Exploring Planet Ocean at the Waldorf
By Warner M.Montgomery warner@thecolumbiastar.com

Members of the Greater Piedmont Chapter of the Explorers Club attending the Annual Dinner at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City are (seated, l- r) David Barron, Nena Powell Rice, Antonia Gorence, Linda Sosbee, Patrice Helmuth, (standing, l- r) Jack Rinehart, Betty Jo Dargan,Warner Montgomery, and Brian Helmuth.

The Explorers Club Annual Dinner was held at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City March 15. The Explorers Club was founded in 1904 for the advancement of field research, scientific exploration, and the ideal that it is vital to preserve the instinct to explore. The theme for the event was Exploring Planet Ocean. Nine members of the Greater Piedmont Chapter, headquartered in Columbia, attended.

The pre- dinner Exotics Menu, always a favorite with the national media, included Tibetan yak loaf, rodentia with Cajun rice, oven- roasted alligator, Rocky Mountain oysters, feral hog with chili peppers, ostrich tortilla, kangaroo balls bourguignon, rattlesnake cakes, pickled duck tongue, sweet and sour bovine penis, succulent earthworms, crickets with pepper jelly, glazed tarantulas, mealworms with durian paté, and the ever delicious Madagascar hissing cockroaches.

Appetizers at the Explorers Club Annual Dinner included these mealworms, scorpians, crickets, and ants.

President Daniel Bennett opened the gala and turned the program over to the master of ceremonies, CNN's Emmy- award- winning Miles O'Brien. Receiving awards were

• Eugenie Clark, Ph.D., ichthyologist and shark expert

• Catherine Nixon Cooke, past CEO of the Mountain Institute and current executive director of the San Antonio River Foundation

• Timothy Taylor, ocean explorer, president of RV Tiburon Inc. and discoverer of the deepest coral reef in the world

• Capt. Megan Mc- Grath, commander of the Canadian Forces Aerospace Warfare Centre and only Canadian woman to conquer the Seven Summits

• Ellen Prager, Ph.D., marine scientist, aquanaut, author, who has lived for weeks in the Aquarius undersea research station

• Anatoly Sagalevitch, D.Sc., underwater explorer, head of manned submersibles for the Russian Academy of Science and designer of MIR submersibles that have dived to more than 6,000 meters.

Speakers for the evening were

• Jim Fowler, naturalist, TV personality, wildlife conservationist. He exhibited a snapping turtle, a Southern alligator, and a monitor lizard

• Laurence Madin, Ph.D., senior scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, one of first people to use submersibles for ocean research

• Greg Marshall, scientist, inventor, Emmy- - award- winning filmmaker, and head of National Geographic's remote imaging department

• Julia Whitty, filmmaker and award- winning author.

The dinner menu included vegetable timbale, Israeli couscous, beef tenderloin, leek soufflé, and Shark Trust Cabernet wine. The dessert was Park Avenue chocolate bar topped with milk chocolate mousse, chocolate feuilletine and hazelnut dac- quoise with passion fruit sauce and chocolate swirl.

The local chapter of The Explorers Club meets monthly for a speaker and lunch. Sometimes a few hissing cockroaches slip into the rice and gravy. For information, contact Nena Powell Rice at 803-777- 8170 or nrice@sc.edu.