By Henry Luzzatto

Correspondent

The members of the Coast Guard Auxiliary’s Flotilla 5-9 may be known more for their boating skills than for their musical talents, but both are on display in a new music video.

The flotilla published the music video, called “Flotilla 5-9!” Monday afternoon. The video features a hip-hop song that talks about the different services offered by the Coast Guard Auxiliary, as well as auxiliary members demonstrating the programs they offer. The song ends with a pitch to recruit new members to the Coast Guard Auxiliary.

According to Stephen Faleski, the flotilla staff officer of communication services, his father, Flotilla Commander Peter Faleski, came up with the idea for the video late last year.

“Last year, the Lions Club produced a rap music video, and it ended up getting popular,” Stephen Faleski said. The video inspired Flotilla 5-9 to do a similar thing, he said.

Though the idea was originally his, Peter Faleski said that the song was written entirely by his wife, Stephanie Faleski.

“We were on a long drive home from Pennsylvania, and I was talking out loud about what we do,” Peter Faleski said. “She took notes and I guess it just gelled overnight.”

After the words were written, Stephen Faleski said that they searched for a royalty-free beat that matched the rhythm of the song.

“None of us had any experience writing music,” Stephen Faleski said.

Along with writing the lyrics for the song, Stephanie Faleski also directed the video, Stephen Faleski said. Stephen Faleski filmed the video and did the editing, he said, while Peter Faleski featured in the video.

The video prominently features four flotilla members, who each perform a verse: Peter Faleski, Anne Coke, Michelle Thornton and Anderson Braswell, with many other members making smaller appearances.

Even though not every member of the flotilla appears in the video, all of the members helped out, Peter Faleski said. Some helped with setting up the scenes, some were involved in the background, and one even let the flotilla use his boat for the video, he said.

The video, which is less than five minutes long, took nearly six months to film, Stephen Faleski said. Much of the video was filmed at Smithfield Station, the flotilla’s local marina.

The video is released to coincide with the 225th anniversary of the founding of the Coast Guard, Aug. 4.

“Since the attention will be on the Coast Guard,” Stephen Faleski said, “we’ll try to piggyback on some of that traffic.”

Peter Faleski hopes to have more than 5,000 views on YouTube by the end of the week.

Peter Faleski says that he hopes that the video will both “enlighten the general public,” and encourage people to volunteer for the Coast Guard Auxiliary.

The video can be seen on the Flotilla 5-9 YouTube channel, the website, aux59.org and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/flotilla59.