National Co-Chairs
Scott Carpenter
Norman Baker
Tap Pryor
Eugenie Clark
Andreas Rechnitzer
Sylvia Earle
Stan Waterman
Executive Board
Cynthia Hancock (1977)
President/Co-Founder
Festival Director
VP Communications & National Outreach
Dane Hancock,(1977)
Vice-Pres/Treasurer Co-Founder
VP Marine Technology
Paul Hammond (1993)
Webmaster / Graphic Productions
Board of Directors
(Includes Executive Board)
Marcy Decker (2001)
VP Community Outreach
Scott Gebhard (2008)
VP Marine Affairs
Lee Kalvaitis (1979)
Co-Founder
Marine Fair Director
Elizabeth Moller (2008)
VP Education
Renee Richards (2008)
VP Environmental Projects
National Advisory Board
Tom Callinan
Jeff & Deb Sandler
Local Advisory Board
Joe Hessmann
Dr. Raymond McAllister (Co-Fd)
Big John McLaughlin / Lifetime Achievement
Barbara Rapoza
Marie Sigler
Dr. Florence Smith (Co-Fd)
Left to Right Front
Cynthia Hancock, President/Co-Founder; Marcy Decker; Barbara Rapoza; Renee Richards;
Big John McLaughlin and Joe Hessmann.
Left to right Rear:
Elizabeth Moller; Dr. Lee Kalvaitis; Scott Gebhard and Vice President/Co-Founder Dane Hancock.
Not Pictured: Webmaster Paul Hammond |
Mystic, National
Marine Educators Conference 2002
 Cynthia Hancock and Dane Hancock
|
Dave and Marie Sigler and Lee
Kalvaitis,
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Cynthia Hancock
Cynthia Hancock, president and co-founder of National Week of the Ocean,
has a 36-year career as a public relations professional
and turns her impressive experience towards marine
education. She recently retired from marketing and public relations for the City of Hollywood Department of Parks, Recreation & Cultural Arts. Recognition of
her achievements include being chosen as Woman of the
Year in Communications (1980); chosen as the first
recipient of the National Marine Educators Association's
James Centerino Award (1984) for establishing National
Week of the Ocean; and recipient of the first World of
the Outdoors Award from the Broward County Girl Scouts
(1996), a JC Penney Golden Award (1998) & a Hollywood
Diamond Service Award (2005). Her nine years teaching
experience serves as another benefit to National Week of
the Ocean's educational goals. She created the Campus
Event concept and teaching kit, the Outstanding High
School Marine Student Award program, the National Week of
the Ocean Community Awards program and the School
Participation Banner award. She has served as festival
sea-son chair for 29 of its 30 years.
Dane Hancock
Dane Hancock,
professional engineer, is vice-president/treasurer and
co-founder of National Week of the Ocean. As a private
consultant for marine construction projects his expertise
has been as far-reaching as Singapore, Bombay, Cairo and
Australia. He is president of H&R Hydro-Pull, Inc.
Dane also holds several U.S. Patents for an underwater
pipelaying method called the Hydro-Pull. Dane's 40 years of marine engineering knowledge is very
beneficial to National Week of the Ocean as he serves
also as vp/ technology . His community activities include
judging the Broward County Science Fair for 27 years,
primarily as a finalist judge.
Marcy Decker
Board member Marcy Decker has over 20 years in the Parks and Recreation field. She is currently employed as the Aquatics Superintendent for the City of Hollywood's Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts Department. Her environmental involvement includes coordinating the first Youth At Risk Scuba Program in South Florida, joining in the Reef Clean Ups, and working with McArthur High School in removing exotics, debris and planting natives at the City's only environment sensitive land area, Sheridan Oak Forest. She is a member of the Florida and National Recreation and Park Associations and sits on the committee for the National Drowning Prevention Alliance. Her own personal experiences as a swimmer, WSI, lifeguard and advance open water scuba diver has contributed to the National Week of the Ocean. Her passion for the ocean and saving our natural environment will help to ensure that the next generation have fish on the reefs and clean oceans to swim in.
