The Oyster Bay Power Squadron and Wilma Otto presented a check for $1,150 to the New York Firefighters Burn Center Foundation in a ceremony at the Sagamore Yacht Club recently.

The donation was made in the memory of Deputy Assistant Chief G. Arthur Otto, NYFD retired, who served as a firefighter for over 40 years. He retired as Staff Chief, one of 21 chiefs on the Chief of Department staff. He was also a two-time commander of the Oyster Bay Power Squadron.

The items donated included a Garmin GPS, a sextant, foul weather gear, boat cockpit furniture and various navigating aids. The Power Squadron is a national boating organization which teaches boating safety, charting, navigating and other boating skills.

"The sextant traveled to Portugal and Spain with us when Artie was studying for his navigating class. The GPS traveled with us when we cruised from Athens to the Seychelle Islands in the Indian Ocean. Artie took readings on the Aegean Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the Nile Delta, the Suez Canal, Gulf of Acquaba, Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.

"It (and we) also crossed the equator twice. It is obvious that Artie was an avid boater and so was I," said Mrs. Otto.

"My husband was a very brilliant man and he was a gentleman. He died three weeks short of our being married 54 years. I had a wonderful life. I talk to him all the time, of course he doesn't answer me," she said wryly. He is buried in Pinelawn Cemetery and on nice occasions, I take him a dozen red roses."

Mrs. Otto is very active and enjoying being part of the computer age. "I am doing digital photography and am brushing up on Microsoft Word and doing Excell and Powerpoint," she said.

At the meeting at the Sagamore Yacht Club, Lt. James Curran, gave an informative talk about the Burn Center. The New York Firefighters Burn Center Foundation is a nonprofit organization of firefighters founded in 1975, dedicated to the advancement of burn care, research, prevention, education and the proper treatment of burns.

Their goal is to make quality burn care available to all who are seriously burned, regardless of age, race, creed or economic status.

The Burn Center began during the Vietnam War when two NYC Firefighters Joe Hickey and Jack Meara, were deeply moved by a news photograph of two Vietnamese children who had been severely burned by napalm. They wanted to help these youngsters. They thought that with a little help from friends, they might be able to bring those children to New York for treatment.

They discovered to their surprise, that there were no medical facilities in the New York area devoted exclusively to the treatment of burns. While hospitals coped with burn victims as well as they could, there were none that specialized in the treatment of severe burn injuries.

Alarmed by their findings, the firefighters decided to do something about the situation. As other firefighters joined in their efforts, they began working with physicians and other concerned citizens, and were eventually instrumental in the establishment of the Burn Center at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center. You can find more information about the Burn Center on the Internet at http://nyffburncenter.com