Press Release
Sea Quest Kids Have The Good News And The Bad News
Dates: September 28, 2003
Organization: Advance America Foundation Sea Quest KidsContact: Steve Gronka: Cell Phone: 404-434-0660 and E-mail: sgronka@cs.com
Web: www.advanceaf.orgFor Immediate Release:Story: Sea Quest Kids have had a phenomenal summer, but not without some glitches! In light of that, there is the good news and the bad news. First the bad news! At one of the powerboat races in the Great Lakes Silver Cup Race Series, two Sea Quest 100s were stolen after the races were over. One of the boats was a Special Olympics World Games boat autographed by Special Olympics Athletes. The other boat was built by kids who were part of the spectator crowd. The most recent thefts bring the total for the year to four.Ever the optimist, Sea Quest Kids fearless leader, Steve Gronka said, "The good news is that Sea Quest 100s are in such big demand that kids are willing to risk stealing them in order to have one. It just goes to show you that we have to build a lot more boats so that everyone that wants a Sea Quest 100 can have one. They are great boats!"The town's people and leaders were mortified over the disappearance of the boats. The theft was featured on local television and all forms of law enforcement were notified. It may be that the boats will be found before Sea Quest Kids return for the races next year.Speaking of the year 2004 and the Great Lakes Silver Cup Offshore Race Series, next year will see the inauguration of the Mayors Challenge Cup races. As a promotional event with the Sea Quest Kids and featuring the Sea Quest 100s, the Honorable Mayor Bill Cedar has committed to the Mayors Challenge Cup races to be held the day before the Offshore races.Popularity of Sea Quest Kids is skyrocketing with groups and individuals. The demand to start programs is startling and the organization is training instructors and trainers to meet the demand. To start a Sea Quest Kids little league of boating team in your area, contact: Advance America Foundation Sea Quest Kids, 6 South Dillwyn Road, Newark, DE 10711-5544; Phone/Fax: 302-266-6655 or Cell: 404-434-0660; E-mail: sgrongka@cs.com.Sea Quest Kids is not a one-time activity just for the race event. It is the purpose of the APBA Offshore, Formula Boats, Great Lakes Silver Cup Offshore Race Series, Advance America Foundation Sea Quest Kids and our other sponsors to provide a little league comparable activity in boating for kids in every community to enjoy on a year round basis. We are working especially hard to make sure that kids in the communities that host APBA Offshore Tour and Great Lakes Silver Cup Race Series events have Sea Quest Kids activities.Sea Quest Kids travel from 40-60,000 miles a year showing kids how to build boats as the Official Boat Building Program for the APBA Offshore, the Great Lakes Silver Cup Power Boat Race Series, the US Sailing Association Junior Olympics Program, and numerous other organizations. Among our sponsors are Formula Boats, 3M, Sika Corporation, the National Marine Manufacturers Association, Montano-Hartmann Motorsports (Bacardi Silver), Cigarette Boats, Total Marine Racing, Big Thunder Racing, Cat Can Do Racing, Sea Doo Bombardier, most major boat shows, and others. American Marine Holdings, the parent of Donzi Marine has shown interest in sponsorship and the Donzi team of Snap On Tools has given some sponsorship.We have also begun talks with ESPN to become part of the Great Outdoor Games that are ESPN's own outdoor competitions. The next three years will be in Reno, Nevada.Sea Quest Kids is the largest boat building and water safety program for kids in the United States and worldwide. In two days or less, kids from five years old and up build their own 10-foot flat bottomed square ended scow-skiff, paddles, oars, mast, sail, sail rig, lee board, rudder system and outboard motor bracket. The kids get boating safety trained as they build the boats and then become part of an international network of kids that have all built their own boats and have organized groups (teams) with ongoing events. The events include sailing regattas, paddle and rowing races, fishing tournaments, overnight campouts, community service doing waterway cleanups, public speaking telling PTA's, Town Councils, Civic Associations why they are building boats and why it is important to them, and show their own boats at boat shows.This is "the" grass roots, low cost, or no cost, entry-level activity for kids to get into boating. It includes all special needs kids as well. We get them all into boating in a totally comprehensive package that includes boating and water safety, fishing, and other organized events such as boat races, campouts, community service, and public speaking to town councils, civic associations, state and national legislatures and PTA's. Our kids have also testified about boating and boating safety before the United States Congress. Our key advantage over other boat building activities is that we are one design, organized, ongoing, National and International, and work with all kids regardless of background and special needs.Advance America Foundation has spent the last eleven years developing a little league for boating. Now that the details have been for the most part worked out, in February of 2002 we began introducing the marine industry to Sea Quest Kids, the little league of boating.Marine Trades groups around the country as well as the Coast Guard Reserve, Navy League, Power Squadron, Boys and Girls Clubs, Scouts, Schools Churches and many other groups are showing great interest in getting Sea Quest Kids started throughout their areas.We have been asked to start Sea Quest Kids in several major nations; continually getting requests to go to boat shows in Mexico, Spain, south and Central America and throughout the Caribbean to show Sea Quest Kids and start Sea Quest Kids Boat Building and Water Safety. Requests even include the Far East and the Middle East as well as all of Europe and Africa. Most recently, admirals of the Russian Navy asked us to go to St. Petersburg Russia to show kids how to build boats.Sea Quest Kids is part of the education foundation, Advance America Foundation, a 501 (c) (3) Public Charity education group. In 10 years we have built over 2,100 boats and have worked with over 20,000 kids. We work with the living legends of Sailing, such as Charley Morgan, Halsey Herreshoff, Ted Hood, Gary Hoyt, and Peter Conrad. Our kids are VIP's at America's Cup and Volvo Around The World Sail Boat Race as well as major boat shows.
In addition to being the official boat building charity of the APBA Offshore Professional Power Boat Racing Tour and the Great Lakes Silver Cup, we also work with Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts, Boys and Girls Clubs, and numerous other organizations. In Ft. Lauderdale, there are scouts currently trying to go Eagle by teaching kids in their communities how to build boats and then how to use the boats. Churches, community centers, and schools are excited about the Sea Quest Kids. Politicians love the Sea Quest Kids and always jump into paddle races whenever we open programs in their areas. |