As you saw on the list of Board members (below), Alfred “Gus” Gustafson was the first Commodore of our Club. Unfortunately, he passed away in February this year, the same year of the 25th anniversary of our Club. I would like to share with you some pieces of history which were provided to us by Jan Gustafson. She was in Colorado with her family during the 2017 Annual Banquet.

The Gustafsons moved into their home in Seven Lakes West in December 1990. He did not wait very long to take initiatives to set up organized sailing on Lake Auman. It was in 1991 that Gus got the ball rolling informally which resulted in the formal establishment of the Sailing Club in 1992. In the records of the first meeting it states: “On March 28, 1992 Commodore Gus Gustafson called the first official meeting of the SLSC to order at 9:30 AM. There were 19 members in attendance.”

At that time there was a strong interest to have a class boat in which everybody would sail the races. The American 14.6 was chosen as the class boat. However, there were only five American 14.6’s sailing in races. Many skippers found the boat too slow. Later on, the Sunfish became a much more popular boat on the lake. Gus loved running the Sailing club and loved to go out sailing. Artie Passman and Phil Streit were a few of the skippers he would sail with. Their next-door neighbor was David Tondreau. He also had an American 14.6. Any time David could walk into the house and yell "the wind’s up", and Gus and Jan would drop whatever they were doing and go down to the lake, get the boat sail ready and off they went in their American 14.6’s.

Gus would sail every race with his golden retriever Nikki. You see the combination in their Sunfish on the screen. Sometimes the dog would have to pee during the race. Gus would sail to shallow water and stop the boat, Nikki would jump off and pee in the lake. Then Gus would hoist him back into the boat and off they went trying to win the race. Gus was crushed when Nikki died. It was his best friend. The sailing club dedicated a plaque to the dog: the Nikki Award.

Gus and Jan were also instrumental for the start and first years of the sailing school classes. Gus together with Bob Fewkes and Paul Kirst worked hard getting them organized with material and videos. A lot of dedication went into the classes. The sailing school was held for about 6 years at the Gustafson’s residence.

In the last several years Gus's health declined. The last formal event of the Sailing Club he attended was the Lobster fest last year. A picture of him and his lobster plate is on the screen. Gus Gustafson passed away on February 2nd at the age of almost 88 years old. He will be remembered by the Sailing Club as its founding father.