Pro-Trump boat parade trend comes to Owasco Lake – Auburn Citizen

The Trump Flotilla on Owasco Lake, the latest in a series of similar events on lakes in the central New York and Finger Lakes regions and around the country, featured dozens of boats. While some moved along the lake and waterways inside Emerson Park, most of the boats and the people on them congregated largely in one spot by Deauville Island.

The voices of joyous boaters could be heard as it appeared some people went from boat to boat. Several people of various ages showed their support on dry land as well, with Trump-themed hats, shirts and flags and American flags. A person in a rubber Trump mask interacted with visitors.

Brothers Nick and Louis Sbelgio said they felt they had long been a part of the “silent majority” of people who support Trump but hadn’t voiced their opinion publicly. Nick said they decided to change that by coming to Saturday’s event, but most of the boats had dispersed and went to different parts of the lake by the time the Sbelgios arrived.

Nick carried an American flag while wearing a shirt that featured President Abraham Lincoln carrying an American flag while riding a Tyrannosaurus rex with the word “AMERICA” underneath. Louis had a “TRUMP 2020” flag.

“As far as I’m concerned I feel like people on the left, not even people on the left, really, just people that disagree with Trump, it’s almost as if they can say whatever, wherever, whenever, and there’s not really a problem with it,” Nick said. “But then it’s like if I say something about Trump then I get looks and stuff like that.”

Saying he was aware of other similar boating events, Nick said he believed one reason why people had taken to their boats to support Trump was the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing.

Tom Lipiska and Paul Glowacki were among those who were present earlier in the event. They weren’t boating but wanted to show their support. Lipiska said he attended a similar event on Seneca Lake a couple weeks ago and planned to attend another out on Cayuga Lake next week. They both said they felt more people would have been at the event Saturday if the weather had been nicer.

“People with boats like Trump, apparently,” Lipiska said.

“People with boats know how to enjoy themselves,” Glowacki added.

They said they both felt boating was better than rioting that has been occurring in some American cities in recent months amid social justice protests.

Both felt it was important to publicly show their support. Lipiska added that he knew many of the people out on the boats Saturday, adding they are “hard working, tax-paying people.”

Sandy Hopkins, who came to the event with a bright red Trump-themed shirt and hat, said she was happy to see people out for Trump. She said she wished there would have been more people, but she said she supports the “silent majority” of voters who she felt came to vote for Trump in 2016.

“I’m on the Trump train and we’re chugging ahead,” Hopkins said