A coastal community must not take its waterfront for granted

Bill Raisch’s energy for all things maritime is contagious. Flotilla Commander of the US Coast Guard Auxiliary, Northport Flotilla 22-02, Raisch has been spotted several times in the past few months at Northport Chamber of Commerce meetings in the lead-up to the June 3 Northport Maritime Day and Blessing of the Fleet. With a kind disposition and gracious smile, Raisch helped host last Saturday's event and submitted these thoughts, with a call to action, to the Northport Journal afterward. Thank you Bill, for your leadership, and your love of all things Northport.

It’s in our name: North“port.” We are a coastal community and have a tremendous maritime tradition spanning ship building, shellfishing, lobstering, coastal trade and more. It is a tradition that we must celebrate and actively support and preserve. The working waterfront built our community and continues to give it its special character. We cannot take it for granted and we welcome all to join us in the Coast Guard Auxiliary and other organizations and efforts to keep our waterfront vibrant, resilient and safe.

Northport Maritime Day spotlights our vital waterfront including our hard-working fishing contingent, our active yacht clubs, and a range of impactful initiatives including the growing aquaculture effort which is reinvigorating our rich oyster heritage while improving our water quality. Our goal with the event is to educate and engage young and old in coastal activities to culture understanding and respect of this vital dimension of our community.

We in the Coast Guard Auxiliary are honored to coordinate Northport Maritime Day and to support the active duty Coast Guard that serve us all from our own Station Eatons Neck, where lifesaving has been a tradition since the building of our lighthouse in 1799. We welcome others to join us. More information on the Auxiliary is available at www.MaritimeDay.net.