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Left:
A view of the Brady Comet with its new motor, a 45 HP Mercury Outboard.
Center: Chet Grant's son Dave with Chet's grandson Jack who is restoring the
boat and has procured another racing motor, a Johnson PR50.
Right: The boathouse where the boat was kept. Located on the west end of the
lake, it is now owned by Tom Kowalski. The Brady Comet is no longer there.
A Blast from the Bills Lake Past
In the 1930s, ‘40s, and ‘50s, Bills Lake residents were occasionally treated to the sight and sound of a Brady Comet, a racing boat powered by a Johnson PR50 engine which zipped around the lake under an astonishing 22 HP, this at a time in which most boat motors were in the single digits. The boat was owned and operated by resident Chet Grant who raced it in various events around southern Newaygo County and brought home more than his share of trophies. The boat was housed in a fieldstone boathouse by the lake in the Geronimo 1 zone (still standing but the boat is no longer there).
The boat was built by Roy Brady of Charlevoix in 1929. In 1961, Mr. Grant replaced the Johnson PR50 with a new Mercury 45 HP motor. They ran the boat until 1974 before retiring it.
Grandson Jack Grant plans to have it restored this winter. He has found a Johnson PR50 motor and purchased it. It is in pieces which means a wintertime project. Hopefully, the boat will return to Bills Lake next summer around the Fourth of July.