Marjorie Bourne - A force to reckon with in speedboat racing during the early 1900s.

Marjorie Bourne, daughter of Commodore Frederick G. Bourne, won the above trophy in the 1911 Thousand Islands Yacht Club speedboat race. (Photo by Patty Mondore, copyright Gold-Mountain). Marjorie and her boat, called the Moike, are pictured below. The antique speedboat can still be seen today in Clayton's Antique Boat Museum in the Thousand Islands.

F.G. Bourne brought the Singer Sewing Machine/Manufacturing Company to its worldwide success. He also had built what is now called Singer Castle on Dark Island, a famous tourist destination spot. After his death, Marjorie owned the castle for many years.

Antique Boat Museum, Clayton NY - Authors Autographing Books 8/6/2011

Robert (Bob) and Patty Mondore will be among North Country (New York State and Canada) authors that will be autographing books this Saturday, August 6, 2011 from 2:00 pm to 4 pm at the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton, NY (750 Mary Street, Clayton, NY 13624

Phone: 315.686.4104) to benefit the museum.

Famous authors Ian Coristine (1000 Islands Photo Art) and Anthony (Tony) Mollica are scheduled to be there, as well as others.

Bob Mondore (this blog's author and founder of Gold-Mountain) will be giving away free gifts, so be sure to stop in to say hello if you are at the boat show. (Remember: Saturday 8/6/11, from 2:00 pm to 4 pm only). The museum has stocked our books Singer Castle Revisited and River-Lations.

Alert! - Last Chance to vote Clayton NY as Coolest Town in America!

This is your last chance to vote for one of our own small towns, Clayton NY, to be declared America's Coolest Small Town.

Click on the following link to vote (you can vote from anywhere in the world): VOTE.

Voting closes on Feb. 11, 2011, so you can make a difference today only. Clayton has moved way up to within the top 3, so if we keep it there it will create a lot of good buzz for the area. Just click on the aforementioned vote link, then click on the blue dot in the Northern New York State area and click on Add to Ballot. Then click on Cast Your Ballot. There is no need for filling in any name or email boxes, no fuss - no muss!

Clayton NY 13624 is like a living Norman Rockwell painting, so let's help them out; our entire area will benefit!

Landmark Society Visits Landmark...Singer Castle on Dark Island

On a recent breezy August morning, twenty-three intrepid members of the Thousand Island Park Landmark Society boarded two classic craft from the Antique Boat Museum (Clayton, NY) for a cruise from the town dock in Thousand Island Park down river to Singer Castle on Dark Island.

Seventeen passengers were aboard the “Zipper” a 1930s style 41’ Commuter that was captained by Frank Beadle and six were aboard the “Gadfly” an original 1931 Hutchinson Boat Works 33’ Sedan captained by David Dodge. The group’s arrival at the castle appeared much like a scene from the early 1900s. (See photo above, taken by the Castle's own caretaker, Scott Garris. Click on the photo to see it larger.)

Once on Dark Island, the Landmark Society members enjoyed a picnic lunch in Singer Castle’s historic Rose Garden where they listened to a talk by Kathleen Murphy, an expert in historic plantings, who designed and replanted the castle’s Rose Garden in 2006. Following lunch Judy Keeler, Singer Castle Historian, escorted them on a tour of the castle. They then braved the increasing waves to return to their own historic homes in Thousand Island Park.

News directly received from Dark Island's Jean Papke, Administrative Assistant to the President, Tom Weldon.

Clayton, NY's Antique Boat Museum ... a really great show!

As the boat above implies (click on it), the annual Antique Boat Show was real sweet this year!

Our new "Singer Castle Revisited" book, along with "Dark Island's Castle of Mysteries" DVD were among those featured at this year's local authors' table just inside the main entrance. Thanks to all of those who stopped by to chat and to those who supported the museum by purchasing our brand from them. Enjoy our works along with the many freebies that I unleased upon you. Thanks for coming and supporting your museum! (All photos taken on location by me while at the show today).

