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Liberté (Admin) (69.3.125.118 - 69.3.125.118)
Posted on Monday, December 23, 2002 - 2:28 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

On my way home from my handball games on Belle Isle, I have passed the Detroit Boat Club hundreds of times. Over that period I watched it change from a polished presence and active boating and rowing hub to broken and crumbling hulk. Gone are its well heeled yachts, wedding parties, galas and regattas. I never entered it in its glory days, only in its decrepitude. But if the walls could speak, what would they say?

Enter your post below. Your post will be processed as quickly as possible. Lowell

For more Detroit discussion, click HERE to visit the Discuss Detroit Forum.
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Liberté (Admin) (69.3.250.180 - 69.3.250.180)
Posted on Wednesday, January 01, 2003 - 11:20 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The following encouraging update was provide by email by Brian 'Rocket' Benz who guided me through the club and whose picture is seen in the tour.

"Thank you for keeping me updated on your work regarding the old Detroit Boat Club. I enjoyed taking the tour. I have some facts that I hope you can incorporate.

The rowing team purchased a $26,000 boiler last year, a substantial investment in the future of the club. We just completed $9,000 of roofing repairs. In the spring of 2003, we will be repairing the most unsightly stucco repair on the exterior.

(Note that you highlighted both areas in the picture tour. The area by the steps on the river side and the area going up the steps on the parking lot side.)

The contractor and the monies [$12,000] have been approved by the Friends of Detroit Rowing board of directors for this project.

Your [forum] helped us to get some volunteers for helping clean up the club this fall! We are in the process of filling our 3rd, 30yard dumpster! June 28 is the Dragon Boat Race - a fund raiser that promises to be a fun and potentially a high profile event.

Thank your for your support, we appreciate it.
Sincerely, Brian Benz

PS. It’s Brian not rocket, but rocket sounds interesting."
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the rock (165.121.212.16 - 165.121.212.16)
Posted on Monday, December 23, 2002 - 8:46 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I wonder where the pictures are of the former commodores of the DBC that used to hang on the wall on the ground floor. My senior partner, Buell Doelle, was commodore in the 50's. All those old black and white pictures looked quite impressive against a white wall. I would think they are still around somewhere, but where is anyone's guess.
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citylover (207.75.179.151 - 207.75.179.151)
Posted on Monday, December 23, 2002 - 11:19 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

It was the early 1980's.I was playing in a blues/rockabilly band(a good one) and we had a wedding engagement at the DBC.

I was about 26 years old. I was not too familiar with Detroit, but our bassist was. He was older having graduated from high school the year I was born. He was a character.He spend time in the service at Leavenworth wehre he was in the prison band with some very well known jazzers. And he had gone to WSU in the 60's.

He drove us to Detroit from points west that day. We took grand blvd all the way down to jefferson.Grand blvd was a brand new experience for me. I was mesmerized by the grandness of the blvd, it is aptly named.

And then we arrived at the boat club. What a place! A beautiful bldg and the ballroom where we played was terrific and sounded good too.

I felt a sense of the big city at the boat club, an old place with rather refined people in areas other than the wedding party. Not that they weren't nice; they treated us fine.

I did walk around a little.But my memory is shaky. I remember the pool and it seemed old to me and a darker blue than the school pools I was accustomed to. And it seemed elegant which those school and public pools were not. I also remember a loung or a bar that I peeked into but I thought better of going in but it was quite attractive.

It is funny I really don't remember that much about playing music but I do remember the beauty and elegance of the Detroit boat club.
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jjaba (69.3.250.180 - 69.3.250.180)
Posted on Thursday, December 26, 2002 - 12:52 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Detroit Boat Club, Belle Isle, Detroit.
Built: 1902. Alpheus W. Chittenden.

The large Spanish Colonial Revivial Bldg. has plain white stucco walls, arched openings, and a low-pitch roof in red Spanish tile topped out with a squat tower.

The interior is arranged around a central wood-paneled reception hall that rises two stories beneath the lighted tower. Still in place are the balustrades of carved seahorses and fish. Balconied ballrooms and dining halls open into verandas. Hidden away are smokers, dens, boat rooms, and reading rooms. There are even ample crew quarters.

Alpheus William Chittenden was born in 1869, educated at MIT, who really built housing more than boat clubs, but he was a member there. The club dates from 1839. The existing building, however ragged, replaced one destroyed by fire.

If you look carefully, the boat club is actually North of the Belle Isle Bridge. Thus, The Detroit Boat Club is really quite close to Jefferson Avenue & the City of Detroit in its siting.
jjaba
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Susan Miller Erickson (209.112.135.114 - 209.112.135.114)
Posted on Thursday, December 26, 2002 - 9:46 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Thanks for the tour it brought back great memories. It was my home away from home going up in the 1970's. Glad to hear about the restoration efforts by Friends of Detroit Rowing who are maintaining the building. I hope to swim in the pool again in my lifetime.

Susan Miller Erickson
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Jon D. (205.130.230.30 - 205.130.230.30)
Posted on Monday, January 06, 2003 - 4:25 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

My High School Prom (Berkley '86) was held in this beautiful building, with dancing and dinner. A classmate's family were members and got us the building for the night, maybe this was a sign things were going downhill? Im shocked to see it on the ruins of Detroit, where is the Boat Club located now? Truly sad to see the most beatufiful buildings in our hometown crumble so quickly.
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Amado (152.163.189.167 - 152.163.189.167)
Posted on Sunday, January 12, 2003 - 10:18 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I am wondering who actually owns the building?? And are they seeking any investors for restoration/??
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chris (12.246.71.120 - 12.246.71.120)
Posted on Monday, January 20, 2003 - 10:21 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I worked as a lifeguard at the boat club for the summer of 1988. Things I remember about working there:
-we (the lifeguards) painted the pools before the season started
-the lifeguards regularly handled chlorine and muratic acid in leaky 25 gallon containers without protection
-on payday, all of the boat club employees would race to the bank to cash their checks. If you got there too late, your paycheck would bounce.
-I worked with some great people who probably remember more and could tell some great stories...are you out there?
-the place was crumbling (especially the outside) even then. I'm shocked to see how it looks now. We weren't allowed in any of those interior rooms...so, these pictures are actually my first look at many of them.
-I worked at the Yacht club (which was is much better shape) the next year
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Bill Howards son (69.3.69.160 - 69.3.69.160)
Posted on Tuesday, January 28, 2003 - 12:33 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

What a great site, Lowell. I grew up at the Detroit Boat Club, 1954 till college in the 60's and remember. My parents were active there with their friends. We were sailors and swimmers in the summer, and bowlers and ladies flowers, and trips to the museum and the symphony ((and all that)). Though we didn't live in the City, the Boat Club was definitely an all-year-round focus in our life. At that point the rowing shells were being built in the mahogany smelling south ground floor by wonderful ancient-looking (to me at least) Filipino wood-craftsmen. And the oak-paneled bar was literally wallpapered in the Henley (Ontario & UK venues) winners' plaques. It was a place of smells: bright fresh paint, cooking smells from the kitchen, the boilers, the chlorine pools, musty sail lockers, lawns and roses; plus the whiffs over the River from the WonderBread bakery, and the distillery in Windsor.

