2022 Slate of Officers
Your Sunnyland Nominating Committee has proposed the following 2022 Slate of Officers for the upcoming ballot. Please take time to read the BIO’s on each of the candidates running for office. You will cast your vote using the ElectionBuddy voting software by using the link sent to you in an earlier email.
We would like to thank each of the candidates running for office.
Danny Ross
(President Position)
Born in Stratford, Ct. in 1963, Danny joined the Stratford Fire Department in 1984. After working for 26 years, he was able to retire from the Fire Department as Assistant Chief in 2011, and purchased a home in Fort Myers, Florida. Danny currently work’s for All Water Excursions in Bonita Springs, Florida as a boat captain, running a shuttle boat for the Hyatt Regency, along with sunset and eco cruises. He spent many summers on Lake Zoar, where he gained his appreciation and love of boats. When house hunting, Danny only looked for houses on that lake and was able to buy a small cottage in Southbury, Ct. with his wife Eileen, and daughter Kasey in 1993.
Having attended wooden boat shows in Connecticut, Lake George, Clayton NY, and New Hampshire for years he finally joined ACBS Southern New England Chapter in 2010. When he moved to Florida in 2013 he joined the Sunnyland Chapter and began attending the wooden boat festivals in Fort Myers and Tavares. He had the pleasure of working at the Sunnyland wooden boat festival on the docks a couple of years ago and this year had the honor of being Dock Master. What a great experience this has been and he said that he has met so many great people.
Danny is currently restoring a 1958 Whirlwind mahogany plywood outboard, with a 1958 35 hp motor. He is looking forward to many years of involvement in this fantastic hobby.
Captain Howard Wanamaker, U.S. Navy (Ret.)
(Vice President Position)
A native of Miami, Florida, Captain Howard Wanamaker graduated December 1990 from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Engineering. Upon graduation he was commissioned and two years later earned his naval flight officer “Wings of Gold.” Throughout his 26 years in the United States Navy, Wanamaker served in numerous E-2C Hawkeye squadrons and commands. He was selected to command an E-2C squadron, VAW-123 “Screwtops,” and command the third largest installation in the world, Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida. He also deployed onboard many east coast aircraft carriers, accumulating over 3,000 flight hours, 75 combat missions, and 470 carrier arrested landings. He holds an Executive Master of Business Administration with Distinction from Naval Postgraduate School and received the Rear Admiral Thomas R. McClellan Award for Academic Excellence.
After retiring from the Navy in 2016, Wanamaker joined Hanania Automotive Group, the largest automotive group in Northeast Florida, as Director of Human Resources and Chief Strategy Officer. In June 2019, Wanamaker was selected by the Clay County Board of County Commissioners to serve as County Manager. Clay County, Florida, has a total area of 644 square miles, over 219,000 residents, and employees over 1,400 team members. As County Manger, Wanamaker implements and executes the policies, ordinances, and budgets adopted by the Board, and directly oversees the management and operations of Clay County.
Wanamaker resides in Fleming Island, Florida, with his wife Teri. They own “Nellie,” a 1938 Chris-Craft Special Sportsman.
Alan Schilk
(2nd Vice President Position)
Alan resides in Stuart, Florida, with his wife, Danielle, and they have been members of the Antique & Classic Boat Society and Chris-Craft Antique Boat Club for around six years. Alan is currently retired, but previously worked in the power-generation industry training nuclear reactor operators in the areas of scientific fundamentals and power-plant systems. Alan has had a lifelong love affair with wooden boats, triggered (no doubt) by his father’s passion for boating and exploring the Great Lakes during his childhood. In fact, Alan grew up near the original Chris-Craft facility in Algonac, Michigan, and “just around the corner” from Gar Wood’s factory in Mount Clemens. Alan is in the process of restoring a 1951 Chris-Craft Sportsman Utility and he said he is grateful for the assistance and friendship extended by the many Sunnyland members in the Mount Dora/Tavares area. Alan hopes to honor these friendships and “pay it forward” to the club by serving on your Board of Directors.
Jed R. Wolcott
(Secretary Position)
Jed is a Certified Public Accountant and former Owner-President of Wolcott & Associates, P.A., a CPA firm with a practice limited to aviation and business jet aircraft owners and operators. He also owned Flight Tax Systems, LLC, an aviation tax software publishing company. Jed recently transferred ownership of both companies to long-time staff members. Jed is originally from Michigan, and graduated from Marmion Military Academy in Aurora, Illinois. He attended Ohio State University and received a Bachelor of Science degree from Franklin University. He received a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Dayton in 1974.
