Having owned a cottage or Condo for 25 years, Memorial Day has always signaled the beginning of the summer. For just a moment yesterday, I found myself missing the excitement of buying groceries to stock up the empty cottage shelves. The boat had to be serviced so that it would withstand kids running WFO (that is Christophers acronym for “wide fr—— open”). I guess that means as fast as you can make a ski boat go. I missed the smell of oil belching from the outboard engine as it started up. There is a smell to the water as the wind blows off the lake. Some people think it is heaven.
The first cottage was a “chance happening”. Your mother and I had driven to St. Anna to watch the older kids march in the Top Hats or the Elms Band or both in the Fireman Picnic Parade. Of course our kids were standouts. On the way home, Mom and I and I think Paul, stopped to look at a cottage that had been advertised in the Sheboygan Press. It was at the edge of a bay and the 60 feet of lake frontage was not all that attractive. The people selling the cottage had built it while he was employed at Kohler and it was crude to say the least. But it was priced right. $30,000. Having priced other properties, it was a fantastic price. We shook hands. This was mid-July. We closed on the property the first week in September, 1977. On the day of the closing, the previous owners said they had been offered $35,000 by a couple who looked at the property after us on that Sunday in July. Their comment was “a handshake seals a deal and they never waived in their commitment to us”. Whoa! Now we owned a cottage and had no clue what to do with it. Swim, fish, fry-out and sun-bath? Debbie would have been almost 17, Kelly 15, Chris 13 and Paul 5. Margaret was there. She just wasn’t born until October 21, 1977. So we had old kids, young kids and an unborn kid.
There was lots of excitement. Grampa George loved the idea of our cottage and ended up building us a raft the next year. Not any raft. A 10 foot square treated wood raft that got lots of use.
I guess the idea of a cottage went back to the childhood of your mom and I who lived in Plymouth but had friends whose families owned cottages. Also, all swimming lessions were conducted at the Crystal Isle Inn on Crystal Lake. It was a 15 minute bus ride from Plymouth to Crystal. I’d take the bus to the lake and then skip out of lessons and swim on my own. There were no city public swimming pools in Plymouth.
So when Memorial Day comes I get just a little nostalgic. Then I remember all the work that goes with ownership and I come back to my senses. I will say it was one of the best investments we every made. Cottages do not go down in value.
I remember Christopher seeing our new house on Wedgewood Drive. His first question “did I know what I was doing buying a bigger house”? The second question was “if you were going to spend more on a house, why wouldn’t you buy a place on a lake because it would be a better investment”? Maybe Chris’ observation was really good or maybe he was looking for a place to moor his new boat.
I’m sure every one in our family has good memories of Crystal Lake. It created a common interest. I’m sure there are many stories I haven’t heard. I invite your sharing your memories. There are no regrets on the “chance investment”.
Let the summer begin!
Love,
Dad