US Army Corpsof EngineersNew England DistrictVolume 42, No. 6

Yankee Engineer

Yankee Voices..................................2Commander's Column....................3Warriors in the Workplace..........4Tom Fredette.....................................7EEO Celebration............................10Cell Phones for Soldiers................11Dredging Up the Past......................12Chili Fest

Page 11

JerryJoynerRetiresPage 8

New England District representa-tives and their partners celebrated thesuccessful opening of a most uniqueThermal Test Facility, March 7 at theNatick Soldier Research, Developmentand Engineering Center (NSRDEC) inNatick, Mass. The facility will conductresearch that will benefit not only U.S.Servicemen and women but also civil-ian workers involved in rescue opera-tions.

The New England District con-

structed the facility to support the De-partment of Defense in the evaluationof the effect of flame and thermalthreats and hazards against protectiveclothing and individual equipment. Thefacility will also assist in the develop-ment of new and improved materialsfor flame and thermal protection of theindividual Soldier.

According to a NSRDEC official,the thermal test facility is the onlyknown facility in the nation that has the

capability to test and evaluate the ther-mal performance of milligram quanti-ties of materials through full scale sys-tems such as clothing and tents. Thenew facility provides NSRDEC scien-tists and engineers with unprecedentedresearch capabilities for the evaluationof flames and thermal protective mate-rials, clothing and equipment.

“There are Soldiers on the battle-field, people in the ships, folks who are

District, partners cut the ribbon on uniqueThermal Test Facility

Every year, the MAYFLOWER II gets towedto D.N. Kelley & Son Shipyard inFairhaven, Mass., to get the bottom paintedand some paint touch up work done beforethe start of tourist season in Plymouth,Mass. In this March 11 picture the newlypainted MAYFLOWER II is on her wayback to Plymouth. (Photo by Kevin Burke)

Just passing through

March 2008

(continued on page 6)

District Commander ...........................................Col. Curtis L. ThalkenChief, Public Affairs ...............................................Larry B. Rosenberg

Editor ........................................................................................Ann Marie R. HarvieMedia Relations Officer...............................................................Timothy J. DuganPublic Affairs Specialist.................................................................Sally M. Rigione

YANKEE ENGINEER is an authorized unofficial Army newspaper underprovisions of AR 360-1 published monthly. Views and opinions expressedare not necessarily those of the Department of the Army. Contributionsfrom readers are solicited, but publication depends on judgment of the editor.No payment will be made for contributions. Published by the Public AffairsOffice, New England District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 696 VirginiaRoad, Concord MA 01742-2751, 978-318-8777. Printed by the offsetmethod on recyclable paper by the Defense Printing Office in Boston, Mass.Circulation 1600. The YANKEE ENGINEER can be found on the WorldWide Web at http://www.nae.usace.army.mil/news/yankee.htm

2 YANKEE ENGINEERMarch 2008

YYYYYankankankankankeeeeeeeeeeVVVVVoicesoicesoicesoicesoices

Yau Wing was named the WE Committee’s February 2008 Employee of theMonth. Because of staff turnover in the Resource Management Office at theEurope District, (NAU) there was an urgent need for an experienced and knowl-edgeable accountant to help them out during the entire first quarter of the fiscal year.Yau willingly stepped in and helped them get through this difficult period. He wasable to immediately step in and perform day-to-day duties, provide advice to thecurrent NAU staff and develop SOPs that are now making it easier for the new NAUaccountants coming on board to do their jobs efficiently. During the time he was inEurope, Yau continued to perform his usual research and analysis for the NewEngland District.

Cori Rose of Regulatory Division was selected as the WE Committee’sEmployee of the Month for March 2008. Rose was recognized as a tireless workerwho knows and does her job excellently. She is able to find time to do lots of publicoutreach, while still being generous in giving great support to her peers despite herenormous workload. She's been assigned the most challenging of the difficultprojects, which offers her peers some relief from their already burgeoning workloads.Recently she's taken the lead in implementing the new and complicated jurisdictionaldetermination criteria enacted and put them into practice.

to Ruth Cormier, Construction/Operations, and her family on the loss of hermother, Ruth Kitowicz, Feb. 14.

