The Loonies Behind UMRA
Some people say "You must
be
crazy to spend your time fighting the United States
Congress and the
Corps of Engineers." We're crazy enough to reply
"We're not fighting
them, we're educating them." Actually we are crazy
about boats, and
feel we would rather fight for boaters' needs than
quit and play golf
or some take up some other more expensive hobby.
Among the small group
responsible for UMRA, you will find
Don Strimbeck - Retired
energy
researcher and Army Colonel. He is lucky to only own
one boat, at a
time. He replaced The
Flatulent Tosspot with
an aluminum skiff
which he can haul up on his dock.
Wally Venable - Retired
engineering teacher whose fleet of boats have
included the sidewheel
launch Ruddy
Duck and the English
canal cruiser Dawn Adventure.
He now owns Osprey II, a
32 foot sailing cottage on Lake
Erie.
Tom Bartlett -
Retired
civilian employee of US Army
Fort Detrick biological warfare
station. He also had parallel career US Army Ready
Reserve, retiring as Colonel
from
Corps of Engineers. He is now mayor of his home
town, Grafton
WV. Tom and his wife, Barbara, are owners of
The
Enchantress, a 52-foot Coastal Cruiser, docked
at Star City.