Our Their new marina

The official coronation of the Peter Tong Family Marina finally took place Friday evening on the lakefront, between the scows and the imaginary crane.

The T'ongs and their offspring spoke in turn about how thrilling it was for them to be a part of this expensive project that would bear their name, and then it was time for the christening. In an act of rather extreme irony, former Grope-a-dore Lukas D. took part in breaking a bottle of champagne to formally inaugurate the "marina". Given the strict prohibition on alcohol in Hoofer sailing, shouldn't it have been a bottle of sparkling grape juice or Kool-Aid? Anyway, watch your step in that area as there may still be glass shards around.

If you had any doubts that the motivation for building the "marina" was to benefit the reputation (and tax returns) of the T'ongs and other donors--and not to benefit Hoofer sailors--look at who was allowed to attend the ceremony: invitees only, with security guards keeping everyone else at bay. (A few Hoofers did manage to sneak in or scored an invite.) Of course, the reason for soliciting big donors to pay for a "marina" in the first place was to give the Union an excuse to take control of the club.

The chancellor was present along with Wis. Union brass and lots of other old prunes, mostly people with money. Even the ones dressed in jeans had $100 bills falling out of their pockets as they slurped alcoholic beverages under a makeshift tent and gave dirty looks to anyone they suspected of sneaking in.

The "Welcome invitees" sign next to the "Disabled people go away" sign was especially fitting (see photo).

It's interesting that in the U.S., tong means an Asian gangsta.

So, is a Peter Dong like a John Thomas? Who was responsible for decorating the lakefront with four foot high concrete phalluses?

At least the new piers are holding up after half a full season.

†We've seen it spelled Tong, T'ong, and Dong. Subtly different, each.