The crowds are gone, the festival over. Yet the energy and vitality remain as the new summer fishing season gets under way. An estimated crowd of 1500 enjoyed a weekend of ocean activities at Liberty Harbor Marina in Jersey City, thanks mainly to the tireless efforts of East Coast Ocean Church leader Mr. Sato, supported by Gloucester, Massachusetts Ocean Church leader Manuel Quesada, Master Marine members centering on Mr. Takada, and Headquarters Ocean Church members centered on Steve Matsuuchi. A special thanks also to Mrs. Sato and all the sisters (Kodan or otherwise) who made all welcome through their hospitality. Thanks also to all those who helped on the day, especially the second generation together with New Jersey Church center members under Rev. and Mrs. Park. Also unseen and yet ever present-a big thanks to our Heavenly Father who gave us the perfect weather for the whole weekend!

This year's festival, in contrast to last year's, was sponsored wholly by those involved directly with the marina: that is, Ocean Church, Master Marine, M&W Services, M&M Tackle, Senkai Live Fish, Ocean International and Liberty Seafood Restaurant. The main focus was the theme "The Ocean Feeds the People of the World" with a secondary purpose to allow the local community to become more aware of our presence here. Gauged by the response of the festival-goers to the ocean foods and products available, accomplishing the main theme should be no problem! Especially Mr. Yamada, who manages the retail sales of fresh and live fish for Ocean International, was surprised by the very positive response of the local people to the live fish-and Mr. Tashiro was exhausted but happy by the very brisk sales of fresh, and I mean really fresh, sushi!

Master Marine, fresh from the experience of displaying their boats at the Miami Boat Show, put up a very impressive display of the 16', 20', 24' and 28' boats, and while Benny Axelsson, Master Marine's sales manager, reported no sales were made on the day, a seed was hopefully planted. For those wishing to try Master Marine's boats firsthand or to try their luck at fishing, a good assortment of fish were caught by the forty or so people who made the trip to Sandy Hook under the very experienced hand of Kei Takahashi and his assistants, Suzuki San and Tanaka San, guests from Ocean Church of Japan, and UTS graduate Sandor Vamos. For the many not wanting to travel so far, Ken Zanker and Manuel Liba ferried approximately 800 people on the harbor cruise, using the 52-foot First Hopes 1 and 2, built by Master Marine Alabama.

Liberty Seafood Restaurant found its newly expanded kitchen well tested by the continuous flow of hungry customers, hosted by manager Fumiko Montgomery and staff with professional advice from Sami Samneh.

Finally and most importantly, the seeds of future hope were planted by the tender, loving hands of Paul and Debby Durgin, whose very moving and inspirational "Ocean Awareness Presentation" already seen by schools up and down the East Coast, was seen by festival-goers in the main tent surrounded by pictures of Father's Ocean Providence and the hope to end the plight of the world's hungry through the ocean. Supporting the Durgins, Frank Zochol and Gunther Freystatter spoke of the future role of the world's oceans.

Lastly, a special thank you to Joe and Felicia Longo, Sharky, and all who supported the Ancestors. Their effort and heart to support the Ocean Providence goes back a long time. In preparation for the festival we discovered a photo of Joe playing to the Ocean Festival at Battery Park, New York in 1980, so with the pressures of making ends meet in the mid-'90s, their offering of two days' entertainment truly shows an unchanging heart to Heaven and True Parents.

That's all, folks. Thanks to all who came. See you next year at the festival!!!

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