(R to L) Fairfield Auxiliarists John Sansborn and Ron Willson demonstrated boating safety with a facility display in front of the theatre

Auxiliarists in Coastal Connecticut take “P.A.” Advantage of the opening of motion picture “The Guardian”…

Mission: Maximize public affairs opportunities from the opening of the Touchstone Picture’s feature film “The Guardian.”

“We knew there was going to be increased interest in the Coast Guard surrounding the opening of the Kevin Costner feature film “The Guardian” and we wanted to take advantage of it,” said Lou DiGiusto, Auxiliarist with the Norwalk, CT flotilla, and volunteer member on the National Public Affairs (PA) Video Corps staff.

“Even though the film was about search and rescue operations in Kodiak, Alaska, and “A” School Rescue Swimmers, it brought media attention to the mission of Team Coast Guard.  We felt the Auxiliary story could also get some media attention from their interest in the film,” said DiGiusto.  “I contacted Ginny Lovas, Division 7 Captain, and we put together a PA task group from the Fairfield, Norwalk and Stamford flotillas in coastal Connecticut.”

“In addition we worked closely with Crown Theatres, Inc., Sikorsky Aircraft (based in nearby Stratford, CT), and USCG Station New Haven.,” he said. “Crown Theatres did a great job of supporting our efforts as part of their community relations program.”

Station New Haven Officer in Charge, Senior Chief Shawn Brule, did a superb job of telling our story on the air.  Most PA efforts were targeted for the actual opening day of the film in CT theatres.  

We started the day at 5:30am with Senior Chief Brule being interviewed for live remotes by Matt Scott, News Anchor with TC Channel 8, WTNH.  Matt titled the morning news show “Connecticut’s Guardians” and did five live remote interviews from Station New Haven.  

We then took Channel 8 as well as Channels 12 and 30 on a USCG 41’ facility to experience a patrol on Long Island Sound.  It gave the TV crews a great opportunity to shoot background film for the interviews with Senior Chief Brule.

In addition to TV news coverage by three regional stations, the Auxiliary PA Task Group manned four theatre lobby displays throughout the opening weekend.  They featured boating safety and the Auxiliary story.  

Ken Kitka, Flotilla PA Officer from Norwalk coordinated their flotilla’s manning of two theatre displays.  The Task Group also assisted USCG Petty Officer April Rex with a USCG recruiting display in the largest theatre.  Rear Commodore Ron Willson from the Fairfield flotilla manned an Auxiliary facility in front of the theatre with boating safety demonstrations. 

Barbara Ingram, Commander of Flotilla77, designed a special Auxiliary recruiting poster which was displayed in the theatre lobbies.  Her poster was also featured on the Crown Theatres website and sent to 60,000 Connecticut residents.

The Connecticut Post newspaper also covered the events and ran a feature in their Saturday edition featuring interviews with Willson and DiGiusto.

“The Guardian” provided a great opportunity for the Auxiliary to get its story out along the Connecticut coast.