Goodness, a lot of things come back when you start remembering.) And there was a collection of very decent and patient and skilled men and women who worked at the Boat Club, with at least a tacit part of their job being to keep us kids and our sometimes too-well-meaning older sibling and parents from goofing up the place.

Socially, and in social-issues, the Club was less successful. I certainly had no interaction with people on Belle Isle at the bathing beach, on the Belle Isle Ferry, or anywhere around, and none with anyone in the neighborhoods we commuted through. Perhaps that was true of all people at the Boat Club, except for the kids who we envied because their families lived in Indian Village and they could get the to the Club by bicycle.

Was the lease with Detroit for the clubhouse island too, or just for the parking lot? I recall there were issues about that. It doesn't sound like things ever got too well worked out. The "move" was something I'd heard about in the '60s.

Well, in any case, your photos help set the stage; memory provides the players, lighting and script. The story is there, even now.

One small item about the "maze of ballrooms..." is that dancing was only in the big ball room on the first floor and the bar on the top, the other rooms on the first floor were carpeted dining rooms (you can't dance on carpet). The little cabaret on the top was called, I think, "The River Room", for small parties and over-flow at holiday season.

Thanks for the great trip. Living out of town, I'd lost track of the current state of things; but will certainly stop by when I'm in town mid-February 2003. And would welcome hearing how the rowing program continues.
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Anne Marie Engel (207.215.212.247 - 207.215.212.247)
Posted on Sunday, February 02, 2003 - 6:06 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Hi! I moved away from Detroit to San Francisco and in large part because of the deterioration of the beautiful Detroit Boat Club. Our DBC! There were many of us who spent their entire summers there- myself, from 1970-until it closed. How could the city let this gem go? It was a home to me; the members my family. My family stayed active until the very last day, as we walked out of the club, through the bridge and into the parking lot to our cars. Yes, there were many parties, many fun times. But mostly I remember it as a true community. Like it takes a village to raise children. The Boat Club was a wonderful village where entire families were friends and watched over each other and all the children. And the Pool!! There is not a pool like it in the world. We had incredible diving boards...and the grill where the kids hung out in between swim practice.
Hello everyone!! This is Anne Marie Engel and I'd love to hear from all of you!!
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a8&underSwimRecordHolder (68.62.9.48 - 68.62.9.48)
Posted on Tuesday, February 04, 2003 - 2:23 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

There are things, and we know these things are out there, even if we don't know their names, nor have ever "seen" them, and they carry us through our lives.
The Boat Club was full of these things.
Comfort, acceptance, equality....Home; for not just Brothers and Sisters and Moms & Pops, but
for us all.
For ANYONE who wanted to wrestle a couple of obnoxiously large, obnoxiously colorful plastic bags across the bridge and plop down on a 'chaise'
for a day of sun. For anyone brave enough to "strap-on" a speedo, or call themselves a "Dolphin".

And for all of US who knew, no matter how bad it got on the outside, no amount of "stucco crumble"
nor frezzing cold, over chlorinated swim water could keep us out; because, WE knew what it was on the INSIDE and we knew it was right to share.
A responsibility to share those things we can't see, but can be found in great amounts, floating 20 yards off Belle Ilse.

I would love nothing more than to have it a rejuvinated local resort, open publically to all Detroiters.
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blondy (65.56.189.17 - 65.56.189.17)
Posted on Tuesday, February 04, 2003 - 7:50 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Anne Marie Engel, I think I swam with you in the late 70's early 80's? Lizzy Blondy ring a bell?
I spent my summers at the Boat Club. Actually, my mom would drive me from the Detroit Towers down Jefferson, and we used to see these 3 or 4 blond women, with long blond hair, wearing almost cloak like robes, walking down Jefferson. We called them "the blonds".
Then we would head under Jefferson onto the Bridge, and she would drop me off at the Boat Club.
I remember swim team practice, hanging out on my friends, The Jarvis's houseboat, telling ghost stories in the ladies lounge.... Trips around the island to put on plays at the bandshell, dances after swim meets, being excited about jumping off the high dive, playting kick the can next to the paddle tennis courts, collecting snails from under the bridge.....
Ah the memories....I miss the boat club!
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Andy Basile (209.10.219.196 - 209.10.219.196)
Posted on Friday, February 14, 2003 - 12:52 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I grew up at the DBC in the late 60's and early to mid 70's and remember Anne Marie Engle and so many others, including the unforgettable swim coach whose name I can no longe recall.
The DBC was magic. I still talk about it with my wife. The last time I set foot in the DBC was 1982. These pictures... they are staggering. How could this have happened? I can't believe my eyes. It's like something out one of thoese "End of the World" movies.
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Chacho Gomez (68.40.142.184 - 68.40.142.184)
Posted on Tuesday, February 18, 2003 - 3:34 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I remember swimming in a swim meet at the DBC in 1991. I think it was called the "Ren-Cen Relay's". I remember the pool being by far the largest pool I'd ever seen. Afterwards there was a dance in one of the ballrooms. It's probably one of the last times the pool and ballroom were used.
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Elaine Varian Simpson (207.148.213.44 - 207.148.213.44)
Posted on Tuesday, February 18, 2003 - 10:53 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I am one of triplets who swam on the team at the DBC for over ten years. The experiences and adventures made me what I am today. A group of families from all over the Detroit Metro Area, various income levels, different lifestyles, and many different types of races and religions all there for the purpose of enjoying a spring, summer, fall and on occassion a winter day with friends and family. I often talk about my childhood with my son who is 7, he wants to know why there isn't a place like that for him. What do I tell him? How do I explain that my childhood has deteriated to such an awful state? I avoid those answers and digress to stories of my childhood at the club. Stories of us laying on the red tile in between laps at practice. Hiding on the rowing docks to avoid Les our coach. Swimming in the rain and the fake weddings that we had in the gardens. David and I must have been married 50 times. I tell him of the dances and the everlasting friendships that were created and some that have faded over the years. I miss it all and all of you. He needs a place like this for him to build friendships and a place so comfortable to call his childhood hang out.

Hey, does anyone remember sneaking ice cream out of the kitchen after hours or making out in the mat room?

