IMPORTANT!

The Fairfax COunty Board of Supervisors in it's infinite wisdom is writing the marine patrol out of it's budget! We need to get the word in that this is wrong. We have been working with ORMA to challenge the plan, and here is a letter you can use that Mary Lynch kindly sent me.

Your Name Your Address City, State, Zip March 1, 2003 Supervisors Name Here Fairfax County Government Street Address City State ZIP RE: Fairfax County Marine Patrol Dear XXX: As an avid boater, or friend of a boater, it is extremely disturbing that the County Executive in his proposed budget recommends the disbanding of the Fairfax County Marine Patrol (FCMP) due to budgetary restraints. I urge you to give this matter your urgent attention and to find funding to keep this extremely valuable service on the water. There are many reasons to keep this patrol afloat. The number of boaters on the waters of the Potomac and its tributaries each year increases tremendously. This means that there is a greater chance for serious accidents to occur that could include serious injury to life, property or both, or death. Is it Fairfax County's intention to leave the responsibility for patrolling their waters, or assisting those in need, to the marine patrols of other jurisdictions? Why should the State of Maryland, Prince William County, Charles County, the Coast Guard, Virginia's own Fish and Wildlife officers or others be saddled with this responsibility or saddled with the cost? The officer's mentioned in the other jurisdictions come to the aid of Fairfax County residents in need of assistance in not only their own waters but elsewhere on the river. Fairfax County did this before as well but will they in the future? Only if you find the funding to keep them there. Homeland security is another reason to keep the patrol on the water. The Coast Guard has deployed three vessels into Washington, D.C. Why? They see the risk associated with being on a waterway that connects to the Bay and to the Atlantic and to the dangers of our time. Disbanding the FCMP will provide one less river patrol and possibly one more opportune means for something to occur. Without the FCMP, there is again the assigning the duty of patrolling the waters along Fairfax County to Prince William County, Maryland and the Federal government. Fairfax County also has to share in this responsibility and protection of our homeland and their waters. The FCMP will be able to bolster this position and must be retained. The officer's who have manned this patrol have always presented themselves, and represented Fairfax County, in nothing less than a professional manner. They have kept the waters safe. They have offered assistance to boaters when necessary. They have assisted other jurisdictions when their assistance has been requested. They are always available to answer questions either in person or on the radio. And many boaters, just knowing that they are on the water, elect to not operate their vessel under the influence. Remove them from the water and the statistics will not be headed in the direction that we, or you, as a governing body, want to see them go. Find the funds to keep FCMP on the water and the citizens safe. Please do not be of the mindset that boating is something enjoyed by the few and that the FCMP is a luxury provided to them. It is simply just the opposite. It is a service that is required for the reasons outlined above and others. To an avid boater it is always a pleasure, and comfort, to see the FCMP vessel on the water and a wave is also given to the officers and yes, it is always returned. We do not want them reassigned to the streets. The funding required to keep FCMP on the water is minimal in the scope of the entire budget. You are urged to find the money to keep them patrolling. You are urged to find the money to keep them protecting the homeland and assisting the adjoining jurisdictions of Fairfax County in doing the same. It is believed that the County Executive does not fully understand the value of this service but we do on the water We strongly urge you, and your fellow supervisor's, to find the funding for the Fairfax County Marine Patrol in the current budget. Sincerely,

Mickey Martorello passed on last week of a heart attack. I knew Mickey for close to 20 years, and she and Charlie have been avid boaters and good friends of the marina.

Mickey possessed what I call New York City charm. Now many people would call that an oxymoron but not me. I've known New York city my whole life and have a fondness for it and for the people who come from any of its boroughs.

What I mean by this kind of charm is a special panache, part ethnic, part geographic, a charm that could at first come on a pushy but is actually focused, a charm that has great strength, a type of class and finesse that even we from the south, with all our claims to charm, can't duplicate. And the 3rd part was totally Mickey herself. Mickey was a diva, and when I talked with her all I caught was sweetness in my soul from it. I know she's asking to use Saint Peter's phone right now. Don't worry St. Pete, she'll always leave a buck or so by the cash register just to keep things square:)

We'll miss you sweetie! Sorry I couldn't come to your funeral, boat show setup got me, you don't care anyway, you know how I feel.

xxxooo,

Joe

A lot of you haven't seen the work we're doing to the store, showroom and sportboat pavillion. And of those who have, some of you ask "why should I care?" Well it's simple. As we totally refurbish our beloved marina the most expensive work will happen from the shoreline out. As many of you know, we raised our slip rates last year, and as some of you have probably realized, I've deferred the next rental increase to January 1st 2004.

The funds to refurbish piers and bulkhead will have to come through store sales: parts, service, and boats. To bring in more in service money and raise efficiency we've converted the sportboat pavillion into a first class service area. This will mean better work on your boat, and more jobs turned so we can get more work done and actively go after scheduled maintenance, which will mean fewer suprises for you. We refurbished the Showroom so we could display our excellent boats in an excellent atmosphere. We're hiring a new sales professional to increase volume. We're redoing the store right now so customers know where to go to get help, so it looks more professional, and so the sales professionals have a place to sit down with prospects. We'll be spicing up our store offerings with more accessories while still offering over 15,000 different parts by convenient special order.

In short, we're working hard in the off season to make sure your experience at Hoffmaster's is the best it can be and get the ball rolling for better and better times to come!

We're getting ready for the boat show now. We'll have 9 Chaparrals and 6 Chris Crafts on display. This year we'll be across from Sea Ray with the Chris Crafts and the Chaparrals will be in the old Chris Craft booth because we will now have Chaparral exclusively in DC.

If you're at Tysons Corner Mall in February keep an eye out for our "HOV Free" mall scrollers-the ads are world class!

We'll be showing the Chris Craft 22 Launch, 25 Launch walk thru, 25 Corsair, 28 Corsair, either the 28 Launch walk over or 26 Connie depending on what under deposit, and a blue hulled 328!

The Chaparral booth will feature the 183 SS and 230 SSi Bowriders, the all new 210 and 215 SS, the 243 Sunesta, and 240, 260, 280, and 320 Signatures.

Hope to see you there!

Joe Hoffmaster-Sales Manager, General Manager, Sales Specialist new boats. Office hours M-W, F 8-4, Sat 10-4
Martha Hoffmaster-Chief Financial Officer M, T, Th, F 830-11, 1230-3
Wendy Hadley-Billing questions Accounts Receivables M-F 830-4
Terry Verity-Parts and Service questions Parts Manager, Service Writer M-F 8-4
Charles T. Hedrick-Sales Specialist, Head of Brokerage Sales M, W, Th, F 830-4, Sat 10-4, Sun 12-4 or by Appointment
Richard Heselius- Sales Specialist M-W 8-4, F 1230-4, Sat/Sun 1230-4
Sam, Steve, Rick, Brian, John and Dave are techs M-F 8-4

For Service and parts orders and follow up call Terry. If he's not there call Wendy. On the weekends leave Terry notes. Parts order forms and work order forms are located on the parts counter. Anybody in the store can assist you in this.
To put your boat up on brokerage or to get a value call Chuck or Richard
If you have a question about your bill call Wendy

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