Photos by Michele Sinclair

By William Tauro

This past Sunday over one hundred veterans enjoyed a fun filled day on the Boston Harbor at the Winter Hill Yacht Club’s (WHYC) Annual Veterans Cruise 2019.

Over fifteen privately donated boats from WHYC piloted by their captains provided a day of fun and well deserved enjoyment for the local service veterans.

After a hardy breakfast served to the veterans, the cruise began and departed from the Winter Hill Yacht Club that’s located at Assembly Square in Somerville.

The flotilla proceeded underway under Chealsea Marine Police Unit and Somerville Fire Department Marine Unit boats escort through the locks of the Amelia Earhart Dam them directly onto and under the Tobin Bridge and through the Boston Harbor.

The veterans were also treated to a closeup scenic view as the flotilla passed by the USS Constitution, the country’s oldest commissioned naval war ship before continuing onto Castle Island where Boston and Massport Fire Department boats awaited the veterans with an amazing water spray from the ships power waterjets.

After the cruise the veterans were all invited back to the Winter Hill Yacht Club for an old-fashion barbecue prepared by the yacht club members where WHYC’s Chef Vinny Pamasano and the Winter Hill Yacht Club members thanked and showed their appreciation to the veterans for their dedicated years of service.

Also at the Winter Hill Yacht Club in
Somerville, the United States Air Force JROTC cadets from Lowell High School in Lowell, MA volunteered their assistant serving the veterans breakfast, assisting them down the docks to and from and onto the boats as well as for a ceremonial arch of sabers that graciously greeted the veterans as they entered the hall.

The cadet’s that volunteered for the day were arranged by and under the leadership of their Senior Aerospace Instructor Lt Colonel (Air Force retired) Eileen Ironfield who assisted the over 100 local area Veterans.

The cadets are just a small cadre of the 400 cadet Wing at Lowell High School. Last year the cadets had over 5800 hours of community service along with several Color Guard and Honor Guard events throughout the City of Lowell and across Massachusetts. These cadets are truly professional and depict the utmost integrity and drive to help out the community in any way, shape and form.

Thanks goes out to Director of Somerville Council on Aging Director Cindy Hickey and Norbert DiAmato who help spread the word among Somerville Veterans and assisted organizing the event.

The 2019 Winter Hill Yacht Club Veterans Cruise was sponsored and hosted by the members of the Winter Hill Yacht Club, the Chelsea Rotary Club, Ken & Kathy Webber of Krazy Kats Embroidery of Chelsea who all helped make this year’s annual veterans cruise another success!

Members of the Somerville Lions Club also assisted in the event.

Special thanks to the dedicated and continued support of Massachusetts State Police Trooper Stephen Kamb and Massachusetts State Police Lieutenant James J. Concannon for their continuous assistance. Also special thanks go out to the Massachusetts Environmental Police Captain James Hennessey, Josh Vinal and Anthony Abdal-Khabir, who are all veterans themselves and who always step up to the plate to help make this event possible. Special thanks as well goes out to the Chelsea Police Department that helped transport many of the veterans from Chelsea to Somerville to the cruise.