Daily Press file photo At left, the Gladstone Yacht Club is shown in 1984. It was a difficult period for the club, which was down in members — something then-Commodore Harvey Rasmussen said he believed was due to high unemployment — and had experienced a shift in membership. A year prior, a group of women petitioned to equal access to the club, challenging the 50-year standing policy of men-only membership. Because the club is located on city-owned land and had a liquor license from the state, Attorney General Frank Kelley thought the policy might have been a civil rights violation. In the wake of the controversy, which also involved a dispute on how a vote of the members was taken on the issue, Commodore Dennis Hoegh resigned from his post. Hoegh was the commodore for only seven months and said he stood by his beliefs the club needed to alter its image.

Daily Press file photo

At left, the Gladstone Yacht Club is shown in 1984. It was a difficult period for the club, which was down in members — something then-Commodore Harvey Rasmussen said he believed was due to high unemployment — and had experienced a shift in membership. A year prior, a group of women petitioned to equal access to the club, challenging the 50-year standing policy of men-only membership. Because the club is located on city-owned land and had a liquor license from the state, Attorney General Frank Kelley thought the policy might have been a civil rights violation. In the wake of the controversy, which also involved a dispute on how a vote of the members was taken on the issue, Commodore Dennis Hoegh resigned from his post. Hoegh was the commodore for only seven months and said he stood by his beliefs the club needed to alter its image.