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

A group of unidentified Les Cheneaux Islands men load freshly cut blocks of ice onto a horse-drawn sled. The ice was cut from Lake Huron during the winter, and used before the days of electric refrigeration. (Photograph courtesy of Helen Shoberg)

Snowsfest is the big event for this coming weekend. There are lots of interesting events to take place, beginning with the burning of the Snowman on Friday evening, a project made and donated by the high school art class every year, and ending with a beautiful fireworks display over Cedarville Bay. The Snowsfest theme this year is "Winter Time Fun."

The cold weather has arrived on time to make Snowsfest events possible; the ice is safe, and although we did not get the amount of snow that fell in many places, there is enough to carry on many of the events. Sault Ste. Marie was almost buried in the snow last week, but the Les Cheneaux area has received very little, just enough to make some of the snow trails passable.

A spring festival of note will be the Spring Frog Fest on May 18, 19, and 20. It is an occasion when we can all become more aware of our environment in many ways. There will be guided field trips, kayak tours, hands-on education booths, storytelling, and kids games. This event will be sponsored by the Les Cheneaux Watershed Council and the Chippewa/East Mackinac Conservation District.

Rummaging through some old photographs the other day, I found the two that are featured here today; one is in this week's Looking Back column. The annual ice harvest was a big event in the days before electric refrigeration. Crews of men in different parts of the islands would annually cut out big blocks of ice 10 or more inches thick, using long saws especially designed for this activity. They would then load the blocks of ice on a horse-drawn sleigh and bring them to various ice houses throughout the islands, where they were stacked between layers of sawdust for insulation. Sawdust was a wonderful insulator and it is surprising how well the ice would keep with very little melting throughout the summer months. The Hossack Store had a large ice house as well as the hotels and many cottagers who owned homes and spent their summers here. Besides home refrigeration, much of this ice was used to pack fish for shipping. These ice crews were jolly, hardworking crews who had contests to see who could cut the most and the fastest. It was hard work and a busy time for them for a few days during the winter months. Con's father, Victor, and his sons were some who took part in this winter work, along with many others.

Margaret Pittman won $100 in the Lions Club drawing February 6.