Miss those times!
Elaine (Varian) Simpson
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kathleenvarian (207.148.213.44 - 207.148.213.44)
Posted on Tuesday, February 18, 2003 - 10:31 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Wow- This site brought back some awsome memories for me. I am Kathleen Grabowski (Formerly Varian) one of the tripletts. I would love to assist in the renovation of the DBC. The DBC is what I remember most of my childhood (1970-1986). I spent almost every summer day at the club from early in the morning till late at night. We would go for Sunday brunch and have tons of apple fritters.This is a wonderful site.
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blondy (162.115.100.197 - 162.115.100.197)
Posted on Thursday, February 20, 2003 - 11:02 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The coach when I swam was Les Roddis.
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Meg Filiatrault (152.163.189.167 - 152.163.189.167)
Posted on Saturday, February 22, 2003 - 4:24 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Wow!! What a blast of nostalgia I've had this week! First, I read about Michele Varian in InStyle magazine and get in touch with her from her website. This also leads to a little reunion with her sisters, Elaine and Kathleen, who referred me to this site! I'm blown away!
I also grew up at the DBC for the first 12 years of my life. (1968-1980) That run down kiddie pool is where I learned to swim! I remember the only way that they could get me to put my head under the water was to throw Hershey kisses in and I'd go after 'em like they were gold! They couldn't get me out of the water after that.
It's funny that Elaine mentioned laying on the red tiles to warm up between laps because that is the very first thing that I thought of!! I can also clearly recall taking off from the middle of practice whenever we heard the hydroplanes praciticing before race weekend. Does anyone remember when Bill Muncey's hydroplane konked out and he had to drift in to the DBC in the middle of practice? My God, there are so many memories.....like when it was chilly and the water in the pool seemed really cold...so we'd take a shower in the coldest water we could stand and then make a mad dash to the pool so the water would seem warmer? And the mat room!!! I think we all had our first kiss in there. Watching the fireworks from that top balcony was also an annual event. Or how about going into the grill and getting food without having to give any money...instead you paid by simply remembering one letter and one number!! I can still remember mine...F7. I used to love playing hide and seek upstairs while our parents were in the bar. I can still remember where everyone's boats used to be when I saw those pictures....the Cerritos, the Hermans, the Larsens, the Gillmores....I could go on and on.
I'm so thankful for those wonderful memories and Elaine is so right, it's such a shame that every kid doesn't have a place like that. This tour brought tears to my eyes to see it in the shape that it's in. I'm so blessed to have those memories of a much different place. I'd love to hear from any of my long lost swimming pals so feel free to email me at Flamongo@aol.com. I'll leave you with this.....
"Here's to the Boat Club
The best in the league
Wait til next season
We'll stage a blitzkreig..."

anyone remember the rest?

Meg Filiatrault
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Anne Marie (207.215.212.247 - 207.215.212.247)
Posted on Saturday, February 22, 2003 - 1:16 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Hi everybody! Yes I remenber you Liz Blondy - I think your father was my pediatrician!!
Les Roddis was the coach until it closed. And he started there sometime in the 70's.
Please tell everyone connected with the DBC about this website. I'd love to plan a reunion there some day!
DBC DBC OWEE!!!
Anne Marie Engel
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anjuna jane (68.41.246.152 - 68.41.246.152)
Posted on Sunday, March 23, 2003 - 12:14 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Dear posters,

My memories of the Detroit Boat Club involve swim meets -- as members of a club in the same swim league (Western), my family came every year--the exciting trip to Belle Isle, the beautiful boats... I cannot believe the state the place is now in.
I am posting because I am doing research for a documentary. As a journalist I cover architecture and preservation and am hoping to produce a video about the boat club, both to preserve its romance and hopefully help find a new use for the premises. If anyone would like to volunteer to share stories, please email me at anjuna_jane@hotmail.com for more info.
Thank you.
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abby (205.188.208.135 - 205.188.208.135)
Posted on Thursday, March 27, 2003 - 9:16 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The Detroit Boat Club is a symbol of my childhood. It makes me very sad to drive down Jefferson and see that once magnificant building in the state that it is today. The members of the DBC were a family- and many still are, especially the swimmers. Some of us who see each other regularly think back to the countless summers swimming, eating in the galley and harassing the life guards, and yes Chris you were one of them.
Anna Banna- How are ya?
We still tell stories about the boat club- summers arent the same without swimming in freezing water. I can swim in any degree of water because of the morning practices in that pool. There was nothing like it.
\From what I understand- there are a group of members who still get together under the name of the Detroit Boat Club. They dont have a club house, but they do (I think) have the trophies, and items from the club house which is kept in storage. Les knows more about it, I think. He is doing well. So is Chuckie.

To the DBC swimmers:
"We're from the Boat Club Couldnt be prouder-
If ya cant hear us-
We'll yell a little LOUDER"
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Avery (12.207.209.141 - 12.207.209.141)
Posted on Sunday, May 04, 2003 - 10:53 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Reading these postings and viewing the photographs brought tears to my eyes. The happiest memories of my youth were summers spent at the DBC. Grilled cheese sandwiches in the Galley...having crushes on the lifeguards...Les forcing me to swim the 50 Fly even though he knew I would come in last, just so I could say "I did it"...dances after the swim meets...all of the silly team cheers that have been shared by fellow DBC'ers in posts above...it truly breaks my heart to know that I was one of the last generations to make memories at that glorious poolside.

I haven't lived in Detroit for years yet these memories are just as vivid today as they were 18 years ago. I would love to support the restoration of the DBC in any way I can.

Avery (Danzig) Kohn
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December Bride (216.8.132.167 - 216.8.132.167)
Posted on Saturday, May 24, 2003 - 3:41 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

My husband and I had our wedding at the Boat Club three days after Christmas, 1985. It was a wonderful night. I'm glad I have photos of its lovely ballroom, full of happy people dancing. I also remember that ballroom in summer, so elegant, with the french doors open and the breeze coming in. I hope someone will bring it back.
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Tyrone (12.246.156.75 - 12.246.156.75)
Posted on Thursday, June 12, 2003 - 2:14 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I posted earlier about being a lifeguard...I'm remembering more details now. There were two girls who asked me my name at one point and I told them my name was Tyrone. That became my nickname. A parent heard the kids calling me Tyrone once and said something about how it was a strange name for a white boy. I can't remember the girls' names. Anyone know? They must have been 8 or 9 (maybe a little older?) in 1989. Great kids!
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RonJendretzke (136.2.1.153 - 136.2.1.153)
Posted on Wednesday, September 10, 2003 - 5:46 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Wow. Just found this site and saw the pictures of the pools. Sad. I was another life guard at the DBC (swam for Les Roddis at Grosse Pointe North) and can still picture some of what it used to look like. Things were a bit run down, but you could still picture what it must have been like in its heyday.

Sure, I remember the jeans I had to wear to keep the chlorine from splashing on my skin and cleaning that huge pool, but it was still a lot of fun. How could you go wrong?

The good things:
-Raybans
-Those bright orange shorts
-Working on my tan
-Bleaching my hair with Sun-In (arguably not a good thing...)
-Swinging the whistle around
-Getting harassed by the members
-Harassing the members (I forget who it was that I tossed in the pool, but boy did I get a funny look from Mom. He deserved it!)

And here's a quote:
"Subtle guys, really subtle."
-John Cobau (spelling?) chiding three of us when we all turned in unison to observe a bikini-clad member.

