1939 saw many strikes among Detroit’s skilled artisans. Some Club Members were idle. Dressing rooms at the Club were lacking and with $100.00 of Club funds appropriated, a half dozen Members, scaling the beams over the boathouse, constructed a crow’s nest up under the roof, sealed it and installed a tiny coal heater, a round table ideal for Director’s Meetings and winter card games, and a sign "For Men Only" was tacked up.

Trying to haul a Club Member off the rocks one nasty fall day, the Club’s work boat, a shallow draft hull and difficult to maneuver, got afoul the rocks at the harbor entrance and poked a hole in her bottom. At about this time the Directors concluded that the Club was due for some long-range planning. A Planning Committee of Past Commodores and business-wise Members was formed, with the job of recommending to the Directors the expenditure of $1,500.00 for the Club’s improvement the following spring.

The Planning Committee did not wait for spring. They immediately recommended acquiring a better power launch and work boat and the Directors shortly gave the contract for a hull to Bryan Brothers of Trenton.

Late in 1939, Dick Hill, energetic Publicity Chairman, started a scandal sheet he called "The Breeze." With little but an idea and a mimeograph the Club’s newsletter was born. The first issue, Volume 1 / no. 1, came out just after Christmas. The three-fold single sheet was printed on orange paper and consisted of information of interest to Club Members. The first article stated The Breeze will be printed bi-monthly by the Minister of Propaganda (Publicity Chairman), and urged everyone to phone Ray Brown with their address corrections. An announcement of a New Years Eve Blowout at the Club recorded the price at $1.75 per couple for all you could eat, drink (punch), and dance. Also included were caps, noisemakers, and music. The results of the December election were listed and as well as the date of the next General Meeting to be held. Dave Davenport announced the acquisition of three fine ping-pong tables and that they would be ready for the New Years Eve party. In 1939 "From The Helm" was written by Commodore Alfred M. Smith and was the Commodore’s way of having his voice heard by all Members.

The first Breeze

Published December 1939
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