CAPTION: Pictured, left to right, are Courageous Sailing Center Director of Adult Programs Dave DiLorenzo, Director of Sailing Miguel Corti, Director of Youth Programming Kate Henderson and Executive Director John Maconga.

Now in its 21st season, the Navy Yard-based non-profit Courageous Sailing Center is offering several programs for Charlestown residents in an effort to both give back to the community and to celebrate its roots in the neighborhood.
“We’re trying to make a statement that we appreciate being a part of the community, so we’re trying to put together a package of programming across all portion of what Courageous does, starting with youth programming and continuing with our adult programming,” said Courageous Executive Director John Maconga.
The incentives that Courageous is offering include free Spring Break sailing for Charlestown youth and discounted memberships for neighborhood residents, as well as its “Teens in Action” community service program.
Between April 22 and 25, Courageous will sponsor “Taste the Excitement!” — a free half-day program that introduces Charlestown youth ages 8 to 18 to the fundamentals of sailing on the Boston Harbor.
“It’s a crime because so many kids live so close to water and never get out to enjoy this amazing resource,” said Director of Youth Programming Kate Henderson. “Through programs like this, we want to change this.”
Parents and guardians of Charlestown children can register their children for the program with Henderson at Courageous Sailing Center at Pier 4 in the Navy Yard on Thursday and Friday, April 17 and 18, between noon and 7 p.m. Charlestown youth groups can also register for the program.
In addition Courageous will once again sponsor its annual anniversary celebration on Bunker Hill Day, Tuesday, June 17, which will offer family activities, a neighborhood cookout and complimentary sailboat rides on the Boston Harbor.
For adults, Courageous is offering a $100 discount on all memberships and 10-percent off of all courses for Charlestown residents, as well a full range of adult programming for the first time.
Director of Sailing Miguel Conti hopes the expanded programming will encourage Charlestown families to take up sailing together. “I can’t think of a better thing than spending a Saturday sailing with my family,” he said.
Meanwhile, Courageous will introduce its “Teens in Action” program in the fall. The new offering, made possible through a grant from the Charlestown Neighborhood Council Mitigation Committee, will allow Charlestown kids to engage in a community service project of their choosing for the betterment of the neighborhood (e.g. park cleanup, graffiti removal).
“The idea is to give empower local kids and give them the opportunity to practice leadership skills,” Henderson said. “{The program] won’t be sailing focused, but will instead bring a group of Charlestown kids together to concentrate on neighborhood projects.”
Courageous Sailing Center will hold at One First Ave. in the Navy Yard on Saturday and Sunday, April 26 and 27. For more information on Courageous, call 617-242-3821 or visit www.courageousailing.org.

Main Street resident Rosemary Kverek attended her first Charlestown Preservation Society meeting soon after moving to the neighborhood in 1985. She was drawn to the organization’s mission to preserve the architectural heritage and quality of life of the neighborhood and immediately volunteered her services with the group. By the early ‘90s, she was a CPS board member and was later named president of the organization.
Thus began Kverek’s work as one of the community’s most committed social activists.
Born in Schenectady, N.Y., Kverek earned an undergraduate degree in business before taking a position with General Electric at Knolls Atomic Power Lab in nearby Niskayuna. She left the job after three years in 1964 to pursue a master’s degree in elementary education at The College of St. Rose in Albany.
In 1965, Kverek began her teaching career as an instructor for second- and third-graders at Stevens Elementary School in Burnt Hills, N.Y. “I liked the kids and the fact that you could change their lives and help them with everything they need to do,” Kverek said of the teaching profession.
And Kverek’s devotion to teaching didn’t go unnoticed: During a career that eventually spanned 20 years, she was named an honorary life member of the National Parents Teacher Association, Teacher of the Year and vice president of the Teachers Association.
In 1977, Kverek took a sabbatical from teaching to further her post-graduate education at Boston University. She returned to Stevens Elementary School the following year but took a leave of absence upon completing her 20th year of teaching in 1985.
“When I left, the principal said, ‘I’ll save your job, but I know you won’t come back. You’ll love Boston,’” she recalled.
When Kverek returned to Boston, she settled in Charlestown — a decision that she attributes in part to her fascination with the neighborhood’s past. “I love the history of New England,” Kverek said, adding that she now lives in the home once occupied by the man who gave Paul Revere his horse.
Kverek joined the staff of Gibson Real Estate in 1985. She was later named a partner with the Charlestown firm and would go on to spend the next 20 years working in residential real estate.
“It was a nice change from teaching because you could make your own hours and meet a lot of people, which is what I liked the most,” Kverek said.
Ken Stone, an employee of Thompson Square-based NetShare Realty, worked with Kverek at Gibson and would go on to become one of her closest friends.
“I have known Rosemary for almost 20 years, and I have never met a more honest more sincere person,” Stone said. “She has a real interest in Charlestown and works in her own little ways to make it better. Need a friend in times of trouble? Rosemary will be there for you. The animal kingdom is also fortunate to have Rosemary around.”
A longtime advocate of animal welfare, Kverek collects sheets and towels for local animal shelters and serves as a member of the newly formed Friends of the Charlestown Dog Park.
Kverek also became a champion for the environment after hearing world-renowned anthropologist Jane Goodall speak at the Franklin Park Zoo in the early ‘90s. The lecture not only raised Kverek’s awareness of the importance of recycling but also launched her crusade to clean up the Edison power plant in Everett.
One of the so-called “Filthy Five” power plants in the state, Edison burned environmentally harmful crude oil #6. Kverek, who estimates she attended more than three-dozen meetings regarding Edison’s practices, was instrumental in pressuring the power plant to switch over to using more innocuous natural gas.
In the early ‘90s, Kverek also was an outspoken opponent of Scheme Z — a plan that proposed building the Central Artery over the Charles River and connecting it with surrounding roadways. Rosemary Kverek was among those who visited the office of Fred Salvucci, the Commonwealth’s former Secretary of Transpiration and one of the Big Dig planners, at 6:30 a.m. to lobby against the project. Kverek’s work paid off, and Scheme Z was eventually abandoned.
In the meantime, Kverek also served as a board member and secretary for the Charlestown Historical Society. She currently volunteers her time to the Charlestown Lions Club, Friends of the Charlestown Branch Library and the Boston Preservation Alliance.
Kverek was named as a board member of the Harvard-Kent Leadership and Scholarship Partnership last year. In this role, she helps organize field trips for distinguished students at the school.
As for Kverek’s contributions, the community has already taken notice, which was made evident when she received a Charlestown Community Appreciation Award on March 28, 1992, for “the new resident whose deeds have contributed to the quality of Charlestown life.”
And while Kverek took a leave of absence from Gibson in June 2006 and formally retired last April, her tireless volunteer work leaves her with little idle time.
“I just keep busy and keep myself out of trouble,” she said.