Ron Jendretzke
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Clayton Closson
Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 - 12:56 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I remember going to the DBC the summer of 1984 with my highschool girlfriend, Therese, who lived in Indian Village (we both went to Cass Tech). It was such a beautiful and fun place.

We would swim in the pool, play tennis, and just hang out for hours at a time. I loved looking at the boats and water and the people. We would hang around the bar area, trying to get drinks and I used to think "so this is how rich people live."

I can't believe it when I drive by it now. Of all the decay I've seen growing up in Detroit, that and the closing of Chung's have been the hardest for me to take. I guess that should mean something for a person who has watched his memories close, get boarded up, and usually torn down.

(Message approved by admin)
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Bonnie Cameron Wells
Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 - 4:39 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

My brother sent the link for this website to me, and I was utterly shocked to see the condition of the Boat Club! It almost brings tears to my eyes. I live in Los Angeles, and haven't lived in Detroit for many years, but I grew up at the Boat Club in its heyday, and my grandfather, Sheldon L. Drennan, was once President of the club. I'm sure he would turn over in his grave if he could see it like this. I learned to swim in the kiddie pool. I spent every weekend on my grandfather's boat that was docked here. I met Santa every year and cried on his knee.

I'm in utter shock - I always assumed it was still going strong. What happened??!!

(Message approved by admin)
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Dave Cogan
Posted on Saturday, October 04, 2003 - 1:44 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

It's scary seeing all of the images of the delapidated Boat Club. It almost seems like a haunted part of my past. I spent a few summers in the early '90s as the assistant to Mark Werful (sp?) running the harbor. I feel like I know every inch of that Club - mowing the grass, painting the building, replacing dock planks, raising the flags every morning and lowering them at dusk. It's really sad to see what's it's become, but I still feel a part of it.

(Message approved by admin)
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Lowell
Posted on Wednesday, October 08, 2003 - 11:07 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

"Our family joined in '66, when I was 12.
One day that summer, my Dad and I were walking by the Flying Scot docks, watching them sail into the docks, very fast, and then stopping on a dime.
My Dad asked me, 'Would you like to learn how to do that?'
I said, 'You bet!'
Little did I know that he did too...
So thanks to the volunteer sailing instructors, we learned how to sail.
I've been doing it ever since...
That summer I came in 2nd place in the Junior Championship race to Chris Hawksley, who had been in the Mackinac races.

An aside: whenever I wanted to swim in the pool, there was always an elfin, sea urchin, by the name of Ellen Doetsch lingering nearby. Her intent was to drown myself whenever I went into the pool. So I had to carefully pick and choose my 'safe time' --when she wasn't looking, etc.
Curiously, we still remain in touch...

Ms. Filiatrault: I remember when you were born. I also remember watching you learn how to swim in the kiddie pool...

Such great and fond memories of the 'home away from home!'
Would that we could get it back!

The author Thomas Wolfe said, 'You can't go home again'.
Whether true or not, we still have our memories!

Steve Sage

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Former DBC'er (Unregistered Guest)
Posted From: 24.247.30.58
Posted on Tuesday, October 21, 2003 - 12:48 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Greetings DBC'ers....
Being a member of the club for over 12 years...its very sad to see the shape of this once fine club......one of the oldest rowing clubs in the world...shame....shame....
I think the club started going down the drain when some of the top guys ( remember the guys in the white shorts and hats) started filling their pockets and their mouth's with the clubs money..the drinking got out of hand!!..it's a shame because we all have such great memories of our children growing up in this great palace on the river! Long live the DBC!!!

(Message approved by admin)
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Irish Mafia -1 (Unregistered Guest)
Posted From: 68.74.0.3
Posted on Friday, October 24, 2003 - 5:58 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

"Oldest continuously running rowing club in the world".... which is still operating out of that building...the old grill room has been transformed into a weight room....the ball room is used for erg practice....

"Oldest continuously running yachting organization in the America's" They still operate their flying Scott Fleet out of Gray Haven, hold their annual regatta in conjunction with the Little Club (Grosse Pointe Club), and hold monthly dinners at different clubs around town.


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Bill Swanson (Unregistered Guest)
Posted From: 68.72.235.66
Posted on Tuesday, October 28, 2003 - 5:59 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

If anybody would like a tour of the building, Friends Of Detroit Rowing who leases the Boat CLub from the City Of Detroit is having a fundraiser for repairs to the building. The Old- Timers Regatta is on Nov 8th. You don't need to have rowed to attend
Please go to www.detroitrowing.org and Click on the Old-Timers Regatta for details.
Bill Swanson
bswanson525@yahoo.com

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Patrick Tollis (Unregistered Guest)
Posted From: 68.60.115.179
Posted on Wednesday, October 29, 2003 - 8:48 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I just ran across this web site by accident and love it. I used to work at the Detroit Boat Club as a Dock Boy during the summers of '67, '68 and '69. Is was a summer job for me during my high school years. The place was beautiful. I think this must have been its glory days. It was always full of energy, with all types of activities for young and old. John Bruhl was the dock master at the time. Marion (forgot his last name) was the club manager. I remember a lot of the members by their boats but can't remember their names now. I do remember a Dr. Droulet, a very pleasant man that would always stop and talk to me when I was working the night shift. I also remember working on Sundays was a treat. The dock boys were allowed to eat in the main dining room, on the second floor before they opened for the members. The food was out of this world. I remember the apple fritters that one of the other writers mentioned.
How do we stay in touch with the renovations?

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Mary Hughes (Unregistered Guest)
Posted From: 67.75.102.191
Posted on Thursday, November 06, 2003 - 10:59 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I grew up at the Boat Club. I have many fond memories of the club. From the 60's through the early 80's my Dad and to a limited extent myself were involved with the sailing program. My father and I spent many summer Saturdays racing on Lake St. Clair in Flying Scots. I remember a whole line of Scots were towed up to the lake. Later I would crew on my Dad's boat Blue Witch the Psyche.
I loved the pool. I would stay in it long enough to have my fingers and toes wrinkle.
Junior High dances were held there. I remember one held in the the ballroom where the Montgomery Miller Blues band played. The Montgomery in the band was James Montgomery who's now nationally known. His parents belonged to the club. Families that I remember were the Hawksleys, Birds,Renauds,Keydels,Bellangers,Fishers. A few more pals of mine from school Val Vinci and Jeff Montgomery also had parents who belonged.
In the dining room I remember Florie, Danny, Ramos and Ferdie. We would go to brunch there and dinner on special occassions.
Oh yes, the DBC was a great place to see the Gold Cup Races especially from the top balcony.

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Lowell (Admin)
Posted on Saturday, November 08, 2003 - 11:15 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

test...

