LITTLE CURRENT—Thanks to generous legacy donations from longtime club members, the Little Current Yacht Club (LCYC) announced the establishment of a bursary program for youth who might want to take the instructor course to enable them to become instructors in the club’s youth sailing program.
“We have funds gifted to our club from two boaters who visited the Port of Little Current for many years that have passed on,” said LCYC Commodore Bruce O’Hare. “Both their estates gifted the LCYC funds specifically to help teach young people how to sail. The first funds came from Fred and Eliane Burger. Fred was an active member of the LCYC and was very involved in our Youth Sailing Program. Dave Laux and his wife Donna also boated in the North Channel for many years.”
Commodore O’Hare explained that the LCYC has operated its Youth Sailing Program for approximately 19 years—first established in 2005. “Over that time, we have taught hundreds of young people to sail, a skill that people carry forward for a lifetime,” he said. “This year we are offering two weeks of classes in both Wiikwemkoong and Gore Bay and three weeks in Little Current, plus one week helping out the Algoma Sailing Club in Sault Ste. Marie. In total approximately 100 students will learn to sail this upcoming season. Teaching young people to learn boating skills has always been the most important thing the LCYC has focused on over the years.”
“Fred and Elaine Burger, from Michigan, came to Little Current for many years,” noted LCYC director Roy Eaton, who operates the popular Cruisers’ Net radio program for boaters in the North Channel. “The Youth Sailing Program was Fred’s passion. Together with a man named Chuck Spense, they ran the program.”
“Dave and Elaine Laux, from Delaware, sailed these waters for maybe 30 years,” continued Mr. Eaton. “The motto of the Cruisers’ Net is ‘Boaters Helping Boaters’ and no one exemplified that motto more than Dave. Super knowledgeable, always ready to assist boaters, he wasn’t involved in the Youth Sailing program directly but both Dave and Donna, with their donation, wanted to ensure that young people on Manitoulin learned to sail and enjoy the waters as much as they did.”
LCYC is reaching out to the community to help identify youth who would enjoy the club’s sailing school, but whose parents may have difficulty in paying the $220 fee.
“Please send us a confidential email to commodore@lcyc.ca and nominate someone you feel could be helped out by the bursary, generously funded by the families in memory of our boating friends,” said Commodore O’Hare. “This will be an annual bursary program and will be open to anyone in need across Manitoulin Island. The Little Current weeks of the sailing school runs for three consecutive weeks starting August 5. More information is available on our website www.lcyc.ca or our Facebook page LCYC CANsail.
