Ode to Ossining Boat and Canoe Club

I first came to Ossining in the early 80’s and was not happy to be here. Having been in southern Florida until that time I was used to having fishing, open woodlands, ponds, lakes etc., all around and easily accessible. I used to catch fish and bring them home and put them in the wading pool so I could have my own pond before I came to NY. When we arrived in Ossining, I spent my first six months or so in the apartment before gradually venturing out. And then I met my best friend. And then she showed me the Hudson River from Luis Engel Park. And then we found the Ossining Boat and Canoe Club.

When I first arrived, the interior of the club was very different than it is today. Our current work and board rooms were one room and our club room was an empty space. There weren’t really any women and the main winter activity was playing cards by the wood stove.  As the years progressed however, the character of the place changed, windows were added, rooms were broken up, and the current character of the club began to emerge.  First one bathroom was added, and then another. Handicapped access was to follow with down stairs facilities. When I was hurt at work in the late 80’s, I spent nearly a year sitting on the back deck with the old timers, Henry Gourdine, Irving Brown (Brownie), and many others. I wasn’t a member yet but no one ever turned me away.  I was still one of the only women there, along with my best friend who currently serves on the board of the club.

Over the years, many changes continued to happen.  I finally joined as a member in the early 90’s and got my first boat shortly thereafter.  I took over the plantings around that time and have been doing them ever since. It was a lovely life. Watch the sun come up in the morning with the “coffee clutch” and my dog. Go to work and return in the afternoon for the cooling breeze coming in off the river. Listen to the stories form the same old timers who had always been there, like a permanent fixture of the back deck. Member’s wives began to show up for evening sunset barbecues. Finally, after a few more years, families began to appear. Now, we are very firmly a family club and open our doors to the community. I even met and married my husband here.

The point I am trying to make is this. Even after all this time, the core club members remain the same. Many of us have been here upwards of 15 or more years with others over 20 years. What keeps us coming back? Could it be the pride we take in keeping this building standing and modernized (we didn’t used to have heat or cooling never mind bathrooms). Perhaps it is the knowledge that even though we would not normally have ever come in contact with each other, we have managed to pull together and better the place. As a club. That is after all what a club is. It is a group of like-minded people who get together to accomplish something. In this case, it is keeping the club together. No matter what Mother Nature throws at us and up until now, no matter what the town throws at us. The building has always been the glue. Working together, planning together, this is what makes a club. There is nothing quite like having boaters from other clubs come in and realize just how unique our home is. Yes, it is our home and the members are our extended family. The most common comment from other boaters is the character of the old building and the view and comfort of the back deck.

If you take away our building, and our ability to get together to maintain or modernize it, you take away the glue that makes us a club and reduce it to another impersonal marina. The Hudson River already has too many of those.  While it is true we are in a flood plain, we always have been. The building has weathered Floyd, Irene and Sandy along with a multitude of lesser storms with no major structural damage yet.  If allowed to continue our policy of maintenance and repairs, there is no reason we cannot weather many more “100 year storms”.  All we need is permission to remain a club, responsible for getting together as a group to plan and work to keep it as a club. That means keeping the character of the old building intact so we can continue to get together to plan and maintain our home.

We have already sustained a huge blow. By removing our winter boat storage you have also removed the security our members have of knowing they can come at any time throughout the winter to check on their boats or do off season maintenance. Due to Town regulations many of these members cannot bring their boats home for the winter and cannot afford alternative storage locations, most of which limit your access during the winter months. And why remove it? Is it really due to the possibility of improper washing or painting practices? And yet, we as a club participate in the Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan required of all boating facilities on the Hudson. We follow best practices and have passed inspection with our portion of the town plan. Why not allow us to continue our participation? Why not allow us to continue our tradition of working together as a club to maintain our building? Is it just for a restaurant that we don’t need? Ask the existing facilities in our area on the Hudson and one of the first things they’ll tell you is over winter business is basically non-existent.  How much revenue would really be brought in by a facility that only gets patronage during the summer? Even if the building was torn down and replaced, there is no parking for a business there. If you install elevators for access to the second floor, the motors for these elevators are still on the first floor and susceptible to water damage. How long would a dock have to be to reduce the incline to something acceptable with a building 8 feet above the water level? How many boaters do they expect will be willing to pay top dollar for a mooring? After all, without being a working members club, where we are allowed to do our own maintenance, the dues will have to be considerably higher to cover the cost of outsourcing repairs. These are all questions I would like to see answered before decisions are made to tear down our home.

With Love
Life time member

Beth Beardsley