By Hank Conkey – SNEC first Chapter President and current SNEC Treasurer
After completing the restoration of my 1931 20 foot Chris-Craft Triple in 1982, I attended the Weirs Beach Antique Boat Show hosted by the New England Chapter. It was a great event and initiated a desire to see what was available in the Connecticut/Southern Massachusetts area. The Southern New England area had the Wooden Boat Show, which was in Newport, Rhose Island at the time as well as the Mystic ACBR (Antique and Classic Boat Rendezvous). Some ACBS membership brochures were obtained and a booth was shared with someone at the Wooden Boat Show in Newport to see how much interest there was in forming a chapter for our area; the same was done for the Mystic ACBR. There was indeed enough interest in having our own organization and events. A trip to Long Island to visit family ensued; the Long Island Chapter show was going on where more information was obtained about the organization and rules for starting a Chapter.
My attendance at National ACBS board meetings was a great help in understanding the steps necessary to create a separate Chapter. After conversations with many local people I had met along the way, we determined there was enough support for a Chapter of our own. A request was then submitted at the next ACBS Board Meeting to form a separate Chapter, which was approved. The Southern New England Chapter started with 25 memberships and we had our first show was at Harbor Park in Middletown, CT on July 20, 1985. Our membership has fluctuated over the years and in July 2024 our membership sits at 83 memberships. We are proud to celebrate 40 years!
The Southern New England Chapter was well known for the Candlewood Lake Summer Show, with attendees from many surrounding Chapters (Long Island, Hopatcong, New England) participating. We subsequently moved to our current site at the Connecticut River Museum in Essex, Connecticut. We have a great group of members with substantial building, refinishing and knowledge of wooden boating practices and they are all willing to share their knowledge. Like all Chapters, we have lost some of that knowledge due to the passing of older members or members moving away.
The Southern New England Chapter has always had a significant presence at the Mystic Seaport ACBR and the Wooden Boat Show. Many of our Chapter members have also participated in the Antique Boat Show at the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton, New York and have made the Chapter proud by “bringing home” some outstanding awards. A number of our members are also judges at the various shows throughout the region and many have attended shows in other parts of the United States and Canada.
In 2017 our Chapter Secretary, Bette Heinzman, was honored with the Mary Hewig Award in recognition of her dedication to the mission of ACBS at the Chapter level. The award was presented to Bette by the former ACBS Executive Director, Dan Gyoerkoe at our 2017 Annual Dinner.
In September of 2023, the Chapter chartered RiverQuest (tour boat from the CT River Museum) and went on an evening “Swallow Cruise”. Those participating had a great time watching the swallows and just enjoying the beauty of the Connecticut River surroundings. On October 13, 2024 we have again chartered the RiverQuest and this time it is for a “Fall Foliage” tour. The leaves should be at their peak and hopefully the weather will cooperate.
In May 2024 we had a workshop/get together at North Country Boat Works hosted by chapter member and owner, Andrew Robb. As you can see from the pictures it was a great success.
Since the Chapter’s inception in 1984, many boat shows, workshops and get-togethers have been held. The Chapter was fortunate enough to have had Kathy Muller from Muller Boat Works conduct a seminar at the Connecticut River Museum on varnishing; at that same seminar both Chris Johnson and Cliff McGuire gave presentations on trailer use and marine safety. We were also fortunate to have had a work shop at Skyler Thompson’s facility where everyone got a chance to “bend” strips of wood that would be fastened to a canoe that was being restored. Jim Murdoch also opened up his shop so that members could visit, see the boats being restored there as well as see an engine run on a dynamometer machine. Over the years other Chapter members with particular skill sets and facilities have hosted seminars and workshops for the benefit of Chapter members and the public, demonstrating the basic information necessary to support our hobby.