COURT HOUSE – Vicki Clark’s Coast Guard roots run deep: her husband proposed to her on the beach at Coast Guard Training Center Cape May (“TRACEN”) more than 30 years ago, and she raised her children to be near their grandparents, who retired here after her father-in-law’s long-term Coast Guard career.
Today Clark, as President of the County Chamber of Commerce, says she’s “giving back” by serving as an active liaison to businesses on behalf of the Steering Committee for the 2015 Inaugural Coast Guard Community Festival scheduled for May 8-10. The three-day Festival, a celebration of Cape May County’s designation as a “Coast Guard Community,” will include both ceremonies and family fun at sites like TRACEN, Cape May City Convention Hall and the Cape May-Lewes Ferry.
Clark was a chief proponent of the County’s entry into the rigorous application process involved in winning the coveted Coast Guard Community designation. She first learned about the program over five years ago, she said, both from Commander Gary Thomas, who served as commanding officer of the Coast Guard’s Electronics Station in Lower Township, and from Congressman Frank LoBiondo.
Both men noted how the Coast Guard base contributed to economic development in the County.
“Ever since that time, achieving the designation became a goal of the County Chamber,” Clark said. “It’s about business, and more. We love TRACEN’s uniqueness as the only Coast Guard recruit training center in the United States, and we treasure the special relationship between County residents and Coast Guard families.”
Festival sponsorships now are available for businesses and community members, Clark noted this week. In addition, a Festival Program featuring business advertising space is available. Opportunities for vendors and artists may also be available, she said.
Clark said she can be reached at 465-7801 for more information about sponsorship, program placement, and other opportunities.
As for marriage proposals? “I already received the one that really counted,” she says.
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