Jed is Treasurer and Director of two 501(c)(3) organizations, Honor Flight South Florida, which takes veterans to view the war memorials in Washington DC. He is also Treasurer of Florida Vintage Raceboat Club, which hosts regattas each year at the Tavares, FL Marina.
Jed is a boating enthusiast, and owns a vintage Donzi Classic 18 2+3. He also owns and races a vintage 1965 Ruark 134cc S-Class single-seat racing inboard hydroplane, Blue Chips, which was APBA National Champion in 1968. Jed takes Ruark to vintage race boat events each year in central and east-coast U.S. venues. Jed also owns a 1983 Reynard Formula Ford open wheel, single-seat race car, in which he competes in vintage race car events around the U.S. His most recent event was a Sports Vintage Race Association (SVRA) Formula Ford invitational race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Jed is a licensed pilot and Searey amphibious aircraft owner, and his experience includes corporate officer positions with airlines, major fixed base operators, regional commuter airlines, and CFR Part 135 charter operators. In 1981, as Chief Financial Officer, Jed helped found Northeastern International Airlines, a post-deregulation Part 121 airline. At its peak, the airline was operating 16 commercial jet aircraft to 21 cities, grossing $250 million, and serving 1.9 million passengers annually. Jed left the airline in 1984 and after serving as the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of a regional airline, formed Wolcott & Associates, P.A.
Jed is a member of the National Business Aviation Association Tax Committee, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, and ACBS, Sunnyland Chapter. He has presented over 100 webinars, is a published author, speaks regularly at NBAA Tax Conferences and Tax Forums, AOPA Summits, and other aviation tax meetings.
John Hough
(Treasurer Position)
John lives with his wife Karen in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. They moved there 25 years ago from the New Jersey suburbs of Philadelphia. They have three children, two grandchildren, two dogs and two grand puppies.
John is a semi-retired attorney, concentrating his practice in Wills, Trusts and Estates. John has served with numerous charitable organizations and as President of the local chapters of the Boy Scouts of America and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and is presently Counsel to the Palm Beach Police Foundation.
John is a collector of antique and classic boats and does most of the work himself. The present fleet includes:
23’ Herreshoff Marlin fiberglass sailboat, built by Cape Cod Shipbuilding in 1957
20’ Australian Secret 20 gaff rigged cutter wooden sailboat, custom built in 2003
17’ Norwegian designed gaff rigged wooden lapstrake sloop, custom built in 2003
18’ Cruisers, Inc. Sea Camper lapstrake outboard, built 1961
14’ Penn Yan Trailboat outboard, built 1950
15’ sliding seat wooden rowboat built by John in 1986
Walter “Skip” Frey
(Director Position)
Skip Frey was born in Baltimore, Maryland and was fortunate to have a family that enjoyed boating and had a home on the Magothy River, a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay near Annapolis; consequently, he was rowing, paddling sailing and motoring from a very early age. As a young teenager, he learned to waterski behind a 34’ twin-engined Chris Craft Enclosed Cruiser, followed by several years as a camper and staff member at a boys camp in New Hampshire, skiing with the camp’s two Chris Craft runabouts.
After college, Skip started an eight year high school teaching career in Baltimore, and later in Massachusetts, while completing a master’s degree. Returning to Baltimore in the late 1960’s, he joined a local bank as a national accounts officer, eventually becoming a division head. Starting in 1979, he began what was to become his ongoing career in investment banking, specializing in the bond financing of large continuing care retirement communities nationwide, eventually serving as a senior executive of two leading investment banking firms. In recent years, he has been a principal in a senior living development consulting firm which he and two partners founded in 2013.
During his career, Skip served on several senior living community boards, as well as a number of civic and charitable organizations, and two Governor’s Commissions, for which he received the honorary title of “Admiral of the Chesapeake Bay”. In 1992, he was a member of the Commissioning Committee for USS Annapolis (SSN 760), the tenth Los Angeles Class nuclear powered submarine.
His investment banking career required living in Maryland, Connecticut and ultimately Orlando, Florida, where he lives today with his wife, Marylou, a retired bank executive. Skip has two grown children, one a best-selling author and the other an investment executive living on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
During his adult years, Skip has owned numerous sailboats and powerboats, including a Shamrock runabout, 27’ Catalina sailboat, a 28’ Regal cruiser, a Laser and a variety of other small boats, including a small fiberglass outboard skiff and motor found buried in a garden, which he restored. In late 2006, however, most likely in recognition of Skip’s second (or third?) childhood, he and Marylou acquired a 1957 17’ Chris Craft runabout, Hull Number D-17-2052, a perfect fit for their garage, and easily trailered to the many lakes in Central Florida and to antique boat events.
