Oct. 18, 2002 Historical Callander Yacht Recomissioned

Last Saturday a 34-foot classic Ditchburn yacht, the "Jingo," built in the  1920s and owned by various people over the decades was recommissioned in  Callander Bay. With a champagne toast, "Dutch" Shultz of Callander and his  family launched their pride and joy in front of admiring onlookers. Shultz  owns the new bed and breakfast next to the Ram's Head restaurant as well as  the Rod and Gun Cottage Resort on Main Street in Callander.

The "Jingo" (by definition "someone who boldly supports his country") came  to Callander when purchased by the John B. Smith Lumber Company (1890-1967).   It was used by the large Smith family for business and pleasure for many  years. After the Smith mill closed in 1967, after 77 years on Callander  Bay, the boat went into storage until purchased (in bad shape) by Harry  Hughes from North Bay and rebuilt and used on Trout Lake. In 1985 Kelly  Mosely-Williams bought the boat and carried out a major rebuilding  operation, with a new engine and an enclosed cabin, to use it as a charter  boat. His company got into financial trouble and the boat was put into  storage for years, with Jeff Campbell, a Callander car and boat restoration  hobbyist. He did some work on it and intended to launch it at some point in  the future.

Dutch Shultz expressed an interest in the boat as a part of his tourist  business. During the recent World Youth event in Toronto Jeff Campbell, who  manufactures large shelters (All Shelter Sales and Rentals) was called for a  specific sized rental in a hurry. Jeff had the perfect structure-the one  covering the "Jingo." He sold the tent, and sold the boat to Dutch. Dutch,  who has restored cars, his wife Petra and his eighteen-year-old twin sons  Peter and Jake began a four-month labour of love refurbishing the boat.  Dutch built a trailer and tried the boat in the water a couple of times  pending the official opening on Saturday. As the word got out about the  boat the Shultz family began to hear stories about its history and the Smith  family, adding to the adventure.

John B. Smith, a Scotsman, came to Canada in the 1850s and started a lumber  business that became highly successful and, remarkably, stayed in the family  until the 1960s. John B. Smith came to Canada with two friends, Robert  Christie who went on the form the Christie bread company, and Robert Jaffray  who was president of the Toronto Globe from 1882-1915 and became a Senator.  John B. Smith's second of three marriages was to a Jaffray daughter. He had  a total of twelve children. The Jaffray and Christie names have come down  through the generations as first names. One of the last longstanding Smiths  who lived in Callander and managed the local operation was Christie Smith  (1900-1989) who had two sons, Christie and Jaffray.

Christie and Jaffray and a cousin Doug Smith were invited to a launch that  was aborted two weeks ago due to weather, but Jaffray could not be  contacted. He and his family showed up and an informative and pleasurable  reunion took place around the boat. Jaffray knew the smallest detail of the  boat's structure and history and suggested that a Smith family reunion  centred around the Jingo might be in order.

Among the local people with stories about the Jingo is Yvette Boyce, who  cooked for the Smiths at their cottage and on the Jingo for a decade, and  has fond memories of those days. The late Captain "Mac" Masson, who  captained the Smith Company's Seagull II and the alligator the Woodchuck,  took his family on the boat regularly. His wife Evelyn and children Linda  and Heather have many wonderful memories of those days. Both Yvette and the  Massons were on hand for the launch and were part of the first official  ride.

Dutch Shultz has plans to rent the Jingo as a part of his business, but  would like to provide historical tours in cooperation with the Callander Bay  Heritage Museum as a fundraiser for them. Our hats are off to Dutch and his  family for a job well done and truly appreciated-by jingo!