"It's not what's happening toyou now or what has happened inyour past that determines who youbecome. Rather, it's your deci-sions about what to focus on, whatthings mean to you, and what you'regoing to do about them that willdetermine your ultimate destiny."- Anthony Robbins

Employees of the month

SympathyWords worthrepeating

Safety at homeIf you have scheduled esti-

mates from contractors or linedup a visit from a service company,ask for the name of the technicianwho will be doing the work and ifthe employee will be wearing abadge or a uniform. That way,you’ll be certain that the person islegitimate. If you haven’t sched-uled a visit, be wary of anyonewho solicits access to your houseor yard. Even if the person iswearing a uniform or presents anID badge, ask for the person’sname, lock the door, and call thecompany. Most utility companieswill not send personnel to homeswithout prior notification. (IdeasUnlimited)

Avoiding dryer firesEvery year, there are more than 15,000 residential fires cause by clothes dryers,

typically a result of lint buildup.DuctBusters, a duct-cleaning company, recommends that home owners clean

their dryer vent at least once a year, and says that at times it may be necessary todo it more often, particularly when:- You are doing heavy loads, such as towels or jeans, which take a very long timeto dry.- You notice that clothes are hotter than usual at the end of the cycle. (IdeasUnlimited)

Tom Greenway, Jerry Joyner andRoger Mathurin, Cape Cod Canal

YANKEE ENGINEERMarch 2008 3

Commander's Corner:We're looking for a few good volunteersby Col. Curtis L. ThalkenDistrict Commander

This month I’d like tospend a few moments ask-ing everyone once againto consider volunteeringfor a deployment. USACEremains heavily commit-ted around the world andin most cases the folksdemonstrating USACE’sresolve are volunteers. I’m proud to say themembers of New EnglandDistrict have provided a

constant stream of volunteers for several years. In fact wecurrently have four individuals deployed in support of theGlobal War on Terrorism -- three in Afghanistan (JohnMurner, Joe Moyer and Adam Burnett) and one in Iraq (JohnManning). We also have two supporting Katrina RecoveryEfforts (Mark Anderson and John Connolly). To date, wehave had a total of 48 deploy to support the GWOT and 75

to Katrina recovery efforts.However, there is still plenty of work yet to be done and

therefore the need for additional volunteers to take the placeof those deployed remains. For those interested, both theGulf Region Division (http://www.grd.usace.army.mil/index.asp) and Afghan Engineer District (http://www.aed.usace.army.mil/) have websites where you cansee what they are currently working on. The New OrleansDistrict web site also has information available both on theefforts and the Hurricane Protection Office’s work in andaround the city.

Likewise, those interested in volunteering to support ourDistrict Base Development Team should contact the DistrictEmergency Operations for more information. This cominghurricane season our District National Water Team is thelead district for the delivery of water in support of FEMA fornot only hurricane response but any other national disaster, soif you are interested in supporting that team contact eitherEmergency Operations or Mike Keegan.

As always, thanks for everything you do each and everyday to help protect the people and environment of NewEngland and to make the District a better place to work.

Essayons!

Four Corps Park Rangers, 12 Regulatory staffmembers, two P/E-Evaluation Branch staffmembers, two Minuteman National Park Rang-ers and two National Park Service Rangersparticipated in a Vernal Pool workshop led byAram Calhoun of the University of Maine onMarch 20. After a morning lecture, the after-noon was spent checking out three vernal poolsnearby - two in Lexington and one in Lincolnat the Minuteman National Park. (Photo byLou Sideris)

Vernal PoolWorkshop

4 YANKEE ENGINEERMarch 2008

One moment you’re doing your job, partof a team focused on the business at hand andthen… that horrible instant when nothing willever be the same again. That instant happens tomany of our fighting men and women in thearmed forces. In 2006, that instant happened totwo Soldiers now assigned to an Army healthcare unit in Concord, Mass., -- Mike Pachecoand Kurt Mintell when they were on separatedeployments in Iraq. But sometimes when thatinstant happens, and seemingly life will never bethe same again, miracles happen.

