Screening of ‘Boblo Boats’ documentary takes local seniors down memory lane

Aaron Schillinger was living in NYC making videos for nonprofit companies when he set sail for Toledo to create a fundraising video for “an old boat” he knew nothing about. That trip turned out to be a seven-year voyage through some challenging waters before eventually docking with an award-winning documentary on the rise, fall and hopefully rebirth of the Boblo Boat and Boblo Island.“Boblo Boats: A Detroit Ferry Tale,” made its theatrical debut last month after winning the Hometown Talent Award in last year’s Freep Film Festival.“I went out to Toledo to see SS Columbia in dry dock and my first thought was why don’t you just get a new boat because this one is falling apart,” says Schillinger, 39, who now lives in Michigan. “They explained that it’s the oldest steamboat in America, what it means to a lot of people in this area and told me about a psychic named Gloria (the late Gloria Davis) who can communicate with the boat. It all became very interesting to me.”Schillinger also discovered that the Boblo Boats and Boblo Island stood for so much more than a fun time, none more meaningful and important than in 1945 when Detroiter Sarah E. Ray forced the integration of the island.“Before the movie there was no Sarah Elizabeth Ray Wikipedia page and no one talked about her but we were able to share her story and what a pioneer she was in the civil rights movement,” Schillinger said. “She was 24 when she was kicked off the boat because she was black and she convinced the NAACP to sue and it went all the way to the Supreme Court and they won and it became a test case for many other civil rights cases.”The documentary follows the long and historic journey of the SS Columbia and SS Ste. Claire and navigates through the 20th century when the boats were operated by Bob-Lo Excursion Co.

The boats, considered the two oldest passenger steamboats in the United States, shuttled passengers to and from Bois Blanc Island in the Detroit River until the end of operations in 1993.

One of the main sponsors of the documentary, Baldwin House Senior Living, reserved the Emagine Theater in Rochester Hills on Sept. 29 for its residents and their families for a special screening of the film.“When I first heard about the project I thought it was such a natural fit for our residents,” said Rob Gillette, CEO of Baldwin House. “Our residents and these boats are both a big part of Detroit’s history. Our motto is ‘family, friends and happiness,’ and the Boblo Boat brought together family and friends and created happiness. It was such a natural fit that I knew we needed to get involved.”Vandella Carthon, 67, was around 8 years old when she first got on the Boblo Boat and headed over to Boblo Island. “I remember the beautiful smooth ride in the boat and the dancing and eating popcorn,” says Carthon, who grew up in Detroit, raised her own family in Oak Park and now lives in Baldwin House in Pontiac. “I just loved the island and playing games and going on the rides. It was so much fun.”Sharron Webber, 81, was born in Detroit and lived in Lake Orion for 54 years. Her first ride on the Boblo Boat was her senior trip in high school and she went numerous other times. “I loved going on the boats,” she says. “We would run around all four decks and there was dancing. It was so much fun.”

The film — narrated by Motown legend Martha Reeves — features newly discovered archival footage of the boats in operation and the many characters who regularly sailed on or worked on the boats, digitized by the Detroit Historical Society.

“Almost every Motown act played on Boblo Island or on the Boblo boats and it was like a vacation,” Reeves said. “It was so much fun. It was like a fairyland. It was magic.”Reeves, who attended the Emagine Theater screening, said she enjoyed doing the narration and even learned a few things about the boat and the island. “I felt like I was the perfect person to narrate it because I experienced it, I lived it,” she said.

The SS Ste. Claire, which suffered a devastating fire in 2018, is docked at Riverside Marina in Detroit while restoration efforts continue. The SS Columbia is currently being restored as a traveling nautical museum in Buffalo, destined for the Hudson River.

Tina Abbate Marzolf, COO for Baldwin House Seniors, said they were “very proud” to have this opportunity for all of their residents and family members to attend the special showing.“This is a great chance for our residents to go out and see a movie and a movie that includes some really special memories for them as well,” she said. “It’s very near and dear to the heart of a lot of us who remember the Boblo boat and Boblo Island.”The documentary will be showing at The Henry Ford museum Oct. 14-23. For additional upcoming screenings and more information, visit bobloboatsfilm.com.