Local
Culver club celebrates institution's
centennial year
Published Mon, Apr 22, 2002
By OMAR FORD
Gazette staff writer
The R.H. Ledbetter docked in
Beaufort this weekend as part of a tour
celebrating the centennial of Culver
Summer Camps.
The
Culver Summer Camps' flagship is making a
seven-week voyage from Palm Beach, Fla.,
to Washington, D.C., and stopped to meet
with members of the Lowcountry Culver
Club. Club members are people who attended
the camp or were students at Culver
Academies.
The
R.H. Ledbetter will only stop in
places that have local Culver clubs.
Members are graduates who recruit students
for the school and celebrate its
existence, said Larry Bess, associate
director of administration for Culver
Academies.
Jim
Goettle, a resident of Beaufort who
graduated from Culver Academies in 1943,
said the institution was fundamental in
shaping him into the man he is today.
"My
time at the Culver Academies prepared me
for the rest of my life," he said.
"It gave me a strong military
background. And when I went into World War
II, I went in as an officer instead of an
enlisted man."
Beaufort
was the fifth stop on the boat's journey,
according to Cathy Zurbrugg, assistant
director of development at Culver
Academies.
"The
clubs at our stops have been very
supportive," she said.
Culver
graduates include New York Yankees owner
George Steinbrenner, who graduated in
1948, and actor Hal Holbrook, who
graduated in 1942.
The
R.H. Ledbetter is a three-masted
square-rigger. It has been on the water
since 1984. The crew of the R.H.
Ledbetter is made up of summer
campers who are selected on the basis of
excellence in seamanship and citizenship.
The
next stop for the ship is Wrightsville
Beach, N.C.
Copyright:The
Beaufort Gazette,
Beaufort,
S.C.
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