Gary Orloff – President

 

 

Welcome to the Western Reserve Chapter of the Antique Outboard Motor Club,  

 

     Gary Orloff here,  let me tell you a little about myself, I grew up in Willowick Ohio which is about 20 miles east of Cleveland. We lived just a stones throw from Lake Erie which was my favorite playground all seasons of the year ! 

 

      I was first introduced to outboard motors by my grandfather when I was about 4 -5 years old and I guess I never lost the love of playing with them all these years. The first motor I learned how to run was a little Johnson 2 1/2 hp but soon graduated to the “ Big “ motor, a 5hp Elgin. My brother & I ran these motors day in and day out while on vacation at our grandparents cottage on Wall Lake, Michigan.   As we grew up our parents bought a 16ft Lyman with a 25hp Johnson on it. But I learned to water ski behind a 10hp Mercury Cruiser KH7 !  Those were some fun year of my youth !  

       Although I have collected a couple special brands of outboards such as Christ Craft and Oliver I love all the different makes and models as they all have uniquely different features and performance . 

 

       But let me skip ahead to the twenty-first century. I took the Helm of the WRC back in 2013 and was able to recruit Bob Joynt as our treasurer, John Hagerman as our photographer, Mike Seachrist as our safety person and John Reed as our awards and ceremony organizer. With the help of these fine gentleman, we organize meets, set up competitions and mostly fix and repair old outboards.  But the real fun part is running them !   

 

Please check out our meet schedule and come join us for a day of fun with old outboards !