Norman, Keeley, Nico, and Michaela Betts of Ann Arbor and Cedarville celebrate the success of their boat, Uandi, (pronounced "you and I"), a 1926, 26-foot Hacker-Craft Dolphin Deluxe that won the 2006 Best of Show and People's Choice awards at the Les Cheneaux Antique Wooden Boat Show Saturday, August 12. The boat also won second place in her class. Uandi, a 26-foot, 1926 Hacker that returned to the Les Cheneaux Islands after nearly 30 years, won the two top prizes at the 29th Annual Les Cheneaux Antique Wooden Boat Show Saturday, August 12.

The boat collected Best of Show, People's Choice, and second in her class, topping a show that spectators, participants, and organizers called "beautiful." Artist vendors in the Festival of Arts, held in conjunction with the show, said they benefited from an extra hour of the Boat Show, since organizers moved the awards ceremony from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.

A total of 154 boats were registered by Boat Show day Saturday, August 12, reflecting a 34boat increase over last year's registrations.

Barb Smith, one of the Boat Show co-coordinators, was happy with the participation, despite a 15 percent drop in spectator attendance from the 2005 show. Coordinators estimate that 7,028 spectators came through the gate for this year's show, typical for the event. Last year's attendance, she noted, was higher than usual. Another 275 volunteers were on hand.

Thirty-three volunteers have served the Les Cheneaux Antique Wooden Boat Show and Festival of Arts for 20 years or more, and most of them were recognized here Saturday morning, August 12, at the start of the show. The rest were probably working, said Boat Show cocoordinator Barb Smith, who said, "we may not have all of them up here at the moment because some are still on station today assisting in their particular area." "I think it was a great show, and people were so positive about coming up," she said of participants who brought their boats.

The second place winner in the Best of Show category was Lady

Jocelyn, a massive, 1966 70-foot Trumpy owned by Richard Merillat of Charlevoix.

Third place in Best of Show went to Pay-Bow-Me-Say, a 1957, 16-foot Lyman outboard owned by John "Moose" and Lori Strehler of Hessel.

The Arnie Horween Jr. Memorial Skippers' Choice Award for a boat with charisma that "commands a second look," went to Vite, a 1934, 16-foot Flyer, owned by Dean and Barbara Dietrich of White Springs, Florida.

The E.J. Mertaugh Boat Works Best Chris Craft Award was given to Zas-Zu-Zas, a 1936, 19-foot Chris Craft owned by Tom & Heidi Frye of East Grand Rapids.

The Frank Bronson Memorial Award for the Best Nonprofessional Restoration was given by Mr. Bronson's son, Mike, to eight-year-old Jacob Schantz of Grand Haven for his work on Treasure, a 1963, eight-foot outboard his grandfather, Henry Schantz of Grand Rapids.

A new award for "best boat name," honoring the memory of local sign-maker and painter, Carl Malmquist, was given to Marshall and Raeywen Beck for their 1964, 20-foot Chris Craft named Woody Woodbecker.

The award was established and donated by John Grenier of Up North Studio in Hessel. He calls the late Mr. Malmquist his mentor, and said he was a local legend in sign and transom painting.

"He set the style in the Les Cheneaux Islands for lettering boats," Mr. Grenier said, adding that Mr. Malmquist probably painted the names on hundreds of local boat transoms during his lifetime.

Mr. Grenier said Mr. Malmquist lettered boats well into his 90s, and came to the area in the 1960s from Detroit, where he ran a successful sign business.

"He established a style called 'Detroit striping,' and when I was living out West, the style was known as Michigan striping," Mr. Grenier said, describing an ornate type of pinstriping that was used on some of the vehicles in the area, including Autore Oil trucks and Clark Township emergency services vehicles. "Carl's style was a direct descendent of carriage striping, and he was taught by the people who striped the sides of carriages. He carried that style through until his death."

Another local legend, Cedarville watercolor artist Norine Rudd, won the Darcy M. Janz M e m o r i a l Award for artistic excellence, "and with encouragement to continue being creative in a chosen medium."

Mrs. Rudd creates watercolor images of b o a t h o u s e s , local landscape, and her "trademark" chickadees and birch trees, which grace canvas, wood, lampshades, and ornaments. She has been painting since she was 16 years of age, when she moved to the Les Cheneaux Islands from Detroit. She manages a gift shop and gallery in Cedarville, where she creates and sells her own works.

An added feature of this year's show was an unexpected biplane exhibition from a group of spectators who flew into the Hessel Airport for the show. The fliers put on an impromptu show in the morning, and heard the crowd enjoyed it so much, they returned to fly over the show in the afternoon, as they left the area.

"I think that added so much to the show to have those old-fashioned biplanes flying overhead," Mrs. Smith said.

Mike Zane of Hill Island, who taxis pilots from the airport to the boat show, made the connection with the biplane pilots and told them how much the crowd enjoyed the show. He also collected $250 in donations from pilots, which will be given to the Hessel airport's winter snow-plowing fund.

Mrs. Smith said Mr. Zane offers the service every year as a volunteer. Thirty-three volunteers were

recognized Saturday morning, when Mrs. Smith called them to the pavilion at the Hessel Marina during opening ceremonies.

"The success of this show tales months and months of planning, and many hours of volunteer service," she said. "A few of our guests

have chaired the show for many years. Others have worked on registration, gates, docking, parking, T-shirt sales, grounds, and the Festival of Arts. They have gone above and beyond in their dedication of bringing the show to you for many years."