Rendezvous 2025: a celebration to remember

By Debby Turner

Jib and I would first like to thank Commodore Joe McKeown, Vice Commodore Craig Shantz and the Rendezvous committee for trusting us to take on the task of chairing the 60th Anniversary Rendezvous.

When we look back at the history of the Club, from 1934 a group of nine gentlemen gathered for lunch to hear Arch Gibson talk about an idea for a new yachting organization. The name selected was the Great Lakes Cruising Club. Thus, a tradition was born, and it continues to grow.

Howard Blossom, Ritter Shumway, James Acheson, Ron Dwelbe and Grant Turner (Jib’s grandfather), were a few of these pioneering yachtsman. Growth didn’t come automatically for the Great Lakes Cruising Club; it was slow at first.

The 10-foot linen burgee hung at the 2025 60th Anniversary Rendezvous was the one flown in Little Current in 1934, with Grant’s idea to draw attention to yachtsmen coming into Little Current, Ont. These yachtsmen would come into Turner’s store and ask Grant about the flag he was so proudly flying. Grant then would tell them about this new yachting club. He would hand them a member application form and wait for them to complete it. We still have the forms and proudly hand them to interested boaters.

Many Rendezvous have taken place in Little Current over the years, including 1984 and 2008. But the most important was the first one in 1965. The event was a two-day affair to honour Grant Turner for his dedication in helping with the Log Books (now known as Harbor Reports) and charting. Through his contacts, Grant was able to connect with the Canadian Hydrographic Services directly and shared that information in the Log Books.

He worked hand in hand with the men mentioned previously, and others, and to this day the Log Books/Harbor Reports are an invaluable source of information to all and the heart of the GLCC.

The 50th Anniversary of the founding of the Great Lakes Cruising Club was in Little Current in 1984. The 1977, 1986 and 1992 Rendezvous were held at the nearby Okeechobee Lodge (at the mouth of Baie Fine) with 128-foot S/V Aria and Evinrude’s 1947 118-foot M/V Chanticleer seen in many photos. In 2008, the Rendezvous returned to Little Current. It is always so much fun and an honour to have the Great Lakes Cruising Club back in the North Channel.

On Sunday, the Rendezvous opened with the honouring of the First Nation peoples of Manitoulin and the Great Lakes by speaking the Land Acknowledgement that we share, and honour the land and water. We were given the honour of the Wiikwemikoong Drummers and Dancers, along with an Elder telling stories through dance and drum. Historically significant gifts of tobacco were given to the drummers, dancers and elder by Vice Commodore Shantz.

Guests were treated to a special feast by Hershell’s catering of North Carolina-style pulled pork, smoked mac and cheese and homemade baked beans with entertainment by our local Cole Hughson.

Each morning, we had the singing of the Canadian and US national anthems at the continental breakfast, led by Cheryl Timm. The morning cannon went off with a bang (literally), and morning announcements were read.

Monday consisted of Board of Director meetings, visits with Roy Eaton at the Little Current Cruisers Net and the Pico Sailboat races. With a freshening and often gusty breeze from the northwest, the sailboat event had many laughs and challenges with two-person teams vying for position, and, from what we heard, a dunk. That event was followed by the Fleet review with the Commodore being escorted by our local Sea Cadet where the GLCC members were formally greeted.

The final scheduled event of Monday was the unveiling of a plaque commemorating the Great Lakes Cruising Club on the 60th Anniversary of the Rendezvous. It was placed under the plaques commemorating the first Rendezvous in Little Current in 1965 and the plaque commemorating the 50th anniversary of the GLCC in 1984.

The Commodore’s reception at the Pavilion was a fun evening of meetingwith friends old and new. The Anchor Inn did a great job with the meal, and Tristian Hall providing entertainment.

Tuesday was the challenge day for me, getting everyone to our great excursions: The Archaeological Site, the Stoneridge Lavender Fields and a final visit to Nic’s Vineyard. The comments from attendees was that everyone enjoyed visiting the interior areas of beautiful Manitoulin Island, seeing the great vistas from inland, and sampling wine from grapes grown on the Island, as well as learning about the sustainable practices at Nic’s Vineyard (Kunekune pigs eat the underbrush between the vine rows and therefore no mowing is needed).

The day ended with a fascinating telling by Mike Strobel of the sad story of M/V RHU, a cabin cruiser with two young families aboard that struck a shoal during a violent storm and, after two harrowing days, claimed four of six lives.

Wednesday was a busy day also, with the annual cornhole challenge, among other activities. New friends were made at the local pickleball courts. The annual Bilge Auction overseen by Nelson Stone featured many laughs and dollars being spent (or in Nelson’s words “released from wallets”).

It was then time to get ready for the cocktail hour and the Commodore’s Dinner at the NEMI Recreation Center. Cocktail hour included some outstanding hor’s dourves along with GLCC-branded local beer/ale.

Before dinner, the Commodore and the Bridge were led in with bagpipes in fine tradition. Dinner and awards were presented. A beautiful meal by Bryston’s on the Park was presented, with not a crumb left on a plate.

Music began with dancing, then it was time to call it a night as everyone was departing Thursday morning. I want to thank everyone who left a donation for the table flowers to the cat rescue we support, a total of $450 was donated.

We had outstanding weather for Rendezvous and events. After the Commodore’s Dinner, several enterprising members decided it was a lovely night for the 0.75 mile walk back to the marina. Mother Nature had other plans in store due to a cold front which brought a torrent of rain. Those that waited for the bus stayed relatively dry, at least until they got off the bus at the marina.

Thursday morning was wet and cool. Nelson Stone gave a beautiful Blessing of the Fleet to send everyone off. Many members stayed in the North Channel for a week or more, visited with us at the Cottage or popped into Turner’s to chat.

Thank you again for making this Rendezvous one to remember: making new friends, visiting with old friends, and learning the history we treasure so fondly of the Great Lakes Cruising Club. We are very proud to be able to display and showcase the Great Lakes Cruising Club background on the second floor of the Turner store and, speaking with many of attendees after listening to stories about the pioneers of yesterday, there was a greater understanding of the start of the Great Lakes Cruising Club here in Little Current.

Fondly, Jib and Debby Turner