Another Forgotten Notable of Husky Rowing

Lucy Pocock before becoming the first Husky Women's Coach and bringing brother George to Seattle

In my enthusiasm for Husky rowing, and the forgotten legacy of Coach Ky Ebright, I lost sight of another, perhaps even more momentous influence. In this case, the influencer was the sister of George Pocock; Husky Hall of Fame boat builder and US National Hall of Fame Member.

This second forgotten Husky (actually a Sun Dodger considering the period), was the very first coach of women's rowing at the University of Washington. Her name was Lucy Pocock. Later, she became Lucy Pocock Stillwell. While Lucy advocated for the UW women's crew, with the support of legendary Hall of Fame coach Hiram Conibear, her reign in 1914 was 50 years before women's crew at the UW became firmly re-established, having been stomped out by UW authorities as inappropriate. Lucy is also missing from the Husky Rowing Hall of Fame.

Hiram Conibear with UW Women's Crew

Lucy wasn't totally forgotten. She married the contractor that created the Montlake Cut. Many years later, she was memorialized by a racing shell named after her. It was dedicated by her granddaughter.

Dedication of the "Lucy Pocock" by Heidi Danilchik, Lucy's Granddaughter

Today, Lucy would probably whisper to the ladies that they could go faster! 

Forgotten Greatest of Husky Men's Rowing

He was a graduate of Broadway High School in Seattle, and a coxswain of the 1917 Husky Crew. After being a flying instructor during WW1, he became an assistant coach of the Husky Crew until 1923, the year of the first boat that was inducted into the Husky Hall of fame. While his Husky credentials were not mentioned in the movie (unlike the book), "The Boys in the Boat," he was a major supporting character in it and, what's more, donated the critical final money needed to send the Husky crew to Berlin.

The book of the same name gives him a nod, noting that George Pocock (a hall of fame member), recommended him as a head coach. George's recommendation was on the mark, considering he went on to become the only man to coach THREE Olympic gold medal-winning eight-oared crews, including the 1948 winner  The 1948 crew from the UW is in the Husky hall of fame while HIS crew is in the NATIONAL rowing hall of fame. In 1948, his crew beat Britain on the Henley by ten seconds.

In addition, this man coached six IRA National Title Championships. Amazingly, he was also present as an assistant Husky coach when the UW changed its mascot from "Sun Dodgers" to "Huskies" in 1922. Why was he not a Husky Hall of Fame member? Well, in 1923, he became the coach of the University of California at Berkeley Golden Bears at the recommendation of George Pocock and upon the assurance of the alumni that he could have his old job back if it didn't work out well. The alumni were afraid that if Cal's crew folded, that the Huskies would have no West Coast competition to row against.

During the time period of the movie, two of his rowers included Robert McNamara and Gregory Peck. Upon his passing, Gregory Peck donated $25,000 to the rowing crew in his honor. His name? Ky Ebright, the forgotten greatest of Husky Men's Rowing.

Ky Ebright, from Wikipedia

The Day Lance Came to Town

We've heard of Lance Armstrong. We've heard of Hank Williams. Some think that Lance Lambert, host of "The Vintage Vehicle Show" combines the best of both. I'm not sure about that, and I didn't even see Lance this year (unlike in 2017), but the car show was PRIMO. I'm presuming this was the day Lance Lambert came to town...

FYI, I also include Johnny Cash's tribute to Hank, below:

That Ferry Would be NICE!

El Matador Used to Ferry People between Ocean Shores and Westport. Now it Ferrys Fishermen

Back in the day, there was a passenger ferry that went back and forth between Ocean Shores and Westport. It turns out that the boat was called the El Matador, shown above. Nowadays, the Ocean Shores Marina is too silted up for the boat to run safely and regularly, so the captain instead uses the boat for fishing charters. We used it for that purpose last year, not realizing it was the old ferryboat.

Looking below, you can see the appeal of the short ferry ride compared to the LOOOOONG route by personal motor vehicle, or the even LONGER trip by public transit. Who would not prefer to board the ferry and then stroll around the small town of Westport?

Short Boat Ride or a Long Drive!

Annual Car Ritual

 Each Summer, people around the Puget Sound/Portland/SW BC area gather to show off their Jaguars. This show was in Tacoma. Yup, the same Tacoma as in the "Toyota Tacoma" truck or in the "Aroma of Tacoma" song. 

 

  

One cute feature of this year's show was an abnormally calm and tame bird that hopped around and IN the cars. I hope the little guy doesn't get hurt. He DID poop on my coat which was next to the judge gazebo, but he WAS still around at the end of the day, hopping around and occasionally flying short distances.

The car show is adjacent to "America's Car Museum" which was founded by the LeMay family. Our garbage in Ocean Shores is picked up by LeMay. I guess this is another variant of turning garbage into gold. Either way, it is a wonderful museum with constantly changing displays. This August, BMW is featured.

  

One might wonder just how sane entering a concours really is. Does it really make sense to PAY to have people tell you just how bad your car is? Mostly, the entrants and the judges work together and I always try to tell entrants things they can do easily to improve their cars or how stuff that they're worried about is unlikely to actually get noticed by most judges.