Clayton Antique Boat Museum show - Authors' table features Singer Castle Revisited

The gigantic antique boat show at the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton, NY will have an authors' table on Saturday, August 1, 2010 (2 p.m. to 4 p.m. only) which will include Robert and Patty Mondore and their all new sensational book, Singer Castle Revisited. As is his custom, Bob Mondore (this blog's author) will be giving away many random freebies to those just showing up while we are there. And if you make any purchase from the Museum with the name Mondore (as authors) on it, you will receive a free new 1 GB flash drive (also known as a thumb drive, and that is one full gigabyte). These offers are only good if you receive them from me while I am there. Come and get your surprise! Remember, this is only valid from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. this coming Saturday. Drop in to say hello and get your goodie!

To those unfamiliar with the famous sites in the Thousand Islands, here is a link to Singer Castle, Dark Island on the St. Lawrence River in northern New York right near Canada.

New Year surprises and prizes! Walleye fish drop at Midnight!

As we Upstate New Yorkers know, things slow down for the winter in the North Country. The vacationers and other warm weather friends vacate our beautiful area of the Thousand Islands for now, but are sure to return come Spring time. So, naturally, news of our famous castles, etc. slows down considerably, and that has included the Singer Castle Blog & More. But we would like to keep the news flowing, so anyone out there having an interesting tale or photograph of the castles (Boldt or Singer) or other interesting St. Lawrence River area item is welcome to contact me. If I chose to run your story or photo, I just may send you a prize of my choosing. It may be a postcard, a thumb/flash drive, or who knows? (The key is that they will be all random prizes. Offer may be cancelled by yours truly at anytime without notice). At the very least you can see your interesting information online so the world may enjoy it. Oh yes, Happy New Year!

Bob

email>>> ask "at" gold-mountain "dot" com [Later update: address is now mailbox@]
Snail-Mail>>> P.O. Box 123, Jamesville NY 13078
P.S. For our diehard fishing crowd (and anybody looking for something unique), have you ever watched the live walleye fish drop in Port Clinton, OH at midnight on the web? ("Live" meaning you can see it in real-time through their webcams on the web). Hey, if you are watching the New Year's Eve ball drop down in New York City on your TV anyway, you can have this on your computer going at the same time. Yes, a very exciting life indeed!

Marjorie Bourne boat fastest in its class

Picture above shows Marjorie Bourne racing her boat, the Moike (click on picture to see it enlarged).

“ONE OF THE FASTEST MOTOR BOATS IN AMERICA IN ITS CLASS”

In 1904 Marjorie Bourne, the youngest daughter of Commodore Frederick G. Bourne of Dark Island, was given her own motorboat for her fourteenth birthday. The 36 foot 9 inch boat, originally named the Eureka, was built by Charles L. Seabury & Company of Morris Heights, NY and was noted for its speed. Marjorie renamed the boat the Moike and according to the February 6, 1908 issue of The Hammond Advertiser, the first record of the boat in the 1000 Islands is from the Gold Cup Challenge Races in 1906. The article also mentions that Commodore Bourne had the boat re-powered in 1908 with a “new 40 horsepower Smalley engine making the Moike’s top speed of 27 miles per hour.”

Marjorie, like most young women of her era, kept a scrapbook and on their recent trip to Boulder, CO to visit Bourne relatives Judy Keeler and Jean Papke were able to see her scrapbook and obtain copies of several pages from the scrapbook that she began keeping in 1904. The pages contained articles from the Sunday, June 5, 1910 New York Times and the New York Herald of August 15, 1910 that described boat races in the 1000 Islands.

