Harold Hall, Gary Mitter, and Karl Schmidt Awarded Ray L. Underwood Lifetime Achievement Awards
Harold Hall
Gary Mitter
Karl Schmidt
PHOTOS COURTESY OF MBIA
The Michigan Boating Industries Association (MBIA) awarded Harold Hall of Hall’s Sport Center in Muskegon, Gary Mitter of Wonderland Marine in Howell, and Karl Schmidt (posthumously) of Sassy Marine in Algonac with the Ray L. Underwood Lifetime Achievement Award for 2023 in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the recreational boating industry through leadership, dedication, and innovation.
“Because of their longevity, dedication, and personal integrity, these men have earned wide recognition within our industry and the respect of their professional peers,” says MBIA Chairman Tom DenHerder. “The MBIA Board voted unanimously to honor these candidates with this, one of our most prestigious, awards.”
The Ray L. Underwood Lifetime Achievement Award program was started in 2015 and is named for the former MBIA Executive Director who worked as an industry lobbyist for over 40 years, and demonstrated the longevity, advocacy and success that is now modeled by recipients of the award.
2023 recipient Harold Hall, founder of Hall’s Sports Center, started his business out of a pickup truck the year after he graduated from high school. Today, over 50 years later, the business has four locations, 45 employees, and commitment to building relationships with employees, manufacturers and customers.
Gary Mitter started Wonderland Marine West almost 40 years ago while working full time as a boilermaker. Wonderland Marine is now Yamaha’s largest Jet Boat Dealer and a multi-generation establishment, built on the principles of family values and good customer service.
Following in the footsteps of his father, Karl Schmidt proudly managed and operated Sassy Marine in Algonac. He was an avid sailor, participating in over 20 years of Mackinac races. Karl, who passed away at the age of 64 in April of 2023, was awarded this Ray L. Underwood Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously for his lifelong dedication and passion for the industry.
Recipients were honored during the Recreational Boating Educational Conference held at Graduate Hotel in East Lansing on November 29, 2023. To learn more, visit mbia.org.
