By JIM JENKINS
NAS Patuxent River Public Affairs

PATUXENT RIVER NAVAL AIR STATION, MD—Norine Rowe snapped the award-winning photo of the Navy Patuxent Sailing Club crew at the start of the 29th Annual Governor’s Cup Yacht Race last summer. The photo, titled “Sunburst and Sail,” won the silver prize in the 4th annual Governor’s Cup Professional Photography Competition which recognizes excellence in capturing the spirit of the longest overnight yacht race on the Chesapeake Bay.

Rowe is a public affairs specialist with Eagan McAllister Associates, Inc., supporting the NAS Pax River executive director and Public Affairs Office in the area of Navy-education and Navy-community partnerships. For the last seven and a half years Rowe’s writing and photography have been regular attractions in the Tester, the NAS Patuxent River newspaper.

“It was a joy to photograph the event and an honor to win the award,” Rowe said. “I was able to capture a crew member giving a victory salute off the [bow] of Alert just as the sun glanced from behind the sail. It was the last shot on my roll of film and then the moment was gone.”

Rowe grew up in Chelsea Beach and graduated from Northeast High School in Pasadena, Md. After starting her collegiate career at the University of Maryland studying journalism and English, Rowe transferred to St. Mary’s College and graduated with honors and an English degree in 1977.

“Smitten” by the region’s beauty, Rowe pursued the Southern Maryland lifestyle – sitting on the screened-in porch during summer rain showers, watching lightening bugs glitter in the trees at nighttime, growing her own vegetables in a large garden plot, crabbing at the college waterfront, picking blackberries and making pies, taking her neighbor’s black lab, Blue, on walks to the beach.

Rowe has worked various jobs dealing with the public and community, as coordinator of public information for the college, for one, and then eventually to her present job.
Rowe is a member of the St. Mary’s County Camera Club and has won several other awards, including the grand prize in the Merkle Wildlife Sanctuary photo competition, grand prize in Calvert County Office of Tourism photo competition, and grand prize in the Charles County Office of Tourism photo competition. Many of her photos can be seen in the Tester each week, by walking the halls of EMA, located south of Gate 2, or by picking up the latest issue of Southern Maryland This is Living magazine.

-USN-

Photo by Norine Rowe
Norine Rowe won a second place award in the 4th annual Governor’s Cup Professional Photography Competition for this photo of a crew member with the Navy Patuxent Sailing Club standing on the bow of Alert, a 44-foot Luders yawl, awaiting the start of the 29th Annual Governor’s Cup Yacht Race.