By Harry Gatjens

Many people know Thayer Cueter as director of the Just Frogs Toads Too Amphibian Center on the Edmonds Waterfront. But this weekend, Cueter is hopping between her “Frog Lady” obligations and her love of unlimited hydroplanes.

It turns out that Cueter’s family has had a longstanding relationship with hydroplanes, starting with the Miss US hydroplanes back in Detroit in the 1960s and 1970s. Through her family, she met Bernie Little, owner of the Miss Budweiser, and he offered her a job doing promotional work for Budweiser’s racing efforts.

She drove Little’s Budweiser Dry turbine-powered offshore boat, which was used to give members of the media “a feel” of what it was like to go over 100 mph on the water. She did this for several years in the early 1990s until Budweiser discontinued the program.

Cueter then moved on to handle promotion and sponsorship for a number of different teams for the next 15 years. She worked with such boats as the Tide, Lumar Window Film and others, and also assisted Bill Wurster and his U-8 based in Ballard.

When Wurster retired, Cueter thought she could retire too. However, she was unable to shake the racing bug and began working with race sites on promotion and special event coordination. She also began to help Jerry and Greg Hopp with their unlimited light race team.

During this weekend’s Seafair hydroplane race, Cueter is focused on event coordination and still assists the Hopps on their Grand Prix hydroplanes — the automotive-powered hydroplanes that will race in conjunction with the unlimited teams this weekend. The Hopps currently are in first and second place in the season standings. Watch for their two big yellow boats this weekend.