75 Years of Passion

from Walstrom Marine Docklines 2021

by Mitchell Graphics

Ferry Tales into The Straits

PASSION: “A strong or extravagant fondness, enthusiasm or desire for anything.”

By David Lyle

It’s 1946. Millions of American servicemen and women have just come back from the war to save the world. They are unemployed, but victorious and happy to be home. Tom Brokaw would later call them “The Greatest Generation.”

So what does a discharged US Navy Lieutenant Aviator from Grand Rapids, MI. choose to do? Well, it seems he had a passion for boats. He talks to his Michigan State college roommate and they find a marina for sale In Northern Michigan. With some family financial support they take the leap. Walstrom Marine was incorporated in the State of Michigan in February of 1946. Among the stockholders are some family,

some friends, a car dealer, and the son of a man who started a little company called IBM.

The Walstrom family loved people and they loved being on the water. They rebuilt the old Melching Boat Works & Garage. They added slips and they sold some boats. They dug out a marina basin on the East end of Bay Street. They built some more slips. They built the 1st condominium complex in Northern Michigan. They built some storage buildings and a service complex. They rebuilt the Pier Restaurant, added the Pointer Room and Wheelhouse Lounge.

The water went down, they dredged. The water went up and they put in floating docks. They sold some more boats.

Family members became Emmet County Commissioners, served on the Harbor Commission, presided over the Planning Commission and ran the local Kiwanis Club. They became elders in their church. They supported the Boy Scouts and helped build the Nehemiah House in Petoskey. They served on the Michigan Waterways Commission. They built an Equestrian center in Traverse City and the Michigan Dyslexia House in Harbor Springs. They helped start the Harbor Marine Patrol. They invented some award winning davits and manufactured them for years.

In their free time they built a marina in Cheboygan, MI from scratch with storage buildings, an office, restrooms, a work slip, and floating docks. They helped start Village of Hillside Retirement Home and Perry Farm Village. They worked on marine industry councils and became Hatteras dealer of the year. They brought a family out of poverty. They sold, serviced and stored some more boats.

They started with one location and now they have five. They were the first official “Clean Marina” in Michigan. They won some sales and service awards. They started with seven employees and now have seventy. They started with 50 boats and 50 customers and now store over 500 boats and have over 2,000 customers.

So how does a family start a business and succeed for 75 years? It starts and ends with passion. An extravagant fondness garnished with enthusiasm. Our corporate mantra is “Sharing your passion for boating since 1946”.

I know this story pretty well. You see, I was a Walstrom roommate at Michigan State too.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David Lyle grew up in Kalamazoo and graduated from Michigan State University in l972. After a year sailing the Loop, he served for several years on freighters in the Great Lakes and across the Atlantic. He ran a ferry boat to from Copper Harbor to Isle Royal and was a US Customs officer in Detroit and Dutch Harbor, Alaska. He started working for Walstrom Marine in l983 and became President in 2001. Since his retirement in 2016, David has been active on the Board of Harbor Springs Historical Society and Perry Farm Village. He has given lectures on the Civil War and the history of Great Lakes Freighters.