2 Sep - Little Whitefish Lake Resort - A Walk Down Ed's Memory Lane

2 Sep
Today is "bucket list" day for me!  I am going to take a stroll down memory lane here.  You can join me if you want, but this post will be a little different from my typical "touristy" posts of the past.  This will not be exciting and  might even be a bit boring, but I am going to document this day and some history for the benefit of at least my kids and grandkids that they might learn a bit of history about "Gramps" as a kid.  I am also documenting this for the benefit of my sister as she was here too back in the day.  So, please go with me on this journey.

We drove north and east of Camp Ripley this morning near the small town of Garrison MN  and visited a fishing resort that my family and relatives went to nearly every year while I was growing up during the 1960's.  We took the long way to get there, heading east from here to Onamia and then north.  I did that deliberately because I wanted to check out the route when we leave here Monday with the RV, and I wanted to approach the resort as we did ever year we came up.

So driving north of Onamia we passed a Native American area that used to be a tourist shop with all kinds of souvenirs, but that is gone and replaced with a casino.  I used to collect knives as a child and bought a different one at every opportunity.  That shop had a great selection and our vacations to Minnesota was just that kind of opportunity.

We continued north and quickly Lake Mille Lacs came into view.  It is as big as I remember it - you cannot see the opposite shore.  The GPS told us it was time to turn left and I can tell you it was simply surreal as we drove down the blacktop road and after a quarter mile or so turned into the Little Whitefish Lake Resort.  Little Whitefish Lake Resort

Wow.  The last time I was here was 1970, I believe, 47 years ago.  Back in the day it was known as Blauer's Resort after the owners, Darold and Rosemary Blauer.

What also made this so special is I brought scans of a bunch of black and white photos that my parents had taken during some of our visits back in the 60's so we could "stare and compare" how it was then compared to how it is now, and show them to the current owners.

We pulled in, taking photos as we went, and parked the truck near the cafe.

As we turned off the blacktop road

Driving down towards the lake

Parked in front of the "minnow shack"

As we got out of the truck many emotions came over me.  Here is a little video clip of what the area looks like today:  Video clip panoramic

Those were good times, really good times.  I was between 5 and about 14 years old.  We knew the owners and their kids like we were related.  We knew the next door neighbors and their kids like we were cousins.  Our aunts and uncles came here and at least one cousin.  Many friends from all over came at the same time we were here each year.  We had fun.

Those were simple times, basic times.  There were no iPads or iPhones back then.  There were no xBoxes or video games.  No satellite TV.  We fished and swam, alot.  We played baseball or at least catch.  We listened to baseball games on the radio religiously because there were no TV's here as I doubt there was any reception anyway.  We explored. Sometimes we got in trouble, but not real badly.  We were mischievous but not malicious.  We respected the adults, because we knew what was likely coming if we did not.  We hopped in the boat and rowed around.  Sometimes we drove the motorized boat.  We tied string poppers called "Booby Traps" to the doors and waited for one of the adults to open the door to a loud report, and usually some swearing!  Then we ran!

The adults taught us how to bait a hook and how to use a cane pole to catch crappies bigger than your hand, with minnows and pencil bobbers.  Then they taught us how to clean the fish we caught.  Darold, the owner would sometimes hang the fish in an old wooden building that looked like a small storage shed and he would start a wood fire.  It smelled really good.  I thought he was trying to burn the place down but he never did.  The ol' smoke would get to rolling and he would let it go, reminding us NOT to open the door.  Later, maybe even days later, he would remove the smoked fish and everyone got to enjoy them.  Smoked crappies!  Man, they were good eating!

The neighbor to the east was Ole Dahl and his wife Mary.  He was full time, an officer I think,  with the Minnesota National Guard at Camp Ripley where we are camped now.  Hmm, how ironic I would head down nearly that same career path myself, but I had no idea what that was back then but I thought that was pretty cool.  I remember he was at work one day and a young deer became entangled in some fencing and was injured.  Ole brought the young fawn back to his house here and nursed it back to health.  The deer, named "Bambi", became very tame and we would pet it.

Ole Dahl, me and Reynold with Bambi

My mom, Bobby Dahl and me with Bambi.

Bambi and I the next year

Ole's kids were Alice, Reynold and Bobby (above).  Alice and Reynold were older and Bobby was about my age.  They had a Dalmation dog named Toby.  Why do I remember this stuff?  Alice lives in Ham Lake MN.  Reynold is now Dr. Reynold J. Dahl, MD at Whitinsville, MA. Robert (Bobby) used to live in Chanhassen MN.   I sent an email to Dr. Dahl's office to reconnect and share our photos.  Mary died in 2013 and Mahlon "Ole" died in 1986.

Ole and Reynold 

Ole had a floating platform and he would tow it out in the lake and anchor it.  It seemed like a mile away but I know it was not that far.  We would row out there or if we were lucky one of the adults would motor us out there and we would jump in and splash and get sun burned and have a great time.  If we were lucky, Ole would bring our his speed boat and we would water ski.  I was skiing by the time I was about 8 and I can still remember the day I first "got up".  I was so excited I screamed.

