My greetings to all,
Our spring Lake Lure Boat Show was a wonderful experience this year!
Although we had to dodge some rain drops along the way, the forecast generally moderated throughout the weekend. We had 30 boats in attendance and reserved two docks for everyone.
The Marina staff was friendly and helpful in every way. Our sincere thanks go to Sonya Ledford, the General Manager of Lake Lure Tours. She and her team kindly welcomed our arrivals while also being quite busy with the tour boats coming in and out. Sonya was also our coordinator again this year for the registration process, the Lake Lure Inn, hosting the Lakeside Cookout Buffet on Friday night, and our transportation on Saturday evening by water and van. In addition to helping BRC, she was the coordinator for the car clubs as well. It was busy!
Our arrivals were spread over Thursday and Friday, and it was great to see the boats checking in, smoothly backing down the ramp, and the wonderful sound of engines as they started and backed away. Volunteers helped with this process along with temporary staging of the tow-vehicles and trailers for owners returning to place them in the parking area above the Lake Lure Inn. Scott Perkins was a special help on Friday.
Our sincere thank you to John Heiderich who was the Dock Master and coordinator with Sonya. We developed diagrams of the docks to make the assignment process easier, and John placed the boats in the order of their registration date. We were able to give captains their slip location at the ramp. As with every show, considerations need to be made for the larger boats, those giving rides, and to be flexible for the unexpected.
As is the tradition, rocking chairs were gathered next to the Inn entrance doors for Happy Hour each day, along with the hotel bar seeing brisk business during their opening hours!
Friday evening the weather cooperated, and we enjoyed the Lakeside Buffet with an excellent DJ to balance the background music. During the dinner we took time to welcome everyone, touch on the schedule for Saturday, and share various updates including the excellent new Lake Greenwood docks for October, upcoming information on the Hilton Head Island Concours, and the reopening process of our Ships Store this summer. Samples of the shirts and hats were worn by John and Steve as early prototypes. Much more to come on this!
Our special thank you to Theresa McMullin who coordinated a trip for the spouses to Hendersonville and the Flat Rock Playhouse for the musical performance of Jersey Boys on Saturday. After gathering for a Mimosa on Saturday morning, they were on their way to enjoy the day.
The Car Clubs were there early Saturday along with our attendees wiping down their boats. Visitors were brisk throughout the show from 9 – 3pm. Peoples Choice votes were cast and tallied, and we had very good participation with many rides given. Our sincere thank you Lee Heard for photographing the show as they have in past years that we will share when ready.
As with any show a mechanical issue or 2 can show up. For Al Olsen and I……our impellers took the day off…. Everyone loved seeing Al’s Trescot 26’ Launch named Popeye. His boat with the canopy and chairs was perfectly positioned to welcome guests and members. I felt it was better to put our boat on the trailer to open a slip. Bryan Wheeler kindly offered to tow me over. I was grateful until I realized that this could come back to haunt me with a Chris Craft towing a Century photo……a sly smile and head nod came across his face……..John Heiderich to the rescue along with Gary Fesperman, Randy Cunningham and others. We all had a good laugh!!
The Saturday forecast improved, but we could see a storm coming in the afternoon. Well wouldn’t you know that the heavy rain arrived just after the show, and captains were lining their boats up to load the trailers. That hour+ was an adventure along with patience and hustle at the same time…..but all ended well!
James Sciandra generously opened his home to our Club again this year. It is an extraordinary setting with the historic Fort in place to preserve the past, and the barn reconstruction next to it in progress now. James and his team were outstanding and very accommodating in every way. The 9-year-old daughter of his friends gave wonderful tours of the Fort for those that had not been through before. She was great.
The band was excellent and relocated up into the Fort when rain drops arrived. His guest house was full to the brim during a shower, but everyone flexed and flowed with the evening. Our thanks to Craig Miller for picking up the dinner and delivering it to James’s home. Craig also reminded the captains how important the License card is to have with you on Lake Lure.
It was time to present the People’s Choice award…….John Heiderich had a very nice paddle engraved as a more unique award this year. Also, a name plate will be added to the BRC Dodge Lady plaque now mounted and displayed at the Marina Office. Al came up and accepted his award while bending over. Well…….you just know that this was a target rich moment not to be missed. You guessed it……..
The finale of the evening was an outstanding firework’s show generously performed by James and his team! It was a wonderful and very special way to end the evening with sight, elevation, color and sound. Our sincerest thank you and gratitude James. This will be a special and lasting memory for everyone!!
My best wishes to everyone as the summer season arrives and you spend time on the water. Be safe, and please enjoy the photos that we took through the different days!
Steve Dewire
CLICK HERE to see photos from the event!
**Postscript: This year we had a large response to join the show with 32 registrations. As a result, we used the Main Dock as normal, and Dock 8 across the water. In real time the distance between the two is just too far to walk around. Next year, we will limit ourselves to the Main Dock only, and assign the slips by the order of registrations received. It is always good to try a new addition, but also to reset if it is better for everyone.
