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Delavan Lake Sailing School awarded
Christopher Reeve Grant in 2007
In late summer and early fall of 2006, members of the Delavan Lake
Sailing School and University of Wisconsin - Whitewater officially
formed the Peter J. Barrett Sailing Alliance. As part of its mission
to increase the number of college students learning the sport of
sailing on Delavan Lake, the group submitted a grant application to
the Christopher Reeve Foundation, Quality of Life Grant requesting
assistance in acquiring additional equipment to increase
accessibility and capacity to students with disabilities.
Late in January, the Christopher Reeve Foundation awarded the
Delavan Lake Sailing School a grant of over $3900 to assist in the
acquisition of sailing equipment for the Peter J. Barrett Sailing
Alliance. This equipment will be able to be used by both able bodied
and disabled sailors throughout the sailing season.
Joe Scheurell, DLSS President said, "Finalizing the
partnership with the University of Wisconsin to work with the local
college students to teach the sport of sailing in Delavan is
fantastic. The Delavan Lake Sailing School worked with 32 able body
and Disabled Students in 2006. Gaining the support of the
Christopher Reeve Foundation makes it possible for us to work with
more college Students in 2007."
Barb Jones, Barrett
Sailing Alliance member, said "" Adaptive sailing
brings together the DLSS and UW-Whitewater with an opportunity to
teach a recreational activity that will bring a lifetime of
enjoyment and enhanced quality of life. It is also a sport that
offers people with disabilities the opportunity to participate and
compete with the able bodied population"
Richard Beers,
Barrett Sailing Alliance member, said "It is gratifying to get such
a well respected organization to support the growing interest in the
sport and to help us introduce it to a new group of students. We've
been helped by the critical support of the DLYC Flying Scot fleet
who have donated their boats and time, and a core group of DLYC scow
sailors who come out to assist in the learn to sail programs for
Whitewater students. This alliance is the first one in the country
that unites a university and a nonprofit sailing school to attract
both students with disabilities and able bodied students. The
Christopher Reeve Foundation Grant acknowledges our work, giving us
the opportunity to train more students.
The Peter J. Barrett Sailing Alliance is named after Peter J.
Barrett, who was a DLYC Club Manager in the 1950's, and a Professor
of Business at UW-Whitewater. It is an arm of the Delavan Lake
Sailing School, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
In an obituary, Mark Matthews, wrote of his passing in 2001: "In
1957, he and his teammates at the University of Wisconsin Madison
won the Collegiate Team Race Championship. In 1962 he won both the
US Single-Handed Sailing Championship and the US Men’s Sailing
Championship crewing for Jim Payton, along with Charlie Miller.
Barrett competed in three Olympic Games and won two medals. He
finished 11th in the Finn at the Naples, Italy Games 1960, won a
silver medal in the Finn at the 1964 Tokyo Games, and crewing for
Lowell North won the Star class gold medal at the 1968 Games in
Acapulco, Mexico. Throughout his competitive career Pete won several
championships including the 470 Nationals, Finn North Americans, the
C-Scow Blue Chip Regatta, and the A-Scow Inlands. He also crewed
aboard the winning boat in the 1971 Chicago-Mackinac Race. In
addition, Barrett served as a contributing editor to Yacht
Racing/Cruising (now Sailing World)." |