December 2006 The Shoreline Page 7
CERTS Stands Ready to Serve
. By Tom Tempel
North Carolina Aquarium
Brews Up Aquatic Education
By Julie Powers
Citizens in Pine Knoll Shores are well
known for their volunteerism in our
town and Carteret County. A relatively
new group of volunteers in PKS is the
Community Emergency Response Team
or CERT. The purpose of CERT is to
provide men and women volunteers to
help the PKS police or emergency services
director when additional filler personnel
are needed following any emergency
situation.
The Bogue Banks (PKS) CERT is
sponsored and supported by our town
police. While the team was originally
organized for Bogue Banks, all members
live in our town and our primary focus
is PKS. Ted Lindblad was the first team
leader and he is now providing much
appreciated oversight. Basic training is
provided by the police and special classes
are provided by emergency personnel. Lt.
Lee Rice and Sgt. Jim Parks are our primary
police instructors. Chief Joey Culpepper
and Emergency Services Director Bill
Mathias are strong supporters. Each
CERT member must complete 21 hours
of basic emergency management training
which includes CPR, fire control, anti
terrorism and first aid. Additional
certification classes are available in AED
(automatic external defibulator), traffic
control, radio communication, emergency
shelter support, downed power lines and
chainsaw safety. Each member is covered
by insurance and can only perform
emergency duties in areas where they are
certified. Each CERT member is issued a
special identification card and a pack of
emergency equipment and supplies. The
PKS CERT has radios for communication
with each other and emergency personnel
during deployments.
The CERT program was developed as
part of the national homeland security
process and is a component of the
national and state Citizens Corps of
Volunteers who volunteer time after
storms or disasters. It's a help-your-
neighbor and town effort. It was first
started in California to aid emergency
services efforts after earthquakes and
fires. It is a state program in North
Carolina and part of the Retired and
Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) and
the local Citizens Corps. Dora Irving of
Newport is our county representative
to the state program. The State and
County Emergency Services Program
has supported and funded our CERT
program and our emergency equipment
trailer as they have the other county CERT
programs.
The PKS CERT has been called to
duty twice in the past year. The first
deployment came after a hurricane in the
fall of 2005. The PKS police needed extra
personnel to control traffic at the east and
west ends of route 58 in PKS. One police
officer and one CERT volunteer were
placed at each end of town to monitor
and control traffic. This allowed police
officers to focus on other important police
business. The second deployment was to
help police with overwhelming traffic on
the first two days after the renovated N.C.
Aquarium at PKS opened in May of this
year. In both cases CERT provided filler
personnel who helped expand the police
effort. Martha and Clark Edwards from
PKS CERT helped at a county emergency
shelter after a storm in 2005.
CERT never self-deploys. It does so only
after a call from town officials. Currently
we have 25 CERT members. Tom Tempel
is the current citizen leader. Sue McKeand
is secretary, Betsy McGibbon is director
of communication, and Bill Steenland,
Richard Seale and Clark Edwards are the
emergency trailer committee. The trailer
contains emergency equipment and
supplies, traffic control cones, chainsaw,
road clearing tools, hand tools, generator
and lighting system. Many of the tools
were donated by Blanche Yancey when
she moved to Morehead City.
The following are CERT members
in addition to those listed above: Bill
Ashland, Irene Beattie, John and Sylvia
Brodman, Doug Browne, Maureen
Danehy, Barbara Fix, Kathy Foy, Tom
King, John and Jean Macheca, Kenny
McGibbon, Jake Rife, Dorothy Steenland,
Charlie and Patti Swetz and Frank Ward.
Larry and Beth LaBrie were out of town for
the Basic Training and will take the next
class. If you are interested in joining or
learning more, talk to one of the current
members or call Tom at 247- 9414.
No, it's not Harry Potter. Real life wonder
is brewing in educational programs at the
North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll
Shores for visitors of all ages.
If your little one likes to leam about
nature, the Aquarium offers "Sea
Wizards" for children ages 6-8, and "Sea
Squirts" for children ages 4-5.
The weekly hands-on,
interactive programs
introduce children to
the marvels of
aquatic life. Each
program features
lessons based
on a different
animal
theme, a craft
and a game.
Many programs also
include live animals.
"It encourages children
to explore and get excited
about marine environments
in their neighborhoods," said Laurie
Streble, aquarium special activities
instructor. "They learn details about how
these animals live, and that gives them
the knowledge and power to help the
environment." Animal topics include sea
turtles, dolphins, sharks, snakes, frogs,
stringrays and other animals native to
North Carolina waters.
The aquarium offers "Sea Squirts"
every Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 12
p.m., and "Sea Wizards"
from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Each class is $8 per child in
addition to paid admission.
Parents may observe
the class at no charge
other than admission.
Space is limited and pre
registration is required.
Special arrangements can
be made for Girl Scout
and Boy Scout troops,
school groups and other
children's groups.
Additionally, the
aquarium will offer a
three-day "Holiday Elf
Adventure Camp" Dec.
27-29, for children in grades
2-3. The camp includes
behind-the-scenes tours,
games, crafts, discovery
labs and more. Each camp
is $100 per child and has
limited space.
"We wanted to offer a fun, active
learning experience to keep students
thinking and exploring during their
holiday break," said Wayne Justice,
special activities coordinator.
After the holidays, the popular
"Succulent Seafood"
cooking workshop will
resume, beginning Jan.
4. Each week, local chefs
visit the aquarium and
dish up tips on how to
select and
prepare fresh
local seafood.
This winter, chefs
from the Channel
Marker, Floyd's
1921 Restaurant,
Island Grill
and William's
Restaurant are
among the guest
chefs sharing their
expertise. Other local restaurants and
chefs interested in participating should
contact the aquarium.
Throughout the season, the Aquarium
continues to offer "Behind-the-Scenes
Tours" on Fridays and Saturdays, and
"Breakfast with the Rays" on Saturdays.
For more information about these and
other programs, call 247-4003 or see the
website, www.ncaquariums.com.
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