| In the Spring of 1990 several friends were socializing at the Kelowna Yacht Club, and out of the blue one of them said "Why don't we start our own antique boat club and have a boat show?" Since they all owned wooden boats they thought it would be wonderful idea, and decided to contact other wooden boat owners that they knew.In April the first meeting was held and in attendance were Dave and John Stringer, Andrew Middleton, Vic Spencer, Arnie Brown, John Hindle, Ken Geis and Stephanie Taylor. John Stringer was nominated the first President with the others filling in as members of the executive committee. Wasting no time, they decided to organize the boat show for sometime in August. As for a venue, they felt the most logical place to hold it was the Hotel Eldorado, a 1920s hotel that had recently been restored to its classic design after the original building was lost in a fire. They contacted the owner, Jim Nixon, and he was delighted to offer the use of his hotel and docking services.After the venue was determined, plans fell into place and the second weekend in August was selected for the date of the first boat show. A welcome reception was planned for the Friday evening with hors d'ouvres being provided by the hotel, wines supplied by Ross Fitzpatrick of Cedar Creek Winery and Labatt's Brewery donated beer for the reception. Saturday evening featured a salmon BBQ and on Sunday there was the 'El's' famous Brunch. Things were off to a really good start! Publicizing the event, which is always a challenge, proved fairly easy when we "leaked" the information to the press and managed to get free TV time on the local station.A number of events and displays were organized including antique cars from the British Car Club, the Janzen Nostalgic Swim Collection Show, a water ski show, a rowing display on the water and a display of antique racing rowing shells on the dock during the weekend. Boats were entered in historic, antique and classic categories and a trophy was offered for the People's Choice for the Boat of the Show. A total of 16 boats entered and a crowd of some 300 or so came along to admire them. The winner of the People's Choice for this first event was Arnie Brown's boat 'Brand X' and was well deserving of the award. |
