Adapted from articles on chapter history by Dick Newcomb and Wine Country Classic Boat newsletters
The Wine Country Classic Boats club was founded in the fall of 1981 after a group of wooden boat enthusiasts got together at Fred Tillman’s house for what became the formative meeting of Wine Country Classic Boats. Those present that night included Fred Tillman, Bill Pinckney, Doug Nichols, Bob Pinckney, Candi Pierce, Bert and Arlene Mosch and Myron White. They talked of forming a club to foster preservation of wooden boats. Each had a love of wooden boats and an especially strong connection to Keuka Lake.
The club’s name was inspired in part by the surrounding grape and wine industry and from their love of classic boats. They decided to reach out and call as many people as they could who also might like being involved in a club interested in preserving wooden boats. The next approximately three meetings were held in a meeting room in what was the former Chase Lincoln Bank.
Fred related that his dad, Fred Sr., had been in the service with the then president of
ACBS, David Kidd, who came to a meeting and discussed the benefits of affiliation with ACBS. Wine Country Classic Boats borrowed upon ACBS procedures and patterned their Constitution and bylaws primarily after ACBS recommendations.
The group decided on monthly meetings that had some sort of wooden boat-related theme. They were held at a number of venues, Newcomb recalls such as the Mercury Aircraft and the Glenn Curtis Museum in the old stone building in Hammondsport. Fred’s cousin Ray was very involved in those early days and hosted that one. There were plenty of food and drinks and a wonderful slide presentation on the steamboats of Keuka Lake. “Some of the images that have stayed with me from that presentation were the pictures of the lake, absent any cottages and homes, but mostly no trees, none!” says Newcomb. “It was explained that much of the lake at that time was owned by the Bath and Hammondsport Railroad and the trains and steamboats use the wood for their boilers. Much of the forest around the lake had been cut for firewood.”
Wine Country Classic Boats first officers included Fred Tillman Jr. as Commodore, Bill Pinckney Vice Commodore, Arlene Mosch Secretary and Jack Morrow as Treasurer.
Since then, the chapter has continued to grow, attracting new members, young and seasoned, each with an affinity for antique and classic boats. The chapter is near famous for their yearly out of town cruises, trailering their boats to lakes and waterways not just in New York state but all over the North East. Multiple trips to Canada’s Lake Muskoka, visits west Michigan Virginia’s Smith Mountain Lake round out the list. These cruises are a big undertaking, with no detail left to chance. Ensuring host hotels have ample trailer parking, restaurants can accommodate large
groups, even one year, a driver for a trip along the Rideau canal, so that boaters wouldn’t have to carry their luggage from stop to stop. These trips offer an opportunity to form new friendships with members from other ACBS chapters who graciously lead cruises and show off the best of their homeport waterways. They include stops at boating museums, introductions to new culinary delights and are great ways to see regional boats that may not have found their way to Hammondsport and surrounding lakes.
The chapter also hosts workshops, primarily held at the Finger Lakes Boating Museum in Hammondsport, where, says Chapter Commodore, Pam Gratzer, nearly everyone is a volunteer. They work on their own boats, take and lead classes, and extend a hand to the next generation of boaters who no doubt are taking the helm and continuing the tradition of stewardship and fellowship.
Next time you are cruising by Keuka Lake, check out the Wine Country Classic Boats website at https://www.winecountryclassicboats.com/ and while you’re there, become a member. This great boating community is tucked away in a beautiful part of New York, and the best way to experience the area is in an antique and classic boat!