The Back Porch of the Old Cabin

Our old cabin had a newer section and this was part of it, that being the screened in porch. This new section also had a bathroom and shower, living room, and a bedroom. This screened in porch faced Big Bass Lake. I’m sure this new section, at the time, was a great relief to my grandmother especially in lieu of the fact that it had basically put the outhouse out of business. No more walks in the cold weather to that edifice.

The cabin also had a front porch and a kitchen plus an upstairs bedroom. The upstairs covered the full length of the cabin with a completely new section. This is what my grandparents and their four children called home.

In the summer, the gray cottage also might have gotten some use by the children. It was less than a stone’s throw from the front of the cabin and almost at the top of the hill that led to Big Bass Lake.

If you look closely enough, in the background to the right, you can make out the old barn. When this picture was taken, our newer cottage was about to be moved into and then this dear old home was to be razed.

Is This The Big Bass Lake Version of Playstation on the Water?

It would seem that Big Bass Lake is moving into another arena with the advent of these things. Whatever happened to those simple rafts or the occasional slide around the lake? I remember the days of inner tubes and rope swings on the lake. But now the lake is beginning to showcase these extravagent playstations that have diving boards on the top platform and slides forming at the second level.

Oh for those simpler times! Now I’m not begrudging those that can afford such things their right to do so, but why not a simple raft to springboard off of? With these new versons, you could almost bungy jump off the top of those things.

In the 1950′s and 60′s no such things were found on Big Bass Lake. Our property waterfront used inner tubes and at times rope swings for our boys club camping trips. Or we oveturned our metal rowboat and leaped off the bottom which was then on top of the water.

I suppose change was inevitable on Big Bass Lake but I long for those more simple times. Those, sad to say, have melted into the eons of time giving place to these new versions of fun at Big Bass Lake.

Living on the Banks of the Little Manistee River

Wow!  If my wife Darlene would let me, I would buy a parcel of land on the Little Manistee River and almost be in heaven!  Fishing year round would become prt of my daily life as I would only have to go out my back door to cast in a line.  Or I could put in my canoe anytime and move about this marvelous river.  And, in te good old summetime, we could both refresh ourselves in the icy waters of this river.

Darlene could paint pictures of this area to her hearts content without ever having to travel about to do the same thing now.  But she loves her large garden where we live now just outside Scottville, Michigan.  She would hate to leave that so for now I can dream about owning a place on that river.  The river looks a little high today as it must have raied a lot. 

Can you imagine the salmon running this stream at that time of the year?  Makes my mouth water!  Maybe, just maybe, some day this will become a reality.  Maybe?

Daytime Visit to the Haunted Island

On one of our trips to our property on Big Bass Lake the kids actually requested a daytime trip to the Haunted Island. Of course that was done in the early morning hours since lake traffic was less at that time. As events would have it there was a low fog that morning and the air was brisk so the kids put on wind breakers.

Big Bass Lake was a little choppy that morning and as we arrived at the rickety pier the fog got thicker. Talk about an errie atmosphere. As the boys climbed the short hill they could hardly see one another even though none were more than five feet apart. The fog had gotten almost to pea soup consistency.

When the boys entered the opening where they could make out the haunted house, they couldn’t. They could only make out its form. But as we approached it the house moved out of its errie form and appeared as it always has. The boys took their time exploring the full exterior of the home peering through the glassless windows and for the first time some noticed the stairwell that led to the second floor.

Even with the fog they could see far more than they could at night. Some of the boys glanced at the towering trees that surrounded the house. I asked them how they would like living out here all alone and most said it wouldn’t be bad- Until night fell that is.

Having satisfied their curiousity for the moment, they asked to return to our wooded beach and halfway back across the lake, the fog mysteriously lifted giving way to the sunshine above. As we docked at our beach, even the lake ceased its choppiness and became smooth as silk. All in all, not a bad daytime trip to the Haunted Island as even then it still had its mysterious effects on the boys.

The Union League Camp Pool

I never enjoyed swimming in League Lake at the Union League Resident Camp in Salem, Wisconsin. Boating it I enjoyed greatly but swimming, no. However within three feet of the lake was a swimming pool which was greatly used by all. The cool clean water was in stark contrast to the algae laiden League Lake.

The pool was no more than four feet deep but available for lap swimming or games such as you see in our photograph above. The pool was used for swimming lessons as was popular among both campers and counselors alike. My kids enjoyed the pool for keep away games and just splashing one another.

