BRP’s Evinrude brand dedicated a memorial to the legacy of Ole Evinrude at a ceremony on Thursday in Wisconsin.
The event included the unveiling of a plaque to be placed on a bridge over Okauchee Lake in Oconomowoc, Wis.
“Ole Evinrude not only invented the outboard engine on Okauchee Lake in 1909; he invented an industry that we still cherish today,”Evinrude global director of marketing and strategic planning Christopher Berg said in a statement.
“This was his home, the place which fueled his spirit of innovation and the birthplace of the Evinrude brand, which continues to thrive over a century later. We are dedicating this memorial so that the world will remember his invention and the significant impact it has had on all of us.”
During a romantic picnic on an island of Okauchee Lake in 1906, Bess Cary asked Evinrude, her fiancé, for ice cream. While fetching her ice cream on that hot summer day, he realized that there had to be a better, faster way to get across the water and make his delivery — an outboard engine.
During the next several years he perfected his design and released the world’s first outboard engine in 1909.
