When we visited Brookwood we sometimes would go calling on area relatives. Sometimes we would visit Julius and Mabel Bahr on Loon Lake near the cabin. They had a “resort” on the shore of the lake with a sand beach. I remember them as kindly people with ready smiles and easy hugs. Mabel was my great-grandfather’s grandaughter via his daugther Leah.
I remember being quite young and visiting Loon Lake. A couple of things 
happened there. First, for some reason I could never get their names right. I was known to call them Uncle Mabel and Aunt Julius. That brought lots of laughs to the grown-ups and it is an somewhat embarrassing revelation today. The only reason I can think of for this odd twist of names is that Julius must have sounded like Julia to me- so it was a girl’s name, right? I didn’t know any other Julius. And I didn’t know any other Mabel. Silly child!
The other incident was, in fact, terrifying, to me! I was I believe about 4 or 5 years old, and wading in the lake was a popular habit for all of us kids. The grown-ups watched from shore. I wandered out too far into the lake…..and lost my footing, going down beneath the cool blue water. In my panic and confusion (and not knowing how to swim) I started the drowning process. Leaping up from the water, spitting water from my mouth and hollering for help! After the second time under I felt a strong arm grab mine and haul me to the surface. Kicking and sputtering and crying, I grabbed on to Dad with arms of steel, thanking him over and over. He was my hero! He still is……
After that incident I don’t remember too many other trips to Loon Lake. I am sure it is just that my memory has latched onto that episode and sort of wiped out anything else. Mom tells me we did go there on occasion, even after that. I guess it is just the sort of thing that sticks in your mind!
Darren Crane said,
July 13, 2008 at 4:19 pm
I am also glad that you did not drown or else how would I have these marvelous posts of yours to read?
Anne Kemp said,
November 18, 2008 at 2:03 am
Loon lake resort is a different memory for me. I grew up on Loon Lake in a trailor park called Plesant Acres. This is the property of the Loon Lake Resort today. The Resort was known to me growing up as “The Big House”. Here the members of the park would hold a coffee hour Sat. mornings. This was a time for visiting and business meetings about the parks finances, picinics, etc. On Sat nights the house hosted a bingo for young and old alike, with prizes such as fiddle faddle, bath mats, dish towels, a can of nuts, etc.. It also hosted picnics on rainy days. These events were held in what I would say was to be the kitchen / living room or common area of the house. Off this area toward the lake was a door leading to the hall way that led to the up stairs. But the door stayed locked because the owner of the park did alot of wood work and kept all his materials in the upstairs area. His name was Roy and the co- owner was Paul Engval. When you walked through the slamming screen door at the back of the house the smell of history over came you. I loved that smell. As I recall there was a fireplace in the common room also, but I don’t ever remember it being used. There was a screened pourch that was built off the other side of the house at sometime that is not pictured. Also the times I recall there was never a front pourch.The basement was a dark, wet, gloomy place that scared me, but that is were we kept the worms in there bins for the park fisherman / women. So on quite a few occasions I visited this scary place. The park I speak of was a summer place for folks coming from Grand Rapids, Jackson, Holland, and other places. When Labor Day rolled around everyone blew out their lines and locked up for the winter. Few still came up for Hunting and snowmobiling. We had to carry water from the pump house in 5 gal. containers or buckets to wash, do dishes, and even brush our teeth. Boy that was fun. Especially when we ha 2 ft of snow to shovel to get to the pump house. Another fixture of the property was the barn, mainly housing wood materials of the owners and some farm equipment that was used for the garden that we had there. I was in this park from 1972 – 1990 with my family. I moved out of state for 14 yrs only to find out the park changed hands, the house was torn down, the barn was totally renivated to the new club house with a kitchen and a game room loft, only a small portion is as it once was. Also the old skating rink area is now a area with a few small cottages, and the fun spot is long gone. Also closed up is the old Bass lake store which was always a treat to go to by bike or walking to get candy or air up our floats. Mr. Bender passed away quite a few years ago and Larry now has a new store and gas station next to the Na Ta Kah Bar, good food and alot of memories were there for my family and I. The days I write about are long gone but the memories of a wonderful childhood shall be with me and others I’m sure for along time.