Gary Boat Club
Ogden Dunes attracts people who love to boat on Lake Michigan. The original plans for Ogden Dunes included an Ogden Dunes Boat Harbor on the west side of Burns Waterway, but the depression and World War II prevented the town from following through on these plan. Ogden Dunes residents did form a boat club at that location. In 1936, twenty-five boating families formed the Gary Boat Club to build a harbor, gas dock, and club building on the Burns Waterway. The Club leased land from National Steel on the west side of the Burns Waterway in the area that is now the Portage Lakefront Park Pavilion. The original families in the boat club included the Ogden Dunes residents Bill Woodward, Chuck Funkey, Walter and Neva Tittle, and Jack Orr. Members of the club paid $5.00 to become a member of the Gary Boat Club and this included a one year lease of a boat slip. The founding members of the club had powerboats and only one sailboat. Members of the Gary Boat Club came from all over the Chicagoland area,including Chicago, Gary, and Ogden Dunes. Members did much of the construction of the club house and the harbor docks themselves. The Club House was two stories tall with a top floor restaurant and dance hall, and a lower floor locker room and storage for sails and boating equipment. The road you are standing on, Boat Club Road, was built in 1938 to allow the members of the Gary Boat Club to drive to the clubhouse, ending the need to take a water shuttle from Highway 12 to reach the club. Boat Club Road had a gate on the edge of town property so only members could access the road. If you walk east on the road you can see that the gate is still located across the road.
The first Commodore of the Gary Boat Club was Rolland E. Peterson. He and his son owned the River Queen House Boat Company, which constructed boats on Highway 12 in Miller from the 1930s to the 1960’s when the company was moved to Saugatuck. The Peterson’s had a paddle wheel boat at the Gary Boat Club which club members rode up the Burns Waterway along the Little Calumet River. The Gary Boat Club, the Marquette Boat Club, and the Izaak Walton Club all located along the Burns Waterway in the 1930s. In the 1930s there were alsoapproximately 30 shacks leasing land west of the Gary Boat Club. The shacks were used primarily in the summer since they lacked both water and electricity. Twenty-four families in the Gary Boat Club that had men serving in World War II. One Ogden Dunes resident, Jerome Farabaugh died in the war and a plaque in his honor was placed at the Boat Club. By 1940 there were 110 members in the Gary Boat Club. Many families, who were members of the boat club, moved from Gary to Ogden Dunes and built homes including the Tittle, Dorman, Sykes, and Blodgett families. In 1940 there was a large flood that resulted in one boat lost and three boats damaged. To keep the harbor clear, the boat club did arrange for sand dredging in the Burns Waterway. Beginning in 1948, the Gary Boat Club hosted Sailing Regattas with the Chicago Yacht Club and the Michigan City Yacht Club. The Boat Classes included the Snipes Class and the Seagull Class. Because of the differences in the size of the sailboats, a handicap system called the Crocker Cup was created so the faster, larger boats delayed in starting the race. There was an obstacle course with bouys built along the shoreline on the east end of Ogden Dunes for boats to race around. The races were advertised so the public could attend the events.
In the 1950s the Gary Boat Club was a very active social club with many business and political leaders from Gary attending the club events. Many members moved to Ogden Dunes to be near the Boat Club. In 1953 when a wing was added to the boat club, the Ogden Dunes residents who were members included Ed Kratz, Charles Funkey, Willard Dorman, Bob Roberts, and Walter Tittle. On weekends all year round there were family nights, bingo, dinners, dances and sing-alongs at the club. The summer events included the Commodore’s Ball, Monte Carlo Night, Lake Michigan Yacht Association Weekend, a Hawaiian Night, a Pirates Party, and , a Halloween Party. The Boat Club members actively volunteered in town events, including co-hosting the Ogden Dunes Fireman’s Ball at the boat club. The club had a monthly newletter called ” Ditch Water” to keep members informed of the activities. In May 1950, the local newspaper reported that 5,000 people attended the Lake Michigan Yacht Association weekend for the boat races and the evening boat parade along the shore.
In 1954 a large storm forced the water in Burn Waterway to rise 6 feet destroying the Gary Boat Club docks and carrying away boats onto the lake. In 1958, the Gary Boat Club lost its lease with National Steel, who wanted the land to build a mill along Burns Waterway. The club house, docks, and beach shacks were torn down. The Gary Boat Club relocated to New Buffalo in 1960 and is known today as the New Buffalo Yacht Club.