The Department of Army wants the lives of its wounded servicemembers to be whole and in 2004 eight Community Based Health CareOrganizations (CBHCO) were created with one mission – to help servicemembers like Pacheco, a Major in the U.S. Army Reserves, and Mintell,a Sergeant in the Connecticut Army National Guard -- move on to the nextmoment in their lives. And now the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers NewEngland District is assisting the CBHCO of Massachusetts in a first of itskind program that will assist many of the casualties of the battlefield byproviding opportunities for meaningful work assignments that complementtheir medical care and recovery program.

The program allows Soldiers wounded in the Global War on Terrorisman opportunity to return home, receive medical care locally while recover-ing in a familiar atmosphere surrounded by family and friends and,whenever possible, gain meaningful employment. While most Soldiers inthis program return to local armories or reserve centers for individual workassignments, sometimes something special happens.

“Our population is National Guard and Reserve,” explained Maj. MarkO’Clair, Commander of the Massachusetts CBHCO. “These are all part-time soldiers, so they all have civilian jobs outside of the military.”

While the Soldiers convalesce, they are still being paid by the U.S.Army and still have to report to a work assignment when not going tomedical appointments. Realizing that some Soldiers would respond betterto a work environment similar to their civilian occupations, O’Clair turnedto the New England District for assistance.

“We developed the Warrior Workplace Program so when Soldiers

Life can change in an instant…

Kurt Mintell

WWWWWarrarrarrarrarriors faceiors faceiors faceiors faceiors faceTTTTTransitionransitionransitionransitionransition

YANKEE ENGINEERMarch 2008 5

'I like working for the Corps.I like the outside part and thefederal end of it. It feels likeI’m actually still serving.'

- Kurt Mintell

arrive at Maj. O’Clair’s unit, he would pass their names andskill sets to me and I would contact the District leadership tosee if they had work available – the response was immediateand positive,” said Mike Russo, Project Manager for theNew England District Warrior Workplace Program.

…When Mintell wasn’t serving his country in the 2/136th,

34th Infantry Division, he was a carpenter. He was used toworking with his hands and being outdoors. Under theWarrior Workplace Program, Mintell, a Connecticut resi-dent, works at the District’s Thomaston Dam on variousprojects located in Thomaston, Conn., but only when timeallows.

“First and foremost, the wounded Soldiers must takecare of themselves,” said O’Clair. “Medical appointmentscome first, and when they have time, they report to theirCorps of Engineers work assignment.”

New England District su-pervisors know ahead of timewhat the Soldier’s skill sets areas well as any limitations.

“The good thing is the jobsthat we’ve set up through theCorps of Engineers allows theSoldiers to do functional tasksthat they can see success andactually accomplish something,”said 1st Sgt. Dennis Donlan ofthe CBHCO. “A lot of times ifthey go back to an armory they can’t do their normal job andthey sit for hours answering a phone. With Soldiers likeMintell, who are used to being outdoors, he’s actually lookingat construction jobs and doing things and interacting withpeople, which is a huge benefit for his recovery.”

Pacheco, a New Hampshire resident, is working at theDistrict’s Edward MacDowell Dam. He is currently workingon an emergency response exercise for the Corps andcoordinating it with the state of New Hampshire. He said thathe has had an excellent experience with the Warrior Work-place Program.

“It’s been tremendous,” he said. “I think a major part ofconvalescing is being able to be with family. The CBHCOis taking care of all my needs. They have managed mymedical care very closely and it has worked out very, verywell.”

