A History of Cottagers

Meet the best angler I know (sorry Adam, Grandpa, Doug, Uncle Keith & Papa Gibby). Lisa reeled in this bad boy in May 1995 at the Bobcaygeon Fishing Derby.For those of you who don’t know what a fishing derby is, essentially a whole whack of people put their lines in a lake and you hope that they catch the biggest fish to win a prize.In Lisa’s case, the prize was the fastest, shiniest, coolest, jaw dropping purple bike. A real gem & a true vista. Every single kid had their eye on it.Not only did she leave with the bike,...

This is one of the photographs my Great Papa Baker took while training in the RCAF to become a Reconnaissance Photographer during bombing missions in WWII. While this self portrait is one of his firsts and is tiny, grainy and over exposed, there are too many things I love about it not to share. The fallen tree. His suspenders. His socks and shoes. The way the waves are. Just him in general. The RCAF taught him the ins and outs of photography. His notebooks are riddled with reminders, notes and covered like art with his immaculate hand writing. They cover...

Nana said, “There was just sand everywhere!” Their little white and red painted cottage was feet from the water and they were surrounded by sand, sand, and more SAND.  This is my Nana & Great Auntie Jean on Georgian Bay. Their family LOVED spending time on Balm Beach more than anything.  No matter the year or time period in history, any child growing up by the water knows the true struggle of having sand on their feet after going to the beach and not being able to get it off because you have to walk through the sand again.  AND...

Meet our old fishing boat who was the most trustworthy sea vessel a family could ask for… Lovingly referred to as “The Fazer.”  He essentially made it through the war, thousands of kilometres on cottage highways, cruised in countless lakes and rivers and was the trusty water craft that 3 generations of our family skied, tubed and wake boarded behind. My Uncle Steve bought “The Fazer” back in 1988 and took my dad the year after to buy a better motor. Uncle Steve told my aunt that my dad had bought the motor so he didn’t “get in trouble.” In...

To Our Golfers,  We’re using the help of our Great-Nana Baker today to let you know we are thinking of you and truly hope (for your sanity and ours) that the courses are open soon. When I excitedly remarked that I didn’t know Nana Baker was a golfer, our family matriarch had a good laugh. “NO! She wasn’t a golfer. She didn’t even know how to ride a bike let alone be a golfer.” Anyways, Nana Baker totally looks the part and had me fooled… And if she couldn’t golf or ride a bike, she was apparently way better at...