The marina’s opening made headlines in The Charlotte Observer.
The current location of Wher-rena Boatland on Catawba Avenue in Cornelius.
JUNE 2016
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Jeff Junker
Heaven on the water
LAKE NORMAN CURRENTS
Jeff Junker, Norman’s son, grew up in Denver on the west side of the lake, and spent much of his childhood at his family’s marina, which also had a boat dealership, restaurant, campground, arcade and swim area. For a kid who loved the water, it was heaven.
“My dad and cousins taught me how to ski when I was 4,” he says. “I got my first boat when I was 6 — a little jet boat that was 12 feet long and about twice as wide as a canoe. By the time I was 10 they would let me go out on the boat by myself until sundown.
You can’t do that today.” Back in the 1960s and ‘70s there was little development around Lake Norman, which was still mostly a sleepy weekend getaway for Charlotte families. The marina soon became a popular destination, where people gathered to enjoy the lake and a waterfront meal at The Galley fish camp. But as the lake grew and business flourished, Norman moved Wher-rena’s boat dealership from its original location to the current showroom on Catawba
Jeff Junker, son of Norman Junker, took over the family business in 2003 after his father passed away.
Avenue in 1987. He named the new facility Wher-rena Boatland. A few years later the original marina was sold and eventually became Midtown Sundries and most recently Port City Club. Jeff started working summers at the boat dealership when he was 15. “I did everything from stock shelves to sell skis to put together Sea-Doos,” he says. By then he was also passionate about watersports, including kneeboarding, wakeboarding and riding Jet Skis, and spent as much time as he could on the lake. After high school Jeff went to North Carolina State University where he earned a degree in mechanical engineering. While he had plenty of career options, he says his passion and heart remained with the family business. “I always joked that I did the mechanical engineer degree as my back-up plan.” Sadly, just 10 days after Jeff graduated from college in 2003, his father passed away from cancer. Jeff stepped in and took over the business. “It was a rough period, but I wanted Wher-rena Boatland to succeed.” Continued on page 34