buzzards bay, clear lake and the area known historically as dodges point beach has a rich and interesting history. a century or two ago, it was a popular summer resort community for the american indian tribes who inhabited the great plains of north central north america. we don't know just what name they gave to this place with the lake waters and sandy beaches and oak groves but it is unlikely to have at all resembled "dodges point beach." in fact, it is a lot more likely to have been more on the order of "buzzards bay." but all that is speculation.

names are things that come and go. by weight of usage, which is sort of like claiming possession is nine-tenths of the law, it is now buzzards bay. ask a present-day resident of "the lake" for directions to dodges point beach, and you're likely to receive a quizzical stare in return. inquire about buzzards bay and you'll either get directed out south shore drive and then wherever, or something along the lines of, "well, first you go to boston, then turn . . . "

dodges point beach was situated between dodges point and tanglefoot. the sidewalk, which was the point of departure for excursions into the lesser wilds of "the point" and tanglefoot, when we were young explorers, following paths and trails through the woods and along the beach to our destination, if we had one, roughly bounded dodges point beach. now we know it as buzzards bay, and the generally accepted geographic limits may have expanded a bit, as well.

the buzzards bay tradition actually goes back to the late thirties, when dr. roy and lynne woodward took arthur and adelia, on summer vacation from mchs and grinnell college, on a trip to the east coast to visit their friends from china, judson and rena crane. on that trip they visited woods hole, martha's vineyard, nantucket, and, of course, buzzards bay. art was so entranced with the area that when they returned to clear lake he proceeded to enlist don campbell's help in erecting a large sign on the beach in front of the woodward cottage on dodges point beach, proclaiming that beach to be "buzzards bay."

years later, the name resurfaced during beach-side post-race "cussings and discussings" as the c.l.y.c. (clear lake yacht club) sailing competition between the snooty outing club (aka the outhouse) sailors and the always intrepid sailors from our end of the lake heated up, back in the mid-sixties. one thing led to another, and al hayward created a buzzard design which uncle art then took to a screen-printer friend of his in waterloo to have some buzzards bay sweatshirts made up, and the rest, as they say, is history. it's been buzzards bay, for real, more or less, ever since.

on these pages you will find some interesting historical notes, many of which are true, mixed in with the more fanciful. buzzards bay press has been a quasi-real entity for 10 or 15 years now, and has a couple of publications to its credit. the logo wear is real enough, certainly. take what you see here with a grain of salt, and remember the immortal words of kilgore trout, when he said, "if it ain't fun, why bother?"
 

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