• Skiing history made with Sue Carter Miss Savannah 1967!

    Somewhere between July and August 1967 I was contacted and asked if I would teach Miss Savannah how to ski! At the time, I was working at the (hotel) Savannah Inn as a water ski instructor. Some might know the hotel on Wilmington Island as the Sheraton. Then there are some alders that might say “Oglethorpe Hotel!” I guess you could say, “I am one of those alders!”




    Anyhow my job was to sit around the pool and wait for potential customers. The hotel would book them, send them directly to the pool, and off we would go. The hotel’s pool was located right in front of the dock. I would drive to work in my boat, tie up at the hotel’s dock, and then walk to the pool. I guess you could say the pool was my office! And of course, while I was waiting I could swim. And they had a great high dive, which I loved! Their snack bar made the best juicy real time hamburgers and potato fries. Boy, I would love to be able to make an order right now!

    If my customers happen to be children the parents would just drop them off. Most of the time I had some really good young water skiers! Then there were times where we did more dragging than skiing. When trying to learn to ski was more trouble and stopped being fun we then tried a little old fashion tubing, which is definitely not a thing like today’s! Tubing wasn’t popular, because the tube we pulled was actually a real black tire tube. We pulled regular and tractor size tire tubes. But here’s the thing, that hole in the middle would always messed you up! So therefore tubing, at least in the sixties, just wasn’t that much fun. So we did more sitting in the tubes in the water than pulling them behind a boat!


    As children we all loved to hang in our inner tubes in the creek. We found that with a little foot sideways paddling we could make the tube carry us round and round. It was plain good time fun laying our heads on the tube while circling and drifting from one dock to another. The fact of the matter is that sometimes we did this so long that it made some of us a little nauseated. I don’t know if you did this as a child, but I used to love twirling around and around in the yard until I fell down on the ground! Now here’s this thing if I were to try this now I most likely would fall possibly breaking something, get vertigo causing me to lose my balance for a few hours, and heck I might even throw up! Getting old is not for sissies! I find myself saying this all of the time!
    Anyhow, after making arrangements with the person in charge of hiring a ski instructor for Miss Savannah plans to meet were arranged! As soon as Sue Carter aka Miss Savannah arrived we immediately hit it off. The reason for the urgently Sue was supposed to ski with the five Florida girls that were water-skiing their way to Canada’s EXPO 67. Five ladies were on a 2,500 mile water ski expedition from St Pete to Montreal Canada for a visit to the EXPO. Miss Savannah was to ski with them in the waterway near Isle of Hope. It was a really big deal! From Isle of Hope to Thunderbolt spectators were numerous. Those of us that had boats got the best view. And since I was supposed to pick Miss Savannah when the skiing show was over I had Carte Blanche! We got to see everything up close!


    I guess I should tell you how Sue aka Miss Savannah did when it came to skiing. Well, I truly believe Sue really already knew how to ski and that she just needed a refresher course, which I gladly helped her with. Sue did quite well with getting up on skis and handling her balance! After I thought about it, I think refresher course was so that she had a less chance for falling and then there was the hair! We couldn’t get that wet! How did it all turn out? Sue Carter aka Miss Savannah, did a great job of representing Savannah! She did us all proud! Sue skied with the ladies in a fashionable design and disembarked with perfect timing!


    I felt honored to be asked to be part of this skiing history! And for me being able to put these memories to paper for others to read is simply amazing! The best news is that after all these years Sue, aka Miss Savannah 1967, still talk and email occasionally! Upon request she was able to send me this yesteryear newspaper article. Can she still ski? Heck yeah! And now you know the rest of the story!


    Thanks for reading! Captain Judy