Special Pictures – Kitchen and Dining Area – Before And After – May, 2023

Our Family is blessed with a FANTASTIC WORK CREW. Our Maintenance Chairman. Joe, has a group of friends that love the Island so much that they dedicate 2 long weekends, spring and fall,  to Open and Close the Island each year. They hook up the water pump and make sure it is working, they put the dock in, or take it out, of the water and make repairs as needed. They also make improvements – they have built all the Bunks in the Sleeping Cabin. We used to have accommodations for 8, now we can sleep 12 very comfortably. They have installed new windows and electrical wiring. This is only a partial list of all of their projects.

I cannot begin to express my appreciation for all their time and effort. They do not want anything in return but we let Joe to take them up one weekend in the summer, with their families, to  enjoy the beauty and peace of our “Piece of Liquid Heaven”.

 

The Kitchen – September, 2020

Kitchen with new laminate counters – May, 2023

Old sink with new laminate counters – May, 2023

Old Stove with new laminate counters – May, 2023

The Dining area and Card and Puzzle Table – September, 2020

New Storage in the corner next to the windows – May, 2023

New storage area next to the Refrigerator – May, 2023

Tomorrow, more Special Pictures.

Judy Guion

 

 

 

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“Liquid Heaven (18) – Special Pictures and Memories – Sleeping Cabin (2) – 1945 – 2022

Our Family Island Retreat was purchased in 1945 from Rusty Heurlin’s family because they no longer used it and Grandpa’s family was growing. Grandpa and his children thoroughly enjoyed any time they spent there.

From now until the end of the summer, and perhaps into the fall, I will be posting pictures of places on the Island and sharing stories and memories of these unique places. I hope you can enjoy a few peaceful moments while I share these memories with you.

1. Dock

2. The Point

3. Bathtub Rock

4. Big Rock

5. Sunset Rock

6. Sandy Beach, Big Flat Rock (to the left, Baby Beach)

7. Toothpaste Landing

8. & 9. – Screen Porch and Cook Cabin

10. Sleeping Cabin

11. Fire Pit and Sheba

A close-up of the stairs to the Loft and the Front Door. The doors at the top of the stairs are two 4×6 sheets of plywood that swing out and are held open by hooks.

The addition next to the stairs is a bathroom. Originally it enclosed a Composting toilet but that was deemed unsatisfactory. At present, it is just a storage area. I have dreams of an electric incinerator toilet. There are a few visitors to the Island who do not like to walk to the Outhouse, especially at night in the rain.

This is a view of the Master Bedroom in the Sleeping Cabin. The back door leads to Bathtub Rock.

This is the Master Bedroom taken from the door. The two rooms with out bunkbeds have very appreciated ceiling fans. The walls and ceilings of the Sleeping Cabin are covered by graffiti from all the family and friends who have stayed there. 

This is one of the two front rooms, each with four bunkbeds. These have been constructed over the more recent years by our amazing Maintenance Team and their friends.

I do not remember when the original windows were put in the Loft but it was probably only a year or two after construction. A big hole was cut into the wall and  two window screens were mounted horizontally and held in place by bent nails. They were not very tight and did not keep mosquitos out, but they did allow a refreshing breeze to flow through when the doors were open. On the outside were two doors just like the ones at the other end which could be closed during the winter. A few years ago, the Maintenance Team installed new windows. What an improvement. As you can see, the divider has been removed.

The new windows in the Loft, above the back door, which leads to Bathtub Rock.

Tomorrow I will begin a week of letters written in 1940. Lad is working in Venezuela for the Socony-Vacuum Oil Company, which eventually became part of Mobil Oil. Ced and Dan are planning on leaving in the beginning of June to try their luck and find better paying jobs in Alaska.

Judy Guion

“Liquid Heaven” (17) – Sleeping Cabin (1) – Special Pictures and Memories – 1945 – 2022

Our Family Island Retreat was purchased in 1945 from Rusty Heurlin’s family because they no longer used it and Grandpa’s family was growing. Grandpa and his children thoroughly enjoyed any time they spent there.

