Lakeland Boating

Lakeland Boating is a regional magazine that ships eleven times a year and covers the interests of freshwater boaters on the Great Lakes and connecting waterways and inland lakes as far south as Tennessee, as far north as Lake Superior, as far west as Minnesota, and as far east as Quebec.

Before founding Lakeland Boating, then called Lakeland Yachting and Motorboating, Vic Schoen was an avid boater. Schoen was then piloting a 36-foot 1925 wooden Burger dubbed Sea Toy II. A great fan of his boat, Schoen also knew that it represented the capital he needed to start a new magazine about boating on the Great Lakes and surrounding environs.

In early 1946, Schoen placed an ad in the Chicago Tribune placing Sea Toy II up for sale. Schoen sold the boat to 26-year-old Paul Cullen for $1,300, the necessary seed money to being a new magazine, Lakeland Yachting and Motorboating.

Vic Schoen started his new magazine, christened Lakeland Yachting and Motorboating, in mid-1946 and based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Under his guidance, Lakeland Yachting was cordial and upbeat on every page, presenting an enthusiast's assurance that boating was pure happiness.

In 1957, the name of the magazine was changed from Lakeland Yachting and Motorboating to Lakeland Boating to more accurately depict the nature of the magazine and its emphasis on motor boats.

Only five issues of Lakeland Yachting were published in 1963, and after the first issue of 1964 was published, ownership of the magazine was passed from Schoen to Larry Prakken and Dave Kitz. Prakken would be the publisher, Kitz the editor. Along with this change in ownership came the new slogan, "Mid-America's Freshwater Yachting Magazine" to emphasize its regional orientation.

While Schoen had kept things light and breezy, Kitz set forth his new editorial mission: "First, to report for you the interesting boating activities of the past, present, and future... and second, to raise its voice to help protect and preserve this delightful boating area from the ravages of deterioration that too often accompany the growth of metropolitan areas." Two specific concerns for Kitz were nature's ecological balance and pollution.

After moving their offices to Ann Arbor, Michigan, a subscription cost $4.00 a year for ten issues or 50 cents an issue on the news stand.

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Wikipedia