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Yooley (Grw)
Posted on Saturday, January 31, 2004 - 11:57 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I used to work at the Boat Club as a life guard from 1986 to 1989. The club was definitely in decline at that time, but it was such a great location with a great view of downtown Detroit. I also remember having to race to the bank on payday or else the club's money would run out for the week (obviously a sign of its decline). We had some great times at the club back in those days - Mike Brown, John Cobau, Ron J., Ken Downer, Mark on the docks, the maintenance guys, etc. The good things about the club - many of the members, the kids at the pool, hanging out with the other lifeguards, using "sun-in". The bad things - painting the pool, filling the pool with water before the paint dried (and kids getting paint on their feet in the deep end), sunburn, the chlorine shipment, taking out the trash, the food from the kitchen for employees. Other memories - in 4 years no lifeguard ever had to save a person in the pool, however, the dock crew did once! Overall, I have a lot of great memories of the Detroit Boat Club and was it was great to be a part of the club for a few years...

Rob Walters
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Geneva Danko (Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
Posted From: 68.40.91.83
Posted on Friday, May 21, 2004 - 3:53 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Dear Posters,
I know I am late in reading these posts and taking the tour, but I hope you are reading this anyway. I am in tenth grade at GP South High School and row for the Detroit Boat Club Junior's program. The pictures in the tour is all I have ever known the boat club to be. I can barely fathom the stories many of you have shared of the grandeur the boat club once possessed. Part of me is depressed by these stories and I cannot help but to be envious of your experiences there. I cannot imagine the Boat Club without its stench of old, its crumbling plaster, or the pool being in half decent shape. It is so difficult for me to understand your stories took place at the same boat club. I dreamt of having parties or Prom at the club, and now I know that this used to be the norm. I will have boat club memories of my own years from now. Some memories may involve white stucco and plaster in my hair and on my clothes, but they shall be fond memories nontheless.
Geneva Danko

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Brett Thompson (Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
Posted From: 68.41.76.15
Posted on Friday, May 21, 2004 - 10:49 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I'm a current member of the high school boat club crew, and row every morning and night down at the DBC. Over Spring break this year ('04) a bunch of the guys on our crew took over the DBC between our morning and night practices. We stayed there all day, from 6 in the morning to 9 at night, and hooked up a TV and DVD player and watched movies, fished off the piers, and after our night practices we'd stay and have barbecues and bonfires out on the pool patio. Though I newer saw the DBC in its prime I've heard many stories from the old timers I run into down there, and I can immagine the kind of fun that's been had at the DBC just by walking thorugh the building. It felt nice to hang out there over break, as though we were paying our respects and enjoying a magnificant building and place that has been neglected and forgotten by many for a long time. I just wanted to let any of you old members out there know that the boat club is still being used and appreciated, and we're still having fun and making memories there despite the rough shape it's in.

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Geneva Danko (Unregistered Guest)
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Posted From: 68.40.91.83
Posted on Friday, May 21, 2004 - 4:42 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Please! I beg ALL of you: come back to the DBC, pay it a visit, see it now with your own eyes. You are welcome at any time. I'd love to hear your stories in person and meet you all- rowers and swimmers alike. Bring your families... let's get together!
Junior Rower,
Geneva Danko
PS-
I cannot stress enough-
we not only welcome you to the DBC- we would love to have you!

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Marty Cook (Unregistered Guest)
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Posted From: 216.234.108.38
Posted on Sunday, June 20, 2004 - 4:30 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

My god what has happened to my childhood home. I know a lot of you guys. The triplets (Lived on the next block), Sue Miller, Ann Marie, Clayton (we went to Cass together). I swam on the team from 1975 to 1981 and stayed a member for while after. Please lets all save our club. There must be a way. Email me at Macook@starbucks.com and we can do it together. I am still in the detroit area and would love to get involved in the fight to get our club back to its rightful condition. I believe that it could flurish as a public club (some small fee for upkeep). It is a shame that the club has been allowed to fall apart. Thanks to the rowers for everthing they have done. Is there a fund set up for the complete renovation? Please someone let me know.

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Andrew Denler (Unregistered Guest)
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Posted From: 68.40.90.91
Posted on Friday, July 02, 2004 - 11:25 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Everything of the Club is safely packed away in storage until they can go back to there "club house." I was in The Learn To Row program this summer and i think it is sad what has happened to the place....

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Admin
Board Administrator
Username: Admin

Post Number: 575
Registered: 09-2003
Posted on Sunday, August 22, 2004 - 2:19 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

As a former Dockmaster of the DBC, your pictures bring fond memories of when I worked there in the late 70s / early 80s. It's a shame see that the building and surrounding grounds are deteriorating however it's comforting to know that some people still like to row.

I will always remember how there was always a hub of activity in the summer especially during the hydroplane boat races. Before they shortened the unlimited hydroplane race course, the hydros used to make their turns very close to the bridge and come out of the turn very close to the main T of the docks. It was to say the least, exhilarating!

I also remember the big party that was held outside during the Republican National Convention. It rained like cats and dogs early in the day and our General Manager, Mike Picard was faced with a tough decision. Hold the party for almost 1,000 people inside the clubhouse, or go outside.

It turns out he made the right decision to have it outside. It turned out to be lovely evening that was filled with big band music. Another treat was the annual fireworks night. When the fireworks ended, there were so many boats on the Detroit River heading back to Lake St. Clair that it looked like Ford, the Lodge and the Chrysler freeways at rush hour all at once.
It's amazing no one ever was hurt or killed.


I really loved working there and never wanted to leave mainly because the employees were great to work with every single day. Plus I loved being by the water (still do). However there were some members that were not so great but that doesn't diminish the great memories I still carry with me today. Besides, there were far more nicer members than there were bad. I miss those members as well. I have only seen a handful of members since I left around 1983. It's surprising that they still remember who I am. It's hard to forget some of the fine members we had back then.

I really enjoyed my dock work. I felt that the river belonged to me and my staff. I knew every square inch of that river. I still drive by the club on occasion when I'm returning from my downtown church. I love Belle Isle but it pains me to see the club in its present condition. I wish I had tons of money. I would certainly buy the property and restore all the good that once was in many lives.

Thank you for the opportunity to share some of my memories of this once proud rowing and boating institution. Your tour was really impressive and informative. I now know where I can find this old friend of mine whenever I get the urge to visit.

Regards
AJD

Great email received. I just had to post it here.
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Admin
Board Administrator
Username: Admin

Post Number: 576
Registered: 09-2003
Posted on Sunday, August 22, 2004 - 2:26 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

And another great email...

I grew up at the Detroit Boat Club in the late 40's, 50's and 60's. My home was in Mt. Clemens but we would move our boat to the club for the summer. We would live on the boat, going home on Mondays when the club was closed to do laundry etc. Our life as kids involved watching and going to the Saturday night dances and some dancing with the adults. We fished, water skied off the barge,and swam on the team under Bill Rehem ??. One of the older ladies had rowed at Welsley University so she taught me to row a double shell with her. I would even take out the whirey SP?? by myself. To learn to sail we just took one of the boats at the end of the dock. We started with Lightnings and Cat boats of some type. Later they switched to Interlakes and Flying Scots Eventually we learned to sail and race. I even got hired as a sailing instructor during college three summers in girls camps. My parents had a wonderful life with there friends, Bruce and Verna Tappan, Ted and Dotty Sedwick, John and Helen Mac Farland, Eddie Flinterman and many others. They cruised in their boat to the North Channel and Georgian Bay with their friends. Some of my friends were Dennie and Jim Carne, and Gary Grikschite and their families. What a wonderful club. It was my home away from home.

