Blue Ridge (LCC 19) - Naval Cruise Book

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1 hi. i: ' yi ]nillen ' Piuhen ■ ' ■; ' . ihere | Highlights- Talent Show Keyboard vocalist SK2 Sheadrick Eddington of the second-place winning act Highway One. The two-man jazz group won a $50 gift certificate. 29

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Hiii i I lights- Talent Show ET2 Gregory T. Breeden on the guitar takes the $1 00 first-prize gift certificate. Highway One ' s bassist, 20-year-old Fireman Kieth A. Riley of St. Louis, Missouri, j oined up witin Eddington last December, ' i love music, Riley added, and I play for the pure enjoyment of it. The talent show was great, mainly because it allowed us the opportunity to perform in front of an audience. Do you know anyone who can play the accordion? Third-place winner ISSN Paul E. Curtis, 19, has been playing one for 1 2 years. I wanted to see what type of reaction the crew would have towards accordion music, said Curtis. It appears as if they liked it. And Seaman Artemio C. Molina bagged a special day off for his impersonations of A Soldier in Combat. I got the idea from The W.OOO-Day Wai a documentary on U.S. involvement in Vietnam, Molina explained. I wanted to portray the emotions of an Highway One bassist BTFA Keith A. Riley. American soldier guarding an airfield under heavy artillery fire by North Vietnamese forces. I had a great time. Molina wasn ' t alone. The audience averaged 250 clapping and laughing sailors and Marines throughout the two-and-a-half-hour contest. To say the least, many who watched thought the show was a hit and wanted to see seconds— including Captain Thomas D. Paulsen. The talent show just confirms my suspicions that there is a great deal of talent in any organization containing the American Bluejacket, said the Captain, who served as a judge for the contest. I think everyone involved did a super job! When asked if he felt the show was the start of a new tradition for Blue Ridge, Captain Paulsen said, I don ' t see why not! For one, I didn ' t have anyone come up to me later and tell me they didn ' t like it and never wanted another one again It was a great show! Three of seven talent show judges (left to right) : Captain (Chaplain) Charles Parker, Captain Thomas D. Paulsen, and Lt. Dolph A. Diemont. The judges were selected to represent the officers and enlisted men of the ship. It was a day for sun, laughs and entertainment. The original idea behind a talent show was for everyone to have a good time. Now all that is left to do is start plans for the Second Annual Blue Ridge Talent Show. 28

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I Hiiihliiihts SHELLBACKS AND POLLYWOGS MAINTAIN A TIME-HONORED CEREMONY ORIGINS OF ' CROSSING THE LINE ' The practice of navigating the seas dates back to the early voyages of the Phoenicians, who as early as 500 B.C. explored the shores of the Mediterranean. Some of the adventurers even sailed through the Straits of Gibraltar and explored the west coast of Africa and northward as far as England. In all the years since those early voyages, sailors have developed numerous curious customs, one of which has stood the test of time and is more rigidly adhered to than any other. This is the Crossing of the Line ceremony. Legend tells us that during the seventeenth century, French seamen performed a sea baptism upon green hands who sailed through the Raz de Fontenau for the first time. The Raz is a very long, strong and rapid current which, rolling over many rocks, disgorges itself into the sea along the coast of France at the southern end of Douarnenez Bay, and is a very dangerous passage. The ceremony consisted of the Master ' s Mate clothed in a ridiculous garment performing a burlesqued baptismal ritual. All men who had not previously made this dangerous passage were required to enter into ceremonies Neptunus Rex and his Royal Court. and kneel before the Master ' s Mate to be baptized. After the ceremonies, each one of the landlubbers recently baptized had to present gifts to the Master ' s Mate. This ceremony varied in certain details as time went on, and in some countries was performed when landlubbers crossed the Tropic of Cancer or the Tropic of Capricorn. Eventually, as cruises became longer and more parts of the globe were navigated, the Crossing the Line initiation ceremony was only performed when crossing the equator. Today, by tradition, those who have made the crossing and experienced this initiation are called ' Wog Beauties parading their stuff. HEW!T.. f ' I ' 30 i