Park Memorial Honors Buczek, Dougherty

A park pavilion will be constructed on the planned Coal Dock Park to remember Port residents Tyler Buczek and Peter Dougherty — both drowning victims who died in 2012.

The park pavilion will include an elevated lookout and members of the Water Safety Committee — which formed in light of 15-year-old Tyler Buczek's death — are working with local architect and Ald. Mike Ehrlich on its design, according to an Ozaukee Press article. A small plaque on the pavilion will dedicate the structure to Buczek and Dougherty.

Buczek had been swimming off North Beach with a group of friends when the current took him over Labor Day weekend; Dougherty died

Several area residents came forward concerned about water safety and education since the drowning death of Buczek, resulting in the formation of the Water Safety Committee in October.

The group set a number of objectives it hoped to accomplish before the summer 2013 season, and recently announced plans for several water safety initiatives taking place soon, an Ozaukee Press article said. The Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project will host education courses on April 17 and June 23, and information signs as well as throw ropes are also planned near the beaches.

Dave Benjamin, executive director of the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project, will teach the "flip, float and follow," method for people who find themselves stuck in water currents.

"When someone gets sucked out in a rip current ... the first 10 seconds of being in a rip current is — they're either going to make the biggest mistake of their life, or they're going to flip and float and calm themselves down," Benjamin told Patch in September. "Ask anybody, anywhere — what do you do if you catch on fire … they’ll say 'Stop, Drop and Roll'.  … Ask anybody caught in a rip current what they would do … they either don’t know, or they say don't panic and swim parallel."

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