Two days before Santa’s planned visit, the Goulet Boyz and Fuzz spent the afternoon transforming Bruce’s pontoon boat into Santa’s Christmas Boat. The canopy was erected over the front to cover guests coming on board to meet Santa and hundreds of lights strung from aft to stern and port to starboard to light the way. After a decent day of work, the determined group finished installing all the holiday decorations before nightfall. All was set and ready to go to greet Santa on board.
Friday brought with it heavy rain, which could be a bit unpleasant for guests waiting on the docks to greet Santa, but once onboard, they’d be undercover and kept dry. Perhaps the weather would turn better the next day? Saturday rolled around with continuing rain, and it looked certain that it was going to be a wet one, but then around one o’clock that afternoon, the clouds dissipated and sunshine filled the sky. Could this be grace bestowed upon the Angle Lake Shore Club, proving weather predictions wrong again and presenting pleasant conditions for the event? It indeed seemed that way until suddenly, near 3:30 pm, a violent squall let loose with strong winds approaching 45 mph! Within a span of about 20 minutes, the heavy winds had left the canopy in a twisted mess of canvass and metal. Several light strings were detached and strewn about the deck of the Christmas boat and onto the dock. The effort to prepare in advance of the event seemed to be all for not. It now appeared that the inclement weather had taken its toll and would force the cancelation of Santa’s Christmas Cruise.
Phones began lighting up, inquiring if we should take the risk of continuing as planned by taking Santa around by boat to all the docks or if we should consider loading him in a van and visiting by way of land instead. Many questions needed answers, as we were closing in on less than an hour away from the first scheduled stop.
Almost as quickly as the storm rolled in, the winds calmed, and the rains ceased. However, the canopy was confirmed to be a total loss. Santa would indeed get soaked if it started raining again, leaving him cold and wet. Regardless, the team decided that the event would go on as planned as Santa was determined to keep his scheduled rounds and not disappoint the children expecting him. Bruce said he’d take care of redecorating the boat and exceeded everyone’s expectations by pulling the display back together all by himself in time for the start of the event beginning!
In the end, the ship glided brilliantly illuminated through the dry nighttime sky. And Santa was able to greet over 40 children around the lake, including a final visit at the Angle Lake Mobile Home Park before its scheduled closing next year.
Thank you to Santa, the entire crew and especially Bruce and Sandy for undergoing an extra special effort to ensure priceless childhood memories were created that will last throughout their lifetime. Photos captured during the event may be viewed HERE.
Bruce and Sandy Goulet
Principal Event Coordinators