At night at the resort the adults would all gather in the cafe/bar and they would have a good time.  Us kids would go out and hunt frogs - not the big old toads, but the little green frogs, and we would sell them back to the adults for $.10 a piece and we thought we were rich. They used them for bait when fishing for bass.  After an hour or so of frog hunting, we would go back to the cafe and play the jukebox and pinball machines, but not too late, plus we never had a lot of money.

Darold was always behind the bar at night.    He was very fit with jet black hair full of Brylcreem - always looked greasy.  Sometimes Darold would get out the dice and a leather cup and we would play poker dice, just for fun.  When he played with the adults, whoever lost bought the next round.  When Rosey was not doing laundry or cleaning the cabins she was the cook in the cafe.  We seldom ate at the cafe/bar because we would eat our meals at our cabin, but my recollection was she was a really good cook.

One year a tornado came through the resort while we were there.  I remember my dad moving our station wagon and the tree next to our cabin was uprooted and dropped right where our car would have been had he not moved it.  Check out the old Ford sedan

Here are some more pictures from the past, and some from today as a comparison:

Today, the front of the cafe/bar

1960's

1960's  Aunt Clareen, me and my sister Karen.  Check out the northerns!!

Cabin #2 today

Cabin #2 in the 1960's

A look from the dock, back in towards the cafe/bar today

The same view from the 1960's -   Dad, mom, me and my dad's fishing buddy Maynard Heflin

In front of the minnow shack today

1960's.  Uncle Jack Callahan, dad, cousin Larry Callahan, me, mom and aunt Wilma Callahan.  The pole and bird house is STILL THERE!

Entrance to the cafe/bar today

Same place in the 1960's

Today we entered the cafe and introduced ourselves to the owner.  Mr Dean Anderson and his wife Aleasha bought the resort in June 2015.  There have been several owners since the Blauer's sold it.  There were a few other patrons in there and they were interested in my story.  We got out the iPad and showed them our photos and they were fascinated and amazed.  While I was showing them the pictures and talking about my experiences there, the owner went in the back room and brought out an aged, fragile wood covered "guest book".

He handed it to Doreen and suggested we might find our name in there. It was in tough shape.  Many of the pages had been wet and it was falling apart, but most of it was still very legible.   Darold likely made it.  Holy Cow - Score!!

Doreen immediately recognized some hand writing and we found page after page of our names along with our relatives and friends we met there every year.  The interesting part of the guest book saga is one of the past owners was selling off everything including the resort,  and he sold the guest book.  Luckily a neighbor down the lake bought it recognizing the importance of it, and after that owner sold out and left, the neighbor brought it back and gave it to the current owners.  Here are a few of the pages Doreen found:

1964

1967

1961

So here is a good one!  As Doreen scrolled through the pages she found one with the title "1961 Cleveland Indians" dated September 25, 1961 at the top, and several names written below!!

Could this be real?  Were they really here?  Well, I did a little research and it is indeed plausible.  This is why:  The 1961 Cleveland Indians played the Kansas City Athletics on September 23rd and then they were off until they played at the Minnesota Twins on September 26th.  So September 25th they would have been off and they would have likely been in Minnesota.  They could have easily gone fishing on the 25th and played the Twins on the 26th.  They actually won the game 7-3, so maybe it relaxed them a bit?!  Check out the names - Jim Perry (P), Luke Appling (bull pen coach), Johnny Romano (C), Don Dillard (OF), Bill Dailey (P), Mel McGaha (bull pen coach), Bobby Locke (P)!  I searched the Internet and compared the signatures of some of them and they are real!  How cool.  Wished we could have been there to meet them!

So that's my story.  Thanks for listening.  I had a fantastic time today with Doreen reminiscing about the old days with my family.  Those days are gone and so is most of the family, so memories is all we have left, and pictures.  Here are a few more:

Dad and mom

Aunt Clareen in front of cabin 2

Mom and Aunt Clareen

Dad and mom

Dad and I with the big catch

Vintage post cards - a look in towards the dock

Vintage post card - the log cabin

The log cabin today!

Vintage post card - a look out over the lake.

I am very disappointed I did not know what became of Darold and Rosemary Blauer.  I heard they sold the resort at some point and moved to Florida where Darold ran a fishing charter boat.  I was doing some searching on the Internet a while back and found out that they had moved to Des Moines and were living in a nursing home on Fleur Drive, just about five miles from us!!  Had I known I would have gone up to see them.  Well, Rosemary died 1 March 2011 and Darold died just 8 days later.  Further research found their sons both died in the last few years also.  The current resort owner said a relative brought their ashes up and sprinkled them out on Little Whitefish Lake.  RIP Blauers.

Tomorrow we will do laundry, restock supplies at Little Falls MN, tour around Camp Ripley a bit and make preparations to depart Monday morning for the Duluth MN area.