History of the Minocqua Antique & Classic Boat Show

Edited from original by Gordon Moore

The Minocqua Antique & Classic Boat Show was started in 1991 by Gordon Moore, as just a whim to see how many antique and classic boats we could get together at one time from the local area. The turnout was great and so were the crowds that came to view the boats. From this very amateurish start, the Minocqua Boat Show was born. For the first few years, Gordon pretty much ran the show with the help of a few friends, not the least of which was Larry Bosacki, who owned Bosacki’s Boat House where they used to hold the show. They usually had 25-35 boats in the show and the size of the crowds grew each year. By the mid-90s, looking for some help to take the show to the next level, and to that end, they invited the Minocqua/Woodruff/Arbor Vita Chamber of Commerce to get involved. With their help, they were able to improve advertising and publicity efforts and the show continued to grow. In 1997, they wanted a way to give some real purpose to the show, so they decided to add some food concessions to the event, open it up to woodie cars, and turn the whole show into a fundraiser for multiple sclerosis. The first year they raised about $800. Gordon’s son and daughter-in-law and our three grandchildren all pitched in to help during the event by manning the concession stand and doing the thousand and one things that make a show a success. In 2001, they had over 40 boats, and four woodie cars in the show and, even though the weather was less than great, the crowds were outstanding and we raised over $3500 for multiple sclerosis. The Minocqua Antique and Classic Boat Show is designed as a fun event for the boat owners and the enjoyment we all get in sharing and showing off our antique and classic boats to the general public. The boat captains vote for the awards which include Best Pre-War Chris Craft, Best Post-War Chris Craft, Best Century, etc. The public is invited to vote for the People’s Choice (recently named the Gordon Moore People’s Choice) award. During the show, boat owners can just kick back and relax with the other owners, talk to the many interested spectators, or go on a cruise around the over 6000 acres of water that make up the Minocqua Chain of Lakes. In 2022, the Minocqua Antique & Classic Boat Show LLC moved to Minocqua’s Torpy Park on Lake Minocqua. Local sponsors donated over $50,000 to purchase new piers for the Boat Show to allow for in water display of antique boats for the show weekend. The piers were then donated to the Town of Minocqua for use by the public all summer long. In 2023, additional sponsorship purchased extensions for the original piers because of how shallow the water is in the pier area. Extensive updates by the Town of Minocqua to Torpy Park in 2022-2024 have made Torpy Park the long-term home of the Minocqua Antique & Classic Boat Show, each Father’s Day weekend, for years to come.