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Adrift From The Past, Historic Replica To Lead Boat Parade

The town of Lanesborough, Massachusetts is celebrating its 250th anniversary. As part of a year-long series of events, the town is recognizing one of its greatest gems by getting out on the water in the first ever Pontoosuc Boat Parade.Sheila’s horn will launch the boat parade Saturday on Pontoosuc Lake. Just to be clear, Sheila is a 22-foot Duffy mostly fiberglass electric boat powered by 18 car batteries.

“Twelve people, 13 with a driver, comfortably,” Dave Francoeur explains. “It has a refrigerator and table that you can put out.”

Despite the modern technology, Francoeur says the boat carries a sense of nostalgia for many. Sheila is a replica of an early 20th century boat of the same name once owned by steel magnate Andrew Carnegie that used to cruise the Pontoosuc and other area lakes. After Carnegie died in Lenox in 1919 the boat changed hands and would end up giving tours for as little as a nickel on Pontoosuc Lake for much of the 20th century. Candide Jones’ family has owned a house on the lake, a portion which lies in Pittsfield, since 1945. Choosing to have a home without a television, she says Sheila and two earlier replicas were a sight to see.

“There was water skiing, swimming, kick the can and everything like that,” Jones said. “The big deal was the ice cream man everyday and the other big deal was seeing the Sheila come by. We would always wave from the shore. It never got old. So when I heard that the Francoeurs had gotten a Sheila I just couldn’t believe that he had done this because it’s really a gift to all of us to see the Sheila out on the lake.”

Dave Francoeur and his father Art, who run the U-Drive rental boat business on Pontoosuc’s shore, revived Sheila tours last year. 

“What I found out is that the house that I own on the lake turns out they used to stop there and you could buy a sandwich and a soda and then keep going around on your tour,” Francoeur said.

But, the revival almost didn’t happen.

“Disney World, the one in Florida, and I were actually going after this,” Francoeur said. “It’s a used boat out of Virginia. We both wanted it at the same time. They wanted it to tour people around Disney. I was actually able to get it only because the purchaser didn’t have the authority to go to the next level so I quickly got it and bought it before he could get the authority.”

With its long history, Jones asked the Francoeurs if Sheila would lead roughly 20 other boats for the parade. Jones says the idea for a flotilla originated from a float she and some friends would enter into the Pittsfield Fourth of July parade.

“The theme of our float was the legend of the lake because when we grew up here we were always told the legend of the lake about two star-crossed Mohican lovers, Shoon-keek and Moon-keek, who tried to run away and they were killed by a jealous, evil Nockawondo Indian,” Jones said. “So that was our float for the Fourth of July twice…prize-winning I might add.”

When the 250th anniversary of Lanesborough’s founding came up, it seemed like the right time to make a splash. Awards will be handed out decorations best detailing Lanesborough history, most colorful and originality.

The parade leaves the docks at 1:30 Saturday. Click here for more information.

Jim is WAMC’s Associate News Director and hosts WAMC's flagship news programs: Midday Magazine, Northeast Report and Northeast Report Late Edition. Email: jlevulis@wamc.org
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