Elk River Yacht Club

ELK RIVER YACHT CLUB: THE BEGINNINGS

The Organizational Meeting of the ERYC was held on April 27, 1928, at the residence of Dr. G. Harlan Wells, Philadelphia, PA. Present were Dr. Wells, W.P. Thompson, Philadelphia, John McClatchey, Ardmore, Judd Stewart, Ardmore, F. H. Thomas, Wilmington, DE, Henry Thatcher, Oldfield Point, MD, and J. Tenney Mason, Wilmington. (John Ferguson, MD Philadelphia, was shown as coming later in the meeting.)

The meeting opened with Dr. Wells as acting chairman. It was moved, seconded, and passed that the sense of the meeting be that we form a Yacht Club, to be known as the Elk RiverYacht Club. A committee, Judd Stewart and John McClatchey, was appointed to draw up a set of By-Laws for the club. Another committee, Thompson, Wells, and Thomas, was appointed to look into members for the club. The formation of a Star Boat Fleet was discussed, and the Star Class Fleet Organization was formed with the following officers:

Judd Stewart, Captain; J. T. Mason, Sect. and Treas., and J. McClatchey, Measurer.

The following were elected Officers of the club:

Harlan Wells, Commodore; Francis Shunk Brown, Sr., Vice-Commodore; William Clement, Rear Commodore; J. T. Mason, Sect. and Treasurer; Thatcher, Thompson, and Thomas were elected Directors. (Brown and Clement, although not at the meeting, had apparently been contacted earlier and expressed interest in joining the club.) The next meeting was to be held on May 15.

The First Regular Meeting of the Elk RiverYacht Club, with 12 members attending, was held at the Union League, Philadelphia, on May 15, 1928. Mr. Stewart reported that the By-Laws committee planned to use the By-Laws of the Corinthian Yacht Club as a basis of the By-Laws of ERYC.

The membership voted to have Active and Associate members, Active members to pay dues of $10 annually and Associate members to pay dues of $5. Among the items of business discussed, was a report by W.P. Thompson regarding ERYC flag and colors, and he submitted three flags for consideration. After considerable discussion, it was voted to refer this matter back to the Committee with the suggestion that the following pennants be drawn up to be submitted at the next meeting.

Three triangular pennants:

One Green Field with Red Border

One Blue Field with Red Border

One Orange and Black, which are the Maryland State Colors,

each to have E, the top and bottom of the E running to the point of the pennant.

It was also suggested that the Committee continue to give consideration to the advisability of using a chevron in the pennant.

The next meeting will be held at the call of the Commodore.

At a Board of Directors meeting on June 23, 1928 (information available only from a sheet of penciled minutes), the note "draw up stationary" is shown with the current ERYC burgee drawn. I found no formal adoption of the burgee in any of the formal minutes of club meetings.

George Sausen, Historian