West Side's First Half Century

Part 1

When the Buffalo Association of Amateur Oarsmen met at Eagans Hall in the summer of 1912 they were confronted by a delegation of Black Rock rowing enthusiasts who wished to enter on of their group – Louie Peterson – in the Junior Singles event of the forthcoming Labor Day Regatta. This group was composed of Harry Roesch, Arthur McGuire, Charles Rusell, George Fritz, Myron Brigham, Willard Harp, George Burd, George Munger and Edwin Flannigan. The entry of Peterson was refused by the B.A.A.O. on the grounds that Peterson was not affiliated with any Buffalo Rowing Club. Mutual R.C., Celtic Rowing Club, and the Lighthouse R.C. were well established club and the mot recently known club, Harbor Light R.C., were members of the B.A.A.O. at this time.

Chagrined but undaunted, these Peterson backers went back to their Black Rock meeting place and devised the expedient plan of arbitrarily and without ceremony forming a rowing club in order to meet the requirements needed to formally enter Peterson. They named George Fritz, President (he owned the shell which Peterson was to use), Louie Peterson was named Financial Secretary, and Harry Roesch was designated at Captain. Charles Russell was named Secretary. They had no boathouse and the Fritz-owned single was a second hand shell bought from Lou Scholes of Toronto by Fritz with his birthday gift money. Fritz's parents wanted to give George a diamond for his birthday but young George asked that he be allowed the use of the money for a single scull...

The 1912 B.A.A.O. Regatta was a huge success for the newly formed West Side R.C. inasmuch as Peterson won three single scull Championships that afternoon and won the first leg of the coveted William Connors Trophy emblematic of the Championship of Buffalo. He subsequently won the other two Championships and, as a result, won permanent possession of this Trophy. Other prominent Buffalo scullers at this time were Charles "Chuck" Sheehan (Mutual R.C.), Fritz Brill (Lighthouse R.C.), Walter Shine (Celtic R.C.), Dan Boquard (Mutual R.C.), Dave Regan (Mutual R.C.), M. Dunford (Celtic R.C.), and others.

The fall meeting of the rapidly growing West Side Club held at McCues Hall attracted a large number of rowing enthusiasts from the west side section of Buffalo. Michael Byrne, a veteran Buffalo sculler and City Official, was formally elected President to this heretofore loosely organized group. Mike, a natural and forceful leader lost no time in "getting the show on the road" and in the early sping of 1913 led the group in the construction of the first boathouse on Bird Island Pier at a point just about opposite the foot of Breckenridge St. (Now the site of the Sewage Disposal Plant). All Saints Catholic Church – a frame structure – located on East St. was being demolished at this time and the resourceful Mike Byrne salvaged the lumber for the new boathouse.

These early West Siders were a resourceful, cagey group and never missan opportunity to take advantage of existing situations. They selected a site on Bird Island Pier long abandoned by the early Queen City Flour Mill. The stone piers which supported this mill were still in place on the river side of the pier and it was on these piers that the West Siders laid their beam foundations for the boathouse. The members did all the work themselves. Most of them were either carpenters, or plasterers, or painters or craftsmen of one trade or another. The building was sturdy and consisted of a shell room and a meeting quarters upstairs. No running water was available on the Pier then and modern facilities at the boathouse were missing. Winter meetings were held around a huge pot-bellied stove as the wind howled off the Niagara River which flowed past the rear entrance.

The spring of 1913 marked the time when West Side acquired their first equipment. Mike Bryne went to Columbia University boathouse where his good friend Jim Rice was then Coach and purchased used shells and oars which were transported to Buffalo via the Erie Canal on the top of mule drawn canal boats. Three dilapidated eight oar shells, one of which was paper covered. Tow old fours and a single gig along with a barge and some sweeps comprised the equipment purchased from Columbia University and the Union B.C. of New York.

The first formal meeting of the club took place in the spring of 1913 and the Officers elected were: Michael J. Bryne, President; George Fritz, Vice President; George Munger, Second Vice President; Louie Peterson, Secretary; Michael J. Broderick, Assistant Secretary; E.A. Carter, Financial Secretary; Edward McCue, Treasurer; Harry Roesch, Captain. The Board of Directors was made up of: Matt Gillogly, Willard Harp, Albert Hess, and George Small.

Actual rowing activities began on the raft where rowing boxes were placed. These were a form of rowing machine where the new oarsmen sat on a sliding seat, with the rigger attached to the side of the box and the blade of the sweep operated in the water. On this apparatus the new man learned how to handle an oar in the water as they went through the proper movements of driving and recovering properly. As the young aspirants learned the skills necessary to row a shell they were formed into four oared groups and sent out on the water under the guidance of Mike Byrne. No coaching launch was available and the coaching was done from the raft.

July 21st, 1913 West Side held its first "Water Carnival and Regatta". Other than Peterson and Fritz, West Side did not have any oarsmen advanced enough to represent the new club on a competitive basis. West Side was, however, able to put on an eight oared exhibition race which was viewed with much interest inasmuch as it was the first time that an eight oared shell was ever seen in Buffalo. The seating for these two West Side Crews was:

Crew No. 1		Crew No. 2
Bow	M. Dempsey	Bow	T. Reilley
2	G. Munger	2	J. Rudolph
3	R. Sherman	3	E. Neill
4	E. Widmer	4	C. Ellis
5	T. Regan	5	P. McQuade
6	M. Brigham	6	J. Dorr
7	A. Fillner	7	G. Fritz
Strk.	M.J. Broderick	Strk.	J. Gregory
Cox.	E. Dikemen	Cox.	A. Munger

Text from NAOAO Regatta Program, July 1962.