June 12, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TWO MCCC STUDENTS TO SAIL ACROSS
LAKE ERIE ON TALL SHIP NIAGARA

MONROE, Mich. – Two Monroe County Community College students will sail across Lake Erie from Erie, Pa. to Monroe this week on the tall ship Niagara.

The students, Craig Coolidge of Ida and Dan Ondrejke of Dundee, will be considered U.S. Brig Niagara Sailing School trainees.  They will participate in an orientation at 8 a.m. today and then leave port in Erie at about noon.  The Niagara will arrive in the Port of Monroe on Friday and offer public tours at the port on Saturday and Sunday.

Coolidge, a freshman majoring in general technology, and Ondrejke, a sophomore pursuing an associate of science degree, have taken a number of broadcasting courses at MCCC and will use the skills they have acquired in those courses to document their sailing experience aboard the historical ship on videotape.

Built in 1988, the Niagara is a reconstruction of the warship aboard which Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry won the Battle of Lake Erie in 1813 during the War of 1812.  It is owned by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, administered by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission and operated with the support and cooperation of the Flagship Niagara League.   

The Niagara is considered a Sailing School Vessel, and adheres to different design, construction and safety standards than passenger vessels; it is prohibited from carrying passengers for hire.  Niagara Sailing School trainees learn a sailing curriculum while onboard, and, unlike passengers, are expected to be responsible and active participants in the sailing of the vessel.

According to a brochure produced by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission to promote the Niagara Sailing School, Coolidge and Ondrejke will have the opportunity to “learn traditional square rig seamanship while preserving U.S. maritime history” and will live “under Spartan conditions such as hammock berthing and living out of a duffel bag.”

The Monroe County Historical Society and The Foundation at MCCC will fund the educational trip for the students. 

To learn more about the Niagara’s visit to Monroe, go to www.monroeccc.edu.