MH
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Admin
Board Administrator
Username: Admin

Post Number: 577
Registered: 09-2003
Posted on Sunday, August 22, 2004 - 2:28 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I, too grew up at the DBC (1962-71) swimming & as an adult member later & again just recently! Andother email...

Great times & great memories! We are trying to find old swimmers for a littel reunion at the DYC in July. I've been enlisting help whereever I can find it. If interested, please email me with a subject line DBC reunion. dragon4@comcast.net. Thanks.
Nancy "Goat" T
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Admin
Board Administrator
Username: Admin

Post Number: 578
Registered: 09-2003
Posted on Sunday, August 22, 2004 - 2:33 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

And another....

This is truly fascinating. My younger brother sent me this email with the wonderful tour of "old Detroit". Our father, who would have been 88 years of age on the 16th of May, worked in the kitchen of the Detroit Boat Club when he was in his late teens. How many years ago? He always said it was the Detroit Yacht Club....is this one in the same? Born and raised in the Detroit area, I really love to see all the old "ruins", as well as to hear about any renovations. If I could feel like I would make a difference, I'd give part of my limited retirement income to this cause. Forgive me this....I support my church, and that's all I can do. Keep up the good work. Detroit is still a grand city. Pam
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Admin
Board Administrator
Username: Admin

Post Number: 579
Registered: 09-2003
Posted on Sunday, August 22, 2004 - 2:34 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

and another....

Hello,
I like the website. It's depressing that detroit was such a jewel of a city and now we have alot of vacant buildings. I want to change that. My name is sam burgermyer and I am a landscaper. I want to help in a reconstruction effort in any way possible my e-mail is well_rounded_landscaping@yahoo .com
thanks hope to hear about some progress
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Nat Gagnon T. (Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
Posted From: 68.60.81.88
Posted on Wednesday, October 13, 2004 - 11:35 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Hello, I have many memories of the boat club. My father Glenn was the manager in the early 80's. I remember swimming in the kiddie pool. The bottom of the pool had a sesame street character painted on it. I thought the olympic pool was so huge. There was a bridge that went across the middle of it. I had never seen a pool that was 12 feet deep. My family moved to the detroit area from saginaw becuase my father got the job. I work in Detroit now and just yesterday I drove by the boat club. It was astounding to see what was once such a beautiful place so delapitated. It was like going back in time for me to see this grand place in person that I had not seen since a child.

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Pete Kroha (Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
Posted From: 68.62.97.60
Posted on Tuesday, October 19, 2004 - 10:06 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

As a youth growing up at the Detroit Yacht Club I would frequently go to the DBC to meet w/ friends that were members. The "Gally" that was just off the pool in the corner of the building opposite the kiddied pool offered milkshakes and onion rings. Never forgetting the 3 tiered high dive that always was intimidating. At the bottom of the deep end and was a large painting of the DBC burgie. I last visited the club in the early 90's to sit on a friends boat. I hope that the rowing club has success in rejuvenating the club.

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The_rock
Member
Username: The_rock

Post Number: 525
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Wednesday, February 09, 2005 - 6:06 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Actually, the DBC still has a small membership of people in the area. They now get together for social events. My dental hygenist and her husband are members and attended the recent fund raiser at the Club.
It's really neat that these folks want to keep the rich tradition of the DBC going.
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Bruce D. Towar (Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
Posted From: 68.114.253.55
Posted on Sunday, July 24, 2005 - 2:49 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I remember many happy days at the DBC way back during the 'War Years'. Nobody left now I guess. Sorry to see this old club go down. A lot of Detroit 'class' goes with it. Hope someone remembers the 'splash parties' and Bud Towar.Pom-Pom games that lasted 'forever' and walks across the bridge.

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Alexei289
Member
Username: Alexei289

Post Number: 995
Registered: 11-2004
Posted From: 68.61.183.223
Posted on Sunday, January 15, 2006 - 4:47 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

My Dad was involved in Offshore racing for several years in the 70s and competed in the Gold cup races on the Detroit river in the Unlimated class. He won the River Crab Classic in 1977 and the flag he recieved currently garns my basement wall. The Mollewood team won several races around the country until a sever boating accident with Rocky Aioke (owner of the Bennihanna restaurant chain) in San Fansisco in which both were severely injured and the boat was vaporized at a high rate of speed. My dad was an active member of the DBC and always talked about having some pretty lavish parties there in which everyone would have an awsome time and later take their own boats out for night rides on the river.

As the DBC moved toward disrepair when I was a kid, my dad would still take me to there for outdoor BBQs while i swam in the pool and had a good time. I remember the pool being massive, but was in pretty nasty shape, the bottom paint being worn off, and chipped... while turing rustcolored and green. The building was already going downhill, and noticibly struggling.

THis was less than 12 years ago, and now seeing the pics of how it looks now makes me feel so much remorse for it, that i hope one day i would have the means to do something.

I remember my dad talking about there being a high dive board there.... that was removed in the 80s, after a kid died after jumping off it and hitting the concrete... is this true??
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Sager
Member
Username: Sager

Post Number: 1
Registered: 04-2006
Posted From: 68.188.153.36
Posted on Saturday, April 22, 2006 - 4:28 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Doesn't anyone visit this site anymore?
Are we all stagnant/dormant?

Steve Sage
sjsage@charter.net
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(Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
Posted From: 24.91.163.6
Posted on Thursday, June 08, 2006 - 9:06 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I have fond but faint memories as a kid playing in the kiddie pool in the early 70s. It breaks my heart to see these pictures of the Boat Club (and Detroit in general). Somewhere on this site I saw a reference to Eddie Flintermann. He was my great uncle, who I am told was a regular at the Club. I hope someone with greater means than I can help this old place revive a little bit. Those who are doing their part to keep it alive - thanks.

C. Miller

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Irish_mafia
Member
Username: Irish_mafia

Post Number: 553
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 75.9.255.242
Posted on Sunday, July 09, 2006 - 9:17 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

It should be noted that the Detroit Boat Club continues to hold its annual sailing regatta, I believe the year was the 112th, at the Grosse Pointe Club. They also maintain their fleet of Flying Scotts at the Edison Boat Club for member use.

Old DBC members who want to help support the oldest boat club in the Americas, or newly interested Detroiters, might do well to check the following web site for membership information:

http://www.detroitboatclub.com /

or contact Commodore Bob Cowles at:

Bob@Cowles.info
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(Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
Posted From: 12.32.128.68
Posted on Wednesday, July 26, 2006 - 4:02 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Wow......

