October 2012 Newsletter

BrickieFest Picnic on Sunday, October 21:
Bring Your Own Lunch and Enjoy!

This year’s get-together is a different kind of BrickieFest. It’s a family-oriented, bring-your-own-lunch picnic to be held on Sunday, October 21, from 12 noon to 5 pm, at Festival Park, 111 E. Old Ridge Road in Hobart.

In case of rain, cold or bad weather of any kind, we will hold the picnic indoors at the Hobart Community Center, right there in Festival Park. There will be limited food and drink options available, but this is a picnic, so bring what you need for you and your family.

Hobart High School’s choral group Wolffgang will sing from 2:00 to 3:00.

      Above: Debra Opolski staffs the HHSAA table at
     the Lakefront Festival in August at Festival Park.

            If you want to see who else is coming, and let other people know that you are coming, login to the HHSAA website at www.hobartalumni.org, click BRICKIEFEST PICNIC! and scroll down to the RSVP form. To see who else is coming, click PICNIC ATTENDEES. Come and enjoy!

 

Alumni Spotlight

Tom Dettweiler, HHS Class of 1970, has explored ocean floors around the world, and was on the mission that discovered the Titanic with Robert Ballard in 1985. Tom has also led many other shipwreck discovery expeditions, and he currently leads mineral exploration projects for Odyssey Marine Exploration.

Tom has graciously agreed to share his story with us:

Could you describe your path from Hobart High School to oceanographer and explorer?

After graduating Hobart High in 1970, I entered Purdue University to study Electrical and Electronics Engineering.  As part of my undergraduate program I also became a coop student working every other semester at Argonne National Laboratory in nuclear physics.  I realized during this time that although I liked Electrical Engineering I didn't want to be in a factory or office type environment.

At some point prior to my graduation I saw an ad on a school bulletin board from a professor in Marine Science, who needed someone to build current meters for him to use in studies in the Great Lakes. This professor, Dr Bill Wood, turned out to be very inspirational to me. Since being a coop student had somewhat upset my normal course sequence, I started working on a Masters in Marine Science while finishing my electrical engineering degree. Dr. Wood arranged an exchange for me to go down to the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science at the University of Miami to complete my Masters in Ocean Engineering.

While in Miami, one of my friends from Purdue told me about the great opportunity he had at Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Company and that he thought it would be something I would be interested in as well.  I ended up taking a job there, and during my first year ended up being transferred into a new venture they were involved in, which was venturing out into the deep ocean for the first time to mine manganese nodules. The name of the company was Deepsea Ventures.  This gave me an opportunity to use both my engineering degrees and science degrees in a very challenging and exciting emerging field and the spark was ignited.

During graduate school I had met Jacques Cousteau, and when manganese nodule mining came to a point of uncertainty in its development, I reestablished contact with Captain Cousteau and was offered a position on the Calypso as the Science Officer.  I eventually went back to manganese nodule mining when it briefly came back to life, and it was during this time that I first became involved in efforts to find the Titanic.

(More in next question)  This led me to Woods Hole Oceanographic where I was the operations leader for Dr. Robert Ballard, at a time that we found and explored the Titanic.

From Woods Hole I was invited down to the Washington DC area to support government Naval operations and to conduct several major search operation including the I-52 Japanese submarine and the DAKAR Israeli submarine.  I was doing these operations through a small defense contractor named Nauticos.  When Nauticos was purchased by a large ocean operations company, Oceaneering, I accepted an invitation to go to work as a Senior Project Manager with Odyssey Marine Exploration.

At Odyssey I have led a number of key searches and recoveries of historic shipwrecks as documented in the Discovery Channel Series "Treasure Quest".  For the past two years I have taken Odyssey in a slightly different direction by converting and outfitting a large vessel to conduct mineral exploration in the deep ocean. I led two years of expeditions to the hot vents in the South Pacific 'Ring of Fire' volcanic regions. My title is now Director of the Minerals Exploration Division. 

People continue to be fascinated with stories of the Titanic. Can you tell us how you became involved in discovering the wreckage of that famous ship?

