DECATUR — Having watched as Decatur festivals ended during the past few years, Sean Bowsher knew it was time to add something new to the mix. “It’s time to have something down on the lake,” Bowsher said, and he knew immediately what that event should be. Bowsher volunteered to organize this year’s Hardy’s Highway Race for the Lake power boat competition set for June 8 and 9, marking the much anticipated return of boat racing to Lake Decatur.
“The racers themselves love Decatur. It’s a great place to race,” Bowsher said. “They love the people and they love the water.
” As a boat racer himself, Bowsher studied the community’s reaction to rumors of the boat races returning to Lake Decatur. “People were falling over themselves to help me, help the (Decatur) Park District, help the Convention and Visitors Bureau and the city of Decatur to bring these races back,” Bowsher said. “So we put it together and made it happen.
” Bowsher and the volunteers credited Dan Hardy, 72, and his family for bringing the races back after a 20-year hiatus. Hardy said he wanted to sponsor the races in honor of his family. Hardy’s grandfather, Warren F.
Hardy, was the editor of the Decatur Herald dating back to 1908. He also was part of the city's efforts in the 1920s to create Lake Decatur. “He was pretty instrumental in getting the lake put in,” Hardy said.
“But the Decatur Park District’s 100th anniversary is what this (event) is really all about.” Memorial .