(Sylvan Beach – June 5) It’s not often that an admiral visits a local Coast Guard Auxiliary base, but Rear Admiral Michael N. Parks said he went out of his way to participate in commissioning of Sylvan Beach Flotilla 26 for the 2011 boating season.

It was like coming home, he told a crowd of over 150 active duty and auxiliary Coast Guard personnel and guests June 5.

“This is where I got my start in the Coast Guard,” Parks said.

Admiral Parks, commander of the Ninth Coast Guard District, grew up in the town of Brookfield. His mom, Charlotte, still lives near there in the village of Waterville.

He pointed to his high school guidance counselor, Carter Stephenson, who had told him about a week-long program to introduce high school juniors to the Coast Guard Academy and Coast Guard life. And Flotilla 26 sponsored him. The experience led him to apply to the Academy.

“And the rest, as they say, is history,” he said.

[Flotilla 26] “took a chance” on a “16-year-old from Brookfield,” the admiral said. “You gave me a love for the Coast Guard Auxiliary that has been with me all through my career.”

“To Flotilla 26,” he added, “I say ‘thank you.”

Flotilla 26 is currently commanded by Bill Cummings of Utica, who served as master of ceremonies for Commissioning Day.

Admiral Parks, who is based in Cleveland and responsible for the Great Lakes region stretching from Minnesota to New York, took a moment to talk about boating safety. Noting that Memorial Day Weekend is usually the official start of the boating season in the region, he said, “We had 85 search-and-rescue calls and one fatality” over the holiday weekend. That’s a significant improvement from the previous year’s holiday, when the Coast Guard responded to some 100 search-and-rescue calls in the Great Lakes region, including nine fatalities. The Coast Guard took last year’s fatal boating mishaps as “a call to action,” he said, with the Coast Guard Auxiliary embracing a renewed boating safety campaign.

He applauded the Auxiliary’s preventative efforts, particularly Flotilla 26 and the other flotillas of Central New York’s Division II. Those efforts included sponsoring boating safety classes, conducting free vessel safety checks, and responding to boaters in distress on Oneida Lake.

“I wish you God speed, as you go out there to keep people safe,” Parks said.

The admiral then presented two awards: A 30-year Membership Service Award to Auxiliarist Dave Troutman of Rome and a Meritorious Service Medal to Auxiliarist John Keshishoglou of Ithaca, for decades of service as an audio-visual consultant, writer and editor for the district and division.

Parks made it a point to laud the cooperation between the active duty and auxiliary Coast Guard, thanking an active duty contingent from Coast Guard Station Oswego for attending and for providing support and training for Flotilla 26, and for the flotilla’s support of Station Oswego.

He also praised the active-duty operations training officer, Chief Warrant Officer Kevin Clark, for his model work with auxiliarists. Clark, the architect of a new operations training program for the auxiliary, thanked Flotilla 26 and other Central New York flotillas for participating in pilot training that led to the new program.

The admiral also recognized Commodore Nancy Rudiger, commander of the auxiliary’s Ninth District Eastern Region, for her support of the local flotillas, and Division II Commander Helen Cummings, wife of the Flotilla 26 commander.

Admiral Clark expressed his delight at the inter-agency cooperation being displayed at the Sylvan Beach base, lauding the Civil Air Patrol’s Utica Cadet Squadron for providing a color guard squad and recognizing the Oneida County Sheriff’s Marine Patrol, which operates out of the base.

The commissioning ceremonies were followed by a picnic reception.