Another Bethel Island Legend Passes...

[BayAreaBoater]

Mel Smith passed away a few days ago.

If you were anywhere near B.I. during the 70's and 80's, you were aware of Mel and Marie (his wife) Smith. They were the unofficial King and Queen of the Island. He still dabbled in real estate up to the very end. As I would take our motorhome back and forth from the Sugar Barge, I would still see the For Sale signs posted on various properties with his name as the listing agent.

Both Mel and Marie were very successful realtors and would always lend a hand at pretty much every event that was held on the Island. Mel wore a lot of different hats for those events, including chef, busboy, janitor, charity ticket hawker, broadcaster, you name it, Mel would offer to do it.

He was a member of the SJYC, and I am proud to say that we shared a few cold ones during some of the many events that he was present at. He was always at the ready to share a story or two of his real-life experiences.

The Island won't be the same without him...

 

[Flutterby]

I agree with your comments! He will definitely be missed by many. I hope Marie will be okay.....

Thanks for posting.

 

[BayAreaBoater]

Yeah, I hope she will be okay too.

I listed one of the Sandmound condo's with Mel many years ago and he was quick to get it sold. He knew what he was doing.

I remember having lunch with the two of them at the old Gangplank. We spent 5% of the time doing the paperwork and 95% of it just enjoying a good conversation.

He sure was a "go-getter".

Sadly, B.I. has lost a lot of the original go-getters that made B.I. a great place to be back then.

And even sadder, is that these legends are not being replaced with new blood.

The new bridge can only do so much for the island. It takes good, hard working business people to make a well-rounded community.

 

[Flutterby]

I haven't been there in a couple of years and have lost touch with most of the folks I knew. Nothing stays but change, huh.....

 

[BayAreaBoater]

Sadly, yes...

Two years? You would hardly recognize the place.

A ghost town might best describe it. Lots of shuttered businesses and houses. Some places have re-opened under "new management" and then closed again.

Carter's Marine building (the current D'Anna Yachts) looks like a graveyard. They have a Regal cruiser that has been there at their docks for sale going on three years! The pics that they post on craigslist still show it next to the old bridge! Right now, there is a dilapidated houseboat at the docks that looks like a crankster must be living in. Most of the harbor docks are empty.

The old B.I. Yacht Sales facility across the bridge is still there but vacant and in dilapidated condition. There is a For Sale sign posted as we speak.

The lower portion of Carter's Marine that was last used by Collins Marine is now a church!

Last week when I took the motorhome back to Sugar Barge, I looked down the road behind the old Boathouse (Jugs) for the place that sold you your boat and I saw mostly a vacant lot. There were a few older boats on trailers and their white van with the business signage on it. The fencing was locked shut and it didn't look like any activity was going on.

Quite a few of the buildings all the way down to the vacant Wally's Wrecking Yard and Deli are boarded up and weed stricken.

The newer Post Office is still up and running. The firehouse is vacant and dilapidated. It was deemed condemned last year and as of right now, there are no full-time firefighters on the island.

I could go on, but [:-cry]

 

[Flutterby]

Wow! It sure has changed!!!! Sure sounds depressing. The volunteer fire dept was taken over by East CCFD 3-4 yrs ago and all the volunteers were "fired". The volunteers did a great job; ECCFD has done terrible. They don't know how to find addresses; they don't how to use the levee to access upper stories of the houses; they don't know how to fight peat fires; etc. etc. etc. I suspect the county would like to see the whole island burn down!

 

[ginman]

Yeah, sure sounds depressing. I haven't been out that way since 2005 when I bought my last boat off the late Joe Spotts. Guess that would explain the very affordable real estate out there.

 

[BayAreaBoater]

I just got back from the Sugar Barge with the motorhome for our upcoming trip. As I passed by the old Wally's Wrecking Yard and Deli, I saw the For Sale sign with Mel's name on it.

A chill went up and down my spine...