Boats started arriving around 1:00 p.m. on Friday July 12^th. Mike Sorensen and Dan Ross helped our participants launch their boats and directed the captain of Valentine into her assigned slip.  Needless to say, the “birthday girl” was a sight to behold and had lots of people looking at her!

To say it was “hot and humid” would be an understatement. There wasn’t even a breath of air stirring and everyone had to be careful not to get overheated.  We got the tables and umbrellas set up on the new museum deck for our evening “Welcome Reception” and the rain pour down in torrents!  Thank goodness things dried quickly!  It did cool down a little after the rain.

To begin our reception, we had a moment of silence for Chris Johnson and Cliff McGuire and a small toast of Pusser’s Rum” (from Cliff’s “stash”) in their honor. Donahue’s Madison Beach Grille provided both passed and placed Hors d’oeuvres and everything was exceptional.  Having the reception up on the deck provided everyone the opportunity to mingle and socialize to their heart’s content.  We had a small raffle and Good Medicine Rx provided background music again this year.

Saturday July 13^th saw the arrival of the Mystic Model Makers.  As we had the large version of Valentine at the dock, model maker Jim Delaney brought the model of Valentine he had done for Herb Clark a number of years ago.  The model makers are always a draw and this year was no exception.

The Tea Kettle from Old Saybrook provided breakfast and lunch (home-made muffins, lobster rolls, clam chowder, hot dogs and hamburgers) and we thank them for their participation.

We set up the Ship’s Store and Raffle and the day began a little cooler than Friday. Our count for boat participation was down, but we still had a good variety of boats and the docks and museum grounds always appeared full with spectators.

The Big Green Truck Pizza arrived around 5:30 and it was quite interesting how they set everything up for serve over 100 people for dinner!  They would make any kind of pizza you wanted, and one of my personal favorites was the mashed potato and bacon!  The variety of pizza was phenomenal, salad was good and the gelato topped off the evening. Good Medicine Rx again played during dinner and they were joined by Lakeside to round out the entertainment.

The 2018 President’s Cup was presented to Rob Sutton and Kim Deren just prior to the judging announcements.  Kim and Rob were unable to attend the 2018 November Annual Dinner so it was great that they were both in attendance.

Judging went smoothly and we thank Stan Struble, ACBS International President (and Lake Hoptacong member) for his participation in our show by presenting the Most Original Award, which is the ACBS Award.  Judging produced a couple of first-time award winners and the chapter presented the Chris Johnson Touchstone Award and the Cliff McGuire Fellowship Award. The Chris Johnson Touchstone Award was given to Valentine and Brandon Reid (Valentine’s captain) accepted for Herb and Sherry Clark and Pastime owned by Ed Dombroskas received the Cliff McGuire Fellowship Award. Both Corrine Johnson and the McGuire family were in attendance for the special presentation.

I would like to thank our show participants, our volunteers and all those who contributed to our raffle. Without them, the show would not be the success that it is.

I hope everyone enjoys the rest of the boating season – please watch for information on our Annual Dinner on Saturday November 16^th.

Lynn McFarlin, SNEC Chapter President