Mayor Welcomes USS Fort Lauderdale on First Visit to Namesake City
By Brett Davis
Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis and City Manager Chris Lagerbloom welcomed the captain and crew of USS Fort Lauderdale (LPD 28) on the ship’s first visit to its namesake city in September.
Capt. James A. Quaresimo, commanding officer; Cmdr. William P. Murtha, ex-ecutive officer; Command Master Chief (AW/SW) James C. Magee; Lt. Cmdr. Charles W.D. Marshall, operations officer; and Lt. Cmdr. Crystal L. McFadden, combat systems officer, were welcomed to Fort Lauderdale on Sept. 15.
That evening they enjoyed “Sea Cadet Night” at the Navy League Fort Lauder-dale Council dinner at Lauderdale Yacht Club, where they met city Commissioner Ben Sorensen, former Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler, Lauderdale Yacht Club Vice Commodore Wil Shriner, Deputy Port Director Glenn Wilt-shire, Council President Abi Montes and Lena Montes, Winterfest President and CEO Lisa Scott-Founds, Kathy Keleher and Dawn Diehl and spouses David Founds and George Diehl, and BSO Fire Rescue District Chief Harris Henbest. Table hosts included Lynn Elsasser, Lynn Drucker and Larry Ott.
On Sept. 16, Port Director Jonathan Daniels hosted a full day of meetings at Port Everglades, including briefings by BSO/Port Everglades District Commander Capt. Christopher Cathcart, Commissioning Support Team Director David Anderson, Anthony LaFrenier and Steve Sokoly, and numerous security and logistics personnel.
That evening, thanks in part to the generosity of Tower Club Fort Lauderdale, the captain and team enjoyed a working dinner with city and port leaders and Commissioning Committee leadership. In memory of Honorary Commissioning Chair Chuck Black, his son Jonathan Black gave a touching toast welcoming USS Fort Lauderdale to the city and remembering how proud his father would be, as he worked many years to create a namesake ship for the city.
The busy trip ended Sept. 17 with the Commissioning Committee kickoff at Port Everglades. Welcoming remarks made by Port Director Jonathan Daniels, Mayor Trantalis and Congresswoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Quaresimo’s remarks drew a standing ovation as he concluded by saying, “We are equipped with America’s unstoppable secret weapon that our enemies will never be able to duplicate, and that is the fierce dedicated unstoppable women and men of the United States Navy and Marine Corps.”