Memories of Bass Lake (Steenburg Lake, Gilmour, Ontario)
by Richard McCarthy
CHAPTER 7 - The Snow Road
Our
family has owned the Maple Landing area for quite a number of years,
and people have told me stories of how things developed in this area
many years ago. I can’t remember who told me, or whether I
have the facts straight or not, but I’ll tell you in my stories
what I remember having been told. It’s certainly fun to imagine
things that happened.
Someone referred to the Maple Landing Road
as the Snow Road many years ago, and when I asked why it was called the
“Snow Road”, it was because a man by the name of Colonel Snow was the
man who surveyed the road. It was apparently a main road
travelled between Madoc and Bancroft, prior to any highways such as
Hwy. 62 having been built. The big old house that was at the N.W.
corner of the lake (the old Fitzgibbon house, now dismantled except for
the piers) was the coach house, where the horses were changed on the
trips from Belleville north to Bancroft. I always found it
fascinating to imagine, when sitting in the trees beside the road, a
horse drawn stage coach coming into view along the road, and to see it
head on to the Fitzgibbon house at the end of the lake to have a break
on its long trip to Bancroft.
When heading east from
Bancroft, you will notice another road called “Snow Road”.
I wonder if the colonel was responsible for that one too.
CHAPTER 8 - A true recycler
For
those of us that have been on the lake for years, they will remember
the two Fitzgibbon brothers, Curtis (Curt) and Bruce Fitzgibbon.
If anything mechanical had to be repaired, Curtis, who lived in the big
house with his wife Jesse and family, was the man to see.
Anything carpentry, Bruce, who lived in his shed/barn north of the
house, was your man. Bruce’s building had his living quarters
built into the back of it. He had no electricity or running
water, and all of his carpentry tools were manual tools and
in incredibly good order. Bruce was a very neat and organized
person who was a joy to know, for any of us who were lucky enough to
know him.
Bruce made the greatest square nosed wooden boats that
cottagers, especially the islanders, appreciated owning. One day
as a teenager I dropped by Bruce’s barn to see him, and found him
working on a boat he had up on sawhorses. He was going to
be replacing a wooden boat for a customer, and he was busy
removing, with his hand screwdriver, all of the brass
screws from the old boat so that he could use them in the new boat to
be built. A true recycler! We were lucky enough to have
owned one of Bruce’s boats.
CHAPTER 9 - The best pies - EVER!
About
the same time, Dad went over to see Curtis and Jesse Fitzgibbon in the
big old house, probably because he needed something mechanical
repaired. I had tagged along, probably with my older brother John
as well, just to have an outing with Dad. It was a beautiful sunny
somewhat cool Saturday morning as I recall. Curtis, Jesse and
their family were sitting around the big table in their large warm
kitchen having breakfast. I remember seeing Curtis putting butter on
hot pancakes, and had never seen that done before. What a sheltered
life I’d led! I’ve always had butter on my pancakes ever
since.
The big Finley Oval wood stove was cranking
out the heat in the kitchen, and I was surprised to see Jesse get up
from the table and go over to the stove, open the oven door, and stick
her elbow into the oven. Jesse let me know that she could tell
that the oven was the correct heat for her pies by the sensation of the
heat on the inside sensitive skin of her arm. Jesse made the most
wonderful pies, and would bake them to order for people on the lake.