The July member’s meeting was held on Wednesday July 15th, 2026. Beef and chicken tacos were on the dinner menu along with a selection of ice cream for dessert. The cooking committee has decided to hang up their aprons at the end of the year after several years of serving up some delicious meals. The chapter is looking for volunteers to step up and take over the tradition of serving meals at the dinner meetings. If you are interested in possibly becoming a cooking committee member in the future, contact any officer or board member and let them know.
The guest speaker for the evening was First Sergeant Henry “Skip” Reichie of the Virginia Marine Resources Commission. His presentation covered various aspects of boating safety. It included statistics on the number of boats, boating incidents/accidents as well as some specific boating regulations. One of the statistics he mentioned was that as of 2023 there were 224,785 boats registered in Virginia with 3,113 registered in Suffolk. That does not include boats on our waterways that are registered in other states.
During his discussion of boating accidents/incidents he explained when an incident report is required to be filed. Damage in excess of $2,000 by or to the vessel or it’s equipment, injury requiring medical attention beyond first aid, loss of life or disappearance of any person from a vessel all require an incident report. In 2025, Virginia had 10 boating related fatalities. In those 10 fatal incidents, alcohol was a factor in 10%. 90% of the fatalities were due to no life jacket being worn. He also noted that 20% of fatal incidents involved paddle craft such as canoes and kayaks. Officer Riechie also reviewed some equipment requirements to have onboard your boat as well as a new “move over “law. To read more about this “move over law” and other boating tips and requirements log onto https://dwr.virginia.gov/boating .
Jacob Bosco coordinated the 2026–2027-chapter election process. After tallying the votes, Cris Ferguson was reelected as president, Shawn Bailes was elected vice president, Elaine Doxey secretary, Priscilla Taylor treasurer, Ray Powell assistant treasurer, Darden Langston, Virginia Wahab and Mandy Bane were elected as new 3year term board members.
Richard Wentz and Darden Langston stressed the importance of selling tickets for the 24th of September BBQ fundraiser. It was noted that this year’s event will be held on Thursday instead of the usual Friday. To arrange to get your tickets, contact Richard Wentz at rewentz@gmail.com or by leaving a voice mail at 757-635-1215. A flyer for the event can be obtained on our chapter web site by clicking on the “quick links” button on the home page and then selecting BBQ Fundraiser Event. You can share the flyer on social media to help get the word out.