By Melissa Walther/The Daily Inter Lake
The passion for boating runs deep in Alex Berry. But not just any boat will do. Berry’s love is for wooden boats, and it’s a love he shares with a growing number of people in the Flathead Valley.
Now, thanks to the Montana Wooden Boat Foundation in Lakeside, people won’t have to spend thousands of dollars to get their own wooden boat. Just a few hundred dollars, elbow grease and some enthusiasm will be all it takes to become the proud owner of a beautiful wooden boat — no experience necessary.
A project that began as a way to help at-risk youths learn the practical skills of boat-building had now expanded into a full-blown after-school program involving many local schools. How Berry and his supporters got to this point has been a journey in itself.
“We started out of the Big Sky Antique and Classic Boat Society, and that organization is made up of guys and gals that have wooden boats, that love wooden boats and that are enthusiastic about them,” said Berry, one of the foundation’s founders. “Some of them made a living building boats. I told them about the Alexandria Seaport Foundation, whose model was helping at-risk kids. We decided that was a great idea, and we decided to do it.”
The discussion started in 2008, but Berry said it took another two years of “talking about it” before they actually did anything.
“We started out working purely with the kids who were coming out of the court system,” Berry said, referring to delinquent youths assigned to community-service sentences. “We wanted to mentor and teach kids, to help them work as teams, to be able to set goals and follow through and accomplish things. And that was the foundation.”
Berry said their group quickly realized that “at-risk youth” could mean a lot more than working with these youths, and the program expanded.
“It’s not ‘youth at risk’ anymore, it’s more like ‘youth that’s strayed a little,’” Berry said. “It’s that 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. time when the kids are home but the parent’s aren’t; that’s the perfect time for kids to stray, so we expanded to be an after-school activity program.”
Offering model boat building for elementary school children and the opportunity to construct a real 12-foot rowing skiff for middle and high school students, the foundation now offers programs at four area high schools and middle schools and five elementary schools.
“It’s a school without walls, where students get to work with experienced boat builders,” Berry said. “Part of the program is an enrichment program; there’s building math and physics. And the wood boat itself is a piece of art. We hope to keep expanding the program and offer it in schools all over the Flathead.”
Berry said the boats students build have been auctioned to help support PTA programs, and proceeds from one boat went to a scholarship fund at Flathead Valley Community College.
The foundation members hope to expand their offerings even more this year by opening their new 2,000-square-foot facility to the public.
“In the spring we’re looking at having open boat-building classes here at the shop for anyone who’s interested,” Berry said. “You’ll be able to buy a kit and build that with professional boat builders helping you all the way, or you can bring your boat here and we’ll help you restore it. You can even commission the boat builders, and they’ll build it for you.”
The all-volunteer, nonprofit organization has 16 boat builders on staff, many of whom have professional experience in building and restoring classic wooden boats right here in the valley.
“Art Birch was responsible for building and restoring the boats in Glacier National Park, and John Derry has been restoring Flathead Lake Lodge’s sailboats, the Questa and Nor’easter,” Berry said. “We’ve got other members who have been building boats professionally all over.”
The foundation currently is funded through corporate donations, grants and proceeds from the Big Sky Antique and Classic Boat Show held in August. The foundation hopes to make the classes self-sustaining in the future.
“We have a wonderful network of wood boat building folks all over,” Berry said. “And we’ve got a lot of support from places like Flathead Electric’s Roundup for Safety program and local clubs. People have been donating tools, and everybody is really pitching in, because it really is a true community resource.”
Birch said classes will range from building a rowing skiff to cedar strip canoes, kayaks, sailboats and any other type of wooden boat people would like. Foundation members know there’s more to boating than just the structure, and they hope to offer a wide variety of classes.
“We’ll offer other types of classes like oar or paddle making, bronze casting, sail making; anything related to boat building.”
For more information, contact Alex Berry at 471-2293 or email him at alex.b@montanawoodenboatfoundation.org. Look for class listings online later this spring at www.montanawoodenboatfoundation.org.
Reporter Melissa Walther may be reached at 758-4474 or by email at mwalther@dailyinterlake.com.