If you’re a tried-and-true pontoon boater, along with being a country music star, what would you do at the nation’s largest music festival? Well, you’d put on a special floating concert for a few thousand of our closest friends. And that’s exactly what Rodney Atkins did during Milwaukee’s famous Summerfest event this past June. Rodney is a big fan of Milwaukee. Maybe because it’s at Summerfest where, years ago, he met the lovely lady who would eventually become his wife.

“I love Milwaukee, the folks, the places,” said Rodney. “I love Wisconsin.”

Rodney is a longtime boater. His dad’s bass boat served as his introduction to fishing and boating on middle Tennessee lakes. He bought his own jon boat with “hay hauling money” during his Tennessee Tech college days that got him out on the water and even in fishing tournaments. He’d sneak a couple kitchen chairs out to the jon boat to “outfit” it for the tournaments.

Nowadays, with his wife and kids, Rodney still loves to fish but now it’s from their Lowe SS230 CL (Conversion Lounge) with a 250hp Mercury outboard.

“A roller coaster ride isn’t as exciting as a kid with a fish on the line who doesn’t know what he has,” stated the singer. “That’s magic. We catch some fish and the kids swim around and they can do that for hours. Then they take naps on the boat.”

Maybe pontoon boats just draw nice people to them, but Rodney definitely falls well into that group. Over my four-plus decade career in the marine industry I’ve been fortunate to meet many famous people including numerous country music stars from members of Alabama to Aaron Tippin. Pontooning has a great representative and kindred spirit in this talented musician.

Summer of Lowe

Rodney owns a Lowe pontoon and his friends at Lowe Boats sponsored his visit to Summerfest. The concert tour is called the “Summer Of Lowe” and it had two summer stops and then two more in the fall covering four different cities.

Their stage at Summerfest was a Lowe SS250 WT (Walk Through) wired for plenty of sound. Providing some demo rides for event goers, Lowe also had their Lowe SS210WT and all-new SF212WT with Mercury outboard power on both.

Rodney’s concert helped draw attention to one of Lowe’s corporate sister divisions and a new, water-borne initiative, All Blue Planet from the parent, Brunswick Corporation where Chioma Aladi is the program director. At Summerfest she explained, “In partnership with Brunswick’s Freedom Boat Club, All Blue Planet is a global initiative to help communicate the beneficial, restorative power of the water with everyone. Time in and around the water is beneficial for both our mental and cognitive well-being.”

That’s corporate-speak for “Have a good time on the water, relax and enjoy. It will make you feel good.” The Freedom Boat Club membership roster is said to soon list more than 50,000 people for its 360 world-wide locations and exclusive access to more than 4,000 boats for those members to use.

Senior Brunswick team executive Scott Ward brought four Bayliner boats to help boaters share the All Blue Planet experience during Summerfest. The Freedom Boat Club makes boating more accessible for boaters who don’t have space, time or the budget for their own boat and provides members with the opportunity to try many different types and models of boats to see which best serves their boating needs.

It’s also a great boating introductory program for those members who are looking to eventually buy their own boat. It helps them decide which will work for their needs. While it’s easy to join and rent a boat, there is nothing more important than being safe on the water to make sure everyone can continue to enjoy their boating lifestyle. Boat Class is a growing, hands-on, real-world, boating safety course available through select Freedom Boat Club locations.

During his hour-plus long concert, Rodney didn’t sing any pontoon boat songs. I guess he’ll have to work on that, but whichever of his hits he did perform, it reminds us all that pontooning is a fun, relaxing, friends and family activity that keeps us happy and healthy. Oh wait, I think I just wrote the lyrics for one of his new songs. Happy `tooning everyone!

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