A Short History of How It All Began
A Special Article by Dave Stein, founding member!
From the minutes of the first meeting: “On Monday, the twentieth day of the Month of December 1960, the following people met at the house of Tandy Little Jr., a sailor and a friend of sailors, because of their known interest in the age old art of sailing.”
Thus was born the Dixie Sailing Club, and it’s first Commodore was Maj. William Aicardi, with Vice-commodore Tandy Little Jr. and Secretary Rene C Leveque. The “initiation fee” was $2.00 per family!
Over the next few months the ladies of Dixie Sailing Club designed the present Burgee, Dixie became a charter member of the Dixie Inland Yacht Sailing Association (DIYRA) and articles of incorporation were prepared. The members decided initially to race two weekends on Lake Jordan and two on Lake Martin, and the first Punch Bowl Regatta was planned for April of 1961.
Throughout 1961 the members sailed from Jones Corner on Lake Jordan and Castaway on Lake Martin. During this time the members met monthly at the Cloverdale Community Center, and following vigorous planning and debate they were known to re-convene at a local establishment for a post meeting libation! At the September meeting the first “Dixie Doings” was born and is still the monthly publication of the club.
By January of 1962 the club had settled into five classes of boats: Flying Dutchman, Y-Flyers, Thistles, Snipes, and Flying Dutchman Jr. The hope was expressed that”, no one would promote any other boat besides these five”! Plans were made for the Punch Bowl Regatta to be held at Kowaliga on Lake Martin. Maj. Aicardi had been transferred to the Phillipines and Tandy Little was elected Commodore, and Gene Munger as Vice-Commodore.
By August of 1962 the members made the difficult decision to locate permanently on Lake Martin. A committee consisting of Tandy Little, Taylor Dawson, Gene Munger, Dave Stein, and Ed Lockhart was appointed to work with Mr.Tom Russell to select a site, and choose a floor plan for a Clubhouse to be built by Russell Lands. In October 1962, the present road, which ended at the bottom of the big hill under the power line, was extended to the present (2006!) club location. The road wasn’t suitable for cars for several months, (some say for several years!). In fact, for the next several winters and after rainstorms, we would plan for a number of us to meet at the bottom of the hill so we would have help getting to the top.
Docks and ramps were being built by the members, while the construction of the clubhouse was underway by Russell Lands. It would be a busy winter and spring for Dixie Sailing Club members!