A New York Times article entitled “Fastest Motor Boats in America in their Classes” pictures boats owned by both Marjorie and George Bourne as well as those owned by F. K. Burnham, Alexander R. Peacock, George Hasbrouk and Mrs. A.G. Miles (Clover Boldt, daughter of George C. Boldt - of Boldt Castle fame). The names of several of the boats mentioned in the articles are recognizable by area fans of antique wooden boats and a few of them are in the collection of the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton. The boats mentioned include: the Dixie II, the Intruder, the P.D.Q., the Duquesne, the Stranger, the J.A.N. and the Moike.

During a race on August 13th, Marjorie Bourne, then 20 years old, beat them all. In an article entitled “New York Girl Steers a Motor Boat to Victory,” the New York Times said: “Miss Louise [sic] Bourne …was the cynosure of all eyes here late yesterday when in competition with the fastest motor boat of the Thousand Islands she steered the Moike to victory defeating a large field. For twenty-one miles the plucky woman held her craft in the lead. When the race was over, a round of cheers from the fashionable crowd and the din of yachting whistles greeted her as she walked down the long dock.” The New York Herald of the same day stated that the race took 52 minutes and 9 seconds to complete in perfect weather.

The members of the Bourne family, Commodore Frederick G. Bourne and his children George and Marjorie continued to participate in the summer boat races for many years and Commodore Bourne was influential in setting up the courses for many of those races. Marjorie kept the Moike in the North Boathouse at her home on Dark Island until the early 1960s but by that time the engine, the seats and the hardware had been removed. Her nephew Frederick B. Hard donated the boat to the Antique Boat Museum in 1972. The boat is stored on its original cradle in the museum’s Doebler Storage Facility.Visitors to the 1000 Islands region can tour Bourne's castle, now called Singer Castle, on Dark Island. The castle is open 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. daily during the summer months and weekends mid May – mid June and Labor Day – mid-October. They can also see several of the antique wooden boats that the summer residents raced and used on the St. Lawrence at the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton. The ABM is open 9:00 – 5:00 daily mid-May to mid-October.

Source: Direct from Dark Island.

Cornwall Bros. Museum and Antique Boat Show presentations & Flash Drive prizes.

This is an announcement of Patty Mondore's presentations over the coming week.

Patty will be showing her River-Lations inspirational music video at the Cornwall Brothers Museum in Alexandria Bay NY (36 Market St.) on Thursday, July 30, 2009 at 7 pm. The first five people who report to us (Bob or Patty) and have purchased a Gold-Mountain promoted item[s] from this museum while we are at this event will receive a free new 1 GB Flash Drive if you mention that you saw this blog to us. (The item may be purchased any time of that day, but you must be one of the first five to request the gift from Bob or Patty while we are still at the event).

On Saturday, Aug. 1st, Patty will also have a book signing at the Antique Boat Museum from 12 to 2 pm and then a historical Singer Castle power point presentation follows at 2 pm also at this famous Antique Boat Show in Clayton NY. The first five people that report to us (Bob or Patty) and have purchased from this museum a Gold-Mountain promoted item[s] while we are at these events will also receive a free new 1 GB Flash Drive if you mention that you saw this blog to us. (The item may be purchased any time of that day, but you must be one of the first five to request the gift from Bob or Patty while we are still at the event.)

The final arbiter of winners shall be this blog's author (a temporary list of winners will be kept for reference). Flash drives will be awarded on the spot.

The picture above is of Patty in concert recently at Frink Park, Clayton NY as blogged on July11th.

Examples of Gold-Mountain sponsered multimedia available from these museums (depending on stock):

Dark Island's Castle of Mysteries DVD (the preeminent and richly fascinating historical documentary of Singer Castle on Dark Island).

Singer Castle (the book - Arcadia Press - a history of Singer Castle in pictures).

River-Lations DVD (inspirational music video of the 1000 Islands, including scenes from the Antique Boat Parade in Clayton NY and of Singer Castle).

8/1/09 Post Events Note:

We had an exciting time at all of these events. We got to award many Flash/Thumb-Drive prizes. Thanks everyone for the good turn-out and for helping to support these museums. May you all enjoy our products that you purchased from these museums.