Rep. Gilbert offered the following resolution:

House Resolution No. 167. 

            A resolution to declare Algonac the Water Speed Capital of the state of Michigan. 

            Whereas, One cannot visit the greater Algonac area without hearing the great stories of the origins of power boating legends Chris Smith and Gar Wood; and

Whereas, One day in 1893, Chris Smith maneuvered a strange-looking rowboat out on the St. Clair River, complete with a gasoline engine, and reached an unheard of speed of nine miles per hour with it; and

Whereas, His boat was the first gasoline boat on the Great Lakes; and

Whereas, Chris Smith's boat building expertise was such that his friends liked the way his boats were constructed and performed, and frequently asked Chris to build one personally, for them. Word spread quickly of their unparalleled quality and the boat building business grew; and

Whereas, Chris Smith joined with John "Baldy" Ryan in 1911 to build the "Baby Reliance" speed boat, which captured $8,505.00 in its first race; and

            Whereas, The "Miss Detroit", built by Smith, was given a trial run on the St. Clair River by William Metzger. Smith told Metzger, "Be careful Billy, this is the fastest boat I ever built." On August 14, 1915, this firecracker was the only boat to finish the famous "Gold Cup" race and thus, brought the Cup to the Midwest for the first time ever; and

            Whereas, Legendary speed boat racer Gar Wood teamed up with Chris Smith and built boats and raced them between 1916 and 1922. Ultimately, Wood became the first person to exceed 100 miles per hour in a boat and topped that speed with a 124 mile per hour clip in Algonac itself. For years, many doubted that a 2 mile per minute pace could ever be reached on water; and

Whereas, The success of the Algonac boat building and racing events served as the forerunner to power boating access and enjoyment that at first was limited to people of means, but eventually became universally accessible to the general population via installment plan financing- providing water sport enjoyment to millions; and

Whereas, Algonac has been recognized as the Water Speed Capital via a State of Michigan Historical Marker designating it as such; and

Whereas, The waters of Algonac and the St. Clair River provide recreational and speed boat racing enjoyment to this very day; now, therefore, be it

            Resolved by the House of Representatives, That the members of this legislative body declare Algonac the Water Speed Capital of the state of Michigan.