Flotilla 3-5 Members Honored at District Conference

Wako Winters wins big at District

Wako Winters received the award for Instructor of theYear, and the Humanitarian Award, along with garneringthe Most Active Flotilla for Member Training Award for 3-5.

Wako has worked tirelessly in training many of District 11(sr) members in crew, coxswain and specialty courses overthe years.

Congratulations Wako on a well-deserved recognition!

Volume 1, Issue III

Tidbits

Vessel Exams-Join the VE Teamand promoteSafe Boating.Contact KimCastrobran, FC

Aux Forms-available onlinego to our web-site:www.aux35.org

The Newsletter of the United States Coast Guard AuxiliaryDistrict 11 SR,

Flotilla 3-5Winter/Spring 2008 Volume 2, Issue I

Inside this issue:

The Bridge 2

January FlotillaMeeting

3

Photos from 3

New Members 4

Whale of a Day 5

Calendar 6

Crew Classstarted Feb

5

Eric Castrobran Receives hisletter of appreciation fromCaptain Sommer presented byCmdr Fox for his work at PointVicente Lighthouse.

Kim Castrobran(FC) receives the FlotillaMost Active in Member Training Award fromNat’l Commodore Steve Budar and District11sr Commodore Robert Sterzenbach.

Rose and Kim Castrobranreceive a letter of apprecia-tion from Captain Sommer,ISC presented by Cmdr. Foxfor their work at Point Hue-neme Lighthouse.

Flotilla 3-5 Members Eric,Rose and Kim Castrobranreceived letters of Apprecia-tion from Capt. J. Sommer,ISC San Pedro for their workat Point Vicente and PointHueneme Lighthouses. Thetrio also received the CoastGuard Meritorious TeamCommendation for theirwork at Whale of a Day Fes-tival at Point Vicente Light-house.

Kim Castrobran also re-ceived the Coast GuardMeritorious Team Commen-dation from Captain PaulWiedenhoeft, Captain of thePort, for his work in theMaritme Domain Awarenessprogram at Sector Los Ange-les.

Flotilla 3-5 members in at-tendance at the DistrictConference were, Eric Cas-trobran and his wife Vilma,Kim and Rose Castrobran,and Frank Martin.

Capt P. Wiedenhoeft presents KimCastrobran(3-5) with the CoastGuard Team MeritoriousCommendation.

I would like to say a BIG Thankyou to all the members of ourFlotilla for a successful 2007.We worked on various publicvenues, including the Whale ofa Day and Seal Day events. Ourmembers are participating inworking with the Coast Guard invarious units. We have per-formed vessel safety checks,marine dealer visits, membertraining and much more. As weroll into 2008, I look forward toyour continued participationand support. Our flotilla ishealthy and growing. We in-creased our membership in2007 to 22 members. Thatnumber continues to rise as we

already have a couple of newmembers coming on board thisyear, and it is only January!

Keep up the good work!

Best,

Kim CastrobranFlotilla Commander (FC), 3 -5

The Bridge

"The pessimist complains about the wind;the optimist expects it to change;

the realist adjusts the sails."-William A. Ward

Page 2Volume 1, Issue III

Flotilla 3-5 held its’ January meeting on the 23rd. Several awards were presented includ-ing Certificates of Appreciation to members Jack and Bella Forster, April Wright and WakoWinters. Daniel Cisneros received his Membership Certificate and the Flotilla Staff Officerswere sworn in and received their appointments.

The membership voted on new standing orders, discussed goals and activities for 2008,welcomed new prospective members Nancy Manzo and Larry Smock. Those in attendanceenjoyed sandwiches and potato salad with dessert and beverages.

Kim Castrobran , FC presents certificate of Appreciation to Jackand Bella Forster for their continued support of Flotilla 3-5 , asAlex Hess and Bob Robins look on

Volume 2, Issue I Page 3

Flotilla 3-5 Bridge and Staff Officers, seated l/r : Eric Castrobran, VFC, Kim Castrobran, FC,Robert(Bob)Robins, IPFC, standing l/r: Rene Martin, Jack Forster, Rose Castrobran, DanielCisneros, Norma Cisneros, April Wright, Wako Winters. For the list of Staff Officers, pleasesee page 5

April Wright is sworn in as FSO-Secretary, with Frank Martin inforeground

Flotilla 3-5 monthly meeting January 2008

Daniel and Norma Cisneros receive their appointmentsto Staff Officer positions from 2008

Rene Martin and Alex Hess get ready tobe sworn in as new members.

Flotilla 3-5 Flotilla Staff Officers Sworn in for 2008

By Kim Castrobran

3-5 is the little flotilla that could... Because of TEAMWORK!

Flotilla 3-5 welcomed the arrival of two new members,

l/r: Alex Burns and Frank Martin

Flotilla 3-5 Welcomes New Members

Page 4Volume 1, Issue III

Flotilla 3-5 had its’ Staff officers sworn in at theJanuary Flotilla Meeting. Kim Castrobran is seenswearing in Staff Officers l/r: Jack Forster FSO-Finance, Robert Robins, FSO-MA, PS as Eric Cas-trobran, VFC (to right) leads officers in pledge.

