From left: KOMO’s Captain Puget (Don McCune); Pat Lewis (KING);Dave Clarke(KVI);Lan Roberts(KJR); Bryant’s owner, Jerry Bryant; Lee Perkins (KJR); unidentified guy; and Frosty Fowler (KING).
Lee Perkins writes:
It was the Seattle “Little Gold Cup” as presented by Bryant’s Marina on Portage Bay.
That’s Mr. Bryant himself presenting me with the “Little Gold Cup”…the year was 1961 or 62. Participants had to eat a hot dog, jump into a 10-foot aluminum boat, start the outboard, and run a course on Portage Bay. As mentioned before, I was the winner. Actually Bryant’s Marina was the winner cuz I bought my 26’Chris Craft from them right after the event!
Bryant’s occupied the site from 1937 until 1966. KING Broadcasting and the Bullitt Company, under the direction of Stimson Bullitt, acquired the property for redevelopment in the 1960s, although Bryant’s Marina continued its operations during some of that decade. Bullitt had planned to build new studios for KING Broadcasting at that location. Those plans did not get past the concept phase. KING Broadcasting sold it to the University of Washington with a deed transfer finalized in January 1970.
Marina Owner, Jerry C. Bryant
Jerry C. Bryant (1907 – 1970) was a major proponent and participant in the marine industry and recreational boating culture in Seattle and Puget Sound in the second half of the 20th century. Born and raised in the city, he was the son of a prominent Seattle Ship chandler (a dealer in ropes, sales, and other provisions), and the grandson of a ship captain. Bryant attended the University of Washington, but left just before graduating in 1929 at the onset of the Great Depression. By that date, he had began an early career as a successful motorboat racer, and owned his own outboard motor shop. Bryant was active in local boating organizations throughout his life, and was recognized late in life as the “Father of Northwest Boating.”
Along with other Seattle business leaders, he established a booster group, the Sea Salts (later known as Greater Seattle), which he served as president in the 1950s. He was the General Chairman of Seafair, the city’s annual water-related festival, which he helped establish in 1951, and was a commissioner of the American Power Boating Association and member of the Harbor Advisory Committee, Rotary, the Seattle Yacht Club, and the Broadmoor Country Club. Jerry Bryant is credited also with coining the promotional phrase for local tourism, “Seattle – the Boating Capital of the World,” and it was through his efforts and company’s support that the annual Seattle Boat Show was founded. (Bryant’s Marina / Puget Sound Lumber Company / UW Police Facilities Seattle Landmark Nomination – 2015)