Skip to m’Lou II was found in a cluttered garage in Fort Wayne, Indiana, by her eventual restorer, Kent Volmerding, a first class hobbiest wooden boat builder and restorer, based in Indianapolis; Kent was a career employee of the Wrigley candy company. Among other damage, the boat had suffered a broken keel and had spent time on the bottom of a slip in a former boathouse. Kent acquired her for $500, replaced her keel and bottom, and restored her hull, engine and all systems, creating a beautiful and reliable user boat. She continues to turn heads whenever she goes out.
Skip and Marylou have been active in the Sunnyland Chapter of ACBS for many years, and Skip has served as a Board member, Vice President and Chairman of the Finance Committee. He volunteers as a launch ramp chairman during the annual Sunnyland show in March of each year.
Bill Robbins
(Director Position)
My wife and I moved to Mount Dora in 2006 from Miami believing that our boating days were behind us. In South Florida boating, fishing and cruising were our family’s usual choice of recreation. Our boats were always fiberglass: a 20’ Bertram at first and our last boat was a 46’ Bertram sportfish with a 30’ tower. After moving to Mount Dora it didn’t take long to find out we had moved to the center of antique and classic boating and I gladly jumped right in!
First, a little background. I attended the University of Florida and graduated in 1958 with a BSBA before attending the University of Miami School of Law where I received my JD before passing the Bar exam in 1961. Two weeks after graduation my fiancé Betsy Liddle and I began our 50 year marriage. At this point I joined the U. S. Army Reserve and became a Civil Affairs Officer. Our family then grew to two boys and a girl, all of whom took to boating. We joined the Coral Reef Yacht Club and all three kids took and enjoyed the children’s sailing classes. Each had their own Boston Whaler in their early teen years.
I owned and operated a roofing business and in 1988 I turned it over to my oldest son Will and began the practice of law in Coral Gables. The practice was a general, civil practice and later evolved into estate planning including wills, trusts and probate. During those years I belonged to the Rotary Club of Miami and enjoyed the weekly meetings.
Our last house in Coral Gables was in Gables by the Sea with a nice dock at our sea wall and a view of Biscayne Bay. The only problem was with every passing hurricane season there was the nagging thought that at some time in the future another Andrew could return and put 4 feet of sea water in our house as it had for the previous owner. We knew we had to move inland but where? During our search we took a weekend trip to attend a dinner club weekend hosted by a friend from Miami who has a house in Eustis. We liked the area then and before too long we were house hunting and ultimately settled in the Country Club of Mount Dora and were very happy with our choice.
Back to the antique boats. Mike Matheson’s cousin Bruce was a friend of mine in Miami and when he found out I was moving to Mount Dora he gave me his ACBS directory and said: “When you get to Mount Dora look up my cousin Mike.” It didn’t take long of find Mike and Ann and we have been friends ever since. My shop is in one of his buildings and he has been a big help in my restoring and building projects. When I looked through the directory I was amazed at the information it made available. It also gave me contact information for Sunnyland and my first call was to Terry Fiest to volunteer for the next boat show. I was on my way.
It was clear to me that I would buy a project boat but which make and model? I knew almost nothing about wood boats so my rational thought was to wait until the March boat show, look and learn, ask questions, etc. I couldn’t wait; in January I made a deal with a member in Destin, Florida for a 1950 Chris Craft U 22. It was in pieces, well labeled, no engine, but it had promise. 9 years later Sparkle was completed with all new mahogany planks on all surfaces, many new frames, keel, transom and a rebuilt Chevy Corvette 283 engine and Borg Warner transmission. Sparkle won the 2013 John DeSousa award for non-professional boat restoration by a Sunnyland member.
While restoring Sparkle I learned from everybody I met, my questions about techniques, materials, sources, etc. were always answered.
About this time I heard Kurt Rothe say he was ready to let someone else be the editor of our Sheerline magazine. It interested me and before long I became the editor and served for the next four years. It was very interesting and it gave me an inside track to a lot of Sunnyland’s activities. I instituted some new features such as “The Craftsmen of Sunnyland” and “The Artists of Sunnyland” to shine a light on our talented members. Several members became Assistant Editors and regularly contributed articles.
Mike Yobe
(Director Position)
BIO not currently available
Mike Yobe is a long time Sunnyland member and is very instrumental in our Annual Boat Festival. Mike has been a mentor for our SCAMPY program since its inception and devotes many hours working with the kids in the program. Mike is currently working with the adult program also, helping members restore their boats. Mike is a current director on the Sunnyland board and has served many years on the Sunnyland board as a director.