Whenever I swam in League Lake I felt like I needed a shower afterwards but not so with the pool. Being a relatively small lake the algae problem has grown over the years. The only way to battle it is with chemicals. Today I would think the pool is still an asset to the camp along with the newer tennis courts.

Treva McCarthy

This is a picture of my mother when she was a student at Libertyvlle High School in Illinois. She was described in her yearbook as one that was very enthusiastic and full of pep and stuff. Her maiden name was McCarthy and not much is known of my mother’s side of the family as they disowned her when she departed from the Roman Catholic faith. One of her family lived with us for a time in both Forest Park, Illinois, and then in Wabash, Indiana. She was Dorothy Lemming and she is buried in Wabash.

My nephew, Bob Marks, is now doing research on the McCarthy family and will be sharing that with me soon and then I will present it here. My older sister is named after my mother. Bob did a fine job in providing us with the Noreika / Norris family tree and will soon have for us the McCarthy / Norris tree.

McCarthy Creek by Dawn

I believe I have found a picture of the elusive McCarty Creek in Michigan and for a story on this area I have copied a post by Dawn over at Memories of Michigan (Blogroll) which I highly encourage you visiting from time to time to read her posts on her memories of Michigan. Here is her post on McCarty Creek.

McCarty Creek ran through Brookwood. It was a pure, spring fed stream with frigidly cold rushing water. That water served many purposes for the Bartlett clan. It provided pure, spring fed, sand filtered drinking water that was unbelievably delicious. I have never enjoyed any water better- and I love water! I have tried many bottled and purified waters as well as tap waters. When served up in those tall, cold, vintage anodized aluminum glasses water from the creek would quench your thirst like nothing else. I remember that the glasses of water were so cold the glasses would immediately bead up in sweat. In fact, the water was so unusual, so beloved and so enjoyable, we filled 5 gallon containers to take home with us between trips. It never lasted until the next weekend!

McCarty Creek was gorgeous in the early hours of the dawn when you watched out the back porch windows and saw trout leaping after bugs and mink playing in the creek. What a wonderfully picturesque view!

We fished in the creek. I think all of us caught our first trout there. And across the creek, a short way into the Kragness property (shhhhhh! he never caught us there!) there was a wonderful little area where the creek pooled creating a quiet pond in a lush wooded setting. It was a great place to fish! The banks were covered in places with deep green, soft moss making it very comfortable to settle down and await a nibble on your hook!

Another use for McCarty Creek was as our refrigerator. We didn’t fire up the propane fridge while visiting, there was no need. If an item was perishable it would be put in a container and floated in the creek in a mesh potato sack. That creek kept everything fresh and safe to eat. It also housed our milk, any soda and the beer for the grown-ups. All of it rose dripping from the creek at the perfect temperature.
Very occasionally on a very warm day you might find us dabbling our feet into the creek- but you cooled off very quickly- or froze your feet! Those who were not weak of heart were sometimes found wading in the frigid water. Brrrr!

Cooking Fires

Using Trail Pak Foods made cooking rather easy except for macaroni and cheese. If the water consistency wasn’t just right it made for a real difficult frying pan cleaning that night. Yet macaroni and cheese was one of the boys favorites so we had it at least three times per trip. Beef Straganof was another of their favorites but the trail pak mix of dried fruits and nuts was vital on all hikes. It gave the boys real quick energy food and was also quite popular.

Spagetti with meat sauce was probably the worst trail pak food we tried. Now we did cook more than with trail pak and beef stew was a favorite, even at breakfast, some mornings if we chose not to have trail pak pancake mix or eggs. Beef stew was a real quick in and out meal.

Pancakes, on the other hand, required the use of both of our firepits in that the syrup had to be cooked on the second firepit. Sometimes we had picked some berries the day before and just added sugar to them but most boys liked hot syrup the best which required cooking the berries and sugar together. The Hoffman Estates Boys Club kids really enjoyed pancakes probably more than any other club.

When the kids fished we always had some fish to add as a second course and that gave the kids good protein. By the way, we used trail pak foods for beverages too which were largely flavored juices fortified with vitamin C. On cool nights we had hot chocolate by way of Ovaltine.

The boys never went hungry but were always ready for some real food when we got to Ludington and in those days the A & W was still operational so they got burgers and fries along with a cold mug of their root beer. After an afternoon of swimming in Lake Michigan that food tasted better than ever.

Yes, food and good meals were always readily available on all our trips up to Big Bass Lake. Snacks always came from the Big Bass Lake store but they were only consumed if meals were taken in first.

