FERRIDAY — The boat Kathy Rowzee will showcase today at the Lake St. John Flotilla is vastly different than the one that won her first place last year at the annual water parade.

Last year, Rowzee and company used their Who Dat Nation team spirit to win the competition with their double-decker, “Saints Bounty Hunters” entry.

This year, Rowzee’s boat is all about commemorating a piece of the area’s history.

“Anybody that lives or has lived on the lake would remember Harmon’s,” Rowzee said. “I’m 53, and it was there when I was little, so it was one of those places that was just a part of the lake.”

Harmon’s Fishing Camp was built in 1924 by Robert Harmon who began the business by letting local residents borrow his hand-crafted wooden boat, Bobby Harmon, Robert’s son, said.

“One day someone came along and said, ‘How about you let us use your boat to go fishing?’ and he said, ‘Yeah, go ahead,’” Harmon said. “So he built another boat, and then two boats and then three boats and before long he finally built a pier and was renting 20 boats to whoever wanted to go fishing.”

The camp, which also sold crickets, minnows and other bait supplies, was located at the north end of Lake. St. John and provided many memories for those in the area, Harmon said.

“It was good for those people who didn’t want to fool with their own boats, but still wanted to go fishing from time to time,” he said. “It was there for a long time and was pretty popular for a while.”

The camp was run by Harmon’s father until the 1970s and was then leased to a couple who kept it operational until last year.

“Well, my dad passed away and then the guy we were leasing it to passed away, so we just ended up closing it down,” Harmon said. “I ended up selling the land to a local farmer who took the pier down and cleaned up the lot.”

Ferriday resident Richard Alwood said he doesn’t blame the new owner for tearing down the camp, but also said he was disappointed to see it come down.

“It was just an institution around the lake,” Alwood said. “It was deteriorating so badly that I don’t begrudge the man for doing it, but it’s sad that it’s not there anymore.”

That feeling that a part of the lake’s history is no longer there is what motivated Rowzee to create her boat in honor of Harmon’s.

“I have an old picture of the building and that’s pretty much all I’m going off of,” Rowzee said. “I’m using cardboard to make the wood paneling to give it the old rustic look.

“If we win or don’t win it doesn’t matter, we’re basically just trying to do a tribute to Harmon’s.”

This year’s parade will take place from 2 to 5 p.m. today and will begin with a blessing of the fleet by the Rev. Louis Skylar. Concordia Parish Sheriff Kenneth Hedrick will lead the procession from the north end of the lake. A fireworks display will follow the parade at approximately 9 p.m.

Registration to include your boat in the parade will run from 9 a.m. to noon at Spokane Resort and costs $10. Boats will be judged on creativity of decorations.