Teaching Continues on Water for Middletown's Harbor Master, Steve Ponte

Patch Contributor Amy Nachbar recently caught up with Middletown's Citizen of the Year Steve Ponte, for a behind-the-scene glimpse at a day-in-the-life-of our Harbor Master.

Today I saw Middletown from a whole new perspective, out on our Harbor Master's boat.

Steve Ponte became Harbor Master back in 2005. He recently shared a few funny stories with me. "As harbor master, I help educate boaters. Anyone can buy a boat, but it doesn't come with instructions. You have no idea how many people forget to fill up with gas or even charge their batteries. Then they wonder what went wrong," he says with a smile.

Much to my disappointment we didn't see any exotic fish, sharks or sea turtles on this recent outing. "Turtles are very abundant in these waters," says Ponte.

But, we did see several fishermen out on Easton's Point on the Esplanade as we went by The Clambake Club. All waved as we passed. Over at Purgatory Chasm more fishermen were seen high up on the cliffs while a group of teenagers swam and explored the ravine below.

Elephant Rock seems to be the perfect spot to private sun bathe or dive into the water below.

Ponte laughs when he says, "Out on the water, everyone thinks that they are a pirate."

So how does our Harbor Master start his day?

"First, I go around and talk to all of my mooring holders. I like to hear where they are going so that I can keep an eye on them. Today lots of people are heading south to the Newport Folk Festival while many others are going fishing over at Flint Ledge."

"There's one guy who is notorious for swimming with a toy flag on his ankle. He starts at '40 Steps' and then heads out into the ocean. I've told him that he's shark bait but he just smiles at me. Most ocean swimmers wear an orange torpedoe buoy so that boats can see them."

"Then I see the guys on the jet skis. They wizz by laughing away until I catch up with them in this boat."

He takes it up a notch and I almost fall to the floor.

Boy, can this boat fly? Ponte nods.

"Wind surfers are the first calling for help as they get carried way out and I have to tow them in on the back of my boat," he offers.

Being Harbor Master also helps Ponte recharge his batteries over the summer.

As principal at the Forest Avenue Elementary School today, he has spent 34 years teaching our kids in Middletown. He's created opportunities for them and has helped them make a difference in their lives.

Ponte says, "I know that I make a difference when the kids come back, long after they have graduated and moved elsewhere. It makes me feel real good."

"One of the most important things that you can do for a child is to teach them to read," he adds.

He went so far as to jump out of an airplane last spring just to get his kids to read 200,000 pages in the school reading program. The payoff for the kids was an afternoon at the airport watching Ponte jump out of a plane, along with three other teachers that he convinced to jump with him.

I remember Ponte back in 1971 as a lifeguard at Second Beach. In 1985, he became head lifeguard. He held that position through 2001 and, during that time, he introduced Middletown's Junior Lifeguard program, which at one time had more than 100 students.

After taking a few years off, he took the job as Harbor Master as a way to recharge his batteries (unlike some of the boaters he knows.)

Amy Nachbar, a Massachusetts resident and regular Patch contributor throughout Rhode Island and Massachusetts, spent her childhood summers in Middletown and grew up on its beaches. She continues to visit Middletown's beaches each weekend throughout the summer, as much as she can, collecting stories from the shore.