Camping in Our Woods

For two nights, on one trip with the boys club, we moved one tent from our wooded beach into the main section of our forest. I wanted to give the boys an opportunity for deep woods camping. For those two days we still took our meals on the wooded beach but the remainder of our activities took place in our forest. On this trip from the Marion Boys Club I had another adult supervisor who stayed with one group of boys on the wooded beach while I took volunteers into the forest.

Our activities there were chopping wood for night time fires, digging our own firepit, hiking, and woodlore. We took a daily dip in Big Bass Lake along with the other group but then retreated to the deep woods. Each night of the two we had a nightly campfire and did roast marshmallows as the treat for the night but that was as far as we did with any type of cooking.

The boys actually found their sleep more peaceful in the forest than on the beach. One night the wind was rather brisk and the boys said they heard the trees talking by way of windy whispers which helped them drop off to sleep even faster. The brief experience in the forest was a success and I often wonder why I didn’t repeat this with other trips to our property. I suppose having a second adult along contributed to the success of this trip. Most times I went with the boys alone.

Ode to Camp Martin Johnson

Camp Martin Johnson, at present, lies in the hearts of its former campers because the camp itself is no more. I can relate to that as our property on the southwest portion of Big Bass Lake has also been sold and only the memories remain. One of my favorite movies was John Wayne’s the “Alamo” and some words from the song, “The 13 Days of Glory” are to be found next but with a CMJ flavor.

“In the Northern part of Michigan, on the shores of Big Bass Lake, There’s a camp all in ruin that the weeds have overgrown. You may look in vain for campers and you’ll never see a one, But sometime between the setting and the rising of the sun you can hear a ghostly bugle as the campers go marching by and recap all your memories as you glance into the sky. For those many collective of campers are no more on those shores of Big Bass Lake, taken over by modern cottages, Still those memories I’ll not forsake!”

I can imagine former CMJ campers going through Heritage Bay Development which was once their beloved camp and seeing ghostly images of those yesteryear days of glory with a tear in their eyes. For that is how I would remember our former property if I were ever to return there. Oh how those memories would flow on our shores and woods of our former property on Big Bass Lake and the countless numbers of camping trips taken there.

Both our property and Camp Martin Johnson yielded their way to supposed progress. Yet the memories and pictures live on at both. And they always will!

Dangerous Jogging

So, what’s wrong with this picture? This youngster is jogging on a partially iced over lake and by himsef, no less. What if he were to fall through? There would be no one around to help him out. The viable danger this kid is putting himself in is a no brainer. If a lake is only partially covered in ice, do your jogging on the shoreline.

This youngster is asking for trouble. I would caution all parents to warn their children of the dangers such as this. Use this kid as your example of what NOT to do. Even at Lake Michigan I opt to jog on the shore over that of risking my life out there on the ice.

This was taken at a Lake County lake by someone that was obviously his friend but you can see where his friend would be standing in contrast to where the kid is jogging. Not even close to him! A picture is worth a thousand words and all of the words here would be dumb!

My Dad (Adam Norris) and Aunt Mary Norris

Here is a picture of my dad and Aunt Mary, who was my dad’s late brother’s wife. His name was Joe Norris. They are pictured in the old house kitchen which just happened to be my favorite room of all time. That is where my grandmother did all her cooking and she was some cook. That is one kitchen that the Smithsonian should have gotten their hands on.

Just out the door there was a short hallway that I always had to duck going through that led to the outside. I remember the floor on the entry way not being too secure. Once outside the water pump was just to the right of the door almost facing the kitchen window and then just beyond that was the grainery and the old cottage.

Just across the stony driveway was the icehouse, so called because of the big freezer within that housed all kinds of great meats and vegetables. And just past that was the chicken yard.

My dad never seemed to like coming back to the farm much as those days must have been painful to him. He might have had a rough childhood growing up there. It was on this trip that was the only time I ever met my two cousins, Craig and Mark. Since they lived in Seattle and us in Indiana that was a long way to go thus Michigan was the ideal meeting place, although still a long trip for Uncle Joe and Aunt Mary.

Cannonballs at Big Bass Lake

Here three boys from the Salesian Boys Club of Columbus, Ohio, were about to hit the drink at Big Bass Lake. On this particular trip we had a float put out into the lake off our wooded beachfront and the kids were leaping off of it right and left during any swimming session. This is the trip where it largely rained for the majority of the seven day trip only letting up on the next to last day.