Pacheco, who was a Civil Affairs Officer with the 422ndCivil Affairs Battalion and is a civilian contractor for theDepartment of Homeland Security, also had high praise forhis Corps of Engineers coworkers.

“The people at the Corps are just so tremendous, I feela little guilty that I can’t be there every day because of all themedical appointments I have to go to,” he said. “They’vebeen so helpful, I kind of wish I was more heavily involved

than I can be.”“The working relationship between the Massachusetts

CBHCO and the New England District is the first in thenation between our two agencies, and has worked so well,we’d like to expand it to different Corps Districts with NewEngland’s help,” said O’Clair. “We have 170 Soldiersthroughout New England, New York and New Jersey, so wehave to find a geographical location for a Corps facility that’sappropriate and within commuting distance of the Soldier’shome.”

The Warrior Workplace Program was established by theNew England District and the CBHCO to complementexisting medical, counseling, advocacy and family supportprograms.

To realize this joint commitment, said Russo, the Districtestablished both a database that identifies each participatingSoldier, their home of record and their skill sets -- then findingopportunities with the Corps of Engineers throughout New

England and NewYork.

“Assisting ourwarriors back fromcombat transitioninto the civilianworkforce and re-build a career istough under any cir-cumstance -- but it'seven tougher to ad-

just to life after a serious injury,” said Col. Curtis L. Thalken,Commander, New England District. “We have more than aduty to assist these amazing individuals; we are the propo-nents of the Warrior Workplace Program and we areadvocates for its expansion throughout the Army Corps ofEngineers. This is just part of our commitment -- to thoseSoldiers who have served, sacrificed and are now recoveringfrom their injuries – to provide the opportunity for thesewarriors to once again succeed.”

…For two of the Soldiers in the Warrior Workplace

Program, that horrible instant that changed their lives is overand they are moving on.

At the end of March, Pacheco will complete his conva-lescence, transition out of the military and return to Baghdadas a contractor for the State Department.

Mintell will not be going back to his job as a carpenterwhen he completes the Warrior Workplace Program -- hewill be staying on as a permanent employee with the NewEngland District. “I like working for the Corps,” he said. “Ilike the outside part and the Federal end of it. It feels like I’mactually still serving…”

… and life can indeed change in an instant and smallmiracles continue to happen everyday.

6 YANKEE ENGINEERMarch 2008

working every day and facing dangerand they think about fire, it’s part oftheir every day lives,” said Dr. MarilynFreeman, Director, Natick Soldier Re-search Development and EngineeringCenter. “They ask themselves, ‘is myclothing going to be safe? Am I going tobe able to make it out of herewhen that IED goes off and theflames that ensue? Will my uni-form catch up in flames?’ Wecan’t keep Soldiers out of harm’sway every day. What we do iscome up with the best way tokeep them as safe as possibleand to bring them home fromwherever they are serving aswhole as we possibly can.”

Dr. Freeman stressed thatthe tests that will be conductedat the facility will benefit civil-ians as well. “This is not justabout the military, although thatis our primary focus, but thisfacility also has other aspectswhich will allow us to test mate-rial that will benefit first respond-ers, firefighters and other res-cue personnel.”

“The Thermal Test Facilityis a unique research building witha scope of 8,266 square feet,” said KenPaton, Project Manager. "The facilityis equipped with a materials analysislab, combustion monitoring and analy-sis lab, flammability testing/thermalbarrier lab, laser lab and a propane fuel-fired test cell.”

According to Paton, the propanefuel-fired test cell is the heart of thefacility and is constructed of 12-inchthick by 24-foot high concrete walls,and contains multiple test fixtures. Thetest cell is equipped with a complexarray of burners supported by a sophis-ticated touch screen computer controlsystem. The propane fuel cell supportsthe evaluation of the combustion andthermal characteristics of full scalesystems in a propane fire that is repro-

ducible with controlled intensity andduration.

