Labour Day Week-End 1961
BY BARB STANTIAL
We started
out from our home in Barrie for Steenburg Lake early Friday morning for a week
at the cottage. We stopped at my home
in Toronto for lunch with my Grandma and Granddad. During our visit Grandma said that on the news there had been a
bank robbery in Havelock and the robbers were spotted heading toward Coe Hill.
I thought nothing of this at the time.
When we
arrived at Steenburg Lake South Road we were met by an OPP officer who stopped
us. He asked us where we were going,
and of course we said to the cottage.
He advised us at this time, even though we are in the cottage, to keep
our car locked at all times.
Well being
young (18 years of age) this scared me a little. I did not sleep well that night.
Saturday
morning we were to meet my mom and dad at Madoc at the grocery store and direct
them to the cottage.
Over our
dining table was hung a map of the lake, which showed where the cottage was
located and how large the lake is.
During the
evening we gathered around the table to play cards and have a few drinks. I was still a little concerned, since there
had been police in the neighbourhood since our arrival. My dad said don’t worry these robbers are
miles from here.
It was
getting onto 2 am, when a search light was shone into our cottage. The OPP were patrolling around the
lake.
Who could
concentrate on a card game now, so off to bed we went. Very little sleep was had by me.
In the
morning we headed to the lake for a swim before breakfast. Being a city girl and not used to cottage
life this was great. We had no sooner
got into the lake when 2 coves over came a row boat with an OPP officer rowing
it back across the lake. This boat had
been used by the robbers and left there.
All day police patrolled our road.
Finally late
in the day we heard that the robbers had been captured near the railroad tracks
on the east side of highway 62.
At this
point being a city girl I had been in the woods long enough and on Monday
morning headed back to Toronto when everyone else was leaving.. I certainly wasn’t going to stay another
day, especially when the lake would be deserted.