Remembering Skipper Chick Russell

A Martinez icon died recently, and we didn’t want his passing to go unmentioned.

Chick Russell was the Skipper of the , the Sea Scout vessel in Martinez. From the 1970s through the '90s, Russell showed countless youth from the area how to show up for themselves, their shipmates and their lives. He guided these kids through the impossible and dreary tasks of polishing brass, cleaning out bilges and heads, and securing lines that are part of running a ship-shape ship. Through his guidance, these kids learned the value of participation, that even if a task seemed menial and unimportant, if it was done correctly and with pride, it became essential.

Russell was the skipper in 1979 when another Sea Scout boat, the Golden Fin, was visiting the Martinez Marina and, through a prank gone horribly wrong, caught fire. Russell and his crew were invaluable in helping tow the burning vessel out of the marina and into safer waters, where it continued to burn. When you work as a team, you can do amazing things.

I had the good fortune to live next door to Russell throughout the 1980s, and never met a kinder, more giving soul.

We recently received a letter from a former Sea Scout that we thought pertinent to share with you.

“I grew up in Martinez and Skipper Russell was my Skipper when I was a kid in the '80's.

“20 years later, my son became a Sea Scout and Skipper Russell was his skipper as well.

“Today my son, Max Richardson, proudly serves in the United States Coast Guard.

“I am the Sea Scouting Commodore for the Aloha Council, Boy Scouts of America, here in Hawaii, and I am the commanding officer of the Sea Scout Ship Decisive.

“Needless to say, Skipper Russell, the SSS Albatross, and Sea Scouting had a significant impact on my life and that of my son.

“(And truth be known, most of what I teach kids here in Hawaii, I learned from Skipper Russell!)

“Skipper Russell was a unique individual and I'm glad that his story will be told.

“He touched a lot of lives.”

Respectfully,

Commodore Larry Richardson

Aloha Council, BSA Sea Scouting Program

Thank you, Commodore Richardson.

And thank you, Skipper Chick Russell. For everything.

TODAY IN HISTORY:

1929 - Babe Ruth becomes the first baseball player to hit 500 home runs in his career with a home run at League Park in Cleveland, Ohio.

1934 - The first civilian prisoners arrive at the federal prison on Alcatraz Island.

1942 - Actress Hedy Lamarr and composer George Antheil receive a patent for a frequency hopping, spread spectrum communication system that was the basis for the technology used in wireless telephones and Wi-Fi.

1965 - Race riots (the Watts riots) begin in the Watts area of Los Angeles.

1972 - Vietnam War: The last U.S. ground combat unit leaves South Vietnam.

2003 - A heat wave in Paris with temperatures rising to 112 degrees (44 °C), leaves about 144 people dead.