"A splendid course, glorious sunshine, a refreshing breeze and thrilling finishes were the chief features which went to make the first annual regatta of the Canadian Canoe Association held at Brockville Saturday afternoon, an unqualified success."

On Monday the sixth, the Bohemian Club would hold its annual picnic with the associated activities - canoeing, rowing and running races - activities befitting one of the foremost athletic clubs of the city. But the highlight of the weekend had to be the Canadian Canoe Association Championship Regatta that was to commence at 2:30 on Saturday afternoon. It was an honour for Brockville, that it was chosen to host this first ever event.

The formative meeting which led to the first C.C.A. had taken place in the same city some three months previous, when a representative gathering from Eastern Ontario and Quebec canoe clubs brought the new association into being. That historic event had taken place on Saturday, May 12th, in the most prominent hotel on the main street of Brockville. Located on the corner of King and Market Streets across from the imposing limestone City Hall, was the equally impressive Revere House, which in its long history had sheltered many notable meetings, but none more important than this meeting of canoeists.

The call for the founding meeting at Revere House was the outcome of a number of meetings called by a local group of paddling enthusiasts - W.C. MacLaren, C.A. McNaughton, J.B. McCaw, Brockville Rowing Club; L.E. Murphy, A.G. Davie, H.R. Gorrell, The Bohemian Club; George Wright, Nelson Abbott, and J. Cuthbertson, the Y.M.C.A. They gathered on Tuesday, April third, at the Y.M.C.A. parlors to discuss the formation of a local war canoe league. Consideration of a local league had been the consequence of a rather poor reception the American Canoe Association had given to a request for greater emphasis on war canoe racing within that association. Since 1880, when the A.C.A. had formed, it had been composed of three divisions, one of which was the Northern Division that included all of Canada. (In fact, almost all of the Canadian clubs were clustered around the Toronto-St. Lawrence River region with pockets of enthusiasm in areas such as Ottawa and Montreal.)

The preliminary discussion of April third, prompted another meeting for April 10, by which time contact had been made with clubs in the Montreal and Ottawa areas to see how receptive they were to the idea of a regional war canoe league. When discussions resumed on April 10, a letter was read from the honorary secretary of the Britannia Boating Club in Ottawa, which embodied a resolution favouring a scheme recently approved at a joint meeting of the Ottawa and Britannia boating clubs. The resolution, calling for a meeting of regional clubs, to found a war canoe league was endorsed by the Brockville group and the recording secretary, J.B. McCaw, was instructed to communicate a date and place for the meeting, at which time the rules and regulations governing the races could be drawn up.

In the midst of planning for the founding meeting, word was received from a group in Carleton Place that a club was in the offing in that village and they would be interested in joining the league. Accordingly, they were invited to attend the meeting called for Revere House on May 12, 1900, along with eight other clubs.

Assembling in the parlor of the four-storied, grey stone structure on that Saturday morning, was a dedicated group of canoeists: E.A. Black, Ottawa Canoe Club; E. R. McNeill, Britannia Boat House Club; H.S. Seamen and V. Hanna, Brockville Y.M.C.A.; E.W. Jones, C.A. McNaughton and W.C. MacLaren, Brockville Rowing Club; A.G. Davie, F. Black, F.R. Robinson and G. Howison, Boheamian Amateur Athletic Association; and James Powell and A.P. Drummond, Grand Trunk Boating Club. Interested, but unable to attend were representatives of the Lachine Canoe Club of Montreal and the Kingston Yacht Club. The Lachine Club arranged for J.B. McCaw of Brockville to represent them by proxy.

The meeting appointed C.A. McNaughton of Brockville as chairman and E.R. McNeill of the Britannia Club as secretary. (McNeill was a logical choice because in preparation for the meeting he had drafted a constitution which the assembly was to alter in minor ways only.)

Consideration of aims, objectives and programmes of the proposed association consumed the best part of the day. It was soon agreed that the organisation should be more than a war canoeleague - but in any case was not to be in opposition to the American Canoe Association to which they all belonged. The delegates were no doubt concerned about the lack of response from the central Ontario clubs. However, their reluctance to participate in the Brockville meeting was understandable, as the incumbent Commodore of the A.C.A. in 1900 was William G. McKendrick of Toronto. (Dating back to 1880, it was traditional for the A.C.A. executive to rotate among the three divisions and, in 1900, it was the turn of the Northern Division.)

Having agreed upona constitution and the laws of canoe racing, the founding convention dissolved itself and in accordance with the constitution they had approved, an executive committe was formed, one representative from each club. Named to the first executive committee of the Canadian Canoe Association by the nine founding clubs were:

Ernest A. Black - Ottawa Canoe Club
Edward R. McNeill - Britannia Boat House Club
Archie McPhee - Carleton Place Canoe Club
James Powell - Grand Trunk Boating Club
John Mowat - Kingston Yacht Club
H.S. Seamen - Brockville Y.M.C.A.
C.A. McNaughton - Brockville Rowing Club
Andrew G. Davie - Bohemian Amateur Athletic Club
To be appointed - Lachine Canoe Club

Duly elected as association officials were E.A. Black of Ottawa Canoe Club, Commodore; C.A. McNaughton of Brockville Rowing Club, Rear Commodore and E.R. McNeill of Ottawa Britannia Boat House Club as Secretary-Treasurer.

Considerable business was transacted at that first meeting but of the most significance were the details of the first C.C.A. regatta. Decided upon at that time, was the approximate date for the races, early August, and the site, Brockville, Ontario. Whereupon the Bohemian Club was selected as the host club, with the associated responsibilities.

Bohemian Club, 1900

Between May 12 and August fourth, the Bohemians, with the co-operation of the other two local clubs, prepared for the first C.C.A. The weekend of August fourth was selected probably in the hope that a few visitors would remain over till the Monday to embellish the annual Bohemian Picnic competitions. A schedule of events was agreed upon and with the usual appeal for public support, prizes were obtained for the various events.

Schedule of Events

An exhaustive day on the water, the music, the fellowship of other paddlers, all made for an enjoyable party, but for a large number, that could not be - at least not in Brockville. The Ottawa crowd whose excursion train had to leave for home at 9 pm left the party early, and one could imagine that, in addition to the prizes, the took an element of the Saturday evening festivities away with them as they endured the long journey north.

Perhaps it was the party which drew them away, or it could have been the customary fatigue that sets in after a day in the sun on the water; in any case the founding fathers failed to turn up for the executive meeting scheduled for that evening. They had earned their night of celebration and merriment. Had they not founded a new national association? Could they not feel satisfaction and pride on the successful completion of the first ever C.C.A.

There were some who would say that it was a "modest" regatta - only five championship races - (and a couple of those races were less than spectacular) hardly anything to compare with the annual A.C.A. canoe competitions. For that reason, there must have been some speculation on the future of the association as those who took part wound their way home. Could a sport which seemed to grow from the very origins of Canada ever become a popular activity? Would the tide of professionalism roll over canoeing as it seemed to be doing to many other amateur sports? Could other clubs be enticed to join? Would the association expand beyond the Montreal-Ottawa-St. Lawrence triangle? So many questions... so many unknowns... so much building to do.

Only time would tell if their plans were well made, if their dreams would materialize. Just as the war canoe was the reason for wanting an association, surely the sight of those 90 paddles splashing in unison was reason enough to make it succeed. And succeed it would.

Through the waters to friendship.

* Pictures of the Brockville area are from the book "Brockville, A Pictorial History" by Adrian G. Ten Cote and H. Christinia MacNaughton.