2014 -- S 2854

========

LC005369

========

     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2014

____________

S E N A T E   R E S O L U T I O N

CONGRATULATING DAVE MCLAUGHLIN ON BEING SELECTED AS ONE OF THE

2014 NEWPORT DAILY NEWS COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD WINNERS

     Introduced By: Senators Paiva Weed, DiPalma, Ottiano, and Felag

     Date Introduced: April 09, 2014

     Referred To: Placed on the Senate Consent Calendar

     WHEREAS, The Newport Daily News established a "Community Service Award" in

1996 on the paper's 150th Anniversary celebration in order to recognize and encourage

volunteerism within the community; and

      WHEREAS, Chosen as one of this year's recipients of the prestigious award, Dave

McLaughlin spent the first dozen or so years of his life surfing the waves in beautiful Hawaii. At

the end of eighth grade, he moved to Newport to live with his father and fell in love with the

City-By-The-Sea's magnificent Atlantic Ocean coastline; and

     WHEREAS, Upon graduation from Rogers High School, Dave enrolled at Florida's

Institute of Technology, where he studied mathematics. With the thought of one day becoming a

meteorologist, he attended graduate school where he studied atmospheric science and physical

oceanography and subsequently returned to Newport in 1996; and

     WHEREAS, In 2006, Dave, along with a couple dozen of his fellow surfers, upset by

local disagreements over public beach access, decided to plan a protest. When asked the group's

name, Dave and his buddies decided to take it to the next level and to the very good fortune of

beach lovers everywhere, Clean Ocean Access was formed; and

     WHEREAS, What began as a protest about public access to Newport's beaches soon

morphed into broad advocacy for, and countless hours volunteering to clean up the community's

beaches, testing water-quality, and the overall protection of one of the city's most precious

resources; and

     WHEREAS, By day, Dave works for Hasbro in the field of information technology, but

his loyalty and commitment to the waters surrounding Aquidneck Island have never ebbed.

Dave's dedication has earned him the unqualified admiration and respect of the community and

he is a true role model for us all; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

hereby congratulates and honors Dave McLaughlin on being selected as one of the 2014 Newport

Daily News Community Service Award winners. His years of ecological activism and devotion

to Newport's shoreline and the community are an inspiration to us all; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Mr. Dave McLaughlin.

========

LC005369

========

LC005369 - Page 2 of 1