Calvin Coolidge was in the third year of his prosperous six-year presidency, and Al Capone was consolidating his grip on Chicago crime when the Vero Beach Yacht Club was chartered near the peak of the “Roaring Twenties.” Coolidge and Capone are long gone but the club is thriving 100 years later.

Having survived the Florida land bust of 1927, the Great Depression, World War II, the Great Recession, hurricanes and a worldwide pandemic, the club this year celebrated “100 Years of Fun and Friendship” with a series of dinners, dances, concerts and guest speakers, beginning with an open house Jan. 9 and ending with the annual Blessing of the Fleet on April 18.

According to the club, “The first concept of a yacht club emerged in 1921, when local boaters explored forming an organization that would anchor boating culture in growing Vero Beach. The formal launch came on January 15, 1926, when the club received its charter during Florida’s land-boom era.”

The first decade was quiet, dampened by the land bust, Black Tuesday and the depression but a major turning point arrived in 1938, when a new group of civic leaders, including Waldo Sexton, reorganized the club and established its current location on land donated by Sexton, putting in place the operational and financial foundation that still guides the club today.

“Through the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s, the club expanded both its waterfront presence and its social traditions, integrating cruising, racing, education and signature events into a cohesive member experience. In 1984, the Club was formally installed into the Florida Council of Yacht Clubs, elevating its statewide profile. Modernization accelerated in the 2010s with targeted facility upgrades and member-experience enhancements that repositioned the club for long-term relevance.”

It wasn’t smooth sailing all the way. The club ran the City Marina from the 1940s through the early 1970s, a partnership that turned acrimonious at the end, leading to a bad breakup. The club also endured tussles with the Army Corps of Engineers over riparian rights along with frightening displays of nature’s power.

Hurricanes Francis and Jeanne destroyed the yacht club’s docks and flooded the clubhouse, while the COVID-19 forced the club to close for a period of time in 2020.

But it bounced back both times, powered by dedicated commodores and members, and is now stronger than ever before, with 650 members and another 270 on the waiting list, standing proudly as “one of Vero Beach’s iconic waterfront institutions,” in the words of 2025 Commodore Gordon Sellers.

General manager Shawn Witmer has helped guide the club since 2013, doing “a superb job in turning the club around and putting us in a strong membership and financial position,” said current commodore Jane Booth, the sixth woman to hold the prestigious office. “From entertainment, hospitality and responsibility, he has managed our club to where we are today.”

The clubhouse, which has been expanded and upgraded in stages over the years, with larger rooms, an expansive waterside patio, upgraded kitchen and other features, continues to be improved, and new docks are under construction, slated for completion in late summer or fall.

Booth said additional upgrades to the clubhouse kitchen and other upcoming major projects “will keep our club vibrant and up to date for years to come.”

“You do not have to have a boat to be a member,” said former commodore Judy Peschio.