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The Loon Call
An Annual Newsletter for all Lake Weslemkoon Conservation Associates & Supporters www.weslemkoon.com
SPRING 2019 Our Family Cottage Memories of the Lake Page 1 President’s Address, Director and Financial Reporting Page 3 through 16
My Favourite Stop Along The Way Page 4 Help Keep Track Of Our Loon Population How to get involved
Turtles w w w Crossing . w e s l And e m k o oMemories n . c o mof How To Help Page 6 Junior Loons Activities Geocaching and more Page 10
Weslemkoon Contributions from Sue Locke and Rebecca Coles Pages 13 and 14
ISSN# 1480-9583 Volume 60 Cold Water Swimming The proper how-tos and details Page 21 Calendar of Events Page 24
Details on Page 24
Our Family Cottage
David and Margaret Hardy, Cottage #121
As we shared our last supper of the summer on the deck this year, sun sparkling on the water, breeze blowing in the pine trees, we once again thought of what a wonderful place this is. Parents and children and grandchildren have been together many weeks and weekends over the years to share experiences and food and drink and to talk and appreciate the family time together. The magic of our lake weaves its spell and calls us back when we are away. The lake has been calling us back for 50 years now and we reflect occasionally on what a journey it has been. Margaret and I were married in 1966 and some of her happiest memories from childhood were sharing time with her best and oldest friend in the summer at their family camp near Sudbury, where cottages are camps and every family seems to have one. Margaret’s parents preferred to travel so they saw a lot of country but no camp. As an eager young husband it was clear that my task was to fulfill this lifelong dream of hers so we got busy. A friend recommended that we look at this remote lake with the mysterious name “Weslemkoon”. Lake Weslemkoon Conservation Association Newsletter
Our first visit was on a sunny June day in 1966 to the north end of the lake. At that time, the Caverleys were running Rockhaven lodge at the dam and Ted and Betty Carr ran Tanglewood. Ted had opened the Old Snow Road from Caverley’s to his new at that time marina. The Hartsmere Road was gravel and where it crossed out of Hastings County at the bridge it became rougher and narrow. Meeting a log truck was a trial on this stretch and we did it many times. We were impressed with the rocks, the tall pine trees, the blue sky and the dark mysterious waters of the lake. That summer, a letter to the Dept. of Lands and Forests office in Tweed yielded many maps showing surveys of Crown Land cottage lots for sale around the lake. On thanksgiving weekend 1966 we rented a cabin and a boat from Rockhaven and set out to see the lake. Fortunately the weather was calm and sunny and we visited all the locations, including West Bay, Mackie Bay and Regina Bay. There were dozens for sale. All were water access and owning no boat we saw a problem. While we were musing about what to do next we got a notification in 1967 from Tweed of a new subdivision being offered on the north shore. On our first wedding anniversary in August, we were in the woods following the surveyor’s path around this new offering. It looked promising as there was a road nearby and power ran through the lots. Some, with long shorelines, were over $1,000! A lot of money to a young married couple. Early one weekday morning we set off for Tweed to attend the first come first served sale confident that we were up in time to get our choice of lots.
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