Don Galey, Galey’s Marine, who recently celebrated his 80^th birthday, is still as sharp and energetic as he was back when I first met him. I first met Don back when he was a Johnson dealer in Bakersfield, California and I was heading up outboard sales for OMC. What is really neat about Don is that once you know him, he becomes your friend and stays your friend no matter what. Just ask Slim Summerville, former partner and head of marketing and sales for Bayliner boats. Or check with Sonny Lodder of Lodder’s Marine in Cincinnati. They will tell you the same.

Even though I have not had any business dealings with Don for years and years, he calls me periodically just to check in and see how I am doing. And there is no business incentive for him to do that. He does it because he is a true friend. Don is still very energetic for a guy who is 80 years young. For example, he just recently went to South Dakota on a hunting trip with his son Mark, friend Sonny Lodder, and some other good buddies. And once a year he goes on a fishing trip with a group of friends to South America.

Don’s longtime friendship is what prompted me to write an article about this industry legend in the October 2013 issue of Soundings Trade Only. If you haven’t read it, check it out on page 42 of that issue. Or click on this link:
http://www.tradeonlytoday.com/component/content/article/4-features/526737-still-tuned-into-his-market

If you get Soundings Trade Only, and most people in the industry do, please make sure you read my article on page 38 of the March 2013 issue. It is about industry icon Charlie Strang, who was Chairman of the Board of OMC when Johnson and Evinrude’s combined market share was in the 60% range. He is an amazing guy who is still going strong at age 91.

Charlie recently emailed me that he and his wife had just returned from a trip to Paris and Monaco where he received a special award from the UIM, Union of International Motorboating.

He wrote, “Barb and I are just back from a couple of weeks in Paris and Monaco and are slowly readjusting to the time change! We went to Monaco to accept a trophy from the Union of International Motorboating (UIM) for my fifty-plus years of work in the international boating field. It is called the Casiraghi Award in memory of Stefano Casiraghi, the late husband of Princess Caroline of Monaco. Stefano was a top-notch Offshore racer until he was killed in a race a few years ago.” Continue reading OMC long gone…but industry icon Charlie Strang motors on! →