Blaze destroyed clubhouse April 17.

For Katie Horvath of Elmwood Township, summer and the Grand Traverse Yacht Club go hand-in-hand.

"I grew up there. My parents were members and we were there on any given summer day. I had birthday parties on the beach and in the clubhouse. I learned how to sail at the club,” she said.

The good experiences that Horvath and other members have shared over the years are virtually all that’s left following a fire Wednesday, April 16, that destroyed the yacht clubhouse.

Horvath was devastated when she saw the damage, but she and others are eager to start the process of rebuilding. She is current treasurer on the club’s board of officers.

“When I moved back to the area and started my family, I joined the club. My daughter is two this year and I look forward to her being able to do the same things I did at the club,” Horvath said. “We have a strong membership and we all want to move forward on rebuilding the clubhouse,” she said.

Despite the fire, yacht club activities will be held as scheduled. The most immediate need is a location for the annual membership drive and oyster clam bake that is scheduled for Friday, May 2.

Mac Van Stratt, the club’s commodore, said the clam bake is one of the group’s biggest events. “We usually hold it in the club. We plan on finding an alternate site,” he said.

The clubhouse has stood on the shores of West Grand Traverse Bay in Elmwood Township, just north of the Apache Trout Grill, since before World War II. On the night of the fire, Van Stratt said he left the club earlier in the evening and that the bar manager, who left at 10 p.m., was the last person known to be in the building.

Elmwood Township Fire and Rescue Department deputy chief Gary Rushton said Friday that he and most department members were fighting grass fires in Elmwood Township on the afternoon of the yacht club blaze, and also aided at a large grass fire in Grand Traverse County’s Long Lake Township during the evening.

“I was getting fuel for my car and I was driving back from the gas station when I saw a lot of dense smoke,” he said. Rushton said several other motorists had pulled off the side of M-22 to place 9-1-1 calls when he contacted county dispatch through his hand-held radio. “I got out of my car and walked along the north edge of the yacht club property and could see the smoke billowing from the club’s roof,” he said.

Fire crews from Elmwood, Suttons Bay, Traverse City and Grand Traverse County responded to the call. Rushton said firefighters were on scene until about 5:30 a.m. Thursday to make sure the fire did not reignite.

Fire scene investigators with the county Sheriff’s Department, Elmwood Township and the yacht club’s insurance provider sifted through ash and rubble most of last Thursday to determine the cause of the fire. Rushton said the incident remains under investigation, but it didn’t appear the fire was intentionally set. “They are looking at everything right now,” he said.

Van Stratt said club members have made improvements to the building each year it has been in existence. “We had it very nice inside and out. Once we find out what caused the fire and what we can do on the property, we’ll put together plans for what we want to do. We are definitely going to rebuild,” he said.

The lub has 154 full members and roughly 250 members overall, including social members. In addition to holding Wednesday evening races, the club has sailing classes, planned excursions and long-distance races as well as social functions. “We’re very family oriented, lots of activities,” Van Stratt said.