Beautiful Big Bass Lake

Another few months and this is what Big Bass Lake will look like again. Gone will be the ice and snow only to be refreshed by a lake chock full of fish and fun. Swimmers and skiers will abound on the lake and just about every kind of boat will find some pleasure there.

How is the fishing on the lake these days? My FAVORITE TIMES ON BIG BASS LAKE WERE THE DAYS BETWEEN lABOR AND MEMORIAL dAYS WHEN THE LAKE WASN’T SO CROWDED. It was much more peaceful at those times. Let us know about your favorite seasons on the lake by way of a comment.

How About A Bluegill Lake Regatta?by Abigail

Has anyone ever thought about a sailboat race several times around Bluegill Lake? It’s such a pretty little lake and it could become an annual event. Can you imagine all the color and beauty that would add to the lake? Well?

Dead Birch Bark is a Camper’s Friend

On a few days of rain at our property on Big Bass Lake, the Hoffman Estates Boys Club kids got to experience how to build a campfire in the rain. Now we had a canopy of trees over our campsite so the rain never really poured down yet a goodly portion still reached us. Yet on our wooded beachfront there was also a goodly assortment of birch trees that were dead. The bark of that tree burns in wet or dry weather.

Danny and Tim gathered in a lot of bark from those dead trees that served both as fire starters and fire continuers throughout one evening meal. The oily substance within the bark catches fire quite easily. It enabled the kids to enjoy a really hot meal despite the inclement weather.

The boys were never allowed to peal any bark off live birch trees. Even so it seemed that our wooded beachfront had more dying birch trees than live ones that year. On our full seven day trip we only needed birch bark twice. And, it wasn’t used unless we just had to have it. The kids were surprised to learn that they could still enjoy a hot meal even in the rain which sure beat the expectations of cold beans out of a can.

What a Catch and In a Fantastic Location!

This picture was taken just below the Hamlin Dam in the Ludington State Park. It is one of the best photographs I have ever seen. Can you imagine the wet spray coming off those falls to contend with and then the majesty of that catch is breathtaking. For a brief moment it appears to be a flying fish trying to climb right back up those falls to escape the snag.

One has to wonder how many fish our fisherman friend bagged that day? Most fisherman fish off a platform just below the falls but this guy really got directly into the action. Around his legs appears to be a whirlpool forming. The view from just above that picture must have been great too for onlookers on the narrow path across those falls.

Noreika Tie to Camp Martin Johnson

This week I found out a few things that I didn’t know about Camp Martin Johnson. First, an old friend, Corrie, sent me this picture of a postcard of the camp. Corrie is on my grandmother’s side of the family, that being Barbara Noreika.

The other thing I found out when I recently read my Aunt Beth (Norris) obituary and noticed that in her early life she had volunteered at Camp Martin Johnson. Since our family farm was on the southwest corner of Big Bass Lake and CMJ on the Northeast side of the lake that would have made for easy travel. I can almost see my aunt rowing back and forth each day.

Thus the Norris/Noreika family does have one certain tie to Camp Martin Johnson.

We Are Loyal to You….Wabash High

We are loyal to you….Wabash High. I am also grateful for my best friend for four fantastic years of friendship. His name Keith Bishop. And the great talented teachers that we had. Mrs Vandergrift who gave me a kick start as she felt I had a great writing career ahead. Mrs Jones the incomparable English teacher who made us play London Bridge In senior English.

Devere Fair who led us to a 9-1 football record in our senior year. Herb Harrah who said it was almost impossible not to spell his last name right. Mrs. Squires with the Orange and the Black. Miss Hipskind senior English where I was when we learned President Kennedy had been shot. Mr. Martin and his typing class. And poor Mr Spencer who had a difficult first year.

And then we were out on our own. Taking with us the best that our teachers could equip us with for what was ahead. I am thankful for these teachers and what they provided me with over the years. Thank you teachers of Wabash High. You’re all exceptional teachers.