Day: August 12, 2019

BBL Fog


I I loved foggy mornings on Big Bass Lake. The fog would remain until the sun burns It Off. But it gives an eerie feeling to the lake. Sometimes you can’t even see the haunted island from are pier. That would make the haunted island even more scary. My dad used to like to fish on these kind of mornings. In those days bass were found throughout the lake. I don’t know why he likes to fish in the fog. Maybe it was because the fish might not know he was there. For me fishing was like bingo or watching paint dry.

Tree Maintenance


Having worked with the National Forest Service for several years one thing I understand is tree maintenance. Over the years several kinds of hardwoods have come up with diseases and that is why periodic spraying of our national forests is vital to prevent more outbreaks of diseased trees.

The easiest way is to spray by air as it saturates the entire area with chemicals that can reduce tree disease. These are akin to crop dusters that help prevent plant diseases. Since a national forests reputation, as it is, depends on trees, it is vital to have a tree maintenance program for without it, our nations forests would soon disappear or be populated with dead trees.

Already the Manistee National Forest has been thinned somewhat with new homes going in and new businesses that have taken the tree line further from various roads across the area. I am ever so happy much of the acreage is under federal protection. Trees are in a large part my business and I want them preserved so that people can enjoy them for centuries.

The Tunnel of Trees


I suppose any town could claim something similar. Mike and I were here twice in one year about ten years ago. Here you can see the greenery. Oh, this is found in Harbor Springs, Michigan.

Isn’t this remarkably beautiful. But it gets even better.

How about this one in almost full fall color? I had Mike drive through this a couple of times. I just couldn’t get enough of it. This time of our lives we lived in Scottville, Michigan, so on the second time through Mike said, We live in the Manistee National Forest and she calls this beautiful? But beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.

ULBC Camp Dining Hallf


Did this camp have good food? Absolutely great food. Breakfasts had juice, bacon and eggs, rolls that melt in your mouth, oatmeal or cold cereal, and fruit. Lunch was largely sandwiches and soup. And dinner had the best desserts. They had a pie with an icy crust filled with apples and raisins

This was the Union League Boys Club Camp in Salem, Wisconsin. And this was the dining hall. A quarter of a mile behind it was Tent City where I was a counselor. Great camp.

Change of Focus


The city causes me to lose my mind. I think it’s because all the hustle and bustle wears one out. Camping and gardening get me back in focus. Camping is like breathing in fresh air while gardening adds new life to our planet. Either way helps me to breathe easier. My focus with tasks on hand gets easier. So trying to leave your mind behind you for a day and focus on your soul.

Gold From the Forest


Disease free wood in Michigan is gold in them thar forests. I know that our woodshed was filled to the brim with wood that was ready for early and late fall and then again in early spring. No one stayed at our cottage in the winter.

Having supplies on hand is like having a lifeline in the cruel winters around Big Bass Lake. Back in the 70’s fewer than 15% stayed in that area year round with most of them heading for Florida. I think that state doubles its population in the winter.

As it was, our wood burning stove didn’t heat the whole cottage, only the living room and kitchen. You could feel some of that heat also in the restroom if the door was left open. I suppose the same could be said of one of the three bedrooms that was closest to the living room.

Given the fact that our cottage was away from the forest by a good 100 yards, the full impact of the winds pushed against it in the winter and our cottage had a lot of windows. That is why non-diseased wood was gold in them thar forests, especially for those that stayed at the lake year round!

Manistee Breakwater


Mike and I are now living in our new home just a few miles north of Manistee. I love shopping downtown as they have some really great stores. The beach is nice but the breakwater is not as far out as the one in Ludington.

A new friend and I walked the Manistee breakwater the other day and only our feet got a bit wet. I think this is my first picture of the breakwater here but I’m sure they’re be more in time. Time to head home.

Big Bass Lake Over The Years- 1970’s- 3


During the 1970’s the significant events for me at Big Bass Lake were the multiple trips I took to our family farm with Boys Clubs of America including the Marion Boys Club, Salesian Boys Club, and the Hoffman Estates Boys Club. The Marion YMCA even took one trip there using their large bus as our transport vehicle.

Our picture today is of our pointe just off our wooded beachfront. The Marion Club took the most trips to Michigan including two spring trips where we stayed in cabins off our property. The remainder of the trips for Marion were tent trips to our property. Salesian took one tent trip where it rained every day but one. Hoffman Estates had two trips, one in tents and the other in a cabin.