An estimated 300 families braved the cold on Saturday morning for the Charlestown Mothers Association’s annual egg hunt. For the second consecutive year, the hunt took place at Shipyard Park in the Navy Yard, which provided an ideal setting for the many children searching for eggs. Other activities included face painting by CMA members Melissa McGaughey and Ela Quezada, balloons and music from Mr. Ron, and a surprise arrival by the Easter Bunny on Engine 50!
"This is one of our largest community events of the year. We have over 3,000 eggs stuffed and hidden in anticipation of the hunt," reported CMA Co-president Leigh Hurd. According to CMA Board Member Katie Alitz: "This event really brings so many people together and could not be done without the support of our members, the Friends of the Charlestown Navy Yard and the Boston Redevelopment Authority, which has kindly allowed us to utilize the park for two years in a row."

A proposed $45 million, four-story office building is described as the next phase in the build out of the Hood Business Park – a process that is expected to take between 15 and 20 years to complete.
“This is a continuation of our master plan and a very important building to the future of the park,” Stephen J. Kaneb, principal of Lynnfield-based Catamount Management Company, said at a Charlestown Neighborhood Council Development Committee meeting last week.
At the meeting, representatives from Catamount, which acquired the former site of the HP Hood Dairy in 1995, presented its revised plans for a 143,225 square-foot building to be sited where an abandoned 1950s brick warehouse at 480 Rutherford Ave. now stands. The building would stand approximately 68 feet tall, including a 10-foot roof screen for mechanicals, according to Mark Spaulding, director of architecture for the Cambridge firm Symmes, Maini & McKee Architects and Engineers and a Putnam Street resident.
Catamount filed a Notice of Project Change for the development on Feb. 29 and the developer will likely appear at the April 29 BRA board meeting to seek approval for the project, said BRA Senior Project Manager Geoff Lewis. If approved, a Catamount representative said construction would begin in the fall and take approximately two years to complete.
The new building would be located at the key point of entrance off of Rutherford Avenue and would “frame” the space where vehicles enter the office park, Spaulding said.
Unlike the elevated office buildings at the development at 500 and 510 Rutherford Ave., the first floor of the proposed development would be at grade.
“This would introduce new uses on Rutherford Avenue or the backside of the building,” Spaulding said. “Restaurant or retail use could be entertained.”
While 215 on-site parking spaces are currently proposed for the project, Spaulding said he expected a parking structure would be built during future phases of the office park build-out.
So far, CNC members have met the project with enthusiasm.
“This is a great development, and you’re a great community partner,” said newly elected CNC representative Mark Rosenshein.
Neighborhood Council members in attendance voted unanimously to support CMC Chairman Tom Cunha’s motion to send a letter to the CNC in support of the project. The matter will then be up for ratification at the April 1 CNC meeting.

