About 20 boats participated in the Otsego Lake Association’s 12th annual Boat Parade on Saturday, July 5.
“Many more boats and spectators enjoyed the parade from afar,” said Wayne Bunn, boat parade chairperson for the past 12 years.
“We normally get between 20-50 boats every year,” Bunn said. The annual “We Love Our Lake” Decorated Boat Parade tradition does not require a decorated boat, and most boats were not decorated this year. He said it is meant to be a family-friendly, fun event.
David and Helen Rees were the first place winners. Their boat was decorated with many red, white and blue balloons in honor of Independence Day.
The Pace Family took second place. Geoff Nye and family took third place. Prizes included hooded sweatshirts inscribed with Otsego Lake Association and full-brimmed hats.
The theme of this year’s boat parade was “Safe Boating on Otsego Lake.” Nye displayed a large replica of his safe boating certificate. Other boats prominently featured life jackets.
For the first time ever, all boaters in New York state are now required to complete a state-approved boating safety course, which is available online. The requirement had a five-year phase-in period, beginning in 2020, with the enactment of Brianna’s Law in 2019.
The law was named in honor of Brianna Lieneck, an 11-year-old from Long Island, who died in a boating accident in 2005. She was killed in a collision when her family’s boat was struck by another boat.
The SUNY Oneonta Biological Field Station’s barge, the Anodontoides, was the lead boat in the parade.
“The SUNY Oneonta Biological Field Station has been on the lake for about 40 years,” Bunn said, and has a “massive database.” Its research helps protect the lake from harmful algal blooms that can grow out of control and produce toxic or harmful effects on people, fish, mammals and birds.
“Doug and Rhonda Willies spend a lot of time and their own money collecting samples of the water eight times a year,” Bunn said.
The barge captain sounded a horn at 3 p.m. and led the procession of boats from Three Mile Point slowly along the western shore of the lake to Lakefront Park in Cooperstown.
The parade route passed Three Mile Point, Brookwood Point, Cooperstown Country Club, Otesaga Hotel and Lakefront Park.
Retirees Barbara and Wayne Michaels enjoyed the boat parade from a picnic bench on Three Mile Point.
“This is the most boats we’ve ever seen on this lake,” Barbara Michaels said. The Michaels own a 16-foot Glastron motor boat that they like to boat mid-week when the docks are not as busy. Wayne Michaels said he loves to water ski.
“I think (the boat parade) is a bit of small-town Americana,” she said. Raised on Long Island, she decided to remain in the area her whole adult life after graduating from SUNY Oneonta.
She and her husband said they enjoy the Three Mile public park all season.
“All you need is a $35 seasonal parking pass,” she said.
Cooperstown residents Mia Kaltenbach and her father, Chris Kaltenbach, rent a rack for their paddleboards from Three Mile Park. They have seen multiple boat parades.
“They are fun. The boats are decorated differently every year,” Mia Kaltenbach said. Mia just graduated from Cooperstown High School and is heading to SUNY Morrisville in the fall to study exercise science and play on their women’s basketball team.
Her father is a physical education teacher at Worcester Central School and has been a Cooperstown resident for 20 years. He enjoys seeing the old wooden Boston Whaler boats in the parade. There was one Boston Whaler in this year’s parade.
Andrew Cacciola took his family for a joy ride on the lake on Saturday. He docked at Three Mile Park.
“I live in Long Island. I have owned a summer house on the lake for three years,” he said. “It’s a great village,” he said of Cooperstown.
About 12 years ago, he bought a house in Schenevus and rented boats. He liked Cooperstown so much, he bought a boat and a house on Otsego Lake.
The Otsego Lake Association is an all-volunteer, non-profit organization with 100 members, Bunn said, who was in a pontoon chase boat at the end of the parade. New members are encouraged to join.
“Trying to preserve and protect the lake is our main focus,” he said.