Sorry...but there is not a Lone Star Boat Racing Association Reunion in the works. The Man behind the reunions left us last year. A moment of history here for those that are new to this site, and don't know about the archives or how to search, there was a Lone Star Boat Racing Association Reunion held at the Baytown Boat Club in 2004.

Ray Yates was the man responsible. He is also the reason that OPC races are still held at Baytown. He never even raced OPC, but like a lot of us PRO guys, we liked OPC and went to the races. Joe Rome told me about Ron Hill and Ted May's Boatracingfacts. I checked it out and was immediately absorbed. After a few months, Joe and I got to talking about another Lone Star reunion. Joe said "I have to talk to Ray". Ray was the only one who could make it happen. It wasn't that there were not a lot of boat club members, but everyone knows how the game is played.....everyone has a good heart and intentions at the meetings, but only one or two people get dogged enough to do the work to make it happen. That man for LSBRA was Ray Yates.

As BRF grew, Joe and I talked to Ray about putting together another reunion. It was a lot of tireless work and Ray had gone through a lot of health problems and successful surgery previously so he was reluctant. Joe persisted though and told Ray about Boatracingfacts. Ray did not use computers, and did not monitor any websites. After Joe explained to Ray about all the LSBRA, NOA, and APBA members joining, he got his wife Martha, or one of his daughters to sign him up. After Ray learned how to get around, he spent a lot of time on BRF. Totally computer illiterate prior to BRF, Martha told me several year ago that he got a new, faster computer and was under the desk hooking up the connections. Ray never posted anything, but nothing was ever posted that he didn't read. They had a place down on the San Jacinto River where they spent a lot of time. Boating, BBQuing, playing....etc. Martha told me that whenever they got back from the river on Sunday evening, Ray would unlock the door and run to his room to turn on the computer to see what new was on BRF.

THAT was why the 2005 LSBRA happened. Ray told Joe...."I will do one more Lone Star Reunion:". Ray was not only happy that it turned out to be such an overwhelming success, but it drew in a lot of us that he had not seen in a long time. The topping of the cake however, was that , you....Ron Hill, showed up. The crowd was huge. The party was the best. Friends that had not seen each other for years were mingling with the OPC guys that were still racing at Baytown. It was a fabulous success. And as usual, Martha was at the entrance with the other LSBRA girls registering guests and handing out name tags. So sorry Charley....no more Lone Star Reunions that I can forsee, but the memory of that last one and the inspiration of the DePue Reunion belong to Ray Yates.