From now until the end of the summer, and perhaps into the fall, I will be posting pictures of places on the Island and sharing stories and memories of these unique places. I hope you can enjoy a few peaceful moments while I share these memories with you.

1. Dock

2. The Point

3. Bathtub Rock

4. Big Rock

5. Sunset Rock

6. Sandy Beach, Big Flat Rock (to the left, Baby Beach)

7. Toothpaste Landing

8. & 9. – Screen Porch and Cook Cabin

10. Sleeping Cabin

11. Fire Pit and Sheba

In 1955, my family was on the Island with three other families and we were all sleeping in a 20×20 Army Tent. We children had finished our lunch and were in the tent for “quiet Time”, while the grown-ups ate their lunch and had an hour – or more if they could convince us that an hour was not up yet – when they did not have to worry about where the 12 children were or what they were doing. A bad storm came over the surrounding mountains and the wind lifted the corner of the tent closest to Sunset Rock. The rain poured in and it scared us so much that we all ran out of the tent screaming for  our parents.

That winter, the guys met at Pete Linsley’s house and made plans to a 20×24 wooden structure with four bedrooms downstairs, a dog trot between the front door and the back door, and a loft for some of the children to sleep in. As soon as the snow had melted, they were up on the Island building this Sleeping Cabin, which was ready for occupants by July.

 

This is probably the earliest picture of the Sleeping Cabin. It is taken from the path leading down to Bathtub Rock. There is no window in the upper section, the Loft.

Notice the unpainted squares? These are the bent nails made by those who helped build it in 1956. I believe the next year, small white life savers were placed around each bent nail and the name of the person responsible was added. My twin brother , ten years old at the time, created one bent nail.

This was the foundation of the Sleeping Cabin, 50-gal. drums filled with cement. You can just make out the year 1956 on this one.

This is a side view of the Sleeping Cabin, with the Fire Pit and Sheba in front.

This is a picture of the Sleeping Cabin taken from the roof of the Cook Cabin. I was up there removing moss and had my camera with me. The stairs to the Loft were added many years after it was built. We used a ladder inside the cabin, in the dog trot, to climb up into the Loft. It was determined that it was not the safest way after a few bad falls and a broken arm.

The Loft was divided in half lengthwise and the Big Girls (two 12-year-olds, one 10-year-old (me) and a nine-year old) slept on one side, while the Little Girls (a nine-year-old who was friends with my 8 year-old sister and a 5 year-old), slept on the other.

Tomorrow more of “Liquid Heaven”, the Sleeping Cabin and Special Pictures and Memories.

Judy Guion

“Liquid Heaven” (3) – Special Pictures and Memories – Boat Landing and Dock (1) – 1945 – 2022

Our Family Island Retreat was purchased in 1945 from Rusty Heurlin’s family because they no longer used it and Grandpa’s family was growing. Grandpa and his children thoroughly enjoyed any time they spent there.

I am on the Island spending time with my daughters and their families – and even a few days by myself – a very special time to restore my soul.

From now until the end of summer or even into the fall, on the weekends, I will be posting pictures of locations on the Island and sharing stories and memories of these unique places. I hope you can enjoy a few peaceful moments while I share these memories with you.

1. Dock and Boat Landing

2. The Point

3. Bathtub Rock

4. Big Rock

5. Sunset Rock

6. Sandy Beach, Big Flat Rock (to the left, Baby Beach)

7. Toothpaste Landing

8. & 9. – Screen Porch and Cook Cabin

10. Sleeping Cabin

11. Fire Pit and Sheba 

This dock was a replacement dock constructed after about 20 years of use. It followed the same construction principles of the first dock and was in the same place, on the lee side of the Island, between the Island and the mainland, only about 75 feet away.

