January 24th, 2024

On Wednesday 24th of January,  Mike Wooster was honored for his four years as President of the Sun Coast Council. He received the Navy League Scroll of Honor from National President Chris Townsend, Florida President Andy Mohler and Central Florida President Jerry St Germain. He was also presented a letter of congratulations from Senator Rick Scott by his regional director Luis Laracuente. Mike recently turned over the position to the new council President Bill Urbanek. 

November 11th, 2023

On November 11th SCC Member, Dru DiMattia, coordinated a tribute to our WWII U.S. Merchant Mariners on Veterans Day at Arlington National Cemetery.  This was a Presidential Event where they presented the Colors by the Seafarers Apprentice School along with laying a wreath at the Tomb of The Unknown Soldier at ANC. The VFW invited the group to a reception which followed, hosted at the Women’s Military Museum.

Four WWII Mariners were present; 

103 years old Charles Mills

100 years old Howard Pfiefer

97 Years old Captain Pete Kurkimilis

95 Years old Dave Yoho.

Dru is also the president of the American Merchant Marine Veterans group.

July 19th, 2023

On July 19th at 1130 we gathered at the Moss Marina, 450 Harbor Ct, Fort Myers Beach, where the Coast Guard Cutter CROCODILE is tied up, since the Coast Guard Station is still under repairs from Hurricane Ian. We came to help the skipper, Senior Chief Joseph Slater, honor the sailor of the year and sailor of the quarter with our “Beer on the Pier" celebration where the Sun Coast Council provided sub sandwiches and a chest of drinks: beer, soda and water. Sailor of the Year 2023 went to Petty Officer First Class Boatswain's Mate BM1 Eduardo Sanchez. The current Sailor of the Quarter award went to Petty Officer Second Class Culinary Specialist CS2 Dominic Ambroselli.

We also recognized a summer cadet from the USCG Academy, Cadet Darius Gadsden, that the cutter has been sponsoring for five weeks until he departs on leave before the school year starts.

It was a great time to welcome the new executive officer of the cutter, BM1 Branden Smith, enjoy talking with the crew and take a tour of the Cutter for those that haven't seen it before. We were joined at the celebration by Congressional staffers from the offices of Senator Rick Scott and Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart.

June, 2023

In June we completed our adoption of Navy Training Squadron VT3. The Red Knights of VT3 are located at Naval Air Station Milton Florida. 

The Sun Coast Council will be giving an award to the Instructor of the year accompanied by a donation to a 501c3 aviation themed organization like the Civil Air Patrol.  You can read more about the VT3 at their website:

https://www.cnatra.navy.mil/tw5/vt3/history.asp 

June, 2023

1On November 3 the training squadron from Pensacola FL, VT3 made their first fly-in to Punta Gorda airport. VT3 will be making stops at the PGD terminal over the next few years as a part of their student cross country training flights. Local NJROTC students will be invited to meet the pilots and see the planes. VT3 is one of Naval Aviation’s primary flight training squadrons. The Red Knights of VT3 are located at Naval Air Station Milton Florida. Appropriately, VT3 provides the highest quality training to student aviators from the Sea Services of Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. VT-3 was tasked as the first Navy training squadron to fly the new Joint Primary Pilot Training aircraft, the T-6B Texan II. The T-6B is faster, stronger, and more efficient than the old T-34C.

June, 2023

Our scholarship awardees greatly benefitted from their experiences this summer and were very appreciative. One example is Cadet Nina Dotres who attended the sailing academy at Eckard College in June. She wrote the following to us: 

“I would like to thank the Navy League for your generosity in providing me with the wonderful opportunity and experience of learning how to sail. I attended the first week of sail academy and I had a fantastic time learning how to sail and race. In learning the wonders of sailing I also had the great opportunity to learn and develop myself as a leader. The skills required to properly sail a sailboat have taught me the importance of communication and teamwork. Some of the essential qualities that a leader must acquire. Due to this experience, I have gained a desire to continue racing and sailing. Bringing home the 3rd place skipper trophy has given me a great sense of pride. I am so very grateful for this experience. Thank you again for all you and the Navy League have done and continue to do for the youth in our community. “

