*Corrected information
Donna Reed, who is apparently not the America's sweetheart actress who passed away in 1986 but an American Tall Ship Institute spokeswoman, is running in a 5k race that raises money for her employer in four weeks.
That is to be expected–until you discover Reed was the deck hand who had both of her legs blasted Sept. 8 when buckshot a live cannonball round unexpectedly fired from the tall ship The Bill of Rights Amazing Grace during a battle reenactment at Dana Point's Tall Ship Festival.
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See also:
Tall Ships Festival: Dana Point Harbor
John Kraus and the Goers Bring Sea Shanties into the 21st Century
Fishy Business: Ocean Institute
*Reed was aboard The Bill of Rights.
“I was very lucky not to be seriously injured by the
live fire,” says Reed in a statement from her Ventura-based institute. “It shouldn't keep me from participating. What we
do in Ventura is very important to me and I want to support our education programs.”
She adds with what you'd imagine to be a wink, “I hope others might want to walk for ATSI with 'Buckshot
Donna' too!”
The release goes on to explain Reed will opt to walk instead of run, but just be able to do that has required training that has her walking five kilometers daily. If you'd like to head up to Ventura to join her, register at www.SantaToTheSea.com or call 805.901.0585.
Even those who have not been cannon fodder recently can choose to donate without walking or running.
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OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.
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