Annual wooden boat show set for Saturday at PI Harbor

by Peter Jakey, Managing Editor

The 17th annual Presque Isle Harbor Wooden Boat Show gets underway Saturday at 10 a.m. The program continues throughout the day and concludes with the judging of the year?s entries and presentation of awards between 4:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. Part of this year?s show includes an appearance by Chris Smith, the grandson of the founder of Chris-Craft boats, established in 1876 in Algonac.

Smith and his daughter Joy will be participating in the event and displaying his customized Chris-Craft the Rocket,

as well as promoting his new book, ?An Odyssey.? Wooden boat show committee chairman Dave Kowalski is hoping the weather cooperates this weekend. ?Every time I look it gets better,? he said. The wooden boat show welcomes antique and classic wooden boats, replicas, homemade boats, crusiers and sailboats.

Last year, the show hosted between 60 to 65 boats. The organization is expecting about the same. Attendance has averaged about 4,000 people a year. The arts and crafts booths are up this year, said Kowalski. There will be a model boat display and a raffle. This year?s featured boat is Silence DoGood.

The Wooden Boat Show remains a good bargain for the public with no admission charge. Other wooden boat shows like the one in Hessel charge a gate fee. The climbs to both Old and New Presque Isle lighthouses are free Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Presque Isle County Council on Aging buses will be transporting visitors to and from the harbor to the lighthouses as well.

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