WHITEFISH — It’s the unofficial kickoff to the summer boating season in the Flathead as the 13th annual Whitefish Woody Weekend gets underway June 27-29.
The wooden boat festival takes place each year at The Lodge at Whitefish Lake.
“Miss St. Lawrence is the name of the boat, named after the river it was built on, named by the builder, not the owner,” said Wooden Boat Owner Joe Frauenheim.
Frauenheim traveled to Whitefish from Washington State to showcase his custom wooden boat built back in 1922.
“I mean this boat was built 100 years ago and to me it’s better than the plastic boats that they buy now, it’s not a water ski boat or a wake boat but it’s just a go boat,” said Frauenheim.
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Miss St. Lawrence was one of 43 boats showcased during the Whitefish Woody Weekend Festival, the largest showcase in the event’s history.
“We like to share our love of wood boats with the public and hopefully draw some of the public in and maybe some of those people step forward to be the stewards of the future,” said Event Director Tim Salt.
Salt said the free event runs Friday through Sunday and includes a sunset cruise, a dockside showcase and a morning poker run.
“We have 17 boats that are new to the show this year that have not been in the show in years past, so if you’ve been to the show before and you think well, I don’t need to go because I’ve already seen it, we’ve got 17 new boats and some of them are quite spectacular.”
Salt said the event attracts participants from all over the country, wooden boats come in all shapes and sizes.
“The smallest boat we have this year is a 12-foot outboard, the biggest is a really unique boat, it’s a 35-foot boat built in 1924,” said Salt.
Salt said each boat shares its own unique story.
“The third oldest Chris-Craft know in existence to still be on the water at the show this year, which is pretty exciting.”
More information here about Whitefish Woody Weekend.
