Independence (LCS 2) - Bath Iron Works

700 Washington StreetBath, ME 04530PRSRT STDU.S. POSTAGE PAIDBATH, MAINE04530PERMIT NO. 31Bow Tie WednesdaysWho says you can’t have fun atwork? Not Peter DeCourcy(D24) and a few of his PlanningYard co-workers at the Surface Ship SupportCenter (James Building) in East Brunswick.“When the DDG 51 Planning Yardbegan in the early 1990’s,” explained Peter,“everyone in our start-up group of about20 wore ties to work. That was pretty commonin BIW office areas at the time.” ThePlanning Yard function grew rapidly andwithin a few years, the trend was moretie-less than tied-on.Throughout BIW non-manufacturingareas, casual Fridays morphed into a lessformal everyday mode that rarely includedties. Fifteen or so years later, enter Peter’sidea. He is also a District 1 college-levellacrosse official who travels throughout NewEngland. When engaged in official dutiesand even when traveling to and from thegame site, he is required to wear a coat andtie. This doesn’t bother him a bit and gavehim the idea to reintroduce ties at workthe same way they were phased out—oneday at a time.Bow Tie Wearers, l to r (1st row) Barbara Bryant, Rick Bracket, Peter Decourcy, Camille Rossignol andWally Trott; (2nd row) JP Ouellette, Ida Decker, Larry Innes, Louise Dickinson, Bill Schumaker, WilliamWallace and Phil Coyne. Missing from photo: CR Davis. Photo courtesy of Bob Cunningham.After Labor Day this year, he beganwearing a bow tie to work every Wednesday.His tribe increased and now includes theindividuals shown here.The reaction? Peter said, “People sometimessay things like, ‘looking-sharp today,’and other tie-wearers report that they havereceived only supportive feedback.Speaking for myself, I feel good for thewhole day.”Perhaps bow ties at work are a stressreliever.Way to go, bow tie guys and gals.