Lost Land, Teal and Ghost Lakes Blog Site

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Fundraiser for Casey Hockrein of Casey's Motor Sports on Sep 15th

Casey has undergone surgery and chemotherapy for a very rare form of cancer. Casey has helped many of us out of every situation imaginable, and it's time for us to give back.

Date: Sunday September 15th

Time: 11:00am - 2:00pm

Location: Spider Lake Church on Hwy 77

Menu: Lasagna, salad, desert and drink

Minimum requested donation: $6.00 adults and $3.00 children under 12

Silent Auction

Questions: Carla or Leon 715-462-9064

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Imse Family History on Teal Lake

Jim and his mom, Fern Imse are shown here at the Quiet Lake Assocation meeting last Saturday. Thanks to Jim for providing us a glimpse of Teal Lake's rich heritage with the Imse family history on the lake.

Through the 1920's Paul and Mamie Imse were traveling up from Milwaukee to vacation in the Hayward area. They kept trying various resorts on various lakes, looking for the right land to buy. Finally in 1929 they bought some shoreline on the south side of Teal Lake and decided to camp there for vacation. One of the typically sudden summer thunderstorms blew down the tent and scattered their gear. So they spent the rest of the vacation at Kingfisher cabin in Northland Lodge, and decided they should build a cottage on their new land.

Frank and Maud Currier had a lumber mill at the corner of County A and Twin Lake Road. They supplied the lumber for the small cottage that was built in 1930. The cottage was completely simple, on cedar posts. The exterior walls were just 2x4 and siding, neither insulation nor interior paneling. The interior walls were just bead board, on one side. Even with the porch included there was so little space inside that most all waking hours were spent outdoors.

From then on the family of six would drive to Teal Lake at the earliest summer date possible. Some years they would park outside the school on the last day, and then take the four children directly north from school to the cottage. Mamie and the four children would stay all summer, until the last possible date before the start of school. Through the summer Paul would be driven into town on Sunday night, board a sleeper railroad car, and wake up in Milwaukee for a week's work. Then he would board the same sleeper on Friday night and wake up Saturday morning in Hayward for a weekend on the lake.

At times there were thoughts of quitting his Milwaukee Gas & Electric job to run a resort on Teal. In those years Borgeson built Sunset Lodge on one side, and Eccle built Isle View Lodge on the other side, across the bay.

The only watercraft was a locally-made cedar strip Peterson boat, and its only propulsion was oars. In later years a three horse Evinrude was added. Idyllic summer months would pass with all the fun in the woods, on shore, in the rowboat, and so on. It's a mile and a half to what was then the nearest farm, at the corner of Neumaier Road and 77. That was one way to keep the kids busy, to send them for a bucket of milk. She could also send them eight miles round trip to get the mail at Dow's Corners. Diagonally opposite Dow's was a long bannister of mailboxes all lined up. In those days Walter Ross would take the extra-passenger car to pick up resort guests at the train station, that's how station wagons got named. He would stop and give the kids a lift to Dow's on his way into town. The new place, Shawville, at the foot of Ghost Lake, didn't open up until later. By then mail was coming to the end of the driveway.

Through the years, Paul and Mamie continued to come, but not always for the whole summer. The four children, Marion, Phil, Tom and Janet, each married and brought their families for vacations. After the war, though Mamie died, there were yet more people at the cottage as all the grandchildren began to know the fun of Teal Lake. Soon the front porch was extended around the side and enclosed. This nearly doubled the interior space. Electricity arrived soon, which meant running cold water. But no phone was installed until the 1980's. Later came a water heater. Soon Paul was Grampa, doing not much more than watching the lake, reveling in memories, and napping. One day he woke from a nap, saw the sunbeams dappling the birch bark and leaves, and remarked, "I didn't know where I was for a moment. But if I'm not going to know where I am, there's no better place for it than this."

From Paul's estate, Tom and Fern Imse bought the cottage in 1978, and it was kept busy for many more years. Tom's sons have now sold the family place, but Jim lives just next door on Eccle's Bay.

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Reminder of Quiet Lakes Association Meeting on Saturday, July 20th

Time & Location: 9:00am at the Spider Lake Town Hall

PROGRAM: Popular speaker and wildlife specialist Chris Cold will be speaking on "Raptors and Predatory Birds of the Great Lakes." As usual, Chris will be bringing some of his raptors with him!

Coffee and treats will be served starting at 8:30 a.m. The regular business meeting will follow the program and board elections will be held. The 2013 slate of nominees is:

President: Rex Clevenger (1st term)

Vice-President: Bob Dale (1st term)

Secretary: Shari Peterson (2nd term)

Treasurer: Gayle Little (1st term)

Director 3: no candidate

Guests are always welcome!