Scientists in the control room of thepropane fuel cell can safely operate thepropane delivery systems for the firepit and stationary manikin. Scientistscan record fire testing events and pro-vide real time direct and close observa-

tion of each system either through thecontrol room window or by using fourclosed circuit cameras to view the en-tire test in the complete protection ofthe control room.

One of the tests performed in thepropane fuel cell is the ASTM F1930simulation using an instrumented mani-kin. A stationary manikin is dressed infull-sized clothing and is then com-pletely engulfed by flames that aredelivered by an eight nozzle, verticallyarrayed, propane torch system.

The test provides scientists withinformation on burn degree and thepercentage of the body that is burnedas a result of the interaction of theclothing system materials, garment de-sign, garment layering and component

interfaces.The propane fire pit with its nine

below grating ribbon burners is used fortesting tents and items of individualequipment. Somewhat similar in con-figuration to the fire pit is the walkingmanikin test where an instrumentedmanikin attached to the room’s tra-

versing mechanism allowsthe manikin to pass overeight propane fired sandburners where the flamesproject upward through thesand floor. The thermaloven will use an instru-mented manikin to assessconvective heat transferthrough full clothing sys-tems.

The New EnglandDistrict awarded a construc-tion contract on March 22,2006 to J&J Constructionof Lowell, Mass., for ap-proximately $5.5 million.NSRDEC personnel tookbeneficial occupancy onDec. 7, 2007. The newfacility will be fully opera-tional and testing in Sep-tember.

Brig. Gen. MarkBrown, commanding general, U.S.Army Soldier Systems Center (SSC)and Program Executive Officer Sol-dier; Rocco DiRico, deputy district di-rector, Office of Congressman Ed-ward Markey, Secretary DanielO’Connell, secretary of Housing andEconomic Development for the Com-monwealth of Massachusetts and Dr.Freeman performed the ribbon cutting.

New England District representa-tives who attended the ceremony wereCol. Curtis Thalken, New England Dis-trict Commander, William Scully,Deputy District Engineer for Programsand Project Management, and JimConway, Resident Engineer for theDistrict and Timothy Coleman, ProjectEngineer for the District.

...Thermal test facility ribbon cutting

Propane torch system is tested at the new Thermal Test Facility. Col. CurtisThalken (inset) and Bill Scully (right) tour the facility.

Photos by Brian Murphy

Continued from page 1

YANKEE ENGINEERMarch 2008 7

Tom Fredette of Regulatory Divi-sion is not a famous songwriter, butif his new CD becomes a hit, he sooncould be.

His song, titled, “25 Beautiful Years,” is a tribute tocouples married one quarter of a century. The idea came tohim just as he was drifting off to sleep.

“It began when afamily conversationturned to the ‘HappyBirthday To You,’song and how it hasbecome ubiquitous,”said Fredette. “I wasasking myself onenight as I was fallingasleep, which otherlife events such asholidays might ormight not havesongs?”

As he counted offholidays like anotherwould count off sheepbefore sleep, the 25thWedding Anniversaryinspiration jolted himawake long enough towrite down some linesfor the new song. “Icame up with a num-ber of verses of whateventually becamethe chorus,” saidFredette. “It just seemed to be something that might work ifI could get some additional help with it.”

Although Fredette enjoys music and even sang in cho-ruses in high school and college, songwriting is not somethingthat usually comes naturally to him. “Being scientificallyeducated, this creative storm was definitely out of my usualarea of skills,” he said.

He quickly enlisted the help of his son, Timothy, who isa musician. The younger Fredette helped his father writesome more words and came up with the basic melody that heput down on a short, audio recording. Despite the unusual

request, Timothy didn’t think anything of helping his fatherwith the song. “I think he helped me to humor me,” laughedFredette. “I’m always coming up with different crazy ideas.I think he just saw it as one of those ideas.”

