Inset, Oscoda County Special Deputy Ryan Blair was part of the "Turkeys instead of tickets program." The event is sponsored by the Oscoda County Sheriff Department and Family Fare.
Above, youths make Christmas decorations at the Christmas Walk in Grayling. See more photos on page A-13
Laughing Buck: B-6
Hale District Volleyball: C-5
Roscommon sheriff offers property checks: C-2
Eagle Voice: C-1
Grayling Christmas Walk: A-13
Sheriff without a shave: A-12
Santa Train A-7
What's in this issue:
Strengthening the communities of Northeast Michigan Vol. 11, Issue 17
Voice
December 2019
Free Up North
Hand me down still feeding family
Old Winchester in use for 146 years By Jim Smith
OSCODA COUNTY - In 1894 Albert Dew from Scotland, arrived in Oscoda County. Dew was one of the very first settlers in the Comins and Fairview area. With him he brought a rifle, a Model 1876 Winchester in .45-60 caliber, a black powder cartridge. He made his living shooting deer to feed the numerous lumber camps in the area. According to Judy Lunning, Albert’s Great-great-grand-daughter, when Albert passed, the rifle was willed to Judy’s Uncle, Harry Dew, who didn’t hunt a great deal. However, he promised Judy that when she and her husband, Damien, built a house they would receive the rifle to hang on the mantle. They built the house and, true to his word, Uncle Harry passed the Winchester which took up residence over the fireplace. Now the rifle wasn’t always an ornament. In 1969 Judy used it to take a nice eight-point buck in the same area as her Greatgrandpa. Illustrating how important this firearm had become to the family, Judy said when their house burned in 1990 the first thing Damien grabbed was the Winchester. Fast forward to this deer season of 2019. Shannon and Damien have retired to the settlement of Rous-
Albert Dew (left) shot this eight-point buck in 1894 near Comins with the Winchester 76. Twenty five years later, the Winchester spoke again in the hands of his Great-great-grandson, Tanner Lunning, who downed an 8-point this season.
seau in Ontonagon County in the Upper Peninsula. Their son, Tanner, was hunting opening day when he chanced upon a nice eight- point buck about one-half mile from Rousseau. The Winchester spoke again 125 years after Great, great grandfather Dew used it to feed the loggers and once again, provided fine meat for
the Lunning table. The Winchester Model 1876 was a black powder rifle, not designed for modern smokeless powder load. Factory ammunition is very difficult to find. Fortunately, Tanners dad, Damien, hand-loads and can fabricate cartridges for the rifle. Despite being underpowered when compared to modern cartridges,
the old girl, in the hands of a marksman can still get the job done. The Winchester 76 was a favorite of Teddy Roosevelt’s on his Elkhorn Ranch in North Dakota and on his trips to Africa. To the Lunning family, the rifle has become a part of their heritage putting food on the table for over a century,