In 1979, while I was at Deepsea Ventures, we had developed the first deepwater search and camera systems, so we were approached by a Hollywood film producer who wanted to have us use our equipment to find and explore the Titanic.  Unfortunately the film producer decided to take a different route, but because we had already done much of the research and preparation for the search, we were then approached by Dr. Robert Ballard and Emory Kristoff (National Geographic) who were trying to put their own expedition together.  They were unable to get the funding necessary, however and the project was put on hold.

In 1984, I received a phone call from Dr Ballard, explaining that he had gotten the funding from the Navy to build equipment based on the same technology as what we had developed at Deepsea,

and he wondered if I would be interested in joining his group at Woods Hole Oceanographic to begin preparing for a Titanic expedition.  I immediately jumped at the chance and after continuing the develop of the ARGO system and conducting deepwater tests, we set out in 1985 and succeeded to find the Titanic, with a follow on expedition in 1986, in which we continued to explore the wreck with the camera sled and with the manned submersible ALVIN.

In 1998, I was contracted through Nauticos by the Discovery Channel to lead another expedition to Titanic during which we conducted an extensive science expedition as well as a live broadcast during the expedition.

What are some of your other most memorable experiences in discovering lost shipwrecks?

Every discovery is special for its own reasons, either due to the challenge of finding it, or the discovery itself and the excitement of being the first person to see a ship since the fateful day that it left the surface.

My own personal favorite was the Israeli submarine DAKAR which had been lost very mysteriously in 1968 in the Mediterranean.  Searches had been conducted unsuccessfully for many years afterward, but in 1998 I was asked to come to Israel through the US Navy to help find the sub and in 1999 led the successful expedition to find the sub, and then followed up in 2000 with an exploration program during which we raised a 4 ton portion of the submarine's sail (conning tower) which was returned to Israel as a monument.  The primary reason this was so rewarding to me professionally and personally was not only the challenge, but the fact that we brought closure to the families who had been missing their sons, husbands, or fathers for 30 years. 

One of the other very memorable experiences was the discovery of the I-52, a large Japanese submarine that had disappeared in the very deep ocean (5200 meters) in the middle of the Atlantic while carrying on a clandestine trade with the Germans during World War II.  This was an extremely interesting, little known story as it had remained mostly classified until our discovery in 1995.  It will someday make a fantastic movie.

In what ways did Hobart High School help prepare you for your career, directly or indirectly, and were there any people in particular who helped start you on that path?

I was in the math and science program at Hobart High, and obviously it prepared me quite well for my college and professional careers.  I think it is a testament to the quality of the Hobart teachers to both inspire and to impart the knowledge to students such as myself. I have to admit I wasn't all that excited to be stuck in school, as even then I seemed to be looking for adventure. I think the school system definitely ranked well above average for a public school system, and the numbers of people who went on to college and/or who have had successful careers is proof.

Do you have any advice for today's high school students who are interested in oceanography and undersea exploration?

The key is to identify your goals, set your path, and stick with it. Don't let the dreamkillers talk you out of your goals. It is not an easy field to get a job in, so it helps to figure out a way to give yourself an advantage over others, such as coming up with a combination of majors that would be more in demand than a single major and which would be less common.  If you are enthusiastic and let this show through it will be recognized.

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No Cost to Join the HHSAA Website!

Visit our website at www.hobartalumni.org. You can register for free by finding your name and creating a profile with your email address and contact information. If you don’t find your name, click Contact Us, and send us a message, asking to be added to the roster. Be sure to include your class year.

Joining the HHS Alumni Association is a different issue. The HHSAA raises money for scholarships and teacher grants, and that membership is $10 a year. But the website is free!

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HHS Inducts Six New Members into the Hall of Fame

The School City of Hobart recently inducted six new members into the HHS Athletic Hall of Fame. They are: Steve Balash (HHS Class of 1968), Charlie Boston (1970), Dave Tipton (1971), Kurt Liechty (1979), John Dubenetsky (1973), and Bob Bowman (1971). You can read more about them
 on the HHSwebsite.          

(Picture courtesy of Hobart High School)

 Have you seen the YouTube video, “Once a Brickie, Always a Brickie?” (Click on the link, or search on YouTube.)