The kids really had a blast on this particular trip as they agreed not to let the weather detour them from having a great time. The only time swimming was banned was if there was any lightning in the area. That only happened at night once on that trip but well after the kids had fallen asleep. Night hikes were limited on that trip to the downpours that happened three times in the overnight hours.

I think this trip we spent more time in the general Big Bass Lake area than any other trip there. The boys never seemed to tire of swimming. And, why not, for what better lake is there for swimming than Big Bass Lake?

Big Bass Lake Campground Is Old Peacock Resort

This is one of the two resorts on Big Bass Lake and it is now known as The Big Bass Lake Campground. During the early 50′s and 60′s it was known as Peacock Resort. The key is that both are one fourth mile from the Big Bass Lake Public Access.

Now the Big Bass Lake Campground is much improved from the smaller cottages that made up Peacock Resort. This facility has water, electric, dump station, restrooms, showers, and a laundry. It’s beach directly faces the south end of Haunted Island.

From the campground this is the view looking North on Big Bass Lake between the Haunted Island and Big Island. The other campground on the lake is known as Grant’s Resort but I have found no pictures of that facility and it is located on the North side of Big Bass Lake.

A Time on our Old Pier When I Almost Needed a Doc

In the early 1990′s, I was up to the family farm with my girl friend, Mary Anne, and we were planning to take a boat ride on Big Bass Lake. She stayed at the cottage talking with my Aunt Beth, Uncle Willie, and Aunt Barbara while I went down to get the boat ready. Well, I stepped onto the old pier and went right through the rotten boards and found myself stuck for a time. In a previous post, I noted the dangers for those that do not pull their piers in for the winter. I yelled up to the cottage but no one heard.

Fortunately for me I was not in a bathing suit or else my leg would have been worse than it was. I was wearing thick sweats and they took most of the damage. However, the mosquitoes were getting bad and I tried every which way to get out with no success. After what seemed like an eternity, about 15 minutes, I managed to free myself and hobble back up to the cottage to get some first aid.

The others had gotten lost in conversation and forgot all about me. It’s nice to know that you’ve been missed. Anyway after a brief period of first aid, our boat ride went on as scheduled and more on that in another post.

By the way, our cottage is atop a rather steep hill with a great overlook of the lake. The one blind spot is, well, you guessed it, the pier.

Septic System Nightmare

In the 1970′s, all our boys club trips used water directly from Big Bass Lake along with water purification tablets.  Today that would be impossible what with all the gasoline and oil in the water from the multitude of speedboats and other craft on the water.  Add to that the chemicals that leech into the lake from the many fancy lawns that now come down to the waterfront of the lake and you have a real witches brew.  However, what about the septic systems that each of these mansions have to utilize? 

Our property was loathe to continually find new places to collect the waste products from our restroom facilities and this has to be increased in the present era to the point of a real dilemma.  Is there any septic waste finding its way into the lake?  At least this particular mansion has enough windows on hand to observe the destruction of the once fresh waters of Big Bass Lake. 

Can it get any worse at Big Bass Lake?  I shudder to think!

The Club 37 Restaurant

About seven miles from Big Bass Lake enroute to Baldwin, Michigan, is the Club 37 Restaurant which provides the diner with a touch of elegance in the backwoods. They serve steaks, fish, and an excellent potato soup. The atmosphere is cozy and the conversation revolves around the various lakes and woods that surrounds it.

During the winter months snowmobiles are often found in its parking lot. It is located right on Michigan 37 just before one turns off right to Baldwin. For families that like to dine together in quality fashion the Club 37 would be for you.

The food is well above average and you just have to visit them to learn more about what a fine job they do making you the diner fell welcome and well fed.

The Storm of 2008- Part Three

In this, my last in my series of the Storm of 2008, I would like to feature two pictures from Ludington, Michigan, and this first one shows you what a tree looks like in the middle of a crevice. Washed out roads gobble up everything in sight including trees! That just made fixing them all the harder. I sometimes wonder just how many roads had to be fixed between Ludington and Manistee, and I’m not just talking about city streets and highways either as there are a lot of backroads in this area that had gapping holes in them as well.

Here is an aerial photograph of Lincoln Street and another hole in the road.

You know, this is probably how Michgan found all those holes in the road, sending up either planes or helicopters to find them all. County roads would be almost impossible to cover except by air. I know Mike and I found one knew Free Soil on a county dirt road that we had to detour around. Those that traveled about on June 8 during that storm, especially at night, did so at their own peril.

How’d you like to come up against this hole in the road at midnight during that storm? You’d better hope that your driving skills were up to the A-Team in order to hurtle that chasm. Hope you liked the photographs in this brief series??

