Reagan Visit to Santa Barbara Demonstrates Power of Partnerships

By PETER ATKINSON, Deputy Editor

By all accounts, the mid-August visit to Santa Barbara, Calif., by the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan was a rousing success. The three-day, weekend “port call,” sponsored by the Navy League’s Santa Barbara Council, gave the Reagan’s crew of more than 3,000 sailors, Navy Leaguers, local residents and visitors the opportunity to partake in a host of events.

They included:

A western barbecue co-hosted by the council, Old Spanish Days and the Carriage Museum featuring the Agin Brothers Band for more than 300 crew and another 350 residents;
Softball, soccer and basketball games between teams from the Reagan, the Coast Guard, Santa Barbara Fire Department and others;
A “Taste of Santa Barbara” aboard the ship featuring wine from more than 20 local wineries and food from some of Santa Barbara’s finest restaurants that was attended by 300 sailors and more than 700 Navy League members, and local business, civic and city officials; The “Taste of Freedom,” again aboard Ronald Reagan, hosted by the ship’s company with music supplied by the U.S. Navy’s Jazz Band for more than 300 sailors and 500 other attendees; And various other events such as the first Reagan Golf Classic; trips for the sailors to the Reagan Library, Western White House Ranch, polo matches and wine country tours; and ship visits for Navy Leaguers and guests.

Among the many people who participated in the event was President Reagan’s son, Michael Reagan, who conducted his syndicated radio show aboard ship. The visit wrapped up when approximately 100 Navy League members sailed with Ronald Reagan to its homeport in San Diego, according to J. Douglas Crawford, a member of the Santa Barbara Council board of directors.

“It was an incredible weekend,” said council President Connie Los. “The sailors really enjoyed themselves, and there was such a great show of support for the Navy, and the Navy League, from the community.”

That the Santa Barbara Council was able to put together such an extensive roster of events was something of a minor miracle. The council, which adopted Reagan in 2000 and has helped raise money for the ship through sales of the specially made “Ronnie The Bear” Beanie Baby, had waited five years for the opportunity.

When that opportunity finally came, the council — in particular a group of about 20 members and volunteers working nearly round-the-clock — was given less than four months to coordinate the event and all that went along with it. There was also the matter of some $35,000 in harbor fees the city sought to collect for the visit that threatened to throw a monkey wrench in the works until almost the last minute.

But by partnering with more than 20 businesses and community groups and rallying support from local residents and volunteer organizations, the Ronald Reagan visit went off largely without a hitch — and gained the council about 300 new members in the process.

“This really did demonstrate the power of partnerships,” said Los. “Without the cooperation of local business and organizations, most of which have nothing to do with the Navy League, these events could not have happened.”

The Santa Barbara Council, which has grown from 35 members to nearly 1,500 during the last five years, has made a practice of partnering with businesses and other groups in the community for many of the events it conducts. It’s a strategy Los urges other Navy League councils to consider.

“Outreach is one of the best ways to educate the public, because when they work with you they see what you do, who you are supporting and why,” she said. “It gives them some real insight.”

The Santa Barbara Council has teamed for a lecture series with the California Coast Venture Forum and will co-host a military ball in November with the Pierre Claeyssens Military Museum and Library, a nonprofit organization formed to build a museum in Santa Barbara commemorating World War II. Former Sen. Robert Dole, R-Kansas, a World War II veteran, and his wife Elizabeth, currently a Republican senator from North Carolina, are scheduled to attend.

“There are a lot of ways councils can engage the community in the things they do. Ship visits are just one part of it. You just have to get creative when it comes to planning your events,” Los said.

No amount of planning or creativity could have predicted the kind of community support the council gained for the Reagan visit when the debate over the harbor fees between the Navy, the Navy League and the Santa Barbara City Council became a fixture on the local news. The 1,092-foot-long carrier was to stay offshore and rely on smaller craft hired by the Navy League to bring its crew and visitors to and from the city because it has no dedicated port.

But the City Council, which also adopted the ship in 2002, stuck to its guns until just days before the visit, when it finally agreed to waive the fees under mounting public pressure. Radio talk show host Dr. Laura Schlesinger and “Davy Crockett” star Fess Parker, both of whom live in the area, had offered to pay the fee themselves.

“The community at large came out on our behalf,” Los said. “The community had a strong, united voice that the City Council certainly heard. In the end, what they did was the right thing to do. And when the ship arrived, people in the area bent over backwards for the sailors to make sure they felt welcome and were being well taken care of. I think they all took a little bit of Santa Barbara home with them.”

In some cases, quite literally. When someone mentioned that Reagan sailors needed some new books to read, Crawford said more than 3,000 books ended up being donated.

“That’s the kind of support the Navy League councils can rally in the community, and the sailors really do appreciate it,” he said.