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Public Community Sailing Program
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true testamenr to the time and attenrion to they needed a safer location away fro m the construction. Professor O wens, designer of derail invested in their original constructio n. dangerous Charles River D am to contin ue. the MIT "Tech" raci ng dinghy, responded With boat construction underway, Joe In a calculated m ove, Joe chose to sto re the by announcing he hoped that the flimsy sought out W. Duncan Russell, the head of fl eet on M etropolitan District Commission boars wo uld soon fall apan "before serious the Communi ty Recreation Service (CRS), (MD C) pro perty without seeking their casualti es or tragedies occur." William a social agency that provided wo rk program s permission. The M D C administered M rs. W hittaker th en cl aim ed there was no for underprivileged boys . H e asked that Storrow's generous gift, and it was Joe's m o ney for a boathouse because the statutory the age ncy become a sponso r fo r the newly plan to force the M D C to use some of that lim itation on the Storrow funds had lapsed. fo rmed Communi ty Boat C lub. A CRS m oney to build a boathouse for his kids on Joe, wirh the suppo rt of the mayo r's office, staff member acted as club secretary and the Upper Basin. A political chess gam e was countered by petitioning the H ouse Ways and M eans Committee to release the unspent fl yers announcing the new o rganizati on abo ut to begin. we re senr to all the settl em enr h o uses th ro ughout Boston. In May 1937, the first organizational meeting of "Co mmuni ty Boat C lub" was held at the Community Recreation Service rooms on 739 Boylston Street. Joe, clad in his plaid shirt, corduroys, and work shoes, puffed on a large Italian stogie and offered a challenge to th e attendees. Angelo Ando n rem embers Joe saying: "Ifyou fellows wanr to learn to build yo ur own boats, I will put up the twenty dollars so yo u can." The first club members we re Wes t End neighbo rhood kids fro m the tenements, the sons (and occas io nal daughter) of first-generation immigrants, along with some Suffolk Law students who boarded and worked as pan -time counselors in the settl ement houses. Boas ting 100 members and a seven-boat, boy-built fleet, Communi ty Boat C lub began operating off Percival Watt's boathouse on the C harlesbank that summer. Two dock mas ters, M r. Arthur Original Community Boat Club members sailing on the upper basin. (date unknown) Robinson and Spike (H arry) Lee ran the Almost immediately, M D C Chairman Sror row mon ey. W hen the co mmittee day-to-day operatio ns, with Mr. Robinson overseeing instruction and swim tests. Sailing Eugene Hultman, a staunch oppo nent of the restored the $281,000 to the MDC, it went theory, safety rules, boatbuilding and boat Communi ty Boat Club, dem anded that Joe back into Hultman's unsupportive hands. design classes al l took place in the o pen air of remove the boats from M D C pro perty. In Hultm an continued to refuse fundin g for the dock. O ut on the water, the kids sailed by respo nse, Joe wrote: "W hy do n't yo u rake it the boathouse, despite th ree written pleas "following the leader." If they capsized, they now and smash the boars the kids built las t by Mrs. Storrow herself. In June of 1938, the Boat C lub opened held onto their boat until Kenny or D onny year?You w ill only break a few hearts ." Then he attacked Hultman in the newspapers, fo r its second season in its original locati on . Robertson rowed our to rescue them . To the sophi sticated Massachuse tts claim ing that the MDC had violated the Over the winter, the fl eer had doubled to Institute of Technology (MIT) sailors and terms of th e Storrow gift. Supported by fo urteen, with one design modification-rhe the wealthy Union Boat C lub rowe rs in the M rs. Storrow, Boston Mayor To bin, C ity fixed keels were repl aced with side leeboards upper Basin , the Communi ty Boat C lub's Councilor Shatmck, and W illiam Shand o r po ntoons. Youth boat builders from operation pro bably appeared run-down, (all Lee relati ves or family fri ends), Joe the W est, N orth, and So uth Ends eagerly undisciplined, and lackadaisical. To the pitted himself against Hultman; Douglas signed up. \)(Tith the help of C BC al umni , underpri vileged children of the Wes t End Lawson, the head of the C harles River dockmas ters Jim Marino and H arry Lee whose families came to America with next Association (wh ich represented the Union taught the new members sail theo ry and to nothing, the club was idyllic, a bright Boat C lub); Professo r Geo rge O wens, safety rules. Fo r new skippers, a pickle and shiny promise of a berter future. Frank head of M IT's Pratt Schoo l of Naval barrel, cut in half and rigged with a sail and Lavine later recalled, "Joe Lee taught m e D esign; and W illiam Wh ittaker, Secretary outriggers, served as their first "cockpit" o n of rhe M D C. shore. Later, experi enced members too k new what America could be." Joe pushed hard fo r release of$28 l ,OOO sailo rs om on the wa ter fo r hands-on drills. The Co mm unity Boat C lub's first But Joe was hardly content. The club season ended successfully, but it was clear fro m the Sto rrow money to fund boatho use SEAHJSTORY 130, SPRTNG 2010
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