Soon, it became apparent that Fredette’s creative sparkmight go somewhere. He also recruited his nephew JoeParrillo who saw the draft during a family event and liked it.Parrillo, a musician/songwriter/high school guidance counse-lor, took the Fredettes’ initial work and used it as a chorus and

added versesaround it. “Joe, hismusical partner JayLaCroix and Joe’ssister, Liz Luca,then recorded thesong.”

Songs, even thoseborn in pure inspira-tion, take time todevelop. Fredette’stune took a year anda half, from conceptto final recordedproduct, to com-plete.

The song is cur-rently on salethrough Ebay, andthere are possiblefuture opportunitiesto find it in party andcard stores.Fredette admits thatit will be a challengeto get his songplayed on radio sta-tions. “This is a bit

of a niche song, so it may not have the same sort of appealas a Top 40 song you would hear on the radio,” he said. “Butwith that said, the recording features a beautiful, touchingduet between Jay and Liz, with a rich accompaniment playedand arranged by Joe.”

When asked if he would consider another songwritingventure, Fredette revealed that a 50th Anniversary song is inthe works. Although “25 Beautiful Years” came too late asa gift to his wife (the couple has been married 31 years)Fredette has plenty of time to polish up his sequel to presentto his wife when their Golden Anniversary arrives.

TTTTTooooom Fm Fm Fm Fm Fredredredredredeeeeetttttttttte:e:e:e:e:Marine Scientist and hit songwriter?

8 YANKEE ENGINEERMarch 2008

American hero retires with32 years of service

Roger Mathurin served as Masterof Ceremonies at the retirement lunchand talked about Joyner’s impressivefederal career. Prior to joining theCorps of Engineers as a small craftoperator, Joyner served in the U.S.Navy for four years during the Viet-nam War.

During his tour, he served on adestroyer that had gun line duty. Afterserving his country in the military, Joynerdecided to continue to serve in thepublic sector by joining the Corps inNew England at the Cape Cod Canal.During his time with the District, heembodied the Army Values, especiallycourage and selfless service. He cameto the aid of over 280 recreational andcommercial vessels when they failed tosuccessfully navigate through thetreacherous waters of the Cape CodCanal.

He also volunteered without hesi-tation as a first responder to New Yorkas one of the first crews during 9/11,and went to the aide of Gulf Coastresidents during recovery efforts forHurricanes Kartina and Rita.

Fran Donovan, retired Canal Man-ager, presented Joyner with theAchievement Medal for Civilian Ser-vice for the outstanding work he per-formed during his career.

Frank Ciccone, the retired Engi-neer in Charge, presented the man ofhonor with a Bunker Hill Award.

Larry Davis, the Acting Canal Man-ager for Frank Fedele, presented Joynerwith a shadow box filled with a U.S.Flag and various medals and decora-tions that he received over his careerwith the Navy and the Corps of Engi-neers to include Civilian Achievement,Humanitarian Service, two Vietnammedals, a National Defense and aKorean campaign medal.

Mathurin gave Joyner a MarineOperations plaque before Dick Carlson,Chief, Construction/Operations offi-cially retired Joyner by presenting himwith his retirement certificate.

Joyner received less official butvery enjoyable gifts to include a WE

Gerald “Jerry” Joyner has been servinghis country, both in the military and with theCorps of Engineers, New England Districtfor nearly 32 years. When he decided to jointhe retirement community, nearly 60 friendsand family members gathered at the Ameri-can Legion Hall in Plymouth, Mass., on Feb.29, to celebrate his distinguished career andto wish him well.

Chis DeMello helps Jerry Joyner unwrap his shadow box gift that Larry Davis presented to himduring the retirement ceremony.

9YANKEE ENGINEERMarch 2008

Committee mug, a Harley Davidsonpiggy bank, a Harley Davidson hat, aHarley Davidson model, a DVD, and agift certificate to Barnes and Noble.

Members of Joyner’s family thatattended the luncheon were his wife,Connie, his sons Nate (with fiancéeAshley), Kyle, Kalum (with girlfriendMegan) and Jeremy. Joyner’s otherson, Matt, was unable to attend.

