The following words were penned by a very good friend of mine by the name of Mary Lou. They are in response to my posting about the Indian River.

Thanks Mary Lou for allowing me to publish these words. You have taken me back to a time when things were so simple and so special. You have shared something very important to me….and you are one great writer!!!!

Murray

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Hi Murray:

I don't know if I told you but I raised on Indian River. We used to have a paddle boat and would go fishing up the river we called it.

There was one spot about two bends from our house that we called the deep hole because we could not see bottom. So we would fish there.

I am sure it has really grown in after over thirty years since I was last up the river. You are right there are very, very shallow spots where we were barely able to float over without scraping the bottom of the boat.

Our family dog which was part beagle and part collie would swim behind the boat for some of the way and then go on land through the bushes for most of the journey. Sometimes we would feel sorry for her and give her a ride home.

The furthest I have been is from Hwy 7 and Indian River where our house was to the railroad bridge. We were not allowed to go towards Lang village because the current was too strong and we would not have been able to get back under the bridge very well.

Actually just down from the Hwy 7 bridge toward Lang there was a place that we called the Pigery. People actually used to drive their cars into the river to wash them because there was flat rock on the river bottom and there used to be an old stone building with just walls and a few windows without glass that I was told was a slaughter house years ago.

I can remember one winter in particular that there was just the right conditions that the river was frozen over like a large sheet of glass so we went skating at night with a full moon shining skating through the trees. My oldest brother would have been a teenager and I think I was around twelve or so.

My parents used to rent our cabins for many years. They had four cabins all different and they all had Indian names. There was the front cabin with a little screened in porch like dining area and two bedrooms with just a partition between the two rooms which didn't go right to the ceiling. Each room had a little wash stand with a basin and old fashioned jug. It slept four people and had two double beds.

Then there was the little white cabin we called it and it was just a tiny little cabin that only had one bed.

The log cabin was next constructed of logs with a porch area which was partly screened and there were wooden flaps that you would put down at night. It had one fair size bedroom with one double bed. It also had a night stand with a basin and jug.

The green cabin was next and it was the largest of them all and was actually winterized with a front room a little area with an small fridge and a hotplate type stove. There was a small bathroom and a toilet but it was not hooked up. It also had a large bedroom and actually at one point in our lives my parents housed my four older brothers in it when space became a concern. My father put in an oil stove and my brother was in to old phones at the time so they had two old phones hooked up so that we could ring them up in the morning from the house. You know the old phones with the crank on the side and the two bells on the front.

The last cabin was a large log cabin rather unique and we called it Grandpa's cabin because he slept there on weekends when he came out from town. It wasn't anything fancy and was used for storage more then anything.

All the cabins were made up with white crisp cotton sheets and pillow cases that were laundered at the old Fannings dry cleaners picked up and delivered each week. Each customer was given white towels and face cloths, a jug with ice water, glasses and an enamel pail and dipper to bath with.

I can remember the one cabin used to rent for $21.00 a week.

All of the land along the river frontage was all bush so my father cut many trees down and had a bulldozer come in and level many, many loads of fill. He then developed it in to a small camp ground with an outside toilet and later added electrical outlets and a lamp post.

He used to put truckloads of sand at the beach area for swimming and it was fantastic. On a hot steamy day when I was swimming in the evening I used to think I wonder what the rich people are doing. We had our own swimming pool every day.

My Dad built a large garage near the house and Mom finally got her new Kitchen but it was short lived because Dad retired and they decided it was too much work and so they moved to Lakefield.

It is very depressing to see what changes have been made to the house and the grounds. Very pathetic actually. It is truly just a business per se former owners painted Mom's oak cupboards brown. The house has been painted chocolate brown and the cabins have all been moved to the back of the lot. It actually looks quite crowded. But memories will be with me forever and that's all that matters.

I have always wanted to do what you just did yesterday but somehow have never got to it. Did you have to portage anywhere along the way? The beavers used to make some mighty large dams.

Sorry for babbling on but I could not help myself you just lived my dream.

Talk soon.

Mary Lou
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Hi Murray again:

I would love to see any picture you took of your excursion down the Indian River.

It has been such a long time since I have been on the river.

Many funny stories I might add.

I was just thinking, I should get some of my family and plan a trip down the Indian River before we are all in wheel chairs using walkers or canes don't you think. LOL

Something to look forward to as we all need times like this to get out and appreciate what nature has to offer.

It would be a blast.

Mary Lou