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Big Bass Lake, Ludington, Scottville, Recipes, Lake County, Boys Clubs, Camps Union League and Mishawaka, and Michigan plus Link at top of page for Big Bass Lake Network.
On our boys club trips to our family property in Michigan it was also fun to erect tents. Erecting a new tent was always the hardest as instructions always tend to be a tad too detailed. Once any given tent was erected the second and third times they were put up went all the faster. Our tents were always stored at the end of any given trip in our grainery for use the following summer. But over the course of time, some had to be replaced.
One year I brought up a dining tent for times of rain or heavy mosquitoes. It was very little canvas and almost all a meshed window. The kids also used it as a sort of lounge because it caught the winds nicely off of Big Bass Lake and served them well for rest times.
On most trips two tents were erected and a couple of times three. Two were fairly close together and the two times a third tent was put up it was off about thirty yards from the other two. The reason why was due to the area not having enough room.
On a very stormy night one summer my grandmother came all the way from her house (about a half mile away) in that storm to demand that for that night we all move to the guest cottage. She was concerned about our metal rods on the tents attracting lightning. So eight boys and I shared that two room guest cottage for that night. It also had a screened in porch that was put to use.
After a week in a tent civilized living sure looks good again. Still, I highly recommend tent camping. Try it sometime.
Most people probably don’t realize that there was a second camp on Big Bass Lake, which at the time of that camp, was known as Lake Na-Tah-ki (By an act of Legislature in 1907). Dr. Frederica Baker purchased land from William P. Jones and she named her cottage Okwa Lodge (Welcome). She came up with the idea to create a camp for little girls from both families she knew and also from clients she had as a obstetrician.
She was the all in all at that camp. They traveled to that camp on the Goodrich Steamship Line across Lake Michigan from Chicago to Muskegon. They then took the Pere Marquete train to Peacock where they were met by Anton Matson with his horse and buggy. Quite a trip! It seemed that Anton then owned the Lakeview Resort and many of the campers had their meals either there or at the Old Homestead Resort.
The last time Dr. Baker brought the children up to Okwa Lodge, she collapsed from the intense heat, on the Chicago pier, but she managed to get her charges up to the camp where she soon succumbed to her final illness.
Dr. Baker is buried in Lakeview Cemetary in a plot surrounded by an iron fence (1866-1917). The inscription on the headstone reads: Frederica R. Baker, August 12, 1866 – August 7th, 1917, Physician – Friend”. In truth this was the first camp on Big Bass Lake. One has to wonder if Martin Johnson was inspired to start his own camp from Dr. Baker.
Here is our third recipe for Pasti. Enjoy!
DOUGH:
5 1/2 c. water
1/4 c. salt
2 1/2 c. Crisco lard
6 1/4 lb. flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
FILLING:
14 c. potatoes, diced
6 c. (3 lbs.) hamburger
2 c. onions, diced
2 1/2 tbsp. salt
4 c. carrots, grated
3 c. rutabaga, cubed or grated
1 tsp. pepper
Mix together filling for pasties ahead of time and refrigerate before preparing the dough. Mix the dough ingredients and roll out on floured surface the size of small pie crust. Add appropriate amount of filling to crust and fold crust over pinching edges. The result will be a fist sized individual meat pie. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until ingredients are fully cooked.
Then try out Pasti Recipe #4
Ingredients
3 c. flour
1 c. suet, ground fine
1/4 c. lard
1 tsp. salt
12 tbsp. cold water (or more)
1 lb. beef, diced or cubed
1/2 lb. pork, diced or cubed
Potatoes
Onions
Turnips
Carrots
Butter
Blend lard into flour and salt, then add suet and work thoroughly. Add cold water and make a soft dough. Divide the dough into 8 pieces. Roll each crust into a 6-inch round. On half of the dough, build up the following ingredients: 1/2-inch layer of finely chopped potatoes, seasoned with salt and pepper; 1/2- inch layer of sliced turnip, carrot, chopped onion, beef chopped and pork, and season once more. Add piece of butter to top of ingredients. Now fold the uncovered portion of the dough over the filled portion and crimp the edges – shape of a half moon. Make 1-inch slit in the top of the dough and place prepared pasties on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour. Check while baking to make sure they don’t burn.
You might want to let us know which Pasti recipe yielded the best product for you of all four of our pasti recipe’s thus far and we still have one to go!
Hiking the Bloody Antler Trail can be adventurous. Notice how dark the trail is during the day. Can you even imagine how that same trail might be at night? Our boys club trips experienced that sandy road enroute to the grassy trail that led them just behind Bear Swamp.
From our property the trail was quite open for the first quarter mile before it moved into the heavy cover of trees. It would stay that way from what you find in the picture above through the grassy trail until we entered the Christmas Tree Farm. Pitch darkness was our constant companion. Flashlights were only used as needed as they tended to rob the vision of the kids.
On that particular trail no boy was ever more than ten feet from me as they huddled rather close together. On these hikes we once saw a deer and even a bear. The latter was from a distance at a place where there was an overlook. He seemed preoccupied with getting some honey out of a fallen tree that had become home to a nest of bees. That particular hike was during the day but the kids got some great close up’s with the binoculars.
