Bob Allor spent his early years in Grosse Pointe, MI on Lake St. Clair so he was no stranger to boating. Following military service in the South Pacific in WW II, Bob came to Traverse City in 1946 to work with Dr. Jack Beall as his optician at the Grand Traverse Ophthalmology Clinic. In the late fifties, when sailboats were a rare sight on Grand Traverse Bay, a number of local boaters organized the Grand Traverse Yacht Club. Bob was a charter member of that organization. About this time a number of the club members organized a program to teach sailing to youths in the area. They originally built Optimist prams in Bob Bramer's garage and held classes for several years. A few of those original boats are still a part of the current fleet of 30 Optis. Many of today's sailors in our area were introduced to sailing through this program.

Sailing is very popular in this area now, at least in part, because of the work of those early volunteers and Robert Allor was a big part of that program. When the boating season ended, Bob did not quit sailing. He was also an ice boating enthusiast. He built and sailed DN (Detroit News) Class Ice Boats with a number of other locals.

Because of Bob Allor's early work with young people and sailing, his friends at Grand Traverse Ophthalmology Clinic made a contribution to T.A.C.S. to further the promotion of sailing in the Grand Traverse region. Thus began the tradition of recognizing outstanding contributions to Community Sailing in the Grand Traverse Region.
 

Bob passed away in November 1995 and he will be missed my many, many good friends. However his work has been an inspiration to many who have followed in his steps. Each of the individuals listed below has contributed, in their own way, to the success of the TACS Mission.