Since 1992, Eric Castrobran(3-5), Auxiliary LighthouseKeeper has welcomed over350,000 visitors to PointVicente Lighthouse. EachMarch, in conjunction withthe City of Rancho PalosVerdes, Eric opens the lightone weekend earlier to cele-brate Whale of a Day.

This Whale of a Day was noexception! It did, however,start off a little on the cloudyside, but as the sun startedto peek through the clouds,the crowds also picked upthroughout the day.

The Sea Cadets, headed byDanny Cisneros did an excel-lent job guiding and assist-ing visitors throughout theday. Danny, along withNorma, Beatrice, and help-ers assisted in cooking uphot dogs and refreshmentsfor all the tired help.

Frank Martin, Fran Price,Bella and Jack Forster, ReneMartiin, and Larry Smock allattended the days events.

Division 3 had severalbooths comprised of variousflotillas supplying visitorswith boating safety informa-

tion as well as radiosupport, recruitinginformation, and answeringany and all questions fromthe public. Teamwork iswhat it is all about and thisday was no exception.

At the same time a crewclass has been going on, sowe also have to mention thededication of both WakoWinters and April Wright whootherwise would have alsobeen in attendance.

ALL AROUND GOOD TEAM-WORK EVERYONE!!!

IT WAS A WHALE OF A DAY AT POINT VICENTE

Flotilla 3-5 Staff Officers for 2008Rene Martin Flotilla Staff Officer- Aids to Navigation (FSO-AN)Daniel Cisneros Flotilla Staff Officer- Communications (FSO-CM)Kim Castrobran Flotilla Staff Officer- Communications Services (FSO-CS)Jack Forster Flotilla Staff Officer- Finance (FSO-FN)Wako Winters Flotilla Staff Officer- Information Systems (FSO-IS)Robert Robins Flotilla Staff Officer- Materials (FSO-MA)Kim Castrobran Flotilla Staff Officer- Marine Safety (FSO-MS)Wako Winters Flotilla Staff Officer- Member Training (FSO-MT)Glenn Dildy Flotilla Staff Officer- Operations (FSO-OP)Rose Castrobran Flotilla Staff Officer- Public Affairs (FSO-PA)Kim Castrobran Flotilla Staff Officer- Publications (FSO-PB)Norma Cisneros Flotilla Staff Officer- Public Education (FSO-PE)Robert Robins Flotilla Staff Officer- Personnel Services (FSO-PS)Beatrice Fregozo Flotilla Staff Officer- Program Visitor (FSO-PVApril Wright Flotilla Staff Officer - Secretary of Record (FSO-SR)Fran Price Flotilla Staff Officer – Vessel Examiner (FSO-VE)

Volume 2, Issue I Page 5

.

Crew Class began Feb 23.

Wako Winters kicked off Crew Class at Kaiser Conference Center, HarborCity on Feb 23. If you were not able to attend this time, there will be more tofollow. I highly recommend that (if possible) every Auxiliarist take this class!

The Beacon ,Editor:Kim Castrobran,FSO-PB/FCP.O. Box 1243South Pasadena, CA91031Fax 626-796-9396Email:kcb@k-online.com

This Newsletter ispublished by Flotilla 3-5,

US Coast Guard Auxiliaryat no cost to the

government. Cost is borneby Flotilla 3-5, a volunteer,

unpaid, civilian groupwhose mission is to

support the Coast Guard inits’ mission and promote

Flotilla 3-5

The overarching mission of the U.S. Coast GuardAuxiliary is to contribute to the safety and security of our

citizens, ports, waterways and coastal regions. We willbalance our missions of Recreational Boating Safety andCoast Guard Support with Maritime Homeland Security

and other challenges that emerge as a result of ourgrowing understanding of changes required in the post-

9/11 era.

Flotilla CalendarFlotilla CalendarFlotilla Meeting for first half of 2008:Flotilla Meeting for first half of 2008: 23 January 23 April1900-2100 hrs 27 February 28 May(7pm — 9pm) 26 MarchMeeting Location: Kaiser Conference Center

26285 S. Vermont Ave., Harbor City,

Seal Day– Marine Mammal Care Center/San Pedro, Sunday May 18th, 11am to 4pmWe will be having a manned booth with boating safety information.

NATIONAL SAFE BOATING WEEKNATIONAL SAFE BOATING WEEK - Saturday, May 24th 7am to 3pm Cabrillo LaunchWe will be having a manned booth with boating safety information and handouts.We will also be giving Vessel Exams. this is a great time to help out, get qualified, andsee first hand how National Safe Boating Week directly helps the public.HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!

Point Vicente Lighthouse Open House - www.vicentelight.orgThe second Saturday of each month, 10am to 3pm (except March when it is open the firstSaturday, in conjunction with Whale of A Day)31550 Palos Verdes Dr. West, Rancho Palos Verdes

Point Hueneme Lighthouse Open House - www.huenemelight.orgThe third Saturday of each month (Open February thru October)10am to 3pm (last shuttle at port gate 2:30pm) 120 W. Port Hueneme Road, Port Hueneme,

Visit 3-5 on the web at:www.aux35.org

United States Coast Guard Auxiliary

District 11SPublication Approval

C. P. (Bud) LathropADSO-PB10