Besides, Donovan and Ciccone,retirees that attended the luncheon towelcome Joyner into the retirementcommunity were Bob Orman, FredDanhauser, Varoujan (Gabby)Garabedian, Jack Trant, Wayne Mello,Al DeGregorio, Bill Haskell, Dave Gove,and Leon Cremonini.

Joyner has already done some trav-eling in his retirement and hopes thereis a Harley Davidson motorcycle in hisnear future.

Jerry Joyner receives his retirement certificate from Dick Carlson.Photos by Kevin Burke

Jerry Joyner (left) enjoys lunch with family and friends before the retirement ceremony begins. Retiree Fran Donovan presents Joyner with hisAchievement Medal for Civilian Service.

Roger Mathurin makes a presentation whileJoyner and retiree Frank Ciccone look on.(left) Larry Davis wishes Joyner well duringthe retirement ceremony. (above)

10 YANKEE ENGINEERMarch 2008

UMASS Bostonprofessor speaksduring BlackHistory Monthcelebration

The Black Employment Program and the EqualEmployment Opportunity Office held an event celebrat-ing Black History Month on Feb. 21 in the ConcordPark Theatre.

Professor John H. Bracey, Jr. ofthe University of Massachusetts atAmherst served as the keynotespeaker. Bracey’s talk was in keepingwith this year’s theme, “Carter G.Woodson and the origins ofMulticulturalism.”

Col. Curtis Thalken, New EnglandDistrict Commander, welcomed the au-dience. “The multiculturalism of ourtimes is built on the intellectual andinstitutional labors of Carter G. Woodsonand the association he established,” hesaid. “He should be known not simplyas the Father of Black History, but asPioneer of Multiculturalism as well.”

After Bracey gave his presenta-tion, Col. Thalken and new Black Em-ployment Program Manager SteveDunbar, presented the keynote speakerwith a certificate of appreciation forparticipating in the district event.

Carter Godwin Woodson is oftenreferred to as the “Father of BlackHistory.” He was born in 1875 in NewCanton, Va., to parents who were freedslaves. Although he entered high schoolin his late teens, he was an excellent

student and went on to college to earnseveral degrees. He became one ofthe first African Americans to earn aPhD from Harvard University in 1912.

Woodson dedicated his life to thefield of African American history andits promotion to the public, especially inschools.

He helped found the associationfor the study of Negro Life in History,which later became the Association forthe Study of Afro-American Life andHistory in 1915.

In 1916, Woodson established thescholarly publication, “Journal of Ne-gro History,” and formed the AfricanAmerican-owned Associated Publish-ers Press in 1921.

Woodson lobbied schools and otherorganizations to participate in NegroHistory Week, which began in Febru-ary 1926. The week was later ex-panded and renamed Black HistoryMonth. To aid educators in the teach-ing of Black History, Woodson createdthe Negro History Bulletin in 1937.Carter G. Woodson passed away onApril 3, 1950.

Professor John H. Bracey, Jr., speaks to NewEngland District employees during the BlackHistory Month celebration.

YANKEE ENGINEERMarch 2008 11

Nothing cuts though a chill youget on a cold winter’s day like a nice,steaming hot bowl of chili.

The Work Environment Com-mittee not only provided an opportu-nity for New England District em-ployees and Community based healthcare organization (CBHCO) mem-bers to get that chili, but also for themto vote on the Best Chili in theDistrict.

Eight cooks competed for thetitle of Best Chili in the Districtduring the WE Committee’s ChiliFest 2008 contest. The annual event,which has become a wildly popularstaple to the District’s January cal-endar, drew more than 75 judges tothe Concord Park Cafeteria for a sample of the competingchef’s culinary concoctions.

“We had some great dialogue amongst the judges as theytasted and compared preferences,” said Raimo Liias, WE

Committee Chair and vote counter.“Some were very astute and tookcopious notes as they tasted eachentry.”

