I am excited to tell you all that research for the Kennisis Lake history book project is going really well. Many cottagers have shared old photos and stories, each one is priceless, and I am extremely grateful for everyone’s input. For those of you on social media, we now have a Kennisis Lake History Book Facebook page, if you haven’t already joined – please do!
Cottage memories, such as the ones below, are exactly what will make our lake history book a success. It is never too late to send in your story and remember that everyone has a story whether you have been on the lake for 50 years or 5 days. (email [email protected]) Enjoy the following snippets and stay tuned for more updates.
Long-time cottager, Nancy Veinot ‘s family have kept a daily logbook of cottage life and she has been sharing a few of her memories. Here is something she shared about the 1995 tornado,
“ Life was different at Kennisis in 1995 than it is now. We didn’t have computer services and our phone was still a party line. TV service was limited, we had an old aerial that brought in a couple of stations, maybe. The same was true with the radio. The week of July 6th we had a new TV aerial installed and we now got 4 stations. Little did we know that in a short time we wouldn’t get any stations, thanks to the tornado.”
Tammy Everitt has shared a lovely story of when her family owned the marina, the following is a wee excerpt
“Marg and Wilf Everitt first fell in love with Kennisis Lake when they stayed at Windermere Cottages back in the summer of 1960. Their adventure was just beginning when they sold their home in Toronto and moved north. Kennisis was a very different place back in August 1966 when the Everitt’s first took possession of the Marina. There were only one or two other permanent residents on the lake. Without running water, that first winter, they cut holes in the ice and drew from the lake. Every night, their son Larry would have this chore and then an early morning trek to the old mill where the bus would drop off the mill workers and take him and his sister to school. Several times a day the mill whistle would blow, and in the summer, it marked the time for the cottagers who had happily left their watches in the city.”
Susan Marlow shared this little bit of childhood fun from back in the days of summer fun with cottage friends…
“A favourite adventure was to white water raft with a life jacket off the old dam and down Red Pine river. We also used to climb down the dam front and go behind the water under the dam and then poke our arm out when we knew people were looking over the dam. Many a ripped bathing suit doing that jump off the dam to raft down the river.”
Cottager Rick Good wrote of how his family ended up on Kennisis-
“My parents had been Scout leaders in Haliburton in the early 50’s and loved the area. When they heard about Kennisis, my Father dropped his golf membership in Toronto for a new adventure. My Mother was the driving force, she picked the lot and the cottage design. Her brother, my Uncle, bought the lot next door and is still there.”
For Grif and Linda Spears the night of the Tornado was their first night at their cottage – talk about a shocking welcome to the lake!
“The storm of ’95 was our first night in the cottage – some greeting! Neighbours walked by on the road all that day and welcomed us to Kennisis. My response was – “This has to be the worst it can get. From here on things can only get better.”
Twenty-five years later we realize that we could not have made a better choice than Kennisis. It has been a wonderful gathering place for family and friends all these years. We are now in our 6th cottage guest book proving that we made the right decision.
Peter Barnes has shared this little sibling rivalry tale …
“My parents worked slavishly at clearing the lot. There was so much debris that one day my little sister got lost behind a pile of it, not fifty feet away. Next was the beach area, which was covered in all sizes of rocks that came to be removed and artfully stacked or placed in patios. More difficult yet was the removal of a half dozen huge tree stumps left behind when lake levels had been raised. We didn’t realize at that time that this left the waterfront prone to erosion. Nevertheless, we kids loved our little beach. I remember how we would create a mini community on it. Currency was in the form of pinecones. I became rich running a nursery of mini trees and bushes and became even wealthier when they would wilt and have to be replaced. My sister ended up with the job of making tiny clotheslines from tree roots and twigs, which was difficult to do and didn’t bring her much income. She still reminds me of how unfairly she was done by this whenever we reminisce.”
Peter Smith shared this funny story about heading over to the landfill site to watch the bears
“One hot, late, moonlit summer Saturday night, top down on our convertible packed with a bunch of youth friends (no seat belts back then of course) we were on our way back to the cottage from Medly’s dance hall and swung into the dump for a bear sighting.
I shut off the car lights to let our eyes get adjusted to the moonlit night. I had my elbow out of the open window drivers’ side–remember the top was down. My elbow all of a sudden felt warm and wet. I asked friends in the back seat to stop fooling around and they said, we didn’t do anything. I turned my neck slowly around looking back and was staring eye to eye inches away from a huge bear who was walking beside the car. He/she decided to give my elbow a friendly lick. I thought holy sh—t, am I going to lose my arm!”
Doug Lenert sent in these photo; bet you can smell the red life jackets from here! Ah the good old days of child labour and how about his entry for the regatta boat parade!!