The Storm of 2008- Part Two

This is a road near Free Soil and can you imagine coming onto this break in the road at night? You’d better make like the A-Team and get ready for a running start to jimp it or you’ll wind up like this car near Ludington-

This car didn’t make the leap of faith and wound up at the bottom of the hole. Can you imagine the sheer horror of driving into nothingness for those precious few seconds? Better have your seat belt working that morning! I wonder if the driver was able to walk away from that?

In this photograph, the road on US 31 near Manistee just washed away due to the heavy rain of June 8. In fact it caused a 72 mile detour on a road that usually took only twenty miles to bridge the distance between Scottville and Manistee.

The temporary detour lasted for about two to three weeks because this was not the only portion of US 31 that washed away that weekend. The Michigan Department of Transportation was kept busy for weeks repairing road or fixing those gaping holes in roadways throughout the area.

Tomorrow, I will bring this series to a close with some pictures of what the Ludington area itself looked like after this storm.

The Storm of 2008- Part One

The June storm of 2008 was a might one indeed. Two of my pictures here are of US 31 just outside of Free Soil and about seven miles from Manistee, Michigan. A Manistee Sheriff vehicle is guarding the area where water is running over US 31. Or this could be the Manistee version of a car wash where you need to provide your own soap and wax. Just make sure your windows are rolled up first.

I have another picture of the road leading to the Lake Michigan Recreational Area and as you can well see it is flooded over. This road is in close proximity to my first two pictures of US 31 as they are only about four miles apart. Many campers at the Recreational Area were trapped by these flooded roads as the deluge dropped nearly seven inches of rain that evening.

I will have more in Part Two tomorrow.

The Only Time My Sister Was Taller Than Me

Now being six foot ten inches, this was the only picture that I can recall where my sister was taller than me. Yes, this little towheaded little boy has now stretched himself out to be me. The tree in the background can be seen elsewhere on our photo page and it appears as if it were not even a day older. Trees are like that, you know. They don’t show age as our human bodies do.

In height I passed the majority of my family by the seventh grade. By the time I left for college, I was at my full growth. It is widely reported that our family milk man cried when I went away because he lost half his business at our house. Yes, milk DOES do the body good.

I can’t remember myself at this height much but I do remember meeting my grandfather at this one and only time when I was that small.  Even though I couldn’t understand him much, as he spoke broken English accented by heavy Lithuanian, I know he loved me as the smile on his face was more than showing. 

Maybe I should have remembered more at this age but unfortunately that is not the case.  At least this memory is fresh.

Three Possibilities

There are three possibilities as to what you are observing might be. The first, and most logical, is the easy choice, that being storm clouds approaching land. But, if you use your imagination, it might also be one large jetliner approaching a landing pattern or an eagle in flight. The mind can alter our perceptions and that is for sure. I find this cloud bank full of possibilities.

If a jetliner, you can amost visualize the pilot’s compartment up front.  Or could that be the enormous leering eye of an eagle?  I find occasions such as this at Lake Michigan quite intriguing as there is always something interesting going on there, especially in times of an approaching storm.  Perhaps your mind has also conjured up something altogether different than what I have laid out for you. 

Perhaps, the possibilities of interpretation are endless here to the iniquisite mind.  Then again, the more logical answer would be just another storm cloud approaching the shoreline.  Mr. Spock uses logic but I prefer the more inventive mind.  What say you?

The Big Bass Lake Store Grass Stairs

The Marion Boys Club largely made all their trips to the Big Bass Lake Store by rowboat for any extra supplies we needed at our wooded beachfront campsite. They also liked the store for an occassional snack or postcards. These were the steps leading up from the pier to the store.

There were also “dugout” wooded seats embedded in the hillside where one could relax with their snack or soft drink until everyone was ready to head back to camp. Grandma’s Hat, the tiny island, was in full view out north into the lake. The island was just to the right of where we turned west and under the bridge that led to the Big Island.

For some reason, Hostess Snowballs was a big favorite of the Marion Boys Club kids on any trip. We usually took two boats over to the store always keeping close one to the other in the event of any emergency. All the kids had life jackets on for added protection.

Our trips to the store were usually in early morning just after breakfast. The lake was fairly quiet at those times. The boys always looked forward to that store for their needs including a comic book or two. It was their personal oasis from their camping experiences that brought them a taste of a return to normalcy. Even so, they were always ready to head back to camp for whatever activities and side trips awaited them there.