On every trip a midnight visit to the Haunted Island and House occurred. The Marion club on one of their trips visited Camp Martin Johnson which closed in 1976. I worked at the Marion club from 1972-74. Side trips always included trips to the Ludington State Beach, the Lake Michigan Recreational Area, and to the Pine River Bridge near Wellston.

The first campers got to meet Otto Bartlett, the owner of the Big Bass Lake store before he sold the business. The Marion kids also saw our old house before it was replaced by the newer cottage closer to Big Bass Lake. That Marion club also spent a night in the two room cottage on a stormy night where my grandmother actually walked down to our beach advising us to leave our tents for that evening.

The Hoffman Estates kids saw a wolf on their trip to a nearby cabin as part of their adventures while the Marion kids saw a bear. All the Salesian kids saw on their trip was raindrops except for one clear day. Thus the 1970’s were a time for kids to enjoy the pleasures of Big Bass Lake and the surrounding area.

Big Bass Lake Over The Years- 1960’s- 2


I remember that the biggest change in the Big Bass Lake area in the 1960’s was the paving of Big Bass Lake Road. Formerly it was a dirt road. Plus, during the 1950’s Big Bass Lake Road, just before the road to the Big Island, made a turn around a quagmire swamp by way of a large C. In the 1960’s that area was cleaned up and straightened out so that the C turn was eliminated.

As I recall the Loon Lake Roller Rink was still in operation at least until the mid 1960’s but the floor had become somewhat warped. Also a public landing was put on the southwest corner of the lake where Richard Benish’s dock once stood. Apparently he had sold that portion of his land. It makes me wonder where people used to launch their boats before the landing was put in.

Any other changes that anyone can recall that occurred in the 1960’s in this area?

ULBGC 100th Anniversary Club Design


One Of Union Leagues three boys and girls clubs has redecorated the outside of their building to celebrate 100 years of operation to the youth of Chicago. My first exposure to Boys Clubs of America was when I worked at their resident camp in Salem, Wisconsin.

I was a counselor at Tent City in the Forest. Later in 1978, my boys club in Hoffman Estates was allowed to send our kids to camp in the off season and for one two week session in the summer.

Congratulations to the staff, board members, and most importantly of all the children of the Union League organization!

Who Let This Joker on the Lake?


Holy bat crap. I guess they’ll let anyone on the lake these days. I wonder if Commissioner Gordon knows the Batmobile is on Big Bass Lake? It’s too early to find Mister Frost or the penguin around these parts. Maybe Alfred knows why they’re here? I think they’d be better off at Wayne Manor. Or has Wayne Manor moved to Big Bass Lake? Riddle me that. Now Batgirl might have made that float a little sexier. I just hope that Robin doesn’t have plans to Nest here? And where is the Caped Crusader? Maybe he was smart and stayed back in Gotham City? Stay tuned to find out, same bat Channel, same bat time.

Big Bass Lake Through The Years- 1950’s- 1


In the 1950’s, I was just a young boy when my family took me to our family farm in Michigan where my grandparents lived. In those days, Big Bass Lake Road was just a sandy byway and there was NO public landing as that area belonged to Frank Benish and his pier was located in that area.

Otto Bartlett ran the Big Bass Lake store and as a young boy I enjoyed Squirt, Big Bass Lake postcards, and comic books there. The Loon Lake Roller Rink was a special treat a couple of times each time we spent a week there in the summer.

Our farm then still had two cows and chickens. I remember my grandmother scattering seed while talking to her hens. My grandfather did not speak English well but he seemed friendly enough. He died in 1956. I remember just past the two room cottage and just above the pier on our property was an old school bus and my sisters and I often played there.

As a young boy I didn’t like the area away from the main house as black flies used to pester us, especially so walking on Noreika Road down to the beach. Then we had to walk down a hill covered with ferns and jump over a small portion of the quagmire swamp to get to the beach. Once there it wasn’t so bad.

Our driveway was quite long and I remember black flies driving me crazy there too going out to get the mail. Big Bass Lake wasn’t nearly as crowded with speed boats in those days and I remember Frank Benish providing my sisters and I a ride in his speed boat all around the lake.

On each trip there my grandmother made pasti which was a meat pie with a thick salty crust. The old cottage kiitchen was wonderful to be in as all meals were home made.

There was an old building on what I call the Haunted Island on the southwest corner that is now long gone. And, the Big Island at one time was a narrow land mass all the way to the island. In 1956 a bridge was constructed allowing boats to pass under it to save time from going all the way around the Big Island to get to the Big Bass Lake store.

From time to time I will continue this series and next time it will be the 1960’s that I cover.