It’s possible that the only reason someone has not been to, or even heard of Priest Lake, Idaho, is because of its ‘off the beatin path’ location. Idaho’s Crown Jewel , as they call it, is a scenic 90 miles from Spokane nestled in on the west side of the Selkirk mountains stretching north toward Canada for 28 miles. At the widest spot its about 5 miles across and is dotted with 7 islands boasting some of the northwest finest sandy beaches, campgrounds, and water so pure you can dip your cup in it and drink it.  While visiting, just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, at the north end of the lake you can motor up what is called the  thoroughfare,


 


a one mile scenic waterway that connects the main lake to Upper Priest Lake, a protected scenic area. The beauty of this area is beyond description.
I have been fortunate to have been going to Priest now for around 44 years and helped in starting the wooden boat show up there which has now grown to more than 40 boats every labor day weekend.
Since the woodies were getting all the glory, my brothers and I (all previous wood boat owners) decided that the ‘glassics’ needed some attention and recognition, hence was born the Priest Lake Glassic Boat Show. Last year, our first year, we had a good start with about 15 boats. We paraded around the lake and later had a barbecue dinner at the Priest Lake Marina that hosted the event and will again this year.
This year we hope to attract more boats from all over the northwest and Canada. People heard how fun it was last year and how beautiful it was and are excited to take part.
This year out schedule will be like  this:
Saturday morning from  9am till about 12:30 ish we will display our boats at the docks where the public will cast their ballots for Best Boat, Best Motor, Best of Show, and most potential. We will announce the winners just prior to the parade. Lunch is available at the marina restaurant. Great food! At 1:00 pm we will all jump in our boats and stay together single file as we parade around the south end of the lake for all  the cabin dwellers to enjoy viewing from their docks. At the beginning we’ll make a pit stop for a photo shoot at our Cabin. Everyone will conglomerate around our dock area in their boats. There will be photographers that will take a bunch of good shots that I will forward to all of you later. We wont have time for everyone to take pictures. The hillside will make for some great photo ops looking down at the lake full of our classics. This is the view:


 


After we parade around and go through the 8 mile island channel we are cutting everyone loose.
Then on Sunday morning we will all meet in the morning and motor all the way up the lake and through the thorofare to Upper Priest Lake. A ‘cant miss’ day. We’ll stop for lunch at Lions Head campground. It’s a beach your boat area but the beach is beautiful fine sand.  
Promising to be a relaxing fun filled weekend, we hope you will consider bringing your Glassic to our show.  Rumor has it that a National boating magazine will be there to do a photo shoot and story on us! For more info and  pics we have a face book page. Facebook.com/PriestLakeGlassicBoatShow  Please contact us  if you plan on coming so we can reserve the dock space for you. There is no charge to participate in the show.  Hope to see you. Doug Miller, better known as the little picker


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