Amica Insurance

Tall Ships Rhode Island 2007

(TSRI 2007)

After its founding in 1975, one of the earliest events Newport CIV participated in was the U.S. Bicentennial Celebration Tall Ships visit to Newport in 1976. Although our records do not indicate how CIV was involved, we can be sure that it was related to hosting foreign visitors to our area.

We returned to our roots this year as we participated in the Amica Insurance Tall Ships Rhode Island 2007 event. This year CIV volunteered our assistance in hosting international crew members of visiting ships. Of the  nineteen Tall Ships which participated in the event, ten were from outside of the United States. They included: Bluenose II, Canada; Cisne Branco, Brazil; Dewaruci, Indonesia; Gloria, Columbia; Gorch Foch, Germany; Picton Castle, Cook Islands; Prince William, United Kingdom; Spirit of Bermuda, Bermuda; Tarangini, India; and Urania, The Netherlands.

In keeping with CIV’s purpose of promoting global understanding through people-to-people programs for international visitors, we hosted a casual reception on Goat Island on Thursday Evening, 28 June from 6-9 PM. Over 100 CIV members, local guests, and over 30 crew members from international Tall Ships participated in the event. The venue was at the southern end of Goat Island, across the harbor from Fort Adams. We had a good view of at least some of the Tall Ships, three of whom whichwere berthed at the State Pier at the Fort, while a fourth, Gorch Foch, was anchored southwest of Goat Island. We extended invitations to each of the ten International Tall Ships to send three crew members to the event, and they all responded. In keeping with CIV tradition, we asked members to contribute an hors d’ouvres or dessert to the event. CIV volunteers provided transportation to the event for our guests, and acted as hosts to the crew members from each ship. 

This event was also combined with our annual membership reception, in which CIV members were asked to invite potential new members to our organization. Many members took the opportunity to invite friends, neighbors and colleagues to join us in what was an excellent opportunity to see what CIV is all about. We gained several new members as a result of this effort. Full details about the event can be found here.

In addition to CIV’s organizational participation, we encouraged members to volunteer as individuals to help with the Tall Ships event.

Tall Ships Rhode Island 2007 was Co-chaired by Vice-Admiral Thomas R. Weschler USN (ret.), a long-time member of CIV. Admiral Weschler provided details about the event at this year's Great Decisions Kick-Off Reception, which took place on Tuesday, February 20 at the Newport Elks Club.