One evening during the bleak winter months of the year 2000, middle-aged men gathered over a beer or two, and an idea was born. At the time, all of us had long ago waved a fond goodbye to our 50th year on this earth, but the competitive instincts that had carried us across the ball fields, hockey rink, and basketball courts of our younger days still burned. However, we all realized that whatever athletic prowess that might still exist within had now been moved from those fields, rinks and courts of yesterday to the fairways of today.
By evening’s end, a picture for a golf tournament for players ages 50 and over had been lightly sketched. All that was needed was a bit of polishing to finalize the event. Because it was still the dead of winter, several months still remained before the finished product would be presented.
That first year, the summer of 2001, 40 players gathered at a golf course in southern New Hampshire for the inaugural event of what has since become known as the Joe Considine Memorial Over 50 Golf Tournament. Because the organizers of the competition were not totally convinced that their idea would be a success, they set the number of possible entrants at 40, guaranteed the golf course that number, and held their breath just hoping for the best. Word spread, and the response was so overwhelming that the guarantee of 40 players proved to be too low. An agreement, though, had been made with the golf course for 40, and by the time it was learned that more spots could have been filled, it was too late to change. Since that first gathering in the summer of 2001, the number of entrants has grown each year until last summer when 86 golfers gathered at The Overlook Golf Club in Hollis, N.H., for the seventh annual renewal of the event.
Here is how it works. Each player is assessed a number based on his (or her) golfing ability. If a player has taken part in the tournament on a previous occasion(s), the number of what we call dots that he (she) will be assessed will be based on those performances. Golfers new to the competition are asked for an honest figure of their average 18-hole score. Using a score of 90 as being equal to 18 dots (90 is generally 18 over par on a regulation golf course), a new entrant’s dot assessment is adjusted up or down based on the average score as it relates to 90.
Dots are earned during the round by scoring bogeys (1), pars (2), birdies (4) and eagles (8). In the previous seven years, Bernie White holds the distinction of making the lone eagle and the lone hole-in-one. It came when he aced one of the par three holes in the 2006 contest.
This “dot” system has proven to be a great equalizer, as a weaker golfer needing five dots will only have to make six to be plus one, whereas a stronger golfer who may need 30 dots will have to reach 31 before scoring plus one.
Last year, the entry fee was $80 per golfer. For the entry fee, a person will play 18 holes of golf with a cart, will receive lunch consisting of a burger, chips and a beer or soft drink, and compete for cash prizes that amount to some $1,400. The prize money varies from year to year based on the number of entrants. There are individual, as well as team prizes, with the top prize going to the best scoring team based on the dot system. Although an attempt is made to post the foursomes a week prior to the event, many players will not know who their teammates are until the morning of the tournament.
In the past, individual prizes have been awarded in four age groups — the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s. This year, however, a change is being made. Players will be placed in one of four divisions. The first division will be named in honor of Joe Considine, the man for whom the tournament is named. The remaining three divisions will be named in honor of Al McLaughlin, Denny Borden and Dave Donovan, three men who participated in the tournament every year until their untimely passings.
The Considine Tournament is held at the Overlook Golf Club in Hollis, N.H., at 7:30 a.m. on the second Wednesday in July. The date this year is July 9.
Although women have never been excluded from the tournament, there has never been a female entrant. Anybody, man or woman, is invited to compete in the Eighth Annual Joe Considine Over 50 Golf Tournament.

The public auction of the troubled HarborView development in the Navy Yard has been delayed for a fourth time until Thursday, May 1, at 11 a.m., according to the Web site for Holbrook-based Paul E. Sapperstein Co. Auctioneers and Appraisers.
The on-site auction of the 325,000 square foot development, located at 250 First St., was originally scheduled for Nov. 8, 2007. The complex contains 224 residential units, 29,000 square feet of residential space and 334 below-grade parking spaces on 2.63 acres.
According to a document released by the auctioneer, the sale comes after the mortgagor, Navy Yard Four Associates LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, allegedly breached its agreement with the mortgagee, Eurohypo AG, an international bank that specializes in real estate and public finance.
In November of 2007, Jeff Mann of Paul E. Sapperstein Co said the first postponement came at the request of attorneys for Eurohypo. HarborView was last scheduled to go up for auction on March 11, 2008, before the latest postponement.
While the auctioneer doesn’t specify an estimated value for the development that came at a cost of $100 million, its terms of sale state: “A deposit of [$1 million] by certified or bank cashier’s check only will be required at the time and place of sale, which deposit shall be increased to an amount equal to 10 percent of the bid price within 10 days of the sale date and balance due within 30 days of sale date.”
In August of 2007, Turner Construction Company filed a lawsuit in Suffolk Superior Court against the Trammel Crowe Company alleging that the Dallas developer misled the construction company into finishing the complex, even though it lacked sufficient funding to finish the project. The lawsuit claims that Trammell Crowe defaulted on loan payments to Eurohypo and Prudential Insurance Company of America.
Also in August, Trammel Crowe announced that HarborView, which was originally developed as a condominium complex, would be “repositioned for sale as an upscale, mixed-use rental community,” partly in response to slow unit sales.