Blessing of the Fleet - Decorated Boat Parade

Blessing of the Fleet and Decorated Boat Parade

A Time-honored Nautical Tradition

Saturday, May 19, beginning at 1:00PM
(Later, a Pirate Party, following the Parade)

Event Flyer (opens in a new window)

Event Wrap-up:
The boats formed up on the lake and paraded through Bayview Marina, past the spectators assembled behind Weekends Restaurant, and back out onto the lake. As each boat passed, our Chaplain, Pat Lee, asked a blessing for the safety of the craft and her crew in the new boating season. The new DFD Fire Boat, 'Marine 1', and her crew from the Rowlett Fire Department, provided a dramatic backdrop of water-cannon arches for the boats to pass by. The parade proceeded on to pass by Bass Pro Shop, Chandler's Landing and The Harbor, before returning home to Bayview Marina. Decorated boats were judged, and awards were presented at the 'Olde Tyme Pirate Party', after the parade.

Awards Results:

Bayview Boat Club - Silver trophies were presented for 'Best Decorated' boat, in three categories.

Small Boat

1st	'Real Estate Expo'	Sheila Long and Randy Glover
2nd	'High Jinks'	Casey Spraberry
3rd	'Hurricane'	Don Riggs

Large Boat

1st	'Slip-R-In'	Dave Gladney and Karen Rutherford
2nd	'Leaky Tiki'	Brian and Monica Dusek
3rd	'On the Boat, Again'	Deborah Brantley

Sail Boat

1st	'R & R'	Ron and Renata Richardson
2nd	'Cloud 9'	Roger Anderson
3rd	'White Star'	Barry Lambert

Bass Pro Shop, Garland - Gift-card prizes were awarded for 'Best Decorated' boats, in three categories, from among those who paraded by Bass Pro. (Special thanks to Lisa Byrn, Promotions Manager, and her crew, for working with us on this event and presenting the Bass Pro awards - and lots of extra goodies - at the party.)

Small Boat

$25	'Hurricane'	Don Riggs
$15	'Real Estate Expo'	Sheila Long and Randy Glover
$10	'High Jinks'	Casey Spraberry

Large Boat

$25	'Slip-R-In'	Dave Gladney and Karen Rutherford
$15	'Leaky Tiki'	Brian and Monica Dusek
$10	'On the Boat, Again'	Deborah Brantley

Sail Boat

$25

'R & R'

Ron and Renata Richardson

Whittle Development, Inc. / The Harbor, Rockwall
Whittle Development awarded a gold trophy for 'Best Decorated' boat to pass The Harbor.
(Our thanks to Rob Whittle, for his interest and suggestions, and to Louretta, for arranging the judging and delivering the trophy to our party.)

'Best Decorated'

'Leaky Tiki'

Brian and Monica Dusek

Additional 'Thanks' -

DFD Fire/Rescue Boat, 'Marine 1'
Our thanks to Chief Martin, of the Dallas Fire Department, for arranging the participation of the Fire/Rescue Boat, 'Marine 1', in our event. And also, special thanks to Todd Higgins and the rest of the crew from the Rowlett Fire Department, for piloting the boat, shooting the water-cannon, and making our event so much more fun to watch. You guys were great!

Bayview Marina
Our thanks to Bayview Marina, for providing the primary venue for our Blessing Ceremony and Boat Parade, and to Jim Rosenberg, for all that he did before and "behind the scenes", to accommodate and facilitate this event, and the party following.

And finally, as Commodore, my thanks and appreciation to our judges, to our Chaplain, Pat Lee, and to all the boats, their skippers and crews, who participated in the Blessing of the Fleet Ceremony and Boat Parade, this year. You made it fun for those who watched, fun for your fellow participants, and set a great example for our new members to follow.