Mike Holmgren & Wife Kathy
named
“Honorary Commanders”
for
Newport’s 2007 Blessing of the Fleet
“This is a dream come true for us” said Rock, a diehard Seahawk fan. “We never had an Honorary Commander in the fifty plus years of the Blessing of the Fleet and to have Coach and Mrs. Holmgren coming to participate is very exciting and quite an honor.” The Holmgrens will be presiding over the traditional Blessing events including the Survival Suit Races at 9:30am at the Tradewinds Docks by Mo’s Annex on the Bayfront and the Blessing flotilla of vessels that begins at 1:00p.m. along Newport’s Historic Bayfront to the U.S. Coast Guard Station. The Holmgrens will conclude their stay by attending the inaugural $1,000 Great Newport Seafood Cook-Off, the grand finale of this year’s Blessing of the Fleet events.
“This is a dream come true for us” said Rock, a diehard Seahawk fan. “We never had an Honorary Commander in the fifty plus years of the Blessing of the Fleet and to have Coach and Mrs. Holmgren coming to participate is very exciting and quite an honor.” The Holmgrens will be presiding over the traditional Blessing events including the Survival Suit Races at 9:30am at the Tradewinds Docks by Mo’s Annex on the Bayfront and the Blessing flotilla of vessels that begins at 1:00p.m. along Newport’s Historic Bayfront to the U.S. Coast Guard Station. The Holmgrens will conclude their stay by attending the inaugural $1,000 Great Newport Seafood Cook-Off, the grand finale of this year’s Blessing of the Fleet events.
Mike Holmgren has been the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks since 1999, just completing his eighth season, leading the Seahawks to the National Conference Western Division title of the NFL. Last year Holmgren led the Seahawks to their first ever Super Bowl appearance against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Holmgren took control of the Seahawks following one of the most successful coaching stints in league history as head coach of the Green Bay Packers from 1992-98 that included a 75-37 (.670) regular-season record, a 9-5 (.643) postseason mark, and two Super Bowl appearances, including a 35-21 victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXI played in New Orleans. By winning at least one game in five consecutive postseasons (1993-97) Holmgren joined John Madden (1973-77) as the only coaches in league history to accomplish the feat. In 2005, he joined an elite group of coaches, becoming just the fifth coach in NFL history to take two different teams to the Super Bowl (1996 & 1997 Green Bay, 2005 Seattle). In that group are Bill Parcells, Dan Reeves, Don Shula and Dick Vermeil.
The Holmgrens were married in 1971 and have four daughters and three grandchildren. Kathy Holmgren is a nurse and serves on the boards of the Salvation Army and Northwest Medical Teams International, a non-profit relief group based in Oregon. She served in the Democratic Republic of Congo during the Super Bowl last year along with daughter Dr. Calla Holmgren, a Salt Lake City obstetrician/gynecologist, while husband Mike coached the Seattle Seahawks. She kept a long-standing commitment to return to Africa, where she was a volunteer nurse in Zaire in 1969-1970. The cost of the trip was a birthday present for Kathy from Mike.
Last October, the mother-daughter team went to war-torn Rwanda where they helped train local doctors in obstetric ultrasound, management of cardiac failure in pregnancy and other current medical protocols. They spent nearly three weeks at Nyamata Hospital in Bugesera, the district most affected by the 1994 genocide. Kathy previously volunteered in Romania during 2005 and Mexico in 2003.
Sponsors for the 2007 Blessing of he Fleet and the $1,000 Great Newport Seafood Cook-Off include the News-Times, Windermere West Coast Properties, Umpqua Bank, Port of Newport, Ken Doerfler Insurance, Elizabeth Street Inn, TCB Event Services, Acordia Insurance of Oregon, Englund Marine Supply, Carpet One, Macpherson-Gintner & Diaz Attorneys at Law, Landmark Mortgage, Mo’s, Tradewinds, KNPT Radio, Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission, Oregon Trawl Commission, Oregon’s Choice Gourmet Albacore and Western Title & Escrow.
Tickets for the $1,000 Great Newport Seafood Cook-Off are $20 per person, $35 per couple and $10 for kids 6-10 years of age and can be ordered from the Newport Fishermen’s Wives by calling 574-5555 or by email at fishermenswives@yahoo.com. Proceeds benefit the Fishermen’s Memorial Sanctuary at Yaquina Bay State Park and Samaritan House Family Homeless Shelter of Lincoln County.
P.O. Box 971
Newport, OR 97365
541-574-5555