What a fascinating discovery to find people that have shared the same childhood home as me and my brothers did. I recognize a few names mentioned above, and also fit right into the timeline. I spent just about everyday at the DBC during summers from '80 to '90. I swam on the team, and to this day still have a pool record for the 8 & under 25 fly. Most of the memories mentioned above were cemented in the youth of the DBC until the last days before it closed. Unfortunately, my family distanced itself from the club roughly two years befor it folded, but all of the memories from the older generations still applied till I was gone.

The numerous smells (as someone stated before) that you got as you walked through the building.
Hot showers and flushing toilets for additional hot water.
Pom - Pom and Back Man in the deep end.
The galley.
Playing Kick the can near the Racket ball courts.
Dances after swim meets at the band shell and in the Ball room.
Taking trips to the islands many places like the Giant Slide, the aqaurium, the museum, the zoo and the jungle gym.
Baking on the red tiles between sets. Those things were a safe haven.
The guy who flew his helicopter to the club every once in a while. He landed it in the parking lot.
Catching crayfish near the entrance bridge.
The Ren Cen relays and how the club was really alive for a day or two.
Tetherball, Badmitton, Basketball and the endless kids games we used to invent.
Watching the Hydros from the docks.
The kiddie pool and it's different annual painting on the bottom.
Zinc.


It is great to hear about all of the great old memories. The pictures were saddening, but then again, I couldn't expect any better because I know the club was falling apart far back into the eighties. I hope everyone is still good and they continue to remember the wonderful summers spent around a pool with people from all over the city. I made many good friends there and will remember them for years to come. I still see about a dozen or so people around the city.

I hope the city and/or rowers can prolong the existence of this once monumental club until someone or something comes along to restore it to its prior stature.

Thanks for the good times.

Jelly Belly --- TK

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(Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
Posted From: 204.34.247.11
Posted on Thursday, August 24, 2006 - 3:59 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

How about this blast from the past....Who remembers the game "Turn-board Tag"? Was right up there with Pom-Pom. I just plain grew up in that pool. I was there last summer and the pictures really don't convey the awful state that the place is in. But is sure is cool to walk the grounds and remember it the way it was. The best to all of you out there.

D. Osgood

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Eastside_charlie
Member
Username: Eastside_charlie

Post Number: 30
Registered: 02-2007
Posted on Wednesday, March 21, 2007 - 2:05 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

then coleman young entered the picture
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Matt_davis
Member
Username: Matt_davis

Post Number: 1
Registered: 04-2007
Posted on Friday, April 27, 2007 - 7:46 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Wow, the Boat Club. I have so many fantastic memories from 1970 through 1980. All the mentions of swimming in that legendary pool, playing pom-pom in the deep end, eating every meal in The Grill. Every summer from 1971 through 1975 was spent there and I remember only happiness.

The two big Detroit clans of the time were the Millers and the Allens, and I remember there being roughly thirty kids in each of those families. We Davises were just Peg, Dave, and me Matt. All happy swimmers and my and Dave's names are still in the record books so far as I know.

When I ambled downtown ten or so years ago, I was shocked to see the awful state of the place. Detroit eats its own legends and Mayor Young destroyed everything else. There is still very little of that great old Detroit soul that remains. I'm happy to have been at the heart of DBC's last real golden age. Looking back at the 2002 and 2003 entries here, I see Susan Miller and Anne Marie Engel. We were all very close pals then and had a ton of fun.

Mom and dad divorced and I went away to new schools in 1977, and that's when that glorious period came to an end.

Bitter sweet stuff, but I really miss those times. Life is good here in Italy after all these years, but I deeply valued the family I had at the DBC.

Anne Marie, Mrs. Allen's inventive "DBC, DBC, Oooo-wie!" is great to remember. What a hoot.
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Omaha
Member
Username: Omaha

Post Number: 2
Registered: 12-2007
Posted on Friday, December 28, 2007 - 12:03 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I enjoyed reading these posts. I looked for people who were there when I was in the very early 60s. It was a tight knit community (of East AND West “siders”) that I look back on and miss the smells (baking bread and distilling spirits), the excitement, and the closeness. I too am sorry that the DBC has fallen into such disrepair. And the DBC posts reminded me of an observation that underscores the importance of the American ideals that this nation is still striving to make a reality.

In this land of equality and opportunity, the biggest roll of the dice takes place when we “choose” our parents. Those of us who were lucky enough to be able to enjoy the DBC as children were a privileged lot indeed. We were able to meet friends and grow up amongst like minded youngsters. Few of us products of the DBC experience came into regular contact with those who enjoyed time on the rest of Belle Isle. Oh, maybe we knew someone at the DYC, went to the Children’s Zoo, the aquarium, the botanical gardens or skated the ponds during the winter, but did we play baseball in pickup games on the ball fields, play handball, picnic or swim with family and friends in the public sections of the island? Rarely if ever! Indeed we were a privileged lot. Heck, we rarely knew anything about the DBC employees beyond their names!

That’s not to say that, I too, don’t fondly remember the good and bad of my self-indulgent DBC experience in the very early 60s. I swam on the team when the DBC was taking first place in the Inter-Club finals behind swimmers like (future Olympian) Cynthia Osgood and (future collegiate all-American) Jim MacMillan. I took the “old weary” and other sculls out onto the river without permission. One time I was picked up and escorted back to the dock by the coast guard after tipping a shell and not being able to either get back in (broken oar locks) or push it (against the current) past the McArthur Bridge while swimming behind it. Coach Blue wasn’t happy that a swimmer was so arrogantly used property that he wasn’t trained on nor had permission to use. At age 15, I also got loaded on New Year’s Day drinking the “free” champagne and barfed all over myself in the wooden phone booth on the first floor before being escorted to take a cold shower to sober up. My parents also belonged to the DYC and my earlier years were spent at that haven on Belle Isle. I did indeed benefit from choosing my parents who could afford to offer me such an upbringing.

