history of the juniper island regatta

From the first regatta of 1883, Juniper Island’s regattas have remained a popular highlight of the summer season. Every regatta has had its own rules about competitors and boats which have evolved over the years. Events too have evolved to reflect changing times. What has remained constant over 140+ years, is the core of volunteers who continue to organize these competitions so the Ston(e)y community can participate in the tradition.

The American Canoe Association (ACA) held their 1883 and 1887 regattas at Juniper Island. Two Peterborough businessmen, who were members of the ACA, purchased Juniper Island from the Crown for $96. Hundreds of competitors and spectators camped on the east end of the island with a separate ladies’ campsite set up a discreet distance away. The weather held over the two weeks of the regatta and days were filled with the sailing and paddling races, fishing, duck hunting and swimming. Concerts, storytelling and sing-songs were held at night as well as a special event in which 65 canoes illuminated with lanterns made picturesque patterns on the water.

The Juniper Island regatta grew in popularity through the early years of the twentieth century. Steamboats delivered crowds to view and participate in the races and many filled the local resorts. In 1907, Victoria House at McCracken’s Landing advertised itself as, “the nearest to Juniper Island and hardly three-quarters of a mile from the regatta course”. The 1920 Stony Lake Cottager’s Association Minutes state that a volunteer committee was formed to run the regatta, “on the understanding that any cash surplus was to be handed over to the Association to be used for putting a new floor in the Pavilion”. This committee developed into the Stony Lake Aquatic Association which ran the regatta in its multi-day format, the mile swim and all sailing races until 1951.

The 1920’s were the heyday of the Juniper Island regatta. The three-day program included an adult regatta, a children’s regatta, a mile swim to Lech Island, an adult’s masquerade dance, an “Old Timer’s Reunion” and also a “Stony Lake Tea” held a week earlier. Along with traditional paddling races, there were novelty events such as “pie plate fours”, “pillow fight”, “tug of war” and “tilting”. A long distance “paddle around Juniper Island” race was held for four years. An indication of the size of the regatta at this time a report from the 1928 papers of the Stony Lake Aquatic Association that 1500 programmes were printed that year. Prizes awarded at this time were varied and generous such as a vest pocket camera or a pair of silver candlesticks and were “nicely displayed in a line with plenty of room in-between”.

Stony Lake Aquatic Association papers show that although reduced in size and awarding simpler prizes, the Juniper Island regatta was able to make a profit through many of the years of the Depression. The Aquatic Association surrendered its separate identity in 1951 to become the Regatta Committee of the newly formed Association of Stoney Lake Cottagers and the Stony Lake Yacht Club. Changing times led to the disappearance of canoe sailing, power boat races and most of the novelty races. New events were occasionally tried out such as the 1969 water ski show. A Centennial Regatta and sailing canoe race were held in 1983 and a historic plaque commemorating the first regatta was unveiled that summer on the Juniper waterfront.

The modern regatta has evolved to suit our times. Still immensely popular, it is held annually on the August Civic holiday Monday with children competing in the morning and adults in the afternoon. Novelty races now include only the “crab”, “gunwale” and “bang and jump out”. Rules, which used to occupy several pages of the cottagers’ booklet, are now reduced to a bare minimum. A strong core of volunteers remain who continue to organize the regatta so that the Ston(e)y community can maintain the tradition.

- written by Sue Dutton, Archivist of Juniper Island