Scott Gebhard
Scott Gebhard, recent dockmaster for the City of Hollywood, is an avid boater and scuba diver. "Growing up near the shore in NJ I developed a love for the water early on and bought my first boat in the summer of 1972. During the ‘80s scuba diving wrecks off the Jersey Shore was my passion." He eventually relocated to South Florida and onto his sailboat. "My most memorable period was living aboard for three years and a single handed 4 month trip through the Abaco islands in the Bahamas."Today he and wife Wilma who met on Hollywood Beach have traded living aboard his sailboat for a 24 foot trailer boat and living on the beach. Being close to the water and the beach he claims, "Life is good." Scott initiated a Hollywood Cardboard Regatta in 2007.
Dr. Lee Kalvaitis
Dr. Lee Kalvaitis is co-founder of National Week of the Ocean as well as the Week of the Ocean School Marine Fair. Her most recent teaching was for 6th, 7th, and 8th grade gifted science classes and 8th grade on level science classes at Westpine Middle School. She also heads the Science Department of the Broward County Fair and is a founding member and present member of the Broward County Science Fair. She utlilized her experience to structure the Week of the Ocean School Marine Fair which incorporates projects for K-12 students from the arts to the sciences and which has involved more than one million students locally to date. Her credentials are as follows:
BS Ed, University of Connecticut; MS Ed, University of Hartford; Science Ed Specialist, Nova Southeastern University; Ed.D, Florida Atlantic University.
Renee Richards-Lukehart
Board Member, Renee Richards-Lukehart, brings a diverse municipal background in grant management and her previous life as a Dockmaster for a municipal marina to National Week of the Ocean. As the Dockmaster of the Hollywood Marina for 15 years Renee established it as the first Clean Marina designated in Broward County and only the fifth in the state at the time. Currently she is the Grant Coordinator for the City of Hollywood Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts Department managing grants in programming, construction and collaborating with local non-profit organizations to provide services to the youth in the community centers. She has incorporated her love of the water and her need to preserve our ecology into her grants whenever possible and played an integral role in getting the Science, Education and Adventure (SEA) Camp implemented at the Hollywood Beach Culture & Community Center. This summer camp revolves around everything science and focuses on marine biology and other ocean studies. Renee manages all of the Hollywood's conservation sites and coordinates volunteer beach dune plantings to teach students the important role the dune system plays in the overall health and preservation of our beaches. Renee has a Masters degree in Public Administration from Nova Southeastern University and a Bachelors in Business Management and Marketing from Florida Atlantic University.
Joe Hessmann
Joe Hessmann,
owner of the Carved Sign Company, has served as chair of
the county's Marine Advisory Board. As vice president of
community relations for National Week of the Ocean he
keeps us abreast of area marine issues. He served on the
Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber's Marine Task Force and
on the Marine Advisory Council. If there is a marine
issue affecting the life of the average citizen in
Broward, Joe will be actively involved.
He spearheaded the National Week of the Ocean's
fundraising and awareness project, the manatee burgee,
which involved Jimmy Buffett. He has marched in our
parades, setup our booths, decorated for the Boat Parade
and helped build our Fiesta Tropicale Mardi Gras float.
He has served on the board since 1982 and designed the
School Participation banner award. Asked why he and his
family are involved in our programs and he replies,
"Week of the Ocean devotes its time to educating
young people on the marine environment. This is important
to my family and myself. We are partners in a marine
education endeavor which directly benefits our community.
And there is no hidden agenda in our board's
participation in the programs."
Marie Sigler
Marie Sigler, vice president community service, joined the National
Week of the Ocean board in 1987 and has served as
secretary and chairperson of the Sponsor a Reef Critter
program. Her exuberance for ocean studies is evident as
she involved her third graders at Pine Crest School in
adopting reef critters and manatees and raising monies to
support awareness programs for them. Her example spread
across the campus and Pine Crest Lower School received
the 1991 Week of the Ocean School Participation Award for
the most involved school in Broward County.
