The first view I had of Glen Lake was driving into Dunn’s Farm 64 years ago.  The cottage we rented was clean and simply furnished with indoor plumbing, but no hot water.  We bathed in the lake every morning before breakfast.  We had a small wood stove which we fired up on cold days.  Sheets and towels were furnished as well as 3 meals a day.  For all this we paid $29 per person, per week!  A dinner bell was rung at meal time which could be heard around the lake.  It meant we had 10 minutes to get to the dining room and, you can be sure we were never late.  The meals were wonderful and prepared by Sara Johnson.  I still remember baked lake trout on Fridays, hot crispy donuts Saturday mornings, and hand cranked ice cream on Sundays.

We liked to fish.  We rented a rowboat and motor at Dec Seeburgers, later called Crystal Harbor Marina, and spent a lot of time fishing.  Water skis and jet skis had not yet appeared on Glen Lake.  There were no Shore Stations.  People who owned boats built boat houses.

We often walked to Burdickville when walking was a means of getting some place, not for exercise or to lose weight.  We visited with and bought cards and gifts at El and Lucille Faulman’s gift shop and in later days, ice cream sundays.

We rarely missed our week at Dunn’s Farm for many years and made many lifetime friends including Joyce and Fred Faust.  In the Fall of ’57 we drove from our home in Ohio to see the color and met Bill Peppler who took us around to look at property.  Tamarack Lane had just been opened and of the 16 lots, only one home had been built and that belonged to Dan and Jean Steiner.  On learning that most all the lots had been sold, we wasted no time in making a down payment on one that was available.  We payed the balance monthly to Lucia Billman’s father-in-law who was the owner.  We thought the price of $5,000 was very high.  We cleared the lot in ’58 and found a builder who could read my husband’s penciled drawings.  Joe Gersh built our place and we spent our first summer there in ’59.  In 1970 we sold our Ohio home and made Glen Lake our only residence.

Most people want to go to heaven, but I feel we’re already there on beautiful Glen Lake.

Note: This interview was conducted in June 2001 by Shirley Hoagland. Sis is now 98 years young and moved to Orchard Creek Assisted Living Facility in Traverse City  two winters ago. She still owns her home on Glen Lake and will celebrate her 99th birthday on May 4th!  She still enjoys watching birds visit her feeder, but the variety of birds now don’t come close to her log of birds seen in Tamarack Cove from 1959 – 2003.  Her list follows:

Eastern Bluebird, hummingbird, Veery, Goldfinch, Green Heron, Golden Crown Kinglet, Scarlet Tanager, Wood Thrush, Rose Breasted Nuthatch, Evening Grosbeak, Kingbird, Pileated Woodpecker, Hermit Thrush, Baltimore Oriole, Tree Sparrow, Nuthatch, Song Sparrow, White Throated Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow, Myrtle Warbler, Blue Jay, Cardinal, Robin, Brown Thrasher, Phoebe, and Titmouse.

Filed under: Glen Lake Families, Memories