The competition was fierce,but in the end when all the ballotswere counted, Tim Beauchimantook the title of Best District Chiliand a gift certificate for $25 to theWE Committee store. ThomDavidson took second place andreceived a $10 certificate, followedclosely by Sgt. 1st Class EdmondGroh of the CHBCO. “First placewas a comfortable margin, but thecompetition was almost a dead heatfor our second and third place fin-ishes,” said Liias.

Honorable mentions for their tasty dishes went to Col.Andrew Nelson, Zina Cassulo-Henderson, Linda Lindell, BobMeader and the District’s Café Operator, Steve from Chip-munks.

AAAAAnnnnnnnnnnuuuuual Cal Cal Cal Cal Chili Fhili Fhili Fhili Fhili Feeeeessssst a bt a bt a bt a bt a biiiiig hig hig hig hig hit at at at at at Dt Dt Dt Dt Diiiiissssstrtrtrtrtriiiiicccccttttt

Sgt. 1st Class Edmond Groh of the CHBCO gets ready todish out his prize winning chili. Groh took third placein the contest.

A boost in a service member’smorale is sometimes just a phone callaway. For those fortunate enough tobe able to speak with family mem-bers from time to time while they arefighting the War Against Terrorism,it is a welcome reprieve to hear afamiliar voice at the other end of thephone line. But for every servicemember who has the resources tophone home, there are still manyothers who cannot.

Jackie DiDomenico, workingwith the District’s Work Environ-ment Committee, recognized the needfor Soldiers to contact friends andfamily at home and coordinated withthe Cell Phones for Soldiers Pro-gram to collect old phones and turnthem into calling cards. The CellPhones for Soldiers program sellsthe phones to a company, calledReCellular, which pays the Programenough for a one hour calling card foreach phone.

DiDomenico, who is the District’sEqual Employment Opportunity Man-ager, came up with the idea when shesaw a collection box at her local gym.“I didn’t know anything about the orga-nization, so I checked it out online whenI got home,” she said. “It seemed likea really good way to support the troopsand I felt it was something that wecould do here at the District.”

With the WE Committee’s sup-port, DiDomenico set up a collectionbox in the Concord Park lobby for amonth-long drive. It wasn’t long be-fore the cell phones began pouring infrom New England District employeesand members of the MassachusettsCommunity Based Health Care Orga-nization (CBHCO). “We’ve collectedover 200 phones, with many of themdonated by members of the CBHCO,”she said. “I’m very happy with thenumber of phones we’ve collected forour Troops.”

Cell Phones for Soldiers was

founded in 2004 by Norwell, Mass.,teens Robbie and Brittany Berquistwhen they decided that they wantedto help the Troops stay in touch withloved ones. The two young peopletook $21 of their own money to foundthe registered 501c3 nonprofit orga-nization. Since its inception, CellPhones for Soldiers has raised al-most $1 million in donations and havedistributed more than 400,000 pre-paid calling cards to overseas ser-vice members.

DiDomenico is pleased that morethan 200 Soldiers will be able to talkto their families thanks to the effortsof the WE Committee and would liketo try to help more Troops. “I wouldlove it if we could do the phone driveannually, but it would be even betterto leave a collection box out perma-nently,” she said. “As people getnew phones, they can recycle themwith us and more Soldiers will getcalling cards.”

New England District collects 'Cell Phones for Soldiers'

1 2 YANKEE ENGINEERMarch 2008

Dredging up the past . . .

Public Affairs OfficeNew England DistrictU.S. Army Corps of Engineers696 Virginia RoadConcord, MA 01742-2751 Meter Code 40

First ClassU.S. Postage

PaidConcord, MA

Permit No. 494

Dottie Bolduc (center) mingles with Paul Howard, Brian Valiton and other guests at her retirement luncheonin this June 3, 1999 photo. Bolduc, who worked in Regulatory, had 16 years of federal service.