The Chats Lake Yacht Club followed an earlier club known as the Sandy Beach Yacht Club which operated in the mid 1940's. In 1962, Colonel Les Smith contacted the Canadian Boat Feberation and formed the Chats Lake Boat Club with the purpose of promoting water safety and boatmanship for younger members, personal recreation and proper charts of the Ottawa River. From 1962 to 1987 and again between 1992-2000, the club provided power boat cruises for Senior Citizen groups up and down the Ottawa River with Pontiac Beach as a destination point for picnics. In 1968, the first sail boats were introduced to the club and sail boat races were held shortly after. The power and sail enthusiasts joined together to form one club as the Chats Lake Yacht Club.
In 1971 the Town of Arnprior leased the present site in Bell Park for "the quiet enjoyment of the people of Arnprior".The first Boat Club executive consisted of Gerald Stokes, Bud Gillespie, John McGonigal, Ed Forrest, Taylor Fitzpatrick, Claude Gougeon.
By December of 1972 the Constitution was written outlining the purposes and objects of the club "to establish, maintain and conduct a club for the accommodation and convenience of its members and to promote, foster and encourage boating for recreation and educational purposes". The constitution was updated in 2007.
Custodial History
Records obtained from various members of the Chats Lake Yacht Club including the Bird, Stokes and Symington families.
File 1 - Lease Agreement of May 1971, Constitution 1972 and 2007, Executive Responsibilities of CLYC (undated), Copy of Indenture dated August 1 1961 between James Morris and the Town of Arnprior for Bell Park subject to the provision that the land is used in perpetuity as a Park known as "Bell Park" by the grandchildren of James and Kathleen Bell (Morris family), "for the benefit of the youth of Arnprior in grateful memory of the happy summers spent with their grandparents in Arnprior and at Marshall's Bay".
File 2 - Minutes and Agendas 1997-2014 with gaps
File 3 - Treasurer's Reports and Financial Records 1997-2007
File 4 - Membership Lists and information (CLOSED until 2050)
File 5 - Correspondence 1996-1998, 2008
File 6 - Newsclippings including article about the building of the club house in 2002
File 7 - Calendar of Events, Newsletters and Posters 1994-2006 with major gaps
File 8 - CLYC History and miscellaneous records such as charts and Commodore's reports (unsorted)
Photograph Album - personal album compiled by Owen and Helen Bird; contains 14 b&w and approx 60 colour photos of members and events as well as some posters, newsletters and news clippings about the CLYC.
CD #1 containing 20 images from Chats Lake Yacht Club members photograph album and 23 images taken by L. Dougherty of the CLYC club house and area around it at Bell Park. Albums were returned to Yacht Club and various families in 2015.
CD #2 and 15 images from Bird family (images scanned from album described above).
CD #3 containing 15 images from Stokes family, 8 images from Symington family
CD #4 containing Oral History recording of Owen and Helen Bird about the history of the club conducted by Laurie Dougherty 22 October 2014.