Grab your dancing shoes; it's time to party, big band style. Years ago, the place to be was the dance halls and resorts of Muskoka. Lets go back in time.
At twilight on a warm summer evening, with lights a-glow in the distance, your boat load of family and friends cruise to the destination. The lights and sounds of the dance hall become clearer as you approached. The crisply dressed dock hands are ready to greet your wooden boat. You and your friends, dressed for the evening, alight to the dock and make your way to the excitement.
Such is the theme for the boat show of 2009. Patrick Wren, coordinator of the theme committee states, "I had the nucleus of the idea two years ago. Patrick's committee is charged with the responsibility of generating a theme that ACBS members and the public will enjoy.
With the theme crystallized, the job of the committee is to give the summer boat show organizers ideas for the event. Patrick explained that the theme goes beyond the boats to the music of the post war years in Muskoka. Many resorts, such as Bigwin Inn, Wigwassin, Clevelands House, Royal Muskoka Hotel and Dunn's Pavilion had dance halls that were open not only to guests, but also cottagers, who arrived by boat. Bands such as Art Hallman, Bert Niosi, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Glen Miller, Guy Lumbardo, and Louis Armstrong played at these dance halls. ACBS member, Pete Little, has especially fond memories of courting at Dunn's Pavilion in Bala.
Greavettes, Dukes and Port Carling Boat Works have been chosen to represent the builders of these post war utility boats. They were well-known and sold boats throughout Canada and beyond and today are well represented in the membership. For those who are wondering just what is a utility, Patrick defines such a craft as "an inboard, having a mid engine, with little decking around the engine hatch so that passengers can walk on either side. They were first built in the States and then in Canada. Due to their popularity, the design continued into the sixties when fiberglass took over."
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