Rockaway Takes in Their Own
by Allison Bedard
Rockaway Peninsula,
population 100,000, is perhaps one of New York City’s best-kept secrets. It is tucked away in a beachside
corner of Queens that overlooks the city skyline. Rockaway’s
name is derived from the Indian ‘Reckouwacky,’ a tribe
of the Canarsies on Rockaway Neck. It means “Place of Our
Own People.”
From July 7–10,
2005 Rockaway residents realized the potential of their namesake
and opened their homes for 23 wounded soldiers returning from Iraq
and Afghanistan. The soldiers stayed with host families for the
weekend.
In this event, hosted
by Disabled Sports USA (DS/USA) and called the Adaptive Water Sports
Festival, the soldiers were taught to water ski by over 35 current
and retired New York City firefighters, as well as several dozen
community volunteers. Also on hand was Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A.,
who donated four JET SKI® watercraft for
use by participants and their families.
After a one-day training program, all volunteers were ready to coach
disabled participants to water ski and to ride the JET SKI watercraft.
They were also shown how to use the JET SKI watercrafts as safety
boats to assist the water skiers in case of emergency.
By the end of the event, with no emergencies to speak of, all 23
soldiers were tanned, relaxed, and had learned how to water ski.
The JET SKI watercrafts
were in constant use over the three days of the Adaptive Water
Sports Festival. The clocks on the four boats, three 2005 STX™-15F
and one 2005 STX-12F, showed a total of over 45 hours of operation.
By the end of the event, Rockaway
proved it to be a true place of the people, taking in each soldier
and volunteer as one of their own.
