Why is June 27, 1977 important to us boaters on Lake St. Clair?  This was the date history began as the first Jobbie Nooner was held on Lake St. Clair Michigan.

Originally Published in the 2015 Lake St. Clair Guide Magazine by Kim Darrah with the assistance of Jack Campbell

It was 1977… It was turning out to be a really hot June… Working at Creative Industries, Jack and his designer friends were working on an upcoming General Motors’ Corvette series. The weather forecast for the week was to be almost 90, sunny, and low winds …. Jack’s 33rd birthday was coming up … To celebrate, Jack called for a “jobbie nooner” on Friday. And that’s how it started!
If you’re like a lot of us in the Detroit area, we have or had something to do with the automotive business. For at least the last 25 years, the Big 3 have used outside companies to fill internal positions with “contract” employees to do a majority of the design work to make up the drawings for each individual component to build a vehicle. Before the term “contract” employee was used, these component designers were known as “Jobbies.”

During most of the 1970’s, times were good, and there was a lot of work available. Jobbies were like nomads with work. They would get a contract for a new program, finish it in a matter of a few months, or a few years...then they had to look for the next program. Also, because it was the 70’s, the 1960’s business day style had carried through (TV show “Mad Men” good example) and going out to lunch and having a couple of drinks was not just common, but a normal lunch. Sometimes, your lunch would run a little long, and the typical two drinks would turn into several and you would not return to work. This was known as pulling a “nooner.” A nooner with the jobbies, according to Jack, was not unusual, but you didn’t want to push it. If you were a solid performer, pulling an occasional nooner was normally overlooked by your boss… and the boss was encouraged to participate of course!

The very first Lake St. Clair Jobbie Nooner for boating revelry was held at Strawberry Island. There were six boats with about 25 jobbies from Jack’s work.  At the end of the hot day, the group did a pub crawl while stopping at several peoples’ homes on the lake.

Since the first year was such a success, the following year, and for years into the 1990’s, Jobbie Nooner was then held in the more protected waters of Fisher Bay the last Friday in June around Jack’s birthday. The first six years of Jobbie Nooner, Jack said 80% of the attendees knew each other.

After a severe drop in water depth, there was a concern that the larger boats would no longer be able to make it back into Fisher Bay. Jack suggested the party be moved to the entrance of Goose Bay. At the same time, someone in the group knew someone at Detroit’s local rock station, WRIF, and the RIF said they would bring a barge out and broadcast for the day “if” the event was held at Gull Island. So for one year, there were two Jobbie Nooners. Jack and about 200 boats went to Goose Bay and with all the added radio publicity, a larger amount of boats ended up at Gull Island.....and that’s where it stayed ever since.

At that time, with the lack of “no wake” laws being observed, large cruisers would be on plane going thru the South Channel and really disrupting the boats rafted together. Jack cracked his hull his first year there with all the boats banging together ... so thank you to our local authorities to help maintain a no wake area.

So Jack started this big annual event for his birthday…but there were others over the years who helped promote the event to get more boaters and more passengers each year. One of these very early players that should be mentioned was Lee O’Dell. (As a side note, Lee was one of the very first Michigan $1 million lottery winners.) Lee worked with Jack at Creative Industries and rode on Jack’s boat to the first Jobbie Nooner. According to Jack, a couple years later, Lee, although not owning a boat, encouraged “entertaining types of passengers” to congregate at the Buccaneer Restaurant on Anchor Bay (torn down and now is waterfront condos in Chesterfield Twp.). Lee made posters and encouraged people to come to the bar so they could try to get rides out to the Jobbie Nooner. Good thing around Lake St. Clair…. If you don’t own a boat you certainly know someone who does!

Jack is retired and lives on Lake St. Clair in Chesterfield Township. He belongs to the Lake Trotters Boat Club and was the commodore in 1975. He helped start the Club in 1973, when it first originated as a bachelor club. Most of the members’ boats were at Blue Lagoon Marina, which is now the location of Belle Maer Harbor on Southern Anchor Bay. Today, the club is located on one of the islands in the St. Clair Flats, between the “Sni” (Chenal Bout Rond) and Pollet Bay… Lake Trotters Island.

Of course, Jack is still boating! When I was trying to schedule our first meeting, Jack was on a cruise with friends down in Put in Bay on Lake Erie. Jack is very friendly and has a good sense of humor.

When we were to meet he said to look for the guy that was 6’6” and 220 pounds… he’d be sitting next to him.  Jack has attended all but probably three of the events over the 37 years … and they were only missed because of bad weather. Jack enjoyed last year’s Jobbie Nooner on Gull Island with his 34 year old son Kenneth. Fittingly, it was Jack’s 70th birthday; and.... yes, he surrendered a set of beads that day while on the island!

Jobbie Nooner 2014 - Chip Miller

Jobbie Nooner 2015

Aerial Drone Shots - Trevor Walczy of the 2020 Jobbie Nooner

Back before 2020, the Jobbie Nooner event was so big that the U.S. Coast Guard would bring a ship in for a "jail."  First responders come from all districts of the lake and surrounding waterways, both United States and Canada.... they like to check out the event too each year besides making sure everyone is safe.

Photo above and below 2015

WHERE AND WHEN is the next Jobbie Nooner?  Keep up to date with Lake St. Clair events and things to do at https://www.lakestclairguide.com/events/