Town of Georgina
Jackson's Point was the Centre of Grew Boats
In 1883, Arthur Grew began making canoes, rowboats and sailboats at Jackson's Point. The Grews had bought land on Lake Simcoe, hoping its fresh, clean air would help relieve young Art's asthma.
Just up the road, beside the Lake Simcoe Hotel, Arthur Grew built a stone house; the front door is said to feature planks from the steamer "Enterprise" which sank off a wharf near Barrie in 1903.
At one time, Arthur Grew had over a hundred boats on the lake. In 1939, Jackson's Point was a training ground for sailor who would see action in the Second World War. It was around this time that Grew designed and built a new 23-foot boat, which he dubbed the "Bonnie Boat"
Around 1950, Clarence Kemp, who then owned Grew Boats, sold the trademark and plans to Gidley Boats in Penetanguishene. The little company in Jackson's Point was renamed Bonnie Boats.
In 1952, Stand and Bill Sellers bought Bonnie Boats and built a canal and thirty slips. A new boat house was built in 1967 and the original Grew hut moved offshore. It now serves as a storage shed.
In 1986, the Gidley Company was recognised as the largest manufacture of power boats in Canada, with over 2 500 boats being produced that year. Two years later the company was forced to close down when the bottom fell out of the market for Fibreglas pleasure boats.
Two of Gidely's former employees have started their own company. Roamer Boatworks at penetanguishene. Bonnie Boats is still in operation at Jackson's Point.
Source: Georgina Advocate - Our History December 1992. Reproduced with permission