Celebrating 50 Years of ACBS: Mid-Atlantic Chapter

Interest in forming a Chapter dates to 1996 but it was not until 1998 that the original 15 founders had completed an application and presented it to ACBS Headquarters and the International Board. The Chapter was granted a charter and became the 42^nd ACBS Chapter on July 31, 1998. Our Chapter was organized to fill the geographic void between three Chapters to our north and one to our south and was thusly named the Philadelphia Chapter.

Initial operating funds were $300, made possible by $20 donations made by the 15 founders. A black and white four-page newsletter was begun almost immediately and bi-monthly meetings, often with speakers or workshops, were held at founders and members businesses and homes. At member request, the newsletter was later changed to full color, 24 pages in length, and paid advertising was sought to help defray the costs. The newsletter was instrumental, with its educational articles, in allowing the Chapter to achieve 501c3 status.

Since our Chapter does not have a “home lake”, and since our coverage area is large, we elected to have two boat shows each year. One covered the members in our western area and another covered the east. The exact locations have varied over the years but we have now settled in on Bristol, Pennsylvania for our ACBS judged show, while Pt. Pleasant, New Jersey has been our user boat show with custom judging criteria.  At both shows we sell donated nautical merchandise, clothing and have offered Hagerty Youth Judging,

While membership has grown, we are still relatively small, averaging about 100 member families. Still, we  have been named Chapter of the Year (the first one), won the Best Newsletter award along with several awards going to individual members. These days we are more into a rigorous event schedule, rather than chasing awards, that includes several mini cruises in addition to our two shows and events with neighboring Chapters.  In 2018 we had the opportunity to assimilate the former Barnegat Bay Chapter after their leadership decided a merger would best serve their membership. At that time, we changed the name to Mid-Atlantic Chater and developed a new logo.

The chapter membership enjoyes a philanthropic-mindset, providing grants to Friends of Young America and Sea Scouts Ship 117 thus far.

To keep members, and others, informed of our activities, our bi monthly meetings via Zoom calls are open to all members, we have an active Facebook page and an informative website. All are welcome at our events and we hope you will join us at one or more!