By Tom Oncken
As I commented a short while back in April, this year has been a monumental disappointment so far. We did not have our meet in Lipan in March, and then we had to cancel the annual meet at the Heart of Texas Lake Resort in April due to the coronavirus pandemic. Things were looking very bleak as a result of the virus along with all of the protestors who were looting and destroying property all over our great country. Amazingly, due to the great determination of our chapter President and First Lady, Adam and Susan Finn, plus remarkable assistance from our meet host, John Platou and his group of helpers, we actually managed to hold our first meet of the year at Lake Houston on Saturday, June 6th.
By this time, the virus had settled down a bit and we decided to take a shot at having some fun outdoors while avoiding spending any time in the air conditioned clubhouse as in prior years. We stayed outdoors as Adam and Susan prepared a fantastic feast of grilled hot dogs, Susan’s homemade chili, with all the fixing’s, fresh fruit and excellent camaraderie. Tables were moved out onto the campgrounds between the clubhouse and the docks and members practiced a modified “public distancing” protocol. Some members were cautious and would not shake hands while a few others like me decided that they needed some normal contact. To date, I believe that the meet was very successful overall because I have not heard of anyone who subsequently became ill. It sure was nice to get out of the house, visit with friends, and play with our toys.
Surprisingly, we had a remarkable turnout for the meet. It appears that 38 individuals enjoyed this rare day outdoors including the following: Darrin Baird with sons Alex and Chris, David Coffee, Jr., David Coffee, Sr., Adam and Susan Finn, Greg and Susan Ganz, Di Johnson, Gary Keeney, Morton Lovstad, Robert Macaluso, Joe McCauley, Ben Meaux with his daughter Emily, Montana Myers, Tom and Cyndi Oncken, Dan Peoples, John Plato with his grandsons Carter Toole and Jack Toole, David Reyna, Louis and Jane Rothermel, Clinton Russell, David and Laura Scott with their grandson Phoenix, Steve and Marty Steele, Glenn and Lee Seureau, John and Cindy Slator, Royce Strickland, and Robert Taylor. I wish to apologize if I overlooked anyone as my aging process is continuing to get the best of me. It was great to see so many smiling faces.
I witnessed something at this meet which brought back personal fond memories of a day from long ago. As a little background, I joined the Antique Outboard Motor Club, Inc. in 1989 and my son and I attended a meet at Lake Texoma. Being new to the club, imagine my surprise at the amazing welcome that Mike and I received even though we only knew a few people who were in attendance. I remember one point where a prominent member, Beaver Tyler of Fort Worth, came up to me on the banks of Lake Texoma and placed his arm across my back and his hand onto my shoulder and then said, “I hope you are not too mad at me.” Totally puzzled at that question, I asked why in the world would I be mad at him. Beaver then pointed out to a small boat passing by on the lake. It was an aluminum 10’ Jon Boat powered by a 1953 Johnson 3HP outboard motor. The pilot was my 9 year old son, Mike, and he appeared a little concerned when I went to the bank and took his photo. I then told Beaver that I could not be more pleased because Mike could swim better than I could, he was wearing a borrowed life jacket, and I warned Beaver that if he did not keep his eye on Mike, Mike may disassemble the little outboard to see how it works. Mike had been bumming rides from anyone he could up to that point, so Beaver found something to keep him entertained. Needless to say, very strong friendships were made that day and that is when I decided to give up my wooden boat club connections to dedicate more time to AOMCI.
Getting back to the story at hand, I noticed that we had a special bonding going on again at Lake Houston similar to the experience my son and I had at Lake Texoma over 30 years ago. Emily Meaux, daughter of Ben Meaux, was out on the lake piloting a small wooden 8’ Pram powered by a 1958 Johnson 3HP outboard that her father had just purchased from Greg Ganz. The memories came flowing back to me when I discovered that Emily is 9 years old also. Emily is becoming a rising star in our Texas Chapter as she has been captured in photos in this issue as well as the last issue of our Texas Chapter News. Congratulations Emily! I hope your father makes a habit of bringing you to our meets. Mike became 40 last May, so you have a little catching up to do.
Emily was not on the water by herself on this beautiful clear warm summer day. She had the company of Adam Finn as he cruised close by in his 1959 AlumaCraft boat powered by its 1967 Johnson 40HP. Joe McCauley was speeding around as usual in his Stinger powered Glastron. Dan Peoples brought his 14’ DuraCraft powered by its Gale 40HP. John Platou’s grandson’s brought and ran a Mini-Most hydro powered by its Evinrude 6HP. Darrin Baird not only brought his aluminum Starcraft with its Mercury 65HP, but also took time to bring his wooden Mini-Most inspired by the Kid’s Build-A-Boat exhibits that were originated by John Plato. If I understood correctly, John is assisting Darrin in building the boat for his sons Chris and Alex to enjoy. Emily may have some extra competition at a future upcoming wet meet.
We also had a lot of swapping, trading, selling, and giving at this meet. Our most consistent swapper/trader, John Slator, brought a pickup load of stuff as usual. Di Johnson sold a few homemade motor stands to Adam Finn and Dan Peoples. In addition, Di sold a few boxes of miscellaneous items to John Slator as well as a pair of vintage new Caprice water skis. Dan Peoples bought a nice Mercury Mark 25 from John to display on his new motor stand. John Platou brought a mid-1960’s Evinrude 9.5HP parts motor and donated it to Dan Peoples to help him restore a motor on which he has been working.
As is customary at this annual meet, John Platou spends a great deal of personal time preparing to host this event by arranging for the location as well as bringing a tent, boat building stuff, and his own boat for display. Be sure to send your thanks to John at your earliest opportunity. Well, that is all for now. Hopefully we will all do this once again next year if the virus allows. We hope to see you then.
Follow this link to view the balance of the pictures shared covering this meet: https://www.texaschapteraomci.com/bws-gallery/annual-wet-swap-meet-at-lake-houston/