Guest opinion: Thank you for Whitefish Woody Weekend XIV
TIM SALT | Whitefish Pilot | UPDATED 2 months, 1 week AGO
The 14th annual Whitefish Woody Weekend presented by the Big Sky Chapter Antique and Classic Boat Society. (Steve Lapkin photo / SteveLapkin.com )
Thank you, Flathead Valley, for helping to make Whitefish Woody Weekend XIV a huge success. It was a great show with 42 beautiful classic boats from all over the Pacific Northwest and Illinois, 13 of which were new to Whitefish Woody Weekend. These boats represented 15 different manufacturers and seven different chapters of the Antique and Classic Boat Society. Twenty of the participants came to the show from outside the Flathead Valley.
Although the weekend experienced intermittent rain, all on the water boating events on each day of the event took place as scheduled. On behalf of all the boat Captains, thank you to the over 1,400 dock-walkers who came out and supported the event on Saturday. It means a lot to the boat owners to see the tremendous turnout.
The threatening Sunday morning weather did not deter the hearty participants in the annual Poker Run. A special thank you goes out to the six families who hosted poker run stops at their dock.
The Best Time award went to Owen and Derek Bronken in Red White and Brut, who were less than a minute off the course time. The Commodore's Award was given to Jake and Mary Amsbaugh who traveled all the way from Sterling, Illinois with their 1941 Chris Craft bareback Lambchop, to participate in the show. The Chris Craft Antique Boat Club awarded the Stewardship award to AtLast!, a 1941 Chris Craft Cruser owned by Tim and Merrie Ford from Bigfork.
It was a very big day for Miss Montana, a 1954 Stan Craft Torpedo owned by Ken and Jo Cook of Polson who took home both the Captain's Choice Award, voted on by the boat owners, and the People's Choice Award, voted on by the public. Miss Montana also won the best hand award.
Finally, we would like to thank The Lodge at Whitefish Lake and their wonderful staff for being great hosts of the event. The Lodge treated the boat owners to that great Whitefish hospitality and once again demonstrated their commitment to community events. Hope to see you all again at next year's event on June 25-27,2027, for Whitefish Woody Weekend XV, our 15th anniversary show.
Tim Salt, event director of Whitefish Woody Weekend, part of the Big Sky Chapter Antique and Classic Boat Society.