Caloosahatchee Marching & Chowder Society celebrates 50th anniversary
The Caloosahatchee Marching & Chowder Society (CMCS) Sailing Club, which adopted an unusual name in an effort to make it obvious that it was not a “Yacht Club” but rather a group of offshore sailors who wanted to race, cruise and have fun onboard and on land, celebrated 50 years with a dinner for members and past commodores on Nov. 16.
“The event was in the planning stages for three years” says Carol Pim, 50th committee chairperson and club historian. Celebratory activities were originally scheduled for 2020 but had to be postponed several times due to COVID.
“So many of the past commodores were looking forward to this event that we didn’t have the heart to cancel it even if it was a year late,” said Pim, who is proud to share that her husband and son both served as commodores of CMCS over the years.
Thirty-one years of commodores were represented at the event, most in person, some with family celebrating their leadership posthumously. View a full history of CMCS’ Commodores: https://cmcs-sail.org/resources/Documents/Club%20Directories/HistoricalArchives/2020-hist-of-officers-copy.pdf
Certificates of appreciation were awarded, and each person was asked to give a short anecdote about their time in the club. Closing thoughts were presented by founding member, past commodore and author, Robert N. Macomber, who has been a member since the club officially started in 1970. He pointed out that the club’s origins trace back to a happy hour at the very same venue in the Cape Coral Yacht Club Ballroom on Driftwood Parkway. Photos and perpetual trophies on display brought back memories of years of past regattas, cruises and “liberty ashore” events and as always, camaraderie prevailed.
For more information about CMCS Sailing Club visit our website at cmcs-sail.org