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CROSSLAKE — Maggie Mell didn’t have the only Chris-Craft on display Saturday, June 18, at the 35th annual Whitefish Chain Classic Boat Show in Crosslake.
But it’s a pretty sure bet she had the only boat there that rocker Rod Stewart has blessed.
This was Mell’s first show and she enthusiastically shared her story with those who walked down the dock to see her pride and joy - the Maggie May, a 1960 Chris-Craft Capri - with Stewart’s song “Maggie May” playing on the runabout.
Mell’s Maggie May was a 50th birthday present a few years back from her husband, John Schonberg. They live on Rush Lake on the Whitefish Chain, and Mell said she water skis behind the boat.
She took her first ride in a classic boat at age 6 with her grandpa in Michigan.
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“I said to myself at age 6, ‘Someday I’m going to have one of these boats,’” Mell said.
In 2019, she realized that dream.
Mitch La Pointe restored the Maggie May, a name Mell was called as a child.
She shared the story of her husband finding a box of red towels with “Maggie May” stitched in white on them while cleaning the garage about 10 years ago.
“He said, ‘You didn’t buy towels for a boat we don’t have.’ I said, ‘Yes, I did,’” Mell said.
She hoped to win at the show, and realized that dream too. The Maggie May won captain’s choice in the Best Runabout 19 Feet and Under category.
Mell called it a “huge compliment with all of the stunning woodies in this show” on her Facebook page, where she said she was thrilled that her first boat show was a huge success.
Regarding the boat’s blessing by a well-known rock star, Mell said she saw Stewart in Palm Beach, Florida, at a restaurant. To her children’s horror, she went up to Stewart and told him she got a boat and named it Maggie May, and she asked him if he would bless it.
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“And he (Rod Stewart) said, ‘Absolutely. I hope it’s an old woody,’” Mell said.
Nancy Vogt, editor, may be reached at 218-855-5877 or nancy.vogt@pineandlakes.com. Follow her on Facebook and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/@PEJ_Nancy.
