Pete Tracy says
some of his Rose Festival guests stay in touch with him
years after their visits.
Summer: a time for roses to bloom, kids to play in the
sun and sailors to party on what Pete Tracy calls "the brau."
The seedier side of downtown fun for maritime men, the brau
is not always enough for these kids in funny white outfits.
Ever since he stumbled across a down-and-out sailor
a few years back, Tracy has been participating in a Rose
Festival program called Host a Sailor. He and his family
spend time with sailors by showing them around town, fishing
and hunting, and hosting a huge barbecue on the weekend.
Last Sunday, this self-described redneck invited WW
out to his Gladstone home, where he introduced us to his
family (his wife, Tammy, son Bill and daughter Amanda) and
three young sailors.
Willamette Week: How'd you get started
with this?
Pete Tracy: About 10 years ago we were at the Rose Festival--the
kids were 6 and 7 years old--and we saw a sailor standing
there with nothing to do. He'd run out of money. Couldn't
chase around the girls no more, couldn't drink. We walked
up to him and said, 'How's it going? Where ya from?' I'll
talk to anybody, you know. He started telling us a story,
so we said, 'Hey, do you want to go get some dinner?' So
he came over.
So you started before the Host a Sailor program even
existed?
No, Host a Sailor was there, we just didn't know about
it. Host a Sailor has been around umpteen years. The sailor
told us about the program, so the next year we went and
registered for it. You'd think there would be all these
girls calling for sailors to go out and have a good time.
But, sure enough, we got a sailor that year.
What happens at registration?
They ask you a bunch of questions like 'How many do you
want?,' 'Do you mind if they do laundry?' or 'Will you provide
transportation?'
So you pick them up and take them back?
Yeah, exactly. We pick a bridge, and I just tell them to
stand on a bridge. Tell 'em what I'm driving. Sure enough,
they start waving. They're usually nervous because they're
in a foreign port, a foreign town. They're young, usually
anywhere from 18 to 22 years old.
Have they all been perfect
gentlemen?
Every one of 'em. They are so tame. You really think
"wild sailors," but half of these guys treat my wife as
their mother and me as their father. They treat my kids
as their brothers and sisters. Although Amber had the hots
for one of 'em. [He begins to tease his daughter, who
tries to change the subject.] I offer some of these
kids beers, 'cuz I'm a beer drinker. The ones that are 21
will usually have one. They don't want to get dizzy. They
want to be aware of what's going on around them. We've had
them where we drop 'em back off at 11 o'clock at the ship.
And we've had them where they spend the night on the hide-a-bed.
That's not exactly the stereotype
of a sailor on leave.
I think it's good that they get the opportunity to go down
to the brau and pick up the first girl that lifts up her
skirt. I think it's a great thing for 'em. But the kids
truly get burned out on it. They run out of money. They
run out of lines to give these poor girls, as far as the
smooth-tongue, sweet-talkin' line. And they just want something
to remind 'em of home, and I think that's what we're giving
'em is that feeling.
And your kids seem to like it.
The kids are having a great time. My family has improved
from meeting people from different walks of life.
You said you got a call from a sailor last night. What's
he like?
He is 19 years old and scared shitless. He just got
out of boot camp and had to go right into a ship. Doesn't
know a soul. I could tell on the phone that he was scared
shitless. That's typically the kind of kid that, if he bonds
with the family, will probably stick it out on the couch.
Do the female sailors do this, too?
Certainly. One year I got four female officers from
a Canadian battleship. The first call I got, she wanted
to say, 'Are you a weirdo?' but she didn't. These girls
are very professional. There were five of 'em when I picked
'em up. One just didn't click. She bailed the next day and
we never saw her again. But the other four fell into the
groove, got into the family. Did the family thing with the
kids and all the kids in the neighborhood. The kids in the
neighborhood like this, cuz all their parents are too chicken
to do what I do.
What's your worst experience?
We've never had a bad experience. If you've got a group
of four and one bails out and doesn't click, that's a bad
experience for that poor individual. We've had that happen.
But this one kid was callin' my wife Mom and bawling when
he left. You get teary-eyed, too. Us particularly, more
than them. You make a relationship.
[At this point a sailor scheduled to come over that
night calls up to ask if he can bring a date. Pete asks
a few questions and then says, Sure.]
He's a young officer who came into town from Maryland.
Wants to go fishing. But he's chasing around a bunch of
girls. We've had other guys bring their dates here.
Do you recommend Host a Sailor for other families?
Yeah. Unless it's a weird family that's hung up on something,
like somebody can't cuss, drink or smoke. If the sailors
can't cuss, smoke or drink, you might not want to let 'em
into your house. Shit, they're gonna do it. It's bound to
happen. I'm not saying that they get obliterated drunk or
that they cuss up a storm. They use ma'am and sir. The cussing
usually happens more by me.
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Willamette Week | originally
published May 10,
2000
|
