Happy 226th Birthday, United States Coast Guard!

Time for birthday cake!  From the US Coast Guard's website (link),

The Coast Guard's official history began on 4 August 1790 when President George Washington signed the Tariff Act that authorized the construction of ten vessels to enforce federal tariff and trade laws and to prevent smuggling. Known variously through the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as the "revenue cutters," the "system of cutters," the Revenue Marine and finally the Revenue Cutter Service, it expanded in size and responsibilities as the nation grew. 

The U.S. Coast Guard Pipe Band in New York City

Public Domain (link)

The service received its present name in 1915 under an act of Congress that merged the Revenue Cutter Service with the U. S. Life-Saving Service. The latter consisted of dozens of stations placed around the nation’s coastlines that were manned by dedicated crews willing to risk their lives to save those in peril on the sea, a role that meshed well with the Revenue Cutter Service’s core missions. Also, the legislation creating this “new” Coast Guard expressly stated that it "shall constitute a part of the military forces of the United States," thereby codifying the service’s long history of defending the country along side the nation's other armed services. 

Coast Guard Lighthouse at the foot of Diamond Head

The Coast Guard began maintaining the country's aids to maritime navigation, including lighthouses, when President Franklin Roosevelt ordered the transfer of the Lighthouse Service to the Coast Guard in 1939. In 1946 Congress permanently transferred the Commerce Department's Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation to the Coast Guard, which placed merchant marine licensing and merchant vessel safety under its purview. The nation now had a single maritime federal agency dedicated to saving life at sea and enforcing the nation's maritime laws. 

MH-65C Dolphin in flight.

Public Domain (link)

I am giving away Coast Guard swag to one randomly selected commenter. To enter the giveaway,

1. Leave a comment about the Coast Guard - do you know any Coast Guard veterans? Seen the Coast Guard in action? Read a good story about the Coast Guard?

2. Comments are open through Saturday, August 6, 10 pm in Baltimore.

3. I'll post the winner on Sunday, August 7.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore

Aloha Spirit in Charm City

Special Sourcebooks Giveaway - D.E. Stevenson's THE TWO MRS. ABBOTTS (Miss Buncle Series)

Let's get the weekend party started with Seven Degrees of Separation:

1.  On this day in 1912, the Scout Association received a Royal Charter to incorporate throughout the British Commonwealth.

2.  My son, an Eagle Scout, is hiking Sugarloaf Mountain today to train for a high adventure camp this summer at Philmont Scout Camp in New Mexico (link).

Sugarloaf Mountain
Release to Public Domain (link)

3.  Sugarloaf Mountain, in Frederick County, is listed on the National Natural Landmarks (link).  The summit of Sugarloaf Mountain served as an observation point for the Union Army during the Civil War.

4.  The National Natural Landmarks encompasses all fifty states, including seven sites in Hawaii.   Yes, all things come back to Hawaii.

Stevenson at a Royal Luau
Public Domain (link)

5.  In 1889, Hawaii welcomed Scotland's own Robert Lewis Stevenson.   He hobnobbed with the Royal Family, including Princess Victoria Kaʻiulani Kalaninuiahilapalapa Kawekiu i Lunalilo Cleghorn (her father was Scottish).  Yes, all things come back to Scotland.

6.  Robert Lewis Stevenson's cousin, David Alan Stevenson, was a lighthouse engineer.  Hawaii boasts a handful of historic lighthouses.

Diamond Head Lighthouse 

7.  David Alan Stevenson was the father of Dorothy Emily Peploe.  Under her penname D.E. Stevenson, she wrote more than 40 lighthearted romantic novels.    

On January 7, Sourcebooks Landmark will release a reprint edition of THE TWO MRS. ABBOTTS, Book 3 in the Miss Buncle Series (link):

Nothing Goes Unnoticed in the Small Town of Wandlebury!

Much as changed in Wandlebury since Barbara Buncle (now Barbara Abbott) first moved to the charming English village. But as the mistress of her own home with two small children to look after, Barbara finds that she has distressingly little time to keep up with the goings-on of her friends and neighbors.

Luckily, Barbara's niece, Jerry Abbott, is more than willing to keep tabs on the news in Wandlebury. And with juicy tidbits of gossip about everything from inconvenient romantic entanglements to German spies hiding in the woods, there is plenty to keep the two Mrs. Abbotts busy in this humorous account of life in World War II England.

D.E. Stevenson delivers another well-crafted gem with The Two Mrs. Abbotts, the third and final book of the beloved Miss Buncle series.

WWII pillbox on Oahu's North Shore

Sourcebooks Landmark is giving away a print copy of THE TWO MRS. ABBOTTS to one randomly selected commenter.  To enter the giveaway,

1.  Check out the list of National Natural Landmarks in each US state (at this link).   Have you visited any in your state?  Do you have a favorite?   For Canadian readers, feel free to share your favorite national landmark from the Great White North.

2.  Sourcebooks' giveaway is open to all readers.

3.  Comments are open through Thursday, January 9, 10 pm in Baltimore.  I'll contact the winner directly and post the winner's name on Sunday, January 12.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore
Aloha Spirit in Charm City