She has received a Volunteer of the Year Award.
John McLaughlin
John McLaughlin
brings dynamic marine-related experience to the National
Week
of the Ocean advisory board, ranging from marine
engineering to underwater cinematography and technical
advising for the television and film industry. Big John,
as he is known, has directed underwater footage for many
award-winning commercials, acted as stuntman to James
Bond, is a certified diving instructor and has 42 years
experience as boat captain and in marine salvage and
towing. The great diversity of his experience offers
endless possibilities to benefit National Week of the
Ocean. He enjoys speaking of his career experiences and
the need to protect the ocean equally as well to
elementary students or fellow divers. Most recently, he
presented seminars at OceanFest. He has served as vice
president of technology. Big John received a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007.
Paul Hammond
Paul Hammond
is owner and president of Studio 41 advertising agency.
As board member and vice president of communications he
is responsible for our program books, website and graphic
design. His projects have included logo design updates,
festival program design and production, Fiesta Tropicale
Mardi Gras float graphics and construction, poster
production and website initiation, design and
maintenance. He has received a Volunteer of the Year
award and Community Marine Award. Paul is an avid boater
and fisherman and fishes year round from the Northeast to
the Caribbean. He is involved in Week of the Ocean
because he cares for the ocean; he wants to assist in
their marine awareness as they learn to respect the
waters he loves and enjoys in the hope they will also
someday give something of their experiences back. He fishes for food and sport and believes in the catch
and release concept. He vows to continue to treasure our marine resources and
work hard to protect them.
NATIONAL CO-CHAIRS (American ocean
pioneers)
Scott Carpenter has chaired the National Week of the
Ocean event since its inception
in 1984. He is both an astronaut and an aquanaut and thus
has spanned both outer space and the ocean's depths.
Norman Baker lectures about his experiences as the
navigator of
Thor Heyerdahl's voyage of the Ra.
Eugenie Clark, noted zoologist, has explored the vast
depths of the ocean
to see creatures never photographed or observed before.
Sylvia Earle is an aquanaut as well as explorer known for
close
encounters with marine mammals.
Tap Pryor was an early experimenter in aquaculture and
founded Sea Life Park in Hawaii.
Andreas Rechnitzer deep dove the Trieste with Jacques
Piccard
and is a marine consultant.
Stan Waterman is known for his excellent underwater films
which take
others vicariously into the ocean.
NATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD
Tom Callinan, marine educator, uses music to create
environmental awareness. He chaired the National Week of
the Ocean's Outreach Program for 20 years. His May
performances added an important cultural element to the
Festival Sea-son.
Jeff Sandler is also a noted marine educator known as Mr.
Fish of the Mr. and Mrs. Fish Marine Education Program.
He and his wife, Deb, teach children around the world
about marine mammals and life in the sea with humor and
colorful costumes.
Local Advisory Board
Dr. Raymond McAllister, author and professor emeritus of
ocean engineering at Florida
Atlantic University. has been advisor since our group's
inception.
Honorable Jim Naugle, mayor of Fort Lauderdale, has been
a member and
advisor for many years.
The Week of the Ocean Festival and National Week of the
Ocean are sponsored by
National Week of the Ocean, Inc.,a Florida-Chartered
Corporation administered by a
citizens board of directors and granted a 501C3 Federal
non-profit status.
It sponsors National Week of the Ocean (Annually in
April), the Week of the Ocean
School Marine Fair & the Week of the Ocean Festival
Sea-son
(Annually March - June), with festival events throughout
Broward County.
The Broward County Week of the Ocean Campus Event,
School Marine Fair and Festival were pilot projects for
National Week of the Ocean.
for more information call:
Cynthia Hancock, Co-Founder and President * 954-462-5573
or e-mail
nwoto@att.net
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