Les Cheneaux
By Helen Shoberg 484-2626 mink@cedarville.net

There was a fire on Dollar Island in the Snows Channel Monday, September 18, in which the lighthouse tower and a good portion of the main house on the island were destroyed. There were no injuries. (Photograph courtesy of Joe and Carolyn Eger)

Last Saturday was the first day of autumn and the trees and foliage are beginning to show it. I should not say "beginning," because autumn color is well on its way. I think the peak of the color in the Eastern Upper Peninsula will be this weekend. From many years of observation, the first weekend of October has usually been the best time to make a color tour in this area. Norine Rudd and I took a ride up Three Mile Road and then along Poglese Road last week and it was beautiful.

We have heard that the Clark Township Ambulance Corps is in need of volunteers. There will be an emergency medical technician (EMT) class beginning soon for those who may wish to serve. For more details, call (906) 484-3840.

Heidi Erickson won the Lions Club $100 raffle September 19.

I have a new resident at my home, having adopted a little dog last week. I really hoped to get an adult dog that was housebroken, but after several disappointments, I settled for a four-month-old puppy that is not housebroken. One forgets so easily how difficult it is to train a puppy. Nevertheless, she's black with a curly tail and a fox-like face. She's cute, smart, and a mixed breed consisting of - nothing that I know of for sure - and I have named her Daisy.

There was a potentially devastating fire on little Dollar Island in the Snows Channel last week. A note came to me from Joe and Carolyn Eger of Cedarville, who had an email from Todd West of Marquette Island. Todd said that Ken Kloster, the owner, was doing some roofing and thinks he may have pulled or driven a nail through a hot wire. The fire department was there in roughly 15 minutes and succeeded in knocking down the fire and restraining it to the main structure. The lighthouse tower and a good portion of the main house are gone, but everyone is OK. The trees and peripheral buildings and structures, including the boathouse, are intact. According to Todd, papers and mementos were rescued from the blaze.

A fire on an island is a scary thing and it can happen anywhere. It's surprising to me that it hasn't happened more frequently. How fortunate we are to have an efficient fire department with dedicated people.

Bruce Patrick tells the story of how his parents met many years ago:

"My father and mother came to this country when he was nine years old and she was eight. They were German. These Germans came after their parents had come here to the United States a year before.

"Grandpa Tiefert bought land where Evanston, Illinois, is now. He was a truck farmer and gardened about 100 acres and they raised all kinds of vegetables. There were three boys and two girls in this family and they all worked hard at this farm.

"As the years went by, my mother got to know a family by the name of Hardies. Hardies had a cottage at the Les Cheneaux Club. She came as a cook at their Les Cheneaux Club cottage. This is where my father met her 93 years ago. She came back a second year, and they got married. I was born in 1915.

"This vegetable farm made good money for the family. The children worked, Harry drove a milk delivery wagon. In those days, he used a horse and wagon to deliver the milk. They used metal cans to put the milk in, one quart, two quarts, and gallon sizes. The horse got to know the route so well that Harry let the horse go on his own. The horse would stop at each delivery stop, without Harry driving. This was great, but after many years, Harry had to graduate to a truck.

" My mother, Emma, raised a huge garden. She raised all kinds of vegetables and cold packed most of them. We also had a huge root cellar to store these mason jars where they would not freeze. So we had vegetables all winter.

"My mother was a hard worker. When my two sisters were babies, she would put them in a large ironwheeled buggy and push it all the way to town. It was two miles, to pick up the mail and buy certain items. We had a trail we called 'the Indian trail' which went partway through the woods. My father put boards down in wet spots.

"It was not easy in those days. My parents bought a 1925 Dodge car in about 1926. But the roads were not good, just wagon trails, and in early fall all cars were laid up for the winter. Emma's brother, John, came up to Les Cheneaux several years later and ran the Club Farm. They raised vegetables and had a large chicken barn, also a big barn for cows. He raised these vegetables, chickens, and cows for fresh food for the Les Cheneaux Club people. He stayed there 10 years, then George Carr took over for many years. After George Carr, Art Calvens took over the Club farm. Calvens were there until the house and barn caught fire. Lightning was thought to be the cause of the fire. That was the end of the Les Cheneaux Club farm."