Under the beaming May sun at U.S. Coast Guard Station Menemsha, the duty of overseeing and protecting boaters in the historic fishing town and the waters around the Island was passed to Chief Petty Officer Tyler Vanderhaden in a ceremony on Friday morning.
Vanderhaden has been a chief petty officer in Menemsha for two years. He told The Times he’s familiar with the town and Island community, and is looking forward to contributing more. Vanderhaden takes the position previously held by Nicholas Sedberry, who became the officer in charge in Menemsha nearly a year ago after serving in Alaska and Maine. Sedberry will be promoted to the position of warrant officer, and transferred to Washington, D.C.
“Being immersed in the community already, already having the community connections, and being able to establish continuity between the outgoing officer in charge and myself is extremely important,” Vanderhaden said in an interview after the ceremony. “It means a lot to me.”
In the past, the ceremony tended to occur in late June or early July. When asked by The Times whether the ceremony on Friday had any link to the recent arrests of Rogerio da Silva Lima and his son, 15-year-old Nycolas de Al Varenga Lima, who were transported to Woods Hole from Menemsha by the Coast Guard last week and handed over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Vanderhaden said there was no connection. “This has been set in motion since February,” he said.
Officers on Friday lined up next to each other to observe the proceedings, standing tall and at attention. At the end of the ceremony, they individually saluted Vanderhaden. A seafood boil sat atop a plastic table covering, the children of officers wore their Friday-best, and local police congratulated the Coast Guard’s transfer of leadership. Many of the police officers who attended have also worked with Vanderhaden before.
Officers on Friday lined up next to one another to observe the proceedings, standing tall at attention. At the end of the ceremony, they individually saluted Vanderhaden. A seafood boil sat atop a plastic table covering, the children of officers wore their Friday best, and local police congratulated the Coast Guard’s transfer of leadership. Many of the police officers who attended have worked with Vanderhaden before.
As Vanderhaden told The Times, it’s unusual that a petty officer be promoted from the same location and unit. Usually, that officer would be reassigned elsewhere, and a new officer in charge would be transferred in from another station.
“It means the world that my family gets to stay here on the Island that they’ve come to love so much, and my kids get to continue to stay in their school. So I’m eternally grateful to the sector commander, Capt. Youngmee [“Mimi”] Moon, for endorsing me for the job,” Vanderhaden said. Captain Moon is the commander of Sector Southeastern New England for the U.S. Coast Guard.
Chilmark Police Chief Sean Slavin said he was glad to show his respect for the change in command.
“I wanted to show my support,” Slavin told The Times. “They do a lot for our community.”
Members of Station Menemsha work closely with law enforcement in the Island towns. Many police officers from Chilmark and Aquinnah were in attendance on Friday. The Menemsha Coast Guard crew is made up of 24 members. They patrol the waters of Martha’s Vineyard and 50 nautical miles offshore.
The change of command ceremony is a tradition of the naval service, and is customarily conducted by officers of the Coast Guard and other branches of law enforcement. The ceremony “marks a significant milestone in one’s career, and reflects the dedication of free men and women serving their nation proudly,” the pamphlet from the days’ events stated.