Ask almost anyone who lived on Diamond Lake during the late forties and early fifties* if they remember the Yacht Club Sings, and to a person their memories are tinged with nostolgia for a bygone era and a beloved summer tradition at Diamond Lake.
No one called The Sings at Lucy and Harold Webers’ Family Nights, but that’s what they were, a glorious predecessor of today’s family nights at the Yacht Club. People of all ages came. We sat on blankets, socialized, and consumed bottles and bottles of orange crush and root beer. We sang I’ve Been Working On The Railroad, You Are My Sunshine, Sailing Along On Moonlight Bay, Shine on Harvest Moon, White Coral Bells, Meet Me In St. Louis, Swanee River. Old favorites, often with two part harmonies. When we arrived, the sun would be dropping down in the sky, and as the evening progressed, the moon would appear and one by one stars would light the sky.
The Webers’ lawn was perfect for The Sing. Today this property belongs to Darlene Lowe, widow of Edward Lowe, the kitty litter magnate, and it is still renowned for its beauty and continues to boast a magnificent lawn. Back in the days of the sings, the property was mostly lawn. The modest brown cottage, along with a small guest house on the east edge of the property, a boat house on the waterfront, and a pagoda just west of the cottage, didn’t occupy much space at all.
A young man led the singing -- John Ruth, who lived with his family on Diamond Shores. He accompanied us with an accordian and was aided by a huge screen on which words to the songs were projected. Ginger Scheuneman Luxumburger remembers that little balls bounced above each word to denote rhythm – one ball, for instance, bounced for a short note and two for one twice as long.
The movie screen was in the pagoda. So that we could face the lake as well as the screen, our blankets were concentrated toward the back of the property, behind the pagoda. Huge galvanized tubs of the orange crush and root beer were in the bushes by the road. It’s those big tubs my husband remembers from the sings – all the pop he could drink and running around with his pals.
I recently spoke with friends who remember these evenings at the Webers’ more than 60 years ago. In general, our perceptions are similar: lots of people, tubs of orange crush and root beer, beautiful grounds, singing, and fellowship. “A magical night,” concluded several of the old timers with whom I spoke.
I wonder --would a similar event today hold the same charm?
It’s possible that part of the allure was the rarity of a Yacht Club social event. Back then the Yacht Club didn’t have a social program. The club had been organized in 1938, and until 1948, sailing and Red Cross swimming lessons were its reason to be. (During the forties, the lake’s snipe fleet grew to almost 50 boats and the C Scow fleet to more than 20.) Until 1948, the Yacht Club’s primary social event, apart from weekend races and regattas, was the Labor Day Trophy Presentation. In 1949 the first Memorial Weekend breakfast was introduced. And it wasn’t until 1951 that the Junior Yacht Club was organized and came up with the idea for a dance at Purdy’s Marina the Saturday night of the Invitational Regatta. In 19 and 19 the sing was THE social event of the summer.
For me it was the highlight of the year.
*When I return to the lake the first of May, I’ll look at bulletins from the late forties and early fifties to find out exactly when the sings took place. Everyone I contacted-- Ron Francis, Bud Leonard, Susie Peterson, Ginger, Betty Lou, Kathleen Ward, Ann Thieman, and Kathy Kahn Rusk -- think there were only a few sings at most.
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