"I'm a copycat," she says.

Brown was so impressed when a San Diego yacht club took people who use wheelchairs out on boats for a day that she brought the idea back to Alameda. While the San Diego event served people who used wheelchairs from all backgrounds, Brown decided that her event would be strictly oriented to veterans.

The Pacific Inter-Club Association, a group of area yacht clubs, put on the event with the Encinal Yacht Club serving as the host club. Twelve boats volunteered to take 64 veterans out for a day on the bay.

"Other group members thought it would happen only once, but it's still going," she says.

Now in its eighth year, the Sept. 25 Wheelchair Regatta is expected to take some 250 veterans on board more than 30 boats. The skippers, some coming from as far as Stockton, will fly a specially designed banner during the regatta.

The event attracts veterans, some in their 90s, from homes and hospitals in Yountville, Livermore, Palo Alto, Menlo Park and San Francisco. Veterans from the Korean War are becoming more common, says Brown, as the number of World War II vets diminishes. Last year, the regatta was pleased to host members of the Women's Oversees Service League, including women who had served in World War II.

For many veterans, the regatta provides a rare day out of the confines of their care facilities.

"You get real, real joy, a real warm feeling in the heart, and some constraint in the throat, from watching their enjoyment. One vet said, 'Thank you so much for treating us like real people.' I still get tears thinking about it. You realize how isolated they are," says Brown.

Pulling off the regatta takes lots of planning and muscle. Strong, trained volunteers place the veterans onto boats, with sometimes as many as five people needed to get just one person in a wheelchair on board. Some passengers are able to walk aboard using a walker or cane. For safety reasons, most boats carry between two and five passengers.

For veterans who did not serve in the Navy, the event may mark the first time they have been on a boat. Brown planned the event specifically to calm any nervousness.

"The regatta is always the last Saturday in September. Late September is almost always warm and sunny with low winds and flat water. We don't want anybody to get scared," she says.

Some boats go as far as the San Francisco waterfront. Others cruise around the estuary to see Jack London Square, the USS Potomac, container ships at the Port of Oakland and houseboats.

Many boat captains treat passengers to a bridge opening while on the estuary. Brown advises Alameda drivers that the Park Street bridge may be up for most of the morning on regatta day.

"It's only once a year," she says.

She welcomes volunteers to help during the event, particularly people familiar with boating. Brown, who is never without her bag of fund-raising T-shirts to sell, also asks for another vital component.

"We need money more than anything else. While this is a volunteer effort, we still provide a number of items for each vet," says Brown.

Participants receive a commemorative T-shirt, and both veterans and volunteers are given a special lapel button. Perhaps every veteran's favorite souvenir is a Polaroid taken by the skipper or a crew member of his or her day on the water.

After the regatta, everyone is treated to picnic lunch with hamburgers, potato salad and homemade cookies. Music for the picnic is provided by an all-veteran band.

Brown is grateful to the generous donors who provide food for the event and help defray other costs. She welcomes items that could be placed in a gift bag for each veteran.

Interested volunteers, donors or veterans who use wheelchairs who would like to participate should call Brown at 523-2098 before Sept. 21 for more information.

Call Suzanne T. Storar at 523-6641 or e-mail## STStorar@aol.com with information about Alameda's interesting people, places or events.

The Oakland Tribune: Cityside
Leanne McLaughlin, Managing Editor
(510) 208-6447
(510) 208-6477 Fax##
lmclaughlin@angnewspapers.com Email