April-May, 2023

In late April and early May members of the SCC attended award ceremonies and presented the Navy League’s highest award for Cadets, the Theodore Roosevelt Youth Medal, to a cadet from each school that we sponsor: Port Charlotte High School, Charlotte High School, and Lemon Bay High School.  Each of the audiences consisted of 70 to 150 parents We also presented a letter from Senator Rick Scott to each awardee congratulating them on their great performance. The receiving cadets were blown away and the senior instructors for each group were excited that the Senator would take the time to recognize their organization. Thank so much for the little things that can mean so much!

April 16th, 2023

The Sun Coast Council held a Sunday Brunch at the Isles Yacht Club in Punta Gorda on the 16th of April. The guest speaker, Vice Admiral Charles Martoglio USN (ret) gave an outstanding presentation on “China in the Context of US and Global Security”. The attendees felt that they had attended the first class of a master’s degree in international affairs! VADM Martoglio was there to honor his father Charlie Martoglio, a long time Navy League member and Sun Coast Council leader, who passed away earlier this year. Also attending was Erin Dever, the Southwest Florida District Director for Senator Rick Scott, to meet the council and read a personal letter from the Senator to the council. Towards the end of the event, the council presented four scholarships to NJROTC cadets from Charlotte High School and Port Charlotte High School. The scholarships went to sophomores and juniors to attend the US Naval Academy summer program and to go to the Sailing Academy at Eckards College to learn sailing, navigation, and leadership.

All, I am very sad to inform you that our friend and shipmate Charlie Martoglio passed away on January 10th in Punta Gorda’s Bayfront hospital.  He died of COVID related complications while his daughter Mary Anne was sitting with him.

Charlie was a strong and long term supporter of the Navy League in general and our Suncoast council in particular. He served a term as president and several years as vice president of our council. Charlie was a very strong supporter of the cadet programs and an ardent advocate for Korean War Veterans. For me personally, he was a good friend and treasured advisor. We will honor Charlie and his life at our spring luncheon on April 16th. Two pictures are attached of Charlie presenting an award to a Sea Cadet and attending the September luncheon with two of his daughters, Mary Anne and Fran.

Services for Charlie were held on Saturday, 14 January, at Charlotte Memorial Cemetery on Indian Springs Cemetery Road in Punta Gorda. It was a wonderful ceremony highlighted by four of his children speaking about their experiences with him. 

His full story can be read at: 

https://charlottememorial.com/tribute/details/5493/Charles-Martoglio/obituary.html#tribute-start

The family was very generous to ask that in lieu of flowers that contributions should be made to the NLUS Sun Coast Council. We’ll put those donations towards our JNROTC Scholarships.

September 25th, 2022

On September 25th, 2022, the Sun Coast Council held a Sunday Brunch at the Isles Yacht Club in Punta Gorda where we recognized the youth programs in our area. The Sun Coast Council sponsors four units in Charlotte and Lee Counties: The Gulf Eagle Division of the Sea Cadets from Fort Myers, and NJROTC units from Charlotte High School, Port Charlotte High School and Lemon Bay High School.   

Our first speaker at the brunch was BMC Geoffrey Dufur, the senior naval instructor for Port Charlotte High School. The Chief has been instrumental since arriving in turning around the unit at PCHS both in quality of the program and the resultant tripling of enrollment. Chief Dufur gave us an overview of the program including academics, the size and diversity of the unit, activities and teams such as orienteering and community service. The growth in size and energy of the PCHS is wonderful to see and the efforts of the cadets are inspiring! 

Our second set of speakers were cadet recipients of scholarships from the Sun Coast Council for Summer Programs 2022. First up was Cadet/LCDR Colin Wilburn this year’s commanding officer of the  Charlotte High School NJROTC unit. Cadet Wilburn was one of three recipients of funding to attend the Summer Leadership Academy. He shared with us the rigors of the camp and how he believes it better prepared him for a leadership role this academic year. 

For more info see the September Newsletter