I hope that more and more of us can put our idyllic childhood experiences into a larger perspective. I remember that for an important period of the summer of 1967, Belle Isle was not a good place for many people of color to be…because it wasn’t a voluntary visit. To those to whom much is given (sometimes by the accident of birth) much is expected. Let’s all fondly remember our time at the DBC, and make sure that we are working in large and small ways to level the playing field and broaden the opportunities for those who didn’t, at birth, get what we got.
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Omaha
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Username: Omaha

Post Number: 3
Registered: 12-2007
Posted on Friday, December 28, 2007 - 5:40 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

My bad. In my earlier post I confused two remarkable swimmers of the era; Cynthia Osgood and Cynthia Goyette. Osgood swam for the DBC and later for the University of Michigan. Goyette was an Olympic gold winner by the time she attended Wayne State. Sorry for any confusion…it’s just 40 years of cobwebs aren’t always easy to clean out. But the DBC swim team of that era was a powerhouse in the Michigan Inter-Club Swimming Association.
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9936sussex
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Username: 9936sussex

Post Number: 65
Registered: 10-2007
Posted on Friday, December 28, 2007 - 5:50 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Omaha: Nice message. I was one of those kids who was very envious of THOSE privileged kids. I was smart, cute, funny, but came from a pretty blue-collar family. I thought a lot of those kids didn't appreciate how fortunate they were, and looked down on kids like me, who tried hard to better themselves. Years later, my life has turned out pretty good, but I have never forgotten how I felt back then, and I have always tried to be kind to those who start out with a lot of financial (and other) challenges
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Omaha
Member
Username: Omaha

Post Number: 5
Registered: 12-2007
Posted on Sunday, December 30, 2007 - 3:38 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

9936sussex, thank you for your kind comment. Good for you. I am happy to hear that you have been able to do well for yourself and your family, and good for you that you can see what I was attempting to say. Keep up the good work.

And while the people of color/white thing was there then and remains today, the kind of “privileged” attitude wasn’t limited to race relations. There are rich/poor inequities and male/female inequities to be addressed as well.

I have a white friend who told me an interesting story about working at a private club while he was in high school. It might have been Oakland Hills or the Detroit Golf Club. One very hot summer’s day, he wanted a Pepsi and the machine that was used by employees was broken. So he went into the “members” area of club to buy one. He was confronted by a “child of privilege” who told him he couldn’t use that machine to buy a Pepsi, it was for the members use only!

Equality of opportunity is sometimes a man/woman thing. It was within my lifetime women were finally allowed to enter the Detroit Athletic Club through the front door! A symbolic more toward equity.

My comment about “picking your parents” often being the most important variable to success wasn’t meant to disparage those of us who was lucky enough to be part of the DBC experience. We are all products of our upbringing. The important lesson is that our upbringing doesn’t put blinders on us.

Novelist Upton Sinclair wrote, “It is difficult to get a man [and I hope that he meant woman too] to understand something when his job depends on not understanding it.” I have a friend who has a tag line on her emails by author Kathy Kelly that puts it this way, “Where you stand determines what you see.”

In the competition that is life, many of the DBC folks (myself included) begin with a head start whether they knew it or not.

Our Declaration of Independence that states the belief “all men are created equal.” Today, this important principle is understood to apply to women and men in all nations. The phrase doesn’t mean that everyone is born with the same physical and mental capabilities.

The notion that everyone is “born equal” has more to do with the concept of equality of opportunity. I believe that equality of opportunity doesn’t mean that everyone has an equal right to enter the competition. Real equality, in my mind, means that the competition has to be fair.

I believe that equality of opportunity means that everyone deserves and gets the kind of help they need so that everyone, with hard work and discipline, can become the best they can be.

Just looking at what makes athletic competition fair may be a good analogy. It is not enough to say that everyone has an equal right to enter a competition for that competition to be fair. If some competitors have access to training, resources and equipment while other competitors don’t, fairness and equality don’t exist.

If people don’t have the same opportunity to fully develop their athletic talent, and compete on a level playing field, the competition can’t be fair.

If some people wearing ankle weights have to race against others who aren’t, it’s not a fair competition.

And of course it’s possible for two people to have equal athletic ability at birth. But if one competitor has access to the early opportunities to develop that ability, and the other doesn’t get the chance to develop that ability until age 20 or is exposed to a disabling lung disease at an early age how fair can the competition be? Doesn’t the competitor with healthy lungs and the early development opportunities have a significant competitive edge?

So, equality of opportunity means equal treatment in preparation (access to help, training and equipment) so that they can fairly compete with others in order to become the best that their God-given talents can take them.

In intercollegiate athletics the leveling of the playing field came with limits on the number of athletic scholarships a Division I school can offer. Much to the chagrin of my Nebraska Cornhuskers there is a new kind of “parity” in Division I football.

Equality of opportunity also means equality when it comes to who is doing the judging and what rewards await the competitors. We believe in equality before the law in sports too.

Refs who throw games are not promoters of fair competition. Having different prizes for winners of similar competitions is also now becoming less common. For instance, the male and female winners of Wimbledon now receive the same prize money.

At another level, Title IX was put in place to begin to level the playing field between men’s and women’s collegiate athletics.

Bringing it back to the DBC, my father was a doctor (as was his father). Being a physician allowed our family to be members of both the DYC and the DBC. Dad reminded me when I was in high school that because of how racism works in the U.S., he did not have to compete on a level playing field with blacks to get the education needed to get into medical school. As a result he didn’t have to compete with large numbers of black applicants to get into medical school. There certainly were blacks born with equal native intelligence, but equality of opportunity wasn’t a national priority. Reduced competition and inequality of opportunity were a couple of the reasons that I could enjoy a privileged and self-indulgent childhood.

Let me end my pontificating with a quote from the Kerner Commission written in 1968. The National Advisory Commission was set up by then President Johnson to look into the causes of the civil disturbances that hit Detroit and other cities in 1967.

This was not what would be called a liberal bleeding-heart commission. President Johnson, I believe, was deeply disturbed by these civil disturbances (aka riots, uprisings, rebellions) because he couldn’t understand the causation. After all the Equal Pay Act had been passed in ’63, the Civil Rights Act in ’64, and the Voting Rights Act in ’65. At least real progress toward equality was being made at the federal level. The Advisory Commission on Civil Disturbances was to look into the causes and see if maybe they were spurred on by troublemaking “outside agitators.” As a result of these starting assumptions, the entire nation was surprised by the Commission’s findings. I truthfully think that is one of the reasons they have been forgotten.

“What white Americans have never fully understood but what the Negro can never forget—is that white society is deeply implicated in the ghetto. White institutions created it, white institutions maintain it, and white society condones it.” From the introduction to the “National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders,” 1968

9936sussex, please pardon my long windedness and thanks again for the kind comment.
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Kathinozarks
Member
Username: Kathinozarks

Post Number: 996
Registered: 11-2006
Posted on Wednesday, January 02, 2008 - 10:50 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Omaha, you should definitely post more. I thoroughly enjoyed your last post.

Long windedness suits you. Well done.
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Omaha
Member
Username: Omaha

Post Number: 9
Registered: 12-2007
Posted on Friday, January 04, 2008 - 10:32 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Kathyinozarks – Thanks for your kind comments as well. Are you a former DBC person or do more than those with an interest in the DBC peruse these posts?

I have contributed a few similar “liberal” observations to some other more controversial subjects on Discuss Detroit over my holiday/winter break from work. Those posts too have been long-winded and quote filled. But they were totally ignored by the others who seem to “know” one another from Discuss Detroit and are more focused on “settling a score” than on dialog. My mistake! It came from being naïve about how this forum was used.

Maybe that is just as well, because of a family and job, I don’t have the time or the energy to get into the kind of “hate mongering” that appears so often when liberals and conservatives “Discuss Detroit.”