Above photograph: A double birthday celebration was held last week beginning at the home of Lydia and Douglas Yoder of Islington Point and then progressing to the home of Sandy and Annabelle Wells, also of Islington Point. The occasion was the 80th birthday of Mrs. Yoder's mother, Wilann Powers (front row, center) and the 85th birthday of Sandy Wells (left of Mrs. Powers). As we experience cooler nights and shorter days, it seems that fall is in the air. However, that does not mean the end of good weather. The most pleasant weather of the year, as far as many are concerned, is still ahead of us. The only problem for me is, winter is not far behind.

The annual Les Cheneaux Antique Wooden Boat Show is over for another year and although I have heard no official reports, from observation I think it was a very successful show once again. The weather was perfect, the boats were beautiful, and there were many interesting arts and crafts being displayed at the Festival of Arts. We hope they all had a profitable day.

Many families get together during this very special weekend and the family of Joann McArdle of Coryell Island was one of them. The occasion was Joann's 75th birthday and all of her five daughters, their spouses and children, plus Joann's two-year-old greatgranddaughter from California, who is named "Coryell," was also in attendance. They celebrated Joann's birthday with cake, ice cream, and lots of guest participation in a karaoke song fest.

Lower photograph: At the Education Foundation auction fundraiser, Sue and Adrian Millon of Cedarville won this occasional table decorated by Alexis Berke, an employee of the Eastern Upper Peninsula Intermediate School District. There were four generations in attendance for this annual family vacation on Coryell from July 28 through August 7. They came from Texas, California, Indiana, Illinois, and Lower Michigan.

Our family too, is enjoying the visit of our newlyweds, Mark and Taylor Oberman, who have just returned from their honeymoon in Hawaii. Mark teaches biology in Harper Creek High School in Lower Michigan, and he is also the swimming coach. Taylor is an elementary teacher. Our granddaughter, Jessica Oberman, who is a fifth grade teacher in Traverse City, is also here for a few days of family vacation. Our grandson, Sam Oberman, is here for a break between terms. He is a student at Cooley Law School in Lansing.

Kayla Merchberger of Cedarville took home a blue, button and shell-topped table made by Les Cheneaux Community Schools teacher Elizabeth Vaessen for the Education Foundation auction fundraiser. She and her mother, Liz, who said the table matches her daughter's room, picked it up Thursday night, August 3, after placing the winning bid on the table the weekend before. A very special double birthday celebration was held last week beginning at the home of Lydia and Douglas Yoder of Islington Point and then progressing to the home of Sandy and Annabelle Wells, also of Islington Point. The occasion was the 80th birthday of Wilann Powers, mother of Lydia Yoder. Wilann comes here from her home in Rome, Georgia. The other celebrant was Sandy Wells, who celebrated his 85th birthday. Sandy grew up at the Islington Hotel all those years ago. I'm sure that close to 100 guests enjoyed cocktails at the Yoder home and then progressed to the Wells home for dinner and birthday cake.

Sheelagh and Richard Knapp won the $100 Lions Club Lottery August 1 and Norm Valenti won the $100 August 8.

I shall close with another tale from Bruce Patrick:

"After several years, Bob Hamel bought a huge tug that Joe Kramen built in Hessel. I don't know what motor he put on this one, or I don't know much about this one, but he used it in his towing for several years. Joe Kramen was a boat builder and he built this big tug outdoors. Bob bought it and put a big diesel motor in it.

"It was the talk of the town of Hessel. Joe built it all outdoors and he liked to tell about it. It sat along the side of the marine railway. Joe liked to have people climb up on the scaffolding that was built along side of it to show that rain water did not leak out as she sat there, outdoors, and did not leak.

"Joe Kramen was a real boat builder. He and his son, Henry, built many sizes of boats. This big one, he told me, he had planned to motorize and cruise to New Orleans, but that never happened.

"Henry and Joe worked together and they were a good pair. They built a launch for Spring Lodge and had several that they rented to perch fishermen from their dock at Hessel. They also built 16-foot rowing boats that they rented from their dock."

As I wrote the above story from Bruce, I could not help but think of the late Frank Kramen, who was a son of Henry, I believe, and grew up in Hessel. Frank sent me several stories about happenings in Hessel many years ago, but never anything about boat building. I wonder if there are any of Joe Kramen's boats left in the Les Cheneaux Islands?