There will be a new presence on the Oyster Bay Harbor as the Coast Guard's newest auxiliary establishes itself here. The public has long viewed the CGA as a group that is concerned with boater safety, but the group has taken on a new role, today, as it is now under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

"They are asking more citizens to get involved, to secure ports and to prevent terrorist acts," said Jaime Van Dyke, Coast Guard Auxiliary public affairs officer. "The commander of the auxiliary, Rich Light of Bayville wants us to be introduced to the town." The auxiliary is going to have a strong presence at Bay Day, to be held June 7, said Ms. Van Dyke, who is currently assisting Rob Crafa, executive director of The WaterFront Center in preparing for the event.

Coast Guard Auxiliary Commander Light said the auxiliary was started at the last Oyster Festival when he stood behind a desk asking for volunteers. "We recruited the needed 15 volunteers and were chartered in February. Now we are meeting every week and training those 15 people. Business meetings are held the second Monday of the month at the WaterFront Center at 8 p.m. There are training meetings weekly depending on what you want to learn," he said. There are opportunities to work with the auxiliary in public education, marine safety, boat crew, member training, aids to navigation, publications, public affairs and web developers/watchers. You have to be a US citizen and over 17 years old to join.

"We are presently training about 12 new people in the boat crew program to go out on private boats. We have a coxswain, who takes orders from the Coast Guard and who tells us when we need a certified crew. The reason is that the Coast Guard station in Eatons Neck needed a Coast Guard presence here because it's sometimes hard to get here, depending on the wind; sometimes there's a really good chop out there. Now we have a presence and the boats. Now we are getting our crew trained," said Commander Light.

"We cover the area from Matinecock Point all the way to Mt. Sinai. It's been a challenge to recruit those first 15 people and we are now up to about 26 members," he said. It seems every week we get additional people joining. With the war out there, people want to get involved. We don't carry guns, but we are a support group for the Coast Guard in Eatons Neck. We are a part of what is called Group Long Island Sound. We are Division 22 and we have six flotillas: that is a base unit of the organization of the Coast Guard Auxiliary. Six flotillas become a division. Our division has between 180 to 200 people. Our land boundaries are from the Bayville Bridge to Mt. Sinai. If you are interested in joining, you can call Commander Light at 516-628-1527.

Mr. Light explained that people don't need a boat to join the auxiliary. They can be trained as crew to go out on the members boats. Less than 50 percent of the members are not boat owners. Besides the boats, there is an air wing component to the Coast Guard Auxiliary and so plane owners as well as people who are interested in being observers on a plane are also welcome to join in the Coast Guard Auxiliary Air Wing.

Commander Light said, "Between boats and planes there is something new we are working on: patrols on the land with walking on the docks. We still don't know the total changes of being part of the Homeland Security System, but we will probably be filling in more with the Coast Guard at Eatons Neck." Mr. Light has more opportunities for serving in the auxiliary to offer volunteers, he said. "Coast Guard Chief Warrent Officer Davenport is very supportive of the auxiliary, and wants and welcomes auxiliary help at the station to help with the Coast Guard."

The auxiliary will be using Bay Day as a way to promote their presence in Oyster Bay and to recruit more members. Bay Day promises to be a bigger event than ever, said Jaime Van Dyke, with more events planned and with a large Coast Guard presence. The Coast Guard is bringing its 81 ft. Coast Guard cutter to the event. At the Oyster Festival, they had two smaller boats tied up at the Jakobson Pier, and they will be here again, she said.

"There also will be a Nassau County Police helicopter for the kids to visit, as well as a Jayhawk. They are huge and are used in search and rescue missions. They are too big to land locally - they need a couple of 100 feet perimeter around them, but they are planning to do a search and rescue mission out on the water for people to watch. They will throw out the rescue cages outside of Beekman Beach, well in sight of the crowd," she said.

There will be plenty of people walking around in uniform. "There will be about 100 Coast Guard Auxiliary members walking around, recruiting people, teaching them how to tie knots and how to put on wet suits as well as giving fire extinguisher demonstrations. The main purpose is we want to get out and promote safety and to 'meet and greet' to tell people what we do and to get people involved: we are not just the police, we are here to show you how to use your boat and how to protect your loved ones on the water," she said.

Ms. Van Dyke explained that while the Oyster Bay Power Squadron is also involved with doing safety exams and checks, the squadron is more social, and the auxiliary is more military - they wear uniforms, even to meetings, which gives them a sense of unity.

While the Power Squadron shares the teaching, public education and vessel examinations (which are all voluntary by the owner), if there are suspicious activities going on aboard a boat, the Coast Guard Auxiliary can approach the boat and come on board without permission. The CGA receives service awards and gets recognition from the military at annual banquets, she said.