Les Cheneaux
By Helen Shoberg 484-2626 mink1@cedarville.net

We hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving Day with family and friends. Certainly the weather was a wonderful part of it all; families could even enjoy outdoor activities because it was so warm.

It's hard to believe the weather that we have had during the past week or so. It has been more like May than the end of November, and how wonderful it was for college students and others who traveled the roads to get home. I remember so well the many Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays when our children were in college. It seems that the weather was always snowy and stormy and we worried about them the whole 300 miles home and the 300 miles back to school every year. It was always such a relief when they arrived safely.

It was a busy weekend for all, with the preschool bazaar at the school and the museum's open house. It must have been a very successful day for the arts and crafts vendors.

The museum entertained many visitors all weekend. The many decorated trees were a feast for the eyes and will continue to be through next weekend. All of the trees are a work

of art, but some show really interesting originality. All are for sale through a silent auction and one may still place a bid next weekend. If the museum was not on your list of things to see last weekend, be sure to include it this coming weekend, as you will find it worth your time.

Christmas parties and gettogethers are being planned for the coming month. The first big local event next weekend will be the community Christmas party at the Community Center Sunday, December 3. As mentioned last week, many cookies are needed for this party and if you wish to donate some, please bring them to the Community Center Saturday, December 2, between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.

It was interesting to read in last week's St. Ignace News about the confiscation of slot machines on Mackinac Island in 1935. I recall my husband, Con, telling me of slot machines that were in the back room of the old Bon Air when he was a boy, and so Mackinac Island was not the only place for gamblers in those days.

Bruce Patrick's story this week is about some of his recollections

of the old Elliot Hotel on Big LaSalle Island. Newcomers may not realize that there was once a big hotel on the high hill on Big LaSalle, with a grand view overlooking Islington Bay. It was torn down in the late 1950s. I remember it well. Mr. Patrick's story follows:

"The Elliot Hotel was built on Big LaSalle. She was nearly across from the Islington Hotel and was built by Amos Beach and his son, John. Where she was built, the dock for the Arnold steam boats had to come in at an angle to the huge crib dock to land, and had to back around the end of the dock in order to go out bow first. The hotel was up on top of a high hill, which was quite a way from the water's shore line to the top of the hill to where the hotel was situated.

"After a few years, John Beach and his son, Howard, had my dad, Bruce Patrick, come over on the ice in the winter. They drove three rows of pilings, placing the piles about one foot apart, one on either side and one in the middle. These pilings went from the crib dock all the way to the top of the hill where the hotel was. Then Howard cut all pilings off so the top edges were a straight line from the dock to the

porch of the hotel. There were steps down to the beach and the water's edge, where the boats were kept. That was quite a ramp from the dock to the hotel front porch.

"John Beach had one large, double end launch in which he took fishing parties out. The Beaches lived in a log cabin at the back of the hotel. They lived there year around in this cabin. At times, they had trouble getting across when the ice was forming, or going out.

"The Beaches and Victor Shobergs visited back and forth and gathered for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Many times they went by dog team in winter when the ice was good. There were Howard, Adelaide, and Doris in the Beach family.

"My Uncle Ross built John a 21-foot launch to use for small motor trips to Cedarville and for fishing. I bought the launch after the hotel closed. A group of Cedarville residents made a dance floor at the hotel. Dances were held about every weekend during the summer. They used the big launch, called the Elliot, to transfer customers back and forth to Cedarville for these dances. This was after the hotel had closed."