The "Oyster Pond Yacht Club - Where Gentle Manner Still Prevails: Part 1" Story

It was an ordinary day. Reviewing information that Elizabeth and her son Rick have been emailing to me for the past few weeks. On September 30 of last year I published a story titled "Oyster Pond Yacht Club - Past Memories" and followed it on September 1 with "Oyster Pond Yacht Club - Present Memories." The information that I used to write the stories was obtained from a friend in Northeast, Maryland who gave me a post card with a photo of the original Oyster Pond Yacht Club (OPYC) on the face and from readers of the travel forum TravelTalkOnline. I also found some information on SXM Heritage which is a historical site that I have as a friend on Facebook. There was very little info that I could use from "Googling" the topic on the Internet. At the beginning of March of this year, I got a very interesting email from Elizabeth Stultz who told me she came upon my stories when she "Googled" OPYC. Told me she enjoyed reading them and that she could provide information that was first hand. Jumped at that offer and after a few weeks of back and forth emails, and "Googling" some sources that she suggested, I have been able to trace, with Elizabeth and her son Rick's help, the OPYC back to the beginning. Then ...... Elizabeth sent me another email telling me to call Rae Rossini who was probably the only other living person who could give me answers to my questions about OPYC. So, I called Rae, a very lovely woman who helped fill in a few facts and who also gave me the phone number of Marilyn Bodine who was the second wife of Earl Bodine, owner and founder of the OPYC. Marilyn shared more stories about OPYC, then gave me the name and number of her step-son, Paul Bodine. Well, he gave me enough information to write a book. I gave up taking notes and just listened to Paul tell story after story about the OPYC. I was amazed that he could remember everyone's name and how they fit into the story of the OPYC. After a half-hour of conversation with Paul, I told him how inadequate my story would be if I attempted to publish one. He encouraged me to write one anyway, even if some of the facts may not be perfect, because he knew that it would still tell a small part of his life and the life of OPYC. And so, to all who spent time with me, either through email, snail mail or on the phone, giving me first hand information and photos, as well as encouragement to give it a try, here goes ......

The year was 1965. Midge and Earl (Bud) Bodine, who lived in Northbrook, IL, purchased property in Sint Maarten (a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands) as well as property on Saba (a special municipality of the Kingdom of the Netherlands). I have never been able to trace the entirety of the properties, but it was sizeable, especially on Sint Maarten. The property on Saba (say•ba) was used to erect the Captain's Quarters while the property on Sint Maarten, which was located in the hills above as well as the shores of Oyster Pond, was used to erect The Oyster Pond Yacht Club. Bud and Midge were owners, designers, and operators of both inns and both inns became important gathering places for celebrities and developers in the late 60s and 70s. Through mutual friends, Elizabeth Stultz and her husband Ray were introduced to Bud and Midge. When Elizabeth and Ray found that their friends were looking for a manager to run the the inn on Sint Maarten, they took a hiatus from the advertising company where Ray worked in Chicago, and headed to the Caribbean. OPYC was scheduled to open in late 1970. Elizabeth and Ray arrived late in 1970 to fine the inn wasn't completed. It eventually opened in early 1971. Through word of mouth the place prospered. The inn was built to draw clients that would hopefully buy the villas and lots that were in the hills above which Bud and Midge had purchased a few years before and were not developing. Oyster Pond Yacht Club was a gem! Midge was very ceative and artistic in

designing the rooms and surrounding areas of the inn. There were 20 rooms and two tower rooms on two levels. The OPYC had rooms decorated in the West Indies motif with oriental rugs and artifacts from around the world enhancing the rooms, and were built around a courtyard where breakfast and lunch were served daily. Inside the inn was a beautiful dining room where dinner was served daily. Elizabeth remembered the bar in the dining room as having a brass top which needed polishing every day, if not more. Lawton, the bartender took care of that when he wasn't concocting his marvelous rum punch. A secondary building housed the chef as well as was used for storage. There was a lot of open area with sea grape trees, hibiscus and bougainvillea plants. At the back of the inn was a man-made beach with chairs and a ladder leading to the water. On the other side of the hotel was a very narrow hazardous path that took travelers to Dawn Beach were Elizabeth says there was never a soul to be found. Paul Bodine, son of Bud and Midge, reported that Dawn Beach was named after his sister by his parents. In the summer of 1971, Rex Reed, a NY film critic, who is still alive, visited OPYC as well as Ray and Elizabeth's newly married daughter and her husband. The daughter and spouse stayed the summer in one of the two turret houses. The dirt road to Philisburg started in the front of the inn and took 45 minutes to reach town. In September of 1971, Elizabeth and her husband returned to the states. Roman-born and internationally-known athlete and Olympic skiier, Gian Carlo Rossini took over as manager with his wife Rae. The following year the Rossinis were divorced and Rae moved to Saba to manage the Captain's Quarters. On April 17 of 1974, Murray Brown, a travel writer for the Lexington Dispatch in North Carolina visited Sint Maaten with other travel writers to do a travel report for his paper and he described the two nation status (Sint Maarten being Dutch and St. Martin being French), the beaches, lush hills and 12,000 islanders. His story was titled "Island in the sun has dual personality." The writers lunched at the OPYC which he described in his article as dramatically situated on a secluded promontory on the Atlantic side. Guests are lodged in 20 large rooms, each individually decorated in imaginative style by co-owner Midge Bodine of Chicago in an unusual six-sided, two-story inn around an open courtyard. In addition to privacy, it offers a half-mile long beach, two tennis courts, all water sports, and a marina with separate facilities for about 30 yachts. I have uncovered very little to report from 1972 until this article in 1974. It sounds as if Dawn Beach had been made more accessible to the patrons of the inn and the tennis and water sports had been added during these two years. In 1976 Bud and Midge divorced. Elizabeth writes that Midge got OPYC after the divorce, and continued to run the inn with Gian Carlo. In 1977 Gian Carlo and Midge left Sint Maarten and eventually the property was purchased by Jan Kamlay and OPYC was then managed by Paul and Keirsten Tedlow. In 1979 Gian Carlo married Midge. Elizabeth reported that in September of 1980, while in the

clubhouse of a golf course on Cape Cod, she heard that Gian Carlo had committed suicide the night before. It was reported that he was heavily in debt. After Gian Carlo's death, Midge relocated to Manhattan. In 1995 Hurricane Luis stuck Sint Maarten and heavily damaged the area where the OPYC was located, but the inn survived. In 1998 Huricane Georges destroyed the Captain's Quarters in Saba which was eventually demolished in 2007. I am not sure who held ownership of both or either place at the time of the hurricanes. Midge died June 20, 2005 at the age of 82 in Chicago and five of her children scattered her ashes in the waters between Sint Maarten and Saba. A sad ending for one of the finest inns that ever graced the shores of Saba. Eventually OPYC was sold by Jan Kamlay to three gentlemen in 1980 and they started building condos around the OPYC. It now is known as Oyster Bay Beach Resort, but still, to this day, as reported to me by Paul Bodine, has OPYC as a central part of the resort. In many of the articles I read about OPYC it was said that the inn was: "Where Gentle Manner Still Prevails." It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - Photos are from the top: post card from my friend Kathy in Maryland, Ocean side of OPYC, and Elizabeth with her husband Ray. PPS - Oyster Bay Beach Resort recently was voted as one of the top 5 hotels in the Caribbean, Bermuda, and Bahamas by Travel and Leisure 500. I hope my facts are accurate as to the story of OPYC. I did not intend to mislead any readers and apologise if I have done so. Please check tomorrow for a photo collection from Elizabeth showing OPYC in the early 70s.