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HHS Alumni Association Board

The Hobart High School Alumni Association was officially incorporated on July 17, 2010. The members of the Board of Directors whose terms end in July 2014 are:

OFFICERS

Paul Addison, Class of 1970................................................................................................... President

Sharon Wozniak Palmeri, Class of 1966........................................................................ Vice-President

Lynn Hasza-Heintz, Class of 1967......................................................................... Recording Secretary

Barbara Phillips Rowley, Class of 1965.................................................. Corresponding Secretary

Debra Broker Opolski, Class of 1970........................................................................................ Treasurer

AT-LARGE MEMBERS

Brent Martinson, Principal, Hobart High School

Kathy Fattore Allen, Class of 1986

Holli Smith Kostbade, Class of 1998

Lynn Sheets Kostbade, Class of 1966

Tracy Estabrook McCullough, Class of 1978

Sherry Oswald Peterson, Class of 1965

STUDENT MEMBERS

Savannah Ehrlich, Class of 2013

Jena Funes, Class of 2013

*Two junior student members will be chosen soon. Each year, there are two seniors and two juniors on the board.

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Mission Statement

The mission of the Hobart High School Alumni Association is to develop and maintain a close relationship between Hobart High School, its constituents, and its alumni for their mutual benefit.  The Association is committed to, and involved in the support and well-being of Hobart High School and its alumni.

Our Goals

• To assist Hobart High School in communication with its alumni
•    To convey to Hobart High School the views, attitudes, and needs of the alumni in seeking to preserve, advocate, and promote alumni interests
•  To strengthen alumni activities and programs

•    To support educational programs through teacher grants and student scholarships

                                                __________________________________________

The Brick & Mortar Board is a publication of the Hobart High School Alumni Association, Inc., a non-profit, 501(c)(3) corporation. It is an electronic publication, delivered by email to members of the Association. Membership is $10 per year, and donations are tax-deductible. Make your check payable to: HHS Alumni Association, and mail it to: HHSAA, PO Box 68, Hobart, IN 46342. Our website is: www.hobartalumni.org. The editor of The Brick & Mortar Board is Paul Addison.

Our Supporters

The HHS Alumni Association is a not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) corporation, and our entire financial support comes from membership dues and contributions.

Beginning with this issue, we will recognize our supporters by listing the names (not the amounts) of those who have contributed to HHSAA, including memorials, donations, and new members.

Membership in the HHS Alumni Association is $10 per year, and any memberships received between now and the end of the year will extend your membership until December 2013. Thank you!

MEMORIALS

Michael R. Krull (1969)

Paul Addison (1970)

Lynn Heintz (1967)

Debra Broker Opolski (1970)

Gary W. Hasza (1972)

Lynn Hasza-Heintz (1967)

DONATIONS

Carol Edmonds Trethaway (1967)

NEW MEMBERS

Lynn Seipel Dobyanski (1962)

Judy Dusczynski Dragon (1967)

Carol Edmonds Trethaway (1967)

Jeanne Greene Bigler (1967) 

Dorita Holder Lavish (1967) 

Linda Jackson Bakos (1967)

Diane Kursch Voglund (1967)

Nina McAfee Taylor (1967)

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HHSAA President to Speak at Hobart Historical Society Annual Dinner

Paul Addison, current President of the HHS Alumni Association, will speak on the HHSAA at the annual dinner meeting of the Hobart Historical Society on Thursday, November 8, at the Paragon Restaurant. For more information, contact Elin Christianson, President, Hobart Historical Society, PO Box 24, Hobart, IN 46342. The museum is open on Saturdays from 10 am to 12 noon, so you could call there during that time, at 219-942-0970.

Membership Application

Hobart High School Alumni Association, Inc.

First Name__________________________________________________________

Last Name (in high school)_____________________________________

Married Last Name______________________________________________

Street Address____________________________________________________

City___________________________________ State___________ Zip________

Email address_____________________________________________________

Home phone_______________________________________________________

Cell phone__________________________________________________________

Work phone_______________________________________________________

Your class graduating year at HHS_______________________________________________

"Once a Brickie, Always a Brickie!"
Thank you for your support!

Membership is $10 per year (proceeds go towards

scholarships and teacher grants) 

Make your check out to: HHS Alumni Association

Mail to: HHSAA, P.O. Box 68, Hobart, IN 46342

                                   Our website is: www.hobartalumni.org