Sea Rangers a place where leaders emerge

The American Sea Rangers has a long history in Valley Stream and is one of the few surviving chapters in Nassau County. The group is gearing up for the start of another year and leaders are hoping to increase membership.

Lori Ang, the chapter’s secretary and finance officer, said the group started in 1955 and once there were units all over the region. “At one point, there were better than 2,000 to 2,500 kids,” she said.

Other chapters are located in Elmont and Stewart Manor. “We’re one of the last groups left that have happened to maintain it,” Ang said of the Valley Stream chapter, which is made up of Battalion 5 for the boys, commanded by Rich Librandi, and Battalion 14 for the girls, led by Jennifer Wilson.

The Sea Rangers is steeped in Navy tradition and members wear real Navy uniforms. Ang said the goals are to instill a sense of patriotism and love of country in the members, and teach leadership and discipline. She said often students who have some behavioral problems at school thrive with the Sea Rangers and become leaders.

Children can join the Sea Rangers as young as 8 years old. They are given the opportunity to take on more leadership responsibilities. Within two or three years, Ang said a ranger can work their way up to company commander. “It is based on merit,” she said. “It’s not an automatic thing.”

The group meets Friday nights from September through June and Ang said they engage in a variety of activities. Some nights they practice marching, study military rules and ranks, learn how to tie a knot or read a compass, or participate in drills. But there is plenty of fun, too, Ang explained. There are physical competitions, game nights, parties and guest speakers. Past visitors have included representatives from the Theodore Roosevelt Bird Sanctuary and the police department’s K-9 unit. There have been field trips to amusement parks and museums. Ang said on these trips, the Sea Rangers are always the best behaved group of kids.

Ang has been a member of the Sea Rangers for 43 years. “There are a few of us who have been in the organization basically since we were 8 years old,” she said. That includes her brother, Vinny Ang, commandant of the Sea Rangers who overseas the three chapters.

Tristan Bringas, 18, a North High School graduate, joined after getting a flier at school and thought it looked interesting. “It was something to do on a Friday night other than sitting at home,” he said. Seven years later, Bringas is one of the student leaders and most enjoys performing the rifle trick drill at the end-of-the-year parents night. It makes him proud to show off what he has learned.

Maryah Kingland, 17, a senior at South High School, first got involved in sixth-grade and is now a chief petty officer, the highest non-officer rank. “I’m very interested in military stuff,” she said. “I want to go into the Navy.” She wants to get into the naval academy in Annapolis and said the skills she has learned through the Sea Rangers should give her a leg up.

For Kingland, the leadership skills she has learned have been invaluable. “I know how to use my voice and command people now,” she said.

Ang said that the Sea Rangers gives the members a chance to meet students from other schools in Valley Stream. It also keeps them away from video games and television on Friday nights and gets them out socializing. “They learn something different here than they learn any place else,” she said.

Librandi, of Elmont, has been involved with the program for 22 years and his three children all were Sea Rangers. “After they left, I stayed,” he said.

His mission is to instill a sense of good citizenship in each child and young adult that passes through. “I really enjoy it when you get somebody who comes through the organization who actually listened all those years,” he said, “and you can see them grow into a responsible person.”

Ang said anyone interested should stop by the Sea Rangers’ first meeting and check it out. There is no obligation to join. The meeting will be held this Friday, Sept. 25, from 7 to 9:30 p.m. at the Wheeler Avenue School. For more information, call Librandi at (516) 825-4936.