Next weekend, Thursday, May 29 through Sunday, June 1, 2025, the Northern California/Lake Tahoe Chapter presents the 27th annual Wood and Glory Antique and Classic Boat Gathering in Lakeport. With tons of fun events, including a “conga-line” cruise from Konocti Harbor Inn past Buckingham, Anderson Island and across the Narrows looping through Paradise Cove and Kono Tayee, you won’t want to miss it. Get your tickets on the Chapter’s website at: https://www.acbs-tahoe.org/events.
Here’s a short history of the event hosts: the Northern California/Lake Tahoe Chapter.
Northern California/Lake Tahoe Chapter
Charter Date: November 12, 1983
Boating History in Northern California
The Northern California/Lake Tahoe Chapter of ACBS sprang from the rich boating history of Lake Tahoe.
In 1910, Tahoe City’s own Ernie Pomin won the first trophy given at the first organized race in 1906 in his home-built 22-foot iron plate boat, Summer Girl. The Tahoe Power Boat Club, which became known as the Tahoe Yacht Club after a name change in 1938, is rooted in history when the club began sponsoring local regattas in 1925. These ran every summer until 1984.
Photo credit: Carol Van Etten
In the early days there were two regattas per summer, sometimes three — which gave the local “hotshot” favorites a second seasonal grudge match! The 1946/47 racing years saw people like Danny Foster, Dan Arena, R. Stanley Dollar, Ollie Meek, Morlen Visel (to name some of the Tahoe and Oakland/Bay Area boys) and others who purchased and converted Allison and Merlin V-12 engines to power their new step hull and 3-point hydroplanes. Speed, excitement and fan participation were riding high in the last quarter of the 1940s.
The post war years not only inspired the need for speed in a more costly and elite racing scene, but also spilled over into every day recreation. A lot of wonderful things happened in both race and recreation boating after World War II when life returned to a peace time economy. As the “Baby Boomer” generation took hold, leisure time would become important and family boating more popular than ever.
Boat building was in demand. Chris-Craft and other builders that had been large wartime providers began designing and building new pleasure boats. These boats were mostly equipped with the 158 hp Chris-Craft MBL flat head six-cylinder engine. The decade of the 1950s was filled with change and prosperity with more horsepower from smaller and lighter weight engines, smaller boats and more speed, usually at a lower cost.
Boating on Lake Tahoe became just as much a sport for families as for racers and adventures continue to this day.
NorCAL/Lake Tahoe Chapter History
Our two founding members Steve Lapkin and Glory Beale, came from Tahoe boating families. Encouraged by a love of boating and good friends, they presented the Chapter’s charter for signature at the Annual Meeting in 1983. Below are Steve’s memories of the Chapter’s founding:
It is quite comforting to know that the Northern California/Lake Tahoe Chapter of ACBS has grown steadily, is prosperous and vibrant. If it were not for having the fortune to know Don Veihmeyer (in the late 1970s), the Chapter quite possibly would not have been conceived. Don was one of the first wooden boat restorers/owners who participated in the annual Tahoe Yacht Club Concours d’ Elegance. As was the custom back then, following each year’s show, we would gather for fellowship and awards at the lakefront home of Glenn Wilson in Homewood. The pre-luncheon ‘beverage hour’ allowed for Don to describe the opportunities and benefits of the ACBS and its growth through regional chapters in the United States and Canada. He introduced me to several ACBS figureheads and with every ambition, Glory Beall and I set out to gather names for the Charter which we then presented to the International Board at the 1983 Annual Meeting convened in Williamsburg, Virginia.
Photo Credit: Carol Van Etten
In addition to outgoing International President, David Kidd and the incoming President, Jay Higgins, who were most supportive of our efforts, other significant persons at that 1983 meeting were the Turcotte brothers (Gar Wood Boats,) Mike and Ann Matheson of North Carolina, Syd and Mary Herwig of Eastern Canada, Mark Mason of New Hampshire and Wilson Wright of Florida. Indeed, Jay, Mark and Wilson would visit us often for summer Tahoe events providing an opportunity for exchanges and perspectives that became a win-win achievement. Fast forward, and enthusiasm of the Northern California Chapter has added immeasurably to the strength of ACBS International.