The nightly Bloody Antler hike was looked on almost as much as the trip to the Haunted Island. Both were remembered far more than anything else on our trips to our farm.
A new friend of my wife, Darlene, has told her of a recipe for something she calls dirt cake, which I will post on at a later date. But Darlene has come up with a recipe for my favorite kind of dessert, pie, which she now calls Dirt Pie and here is her recipe-
Ingredients
1 cup cold milk
1 package Jello chocolate flavor instant pudding
3 ½cups Cool Whip whipped topping (thawed)
20 chocolate sandwich cookies, crushed
1 package graham cracker pie crust
Granola Chunks
Preparation
Use granola chunks, chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, chopped peanuts or a combination.
Pour milk into medium bowl. Add pudding mix. Beat with wire whisk until well blended, 1 to 2 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes. Fold in whipped topping. Stir 1 cup of the cookies and the “chunks” into pudding mixture. Spoon into pie crust.
Sprinkle with remaining cookies. Freeze until firm, about 4 hours.
Then get ready for some great eating. Gee, I hope Dianna isn’t jealous of this new tasty treat???
There are three ELM authors on this site and they are Dave Norris, Mike Reynolds, and Darren Crane. We welcome you to explore this website fully and enjoy the articles and pictures alike.
Dave writes on his career in Boys Clubs of America along with his memories of Big Bass Lake, Camp Mishawaka, and Union League Boys Club Camp. Mike writes on the greater Ludington/Scottville area whereas Darren posts on some Michigan articles along with Indiana posts.
Hint: There are also recipes galore here!
The Joplin Boys and Girls Club has expanded in size since I was there in 1979-81. It has two gymnasiums now with the larger one on the end. The present Executive Director recently sent me these photographs of the actual building itself. In a few days I will showcase the exterior facility behind this building.
I was amazed to find a school bus vehicle and van as part of this clubs mobile fleet as well as what appears to be a truck. I wonder what the utility bills for this club are as there is much space both to heat and light. I was present at the club for the new building phase of the front of the club which was attached to our present gymnasium at that time. The new building was enclosed but not finished. I often used the new building back door to get to our athletic field behind the club.
It would appear that the newest gym was inserted over our old blacktop area which was just outside our gymnasium. The kids of Joplin are most fortunate to have this much space to play and learn in and I’m sure the community is most proud of this facility.
Where the large parking lot now stands is where the old club once stood.
On our camping trips to our property all our meals came by way of one of two firepits. Two holes were dug about two to three feet deep and then two as close to identical logs were balanced over each pit to hold the various frying pans we utilized. Firepit fires are far better than surface fires and keep the heat of the fire largely confined to the firepit itself.
If we had two courses each was cooked at the separate firepits to double the ease of preparing the meal. The kids enjoyed that concept. One pit was close in to our actual camping area while the other was on the fringe of our campsite somewhat away from everything else. From macaroni and cheese to hot dogs with meat, our meals came right out of those great firepits. Many a marshmellow were cooked there as well but usually at the fringe firepit.
A good ash base was also built up for when I chose to cook in the ashes be it a baked potato or foil burgers. The two overhanging logs had to be continually checked for if they burned through our meal would end up in the pit too. Usually two to three sets were used over the course of one camping trip.
Stange to say but the cookers on our camp work schedule was the favorite one for the kids far exceeding clean-up or wood gathering and fire starting. If you’re camping out try firepits for the maximum in safety.
My grandmother used to call this area, Bear Swamp, but today its known as Duck Marsh. Over the course of time many natural areas have their names changed. Both the tiny island on Big Bass Lake and the second smallest island have undergone name changes over the years. Whatever the name, along the road to Free Soil, there is about a mile long area that is swampy on both sides of the road. It is errie when a fog is over it and not the place to be at night.
In my grandmother’s day bears roamed the swampland and the surrounding forest. And they are making a comeback today as numerous bear sightings have been made not only in the Duck Marsh area, but also around Big Bass Lake. When their natural food is short they go for human areas of habitation to root out their garbage.
South of this area is another protracted area of swampland that runs north of the Bloody Antler Trail and into this very location. I would hazard to say that quagmire is beneath the waters of Duck Marsh. Thus this may be an area to get pictures of but I wouldn’t want to venture into this waters by foot.
“How about a little privacy here? Just because I’m different than most of the squirrels you’ve seen doesn’t give you the reason to gawk! For all you know I was scared white over at that haunted island just off shore. Can’t a squirrel have a little lunch in peace?
Besides, I’ve got a reason to be here. Dave and his little campers are back for another summer’s frolic just below me. I get a kick out of them coming here every summer. It adds a little spice to one’s life if you know what I mean. At any rate, at night I can raid their food supply. One can’t live on nuts all their life you know?
When they’re cooking it nearly drives me crazy. The first night out they had macaroni and noodles and boy that smelled great. I’ve often wondered, though, why humans don’t climb trees as well as my kind? Those little kids do pretty well but Dave couldn’t climb a tree to save his life. Although he’s nearly as big as a tree.
What I really hate is all those sight seerers that view me as being something different. They’d have a hard time seeing me in the winter, I can tell you that. Oh, well, back to my nuts and you can take that camera off me anytime you’d like such as right about NOW!!!”
Mike Reynolds
Darren Crane
Guest Post