Jennifer’s Corner

The real value of a family cottage…

My all time favorite childhood memories were inspired by events that took place on Paudash Lake near Bancroft where we cottaged each year with my grandparents.

It was typically late in July, when the days are long and the air heavy with humidity, that we’d pack up the car and head off in droves, all of us (grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles and 9 unruly kids), for a week of sunburns, belly-flops, barbeques, late night campfires and roasted marshmallows!

My grandfather was an avid fisherman so we spent much of our days with him out on the dock or rowing along the shoreline with hooks & tackle in tow. For the most part, we caught only minnows and sunfish but Grampy occasionally snagged something large enough to add to the evening’s dinner menu.

Rain or shine, we kids were unleashed to pursue adventures in the wild… often bringing home evidence of our daily escapades (including frogs and pet turtles!).

The evenings always involved board & card games and, once old enough, we were invited to join the adult’s Euchre table where my Grandmother’s good words of wisdom ‘never turn down a 9’ were permanently etched in my mind.

I can’t imagine what possessed my grandparents to undertake a week at the cottage with nine highly charged grandchildren but it was clear that they loved every minute of it, as did we. It was a time of simple pleasures… hiking in the woods, picking wild raspberries and heading into town after dinner for ice cream. It didn’t really matter how we filled our days, the important thing was that we did it together, three generations of family. These are memories that we will all treasure forever.

One of the things I value most about my role with Chandler Point is that we offer others the opportunity to share in this traditional cottage experience; a place, removed from the hustle and bustle of the city, for families to gather and enjoy life’s simple pleasures, creating memories that will be cherished for years to come.