The Chapter’s Early Days
The Norther California/Lake Tahoe chapter was formed with 15 members listed in the charter. In 2024 the chapter listed 365 members. Five families who are NorCAL Chapter members had previously been ACBS members before the Chapter existed.
As membership numbers grew, so did the number of organized boating events. Below is, NorCAL member, Tim Stapleton’s, recollections of an early Chapter outing:
“ Karen’s father, Neil Munro, was a member of the St Francis Yacht Club and was able to rent the lighthouse for a weekend. I think this started about 1987. He invited three couples that were old boating buddies from their days at Cal. Don and Ann Veihmeyer, Cece and Lois Marks
Alan and Ginny Firth. In 1989 (newlyweds) Karen and I also got an invitation to join them. They really just needed a couple of youngsters to haul all the food and booze up to the lighthouse.
We would spend the days boating around the delta and in the evenings we would BBQ and sit on the deck telling stories (ok, we mostly listened). One year Don brought some old slides of the group boating and water skiing. They used to make their own skis. One picture I will never forget was Ann doing a beach start wearing a swim cap holding a cigarette.
Neil decided to invite other ACBS members to come to the island for a picnic. Ann would cut almost all of the roses on the island to make center pieces. Glory Beal, Marty Feletto and Chuck Kelly were all early attendees. They decided to make a weekend of it and started staying at B&W, playing poker all night and boating all day.”
More Boat Shows and Events!
- The Delta outing started at Tinsley Island, then moved to the Delta Yacht Club and is now settled at Grind Stone Joe’s where the tradition of boating all day and enjoying ACBS friends company continues.
- Wood & Glory, started in 1999 at Clear Lake.
- Lake Shasta, started in 2011 to introduce Shasta boating our club.
- Stockton Boat Show, started in 2017.
- With its origins in the Sacramento River’s Delta King in the late 1980s, the Spring Fling evolved into a weekend event with changing locations and, usually, without boats.
- The Chapter’s Annual Meeting also usually doesn’t involve member boats, but does sometimes involve being on a boat and always offers members another opportunity to get together.
- Woodie Whoopies started as a low-cost way for people in Tahoe to come together for a potluck/barbecue in the 1990s. The chapter has been very fortunate that members have opened their homes. Thanks in particular to the Turner family, the Shepherd Family and the Atkinson Family.
- Restoration Clinic presented and hosted by talented restorers who open their doors and offer expertise. Thanks to: Sierra Boat, Northwest Classic Boats, Curt Bauman, Tony Brown and more.
- Some of Northern California/Lake Tahoe events are also in partnership with the Southern California Chapter such as the Bass Lake show which started in 1990.
As one of the most active clubs in the ACBS, additional Northern California/Lake Tahoe events have come and gone over the years and new events pop up all the time. The Chapter very much enjoys getting together whether it is on a boat or checking out a new areas interesting sites, museums or restaurants.
Looking Ahead
Antique, classic and vintage boating have always been big in the Lake Tahoe area. The climate and water have helped to preserve these boats that began arriving on the lake over 120 years ago.
Northern California/Lake Tahoe area was was a natural location for an ACBS Chapter and, as many of the Tahoe families lived in the San Francisco and Sacramento areas when not at Tahoe, the chapter grew from all over Northern California.
The vintage boating bug in Northern California remains strong. As The Tahoe Yacht Club celebrated it’s 100th anniversary and the 50th of the annual Concours d’Elegance in August 2024, it is evident that this community of boaters will continue to thrive as ACBS begins to look ahead to its next 50 years. The Tahoe Yacht Club and ACBS are intertwined and the Northern California/Lake Tahoe Chapter of ACBS continues to strive to introduce new generations to this age-old passion, whether wood or fiberglass. The future of ACBS depends upon it.