Story & Photos by Holly Leitner
“Lake Life.” For some, the saying conjures up images of bright, inflatable tubes, wake surfing or Jet Skis bouncing behind boats buzzing back and forth. That’s modern-day lake life. But there was a time when lake life looked and sounded a little different.
The Geneva Lakes Annual Antique and Classic Boat Show celebrates that “lake life” spirit of yesteryear with a display of vintage and classic wooden boats representing a wide variety of past decades. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the popular boat show, presented by the Blackhawk chapter of the Antique and Classic Boat Society (ACBS). From Sept. 27-29, owners of antique and classic wooden boats will gather from around the country in Fontana’s Abbey Marina to display their prized possessions. Organizers say that visitors can expect to see more than 150 boats at the show this year, including about 50 in the water: everything from Hacker-Crafts, Shepherds, Gar Woods, Streblows and Chris-Crafts to rare, one-of-a- kind yachts.
This year’s show will serve as a signature event of the Village of Fontana’s Centennial Celebration. The Abbey Marina’s setting provides protected waters, and its plentiful boat slips allow spectators to get a close look at each boat. “The smell of varnish on a sunny fall day always puts people in a great mood, and evokes a sense of nostalgia,” says Tom Nickols, co-chair of the event, along with Al Bosworth.
The partnership with The Abbey is fortuitous, because Fontana’s boating roots run deep. Even before the village was incorporated, Palmer Boat Company was established in Fontana in 1905, and built inland lake sailboats and ice boats until WWII. One employee there was the young Harry C. “Buddy” Melges, Jr., who later become one of the greatest sailors in the world, winning medals at two Olympics and skippering a boat that won the America’s Cup. The Lake Geneva Yacht Club formally took up residence in Fontana in 1926, adding to Fontana’s boating reputation. In 1955, Gordon “Gordy” Whowell founded Gordy’s Lakefront Marine, offering seasonal boat rides and rentals, which has now evolved into a full-service boating and rental company. “Fontana has always had a rich boating culture,” confirms Larry Larkin, local historian and boat restoration specialist, and the author of “Grand & Glorious: Classic Boats of Lake Geneva.”
Classic wooden boats as we know them today first started appearing on Geneva Lake in the late 1910s and early 1920s, and were called “runabouts.” Three big boat makers of the era were John L. Hacker of Hacker-Craft; Chris Smith of Chris- Craft Boats; and Garfield Wood of Gar Wood Boats. Each stamped his personality on his vessel. John Hacker was known for his elegant style; Chris Smith for his design; and Gar Wood for speed. But they all shared the same goal of creating high-quality, well-designed speedboats.
With the completion of Highway 12 between Chicago and Lake Geneva in the 1920s, drivers could hitch up a trailer and hit the road, carrying these high-performance quality wooden boats with them. “Route 12 opened up the way to Lake Geneva and brought the speedboats to life,” says Larkin. However, the Depression in the 1930s hit the industry hard. Hacker went bankrupt. Chris-Craft pulled back on production and later produced utilitarian boats for the war. Luxury was quickly stripped back. “[The Depression] really had a big effect on the lake culture,” says Larkin.
It wasn’t until after WWII, in the 1950s, that wooden boats began to make a comeback, and new models graced the waters again. But as the Atomic Age progressed, scientists discovered a new material for boat building: fiberglass. “By 1960, it was like a switch was flipped, and everything was fiberglass,” says Larkin. Suddenly, wooden boats looked old and tired, a reminder of a bygone era. They were burned as scrap or shoved away to rot in forgotten barns.
It took another two decades before the public began to appreciate the design and craftsmanship of those earlier wooden boats once again. Beginning around 1980, classic and antique wooden boats experienced a nostalgic re-emergence. People who grew up with these wooden boats wanted that piece of their youth back. A second-hand market for wooden boats sprang up, and boats were pulled out of barns and fixed up, piece by piece. Around this time, the ACBS was founded in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York, a region with lakes very similar to the Geneva Lake area. Today, the organization boasts 9,000 members throughout 55 chapters, all with a goal of preserving and restoring antique and classic boats.
Once these antique and classic wooden boats were back on the water, the collecting craze spread. Suddenly, buyers didn’t just want an old Hacker-Craft, they wanted a Hacker-Craft from the choice year of 1935; or a specific Chris- Craft Barrelback model. It was a golden era for collecting — these early consumers got top choice of pedigree boats. This resurgence of interest in wooden boats revived companies like Hacker-Craft, which began producing boats once again. In 1987, custom wooden boat builder Streblow Boats moved to Fontana, becoming an icon of Geneva Lake. Today, more than 150 Streblows call this lake home.
As it has done for the past 25 years, the Geneva Lakes Annual Antique and Classic Boat Show aims to bring all of these wooden boats together in one place. The weekend-long event opens Friday with the Estate Tour, a paid, reservation-only event. The Estate Tour will visit three Fontana-area lakefront homes, with transportation provided by four famed, private Geneva Lake yachts — the Sea Lark, the Normandie, the Henry Knox and the Commodore. The tour concludes with a luncheon at the Lake Geneva Yacht Club.
Then on Friday evening, Dana and Patti Mecum, of Mecum Auctions, will host a reservation-only welcome dinner at their lakefront estate, Glen Croft Haven, in Fontana. Glen Croft Haven was built in 2016, and the property contains an extensive garage to house the Mecums’ eclectic personal automobile collection. In addition, the family’s vintage boat collection will be in the water for viewing.
As for the main event, the boat show at the Abbey Marina is free and open to the public. It takes place on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with the boat parade beginning at 4 p.m., and continues on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Larkin says he expects a great turnout for the anniversary. “There is a spectrum of boating enthusiasts,” he says. “You’ve got people who love the pictures, people who love the boats, people who love the mechanics, people who love the history — the show is for every type of enthusiast.”
