Members of the Passenger Vessel Association (PVA) have elected Richard “Dick” Purinton as 2001 president. Also elected were Fredrick “Fred” Hall as vice president and Gary Frommelt as secretary-treasurer.
Prior to becoming president, Purinton served as PVA vice president and secretary-treasurer. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin School of Journalism. After serving in the U.S. Navy, he became president of the Great Lakes Ferry Boat Association. He has been with
Washington Island Ferry Line since 1979, the year it joined PVA.
Hall was vice president and general manager of Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Steamboat Company, which operates three, automobile and passenger ferry across the Long Island Sound to Bridgeport, Conn. Hall was a co-founder of the PVA Ferry Council and is currently co-chair of the PVA Legislative Committee.
Frommelt, the incoming secretary-treasurer, worked for Hornblower Marine Services as director of marine operations for a 5,000-passenger
riverboat gaming vessel at Caesar’s Indiana. Frommelt has been a member of the PVA Safety and Loss Control Committee for years and was chairman of the PVA Gaming Council.