richard McPherson, retired Navy salvage expert and Chairman of the Raising the
Catalina Association. ?His personal history with our ship is the basis for his commitment, but his appreciation of history in general and California
history in particular is the driving force.?
?Whether she can be made seaworthy is conjecture at this time,? DeJoria states, ?but I would like to see her in service, making her runs between the
island and the mainland. She carried over 20 million passengers from her inception in 1924 to being retired in 1975. That includes the 800,000
servicemen she transported from San Francisco to waiting troop ships during World War II. I?d like present and future generations to have the
opportunity to experience her as I and thousands of kids like me did. However, if she can?t be made seaworthy, the S.S. Catalina has already been
named a designated California Historical Landmark and a City of Los Angeles Historical Monument; and can serve well as a museum and educational center
for our youth.?
For more information on saving the S.S. Catalina, click on:
http://www.savethecatalina.org
|
|
|
Anonymous
Unregistered
Posts: N/A
Registered: N/A
Member Is Offline
|
|
SS Catalina Salvage Set for Father?s Day
http://www.thelog.com/news/newsview.asp?c=152259
By Jean Quist
April 01, 2005
SAN DIEGO - The Raising the Catalina Association announced that it has tentatively scheduled the initial refloating of the historic steamer SS
Catalina for June 19 - Father?s Day - in Ensenada Harbor.
Once the 903-foot ship has been raised from where she sits in 15 feet of mud and silt on the harbor floor, she will be moved to a dry-dock in the Port
of Ensenada for repairs.
The association has contacted the American Society of Naval Engineers to solicit the services of a ?ship superintendent during Catalina?s repair
phase.
Richard McPherson, chairman and CEO of Raising the Catalina Association, said he received a telephone call this week from Port of Ensenada Director
General Ing. Carlos M. Jauregui Gonzalez that stated the port authority and Ensenada government officials would do everything to support that salvage
effort.
?We will have divers in place during the weeks preceding Father?s Day, cleaning the hull and preparing for closing the holes in the hulls,? McPherson
said. ?Then our plan is to bring a salvage vessel alongside Catalina in the latter half of May.?
McPherson said the organization is currently accepting bids from major salvage companies on the West Coast with the facilities to safely raise the
former Great White Steamer, which has both national and state historic designations.
?The salvage vessel will have everything required for the operation,? he said. ?We expect it should take three to four weeks to seal the hull, which
brings us to Father?s Day. I personally think that?s an appropriate family holiday to refloat a ship that carried so many families.?
McPherson said that Director Juaregui responded in the affirmative to a list of needs that can be supplied by the port and local Ensenada businesses,
including welders, commercial divers and tenders, day laborers for various tasks, daily water travel between shore and Catalina, and a letter of
authorization.
?We are following through on our commitment to make this a ?Hands Across the Border? effort between the U.S. and Mexico,? McPherson said.
Linda Hironimus, vice president for fundraising for the association, has announced that tickets are available for ?ring-side? seats on the day of the
raising.
?While general onlookers must be kept at a distance due to safety reasons, there is a limited [number] of tickets for a donation of $250 to this
historic event, although children 12 and under are free,? she said. ?We really want to make this a family event.?
Additional Events
The association has also planned a number of other fundraising opportunities, including becoming a plank owner during the ship?s refurbishment. For a
$100 donation, contributors can have their names, family names, or names of loved ones on an engraved plaque that will be mounted aboard the ship.
Plank owners will also receive a ?certificate of ownership,? according to McPherson.
Hironimus said that the Avalon Casino Ballroom has been reserved for the association?s gala July 30 on Santa Catalina Island. Among the evening?s
events are a live auction and raffle, a buffet dinner with c-cktails and hors d?oeuvres, presentations by association board members, and entertainment
by a variety of performers, including the King of Surf Guitar Dick Dale and his son Jimmy.
The deadline for ticket sales is June 1, and reservations may be made through Hironimus at (760) 409-8460, or by e-mailing her at
lkhironimus@hotmail.com.
An event tentatively scheduled for Father?s Day aboard USS Midway has been postponed.
Non-Profit Status Attained
McPherson announced that two new members have joined the association?s board of directors: Virginia Vogl and Ed Forsberg, who donated the $500
required by the IRS to file non-profit status.
David Engholm of Coos Bay, Ore., has been appointed an honorary board member in appreciation of his pivotal role in starting efforts to salvage the
ship in 1999. He joins Vernon Maynard, a former manager of Catalina and the Casino Ballroom, in that status.
John Paul DeJoria, chairman of John Paul Mitchell Systems and co-founder of Paul Mitchell Hair Products, has been named as the first advisory board
member.
Information regarding all scheduled events, ticket prices, and deadlines are now available at Raising the Catalina Association?s new Web site: http://www.savethecatalina.org
|
|
|
|
![[*]](images/xmbforum/default_icon.gif){kind=icon}