When I was very young and my family went to the Island, there was an old dock at the end of the Island closest to States Landing, the Town Beach. It was about 3 feet wide and 20 feet long. It was destroyed by a winter storm or hurricane. The Following spring, my Father (Lad) and his buddies designed a new dock, 16 feet by 16 feet, made of wood and designed to float on 55-gallon plastic barrels. It was anchored to the Island by chains imbedded in the rocks. 

The dock is out of view to the left of the Boat tie-ups. This way, the children could swim off the dock without having to move the boats every time. The water was about 15 feet deep and was a perfect place to jump or dive off. When we had a 25 foot speed boat, water skiers would take off from a sitting position to one ide of the dock, make two large circles around Little Ganzy Island, then my Dad would drive the boat into the entrance to the small pass between the Island and the mainland, the skier would make a big circle outside the wake and turn so that they could sit down on the dock and their bathing suits would remain dry the entire time.

One afternoon, the younger children were swimming off the dock and it was quite wet and slippery. I took off from the side and after my turn, made a big circle to come in and sit down on the dock. The problem was that the dock was so slippery that I sat down at one end and slid on the wet wood all the way to the other end and landed in the water. I was upset that I actually had to get wet…

Next weekend I will post some more Special Pictures and Memories of “Liquid Heaven”, our special Island Retreat.

Judy Guion

The Island – Then and Now (2) – 1945 – 2021

The tarp set up next to the Cook Cabin where the children ate their meal.

             Lad Guion and Pete Linsley at the firepit, the “new” Sleeping Cabin in the background in the late 1950’s

Some of the boys using an original innertube and the board pulled behind the boat

The hand-made “Barge” built in Pete Linsley’s basement, and the rowboat converted into a sailboat

All the children after a Talent Show (I’m in the back row, third from the left, about 1958

The older girls heading into town (I’m on the far right)

The screened Porch added to the Cook Cabin where the Tarp was originally used

The Sleeping Cabin (I took this picture from the roof of the Cook Cabin on a Painting Party Weekend – my cousins and I painted both buildings

The 40-year old dock (which replaced the original of the same design)

The new dock being installed

After reading so much about the proposals for our Future Camp, I hope you enjoyed seeing the changes over the years. At this time I am on the Island, enjoying my last weekend for 2021. Very much looking forward to spending two full weeks there next year – which will include another Guion Family Reunion at another location on the lake.

Tomorrow, I will return to  letters written in 1939 when Lad was working for the Socony-Vacuum Oil Company (which became part of the Mobil Empire) and Trumbull is celebrating Thanksgiving.

Judy Guion

Special Picture # 153 – The Island – Cook Cabin Through the Years

I’m staying on the Island until July 14th, so I thought while I was away, I’d give you an idea of what it looks like and how it has changed over the 70 years it has been our Special Place.

The Cook Cabin was originally a one-car garage, which my father (Lad) and his friends bought on the mainland and transported to the Island. Here it is with a tarp suspended over the picnic table where all meals were served.

Here, the garage door is open and propped up for an eating area. This was a Cub Scout Troop outing about 1956. The next step was enclosing this area with screens, which we used as a sitting area for many years. We continued to eat at a picnic table on the same side where the platform was built.

This is the platform that was built for an addition to the Cook Cabin, a planned enclosed porch/dining area.

The addition took quite a few years, but here it is complete with screens.

 

Special Picture # 151 – The Island

 

I am going to be on The Island until July 13th so I thought I’d give you an idea of what it has been like over the 70 years we have owned it. My guess is this is the first picture taken on the Island once we had purchased it in 1945. It makes sense to me that Grandpa and the boys would have made a trip up there to think about and plan what they might do with it and on it.

L to R – Lad, Dick, Ced and Grandpa. My guess is that Dan is taking the picture. Dan’s daughter just reminded me that in 1945 Dan was still in France so Dave must have taken the picture. Thanks, Arla.

This is the view of the Island from the beach where we park our cars. The anticipation is on the rise.