Boblo Island Memories
There was a recent article in the Detroit Free Press about one of the Boblo boats shipping out to be restored. It would then be sent to New York state and returned to service in the Hudson River Valley, probably never to be seen on by Detroiters on the Detroit River again. The SS Columbia spent most of its 112 years carrying metro Detroiters back and forth from Boblo Island. Its sister ship, the SS. Ste. Claire, is still here, tied up in Ecorse and could still use some help for its renovation (see www.bobloboat.com for more information). The Boblo boats made their last trip to Boblo Island in 1991, but just about any person who lived in Detroit before that probably at some point spent time on the Boblo boats to go to the island for fun and games.
Back in the 1920′s, students at the University of Detroit had an annual field day at Boblo Island, usually the day before graduation ceremonies. Back in those days, commencement ceremonies were held in June. They had events such as: baseball games (Lits vs. Engineers, Laws vs. Business), shot putting, discuss throwing, relay races, tennis, golf, all frat tug-of-war, pie-eating contest, and even a Fat Men’s Race, all fraternities-170 lbs. minimum. However by 1929, the number of students that attended dropped so much that there was some discussion in the Varsity News if the annual event should continue. The last mention of any kind of trip to Boblo Island for a day before graduation is in 1931.
