Big River Part II

Jane Long, Ron Long, Jaclyn Long

My cousin, Barbara's memories of the Big River Clubhouse:
I have very fond memories of the club house (better than a tent!). I loved sleeping in the upstairs in the club house where grandma and grandpa stayed and waking up in the morning smelling breakfast cooking on the stove (I think it was a wood burning stove). I know the club house was heated by a wood stove. I remember having to walk up the hill to well and pumping it until the water cleared for consumption. I had no problems with the outhouse since I was a girl scout and we camped all the time!!

Bill Wassmund

I remember my dad, grandpa and any other male around putting trout lines out to catch cat fish. If we (girls) were lucky we could go out in the john boat with the man folk to check the lines. When I went it was always grandpa who pulled up the lines; unfortunately if a snapping turtle got on the line grandpa would take his knife out and decapitate the turtle. Sometimes he would keep the turtle but most the time the body of the turtle just fell into the river because they didn't have time to make turtle soup.

Me and Jane

As a small child I thought the Big River was huge until we returned to the club houses many years later and it wasn't more than a small creek that you could walk from one side to the other and the water really didn't go past your waist if you were lucky. We (Wassmund's) continued to go down the club house long after everyone else quit going. It was so sad to see the property in such disarray and the quite empty club houses. The river was so quiet since it was only the five of us on the river.

Michael and Steve

We would float on the tires and reminiscence about the past. I wish I could remember more. By the way the outhouse and well never changed!!

L-R: Michael, Me, Jane, Kathy, Bob

My cousin Michael adds that his story about grandpa shooting a rabbit from 6 feet happened while at the clubhouse.

Bob Delaney

My cousin Steve recalled that Grandma Lena would drift in the inner tube and hit a sandbar. She was a large woman who had a hard time getting off those sandbars, so everyone would have to go down and pry her off. [And, I can hear her laughing all of the time]

Maxine, Bob, Michael and Me

Steve also recalls the old beds being so moldy they gave him asthma attacks. He also used to dig for worms for Grandpa to fish with and one day found a nest of baby snakes instead.

Roy Long, skinning a catfish

Steve also recalls that Grandpa would skin the catfish off the back of the boat. One time the catfish jumped back in the water (with no skin), so Grandpa had to go in the river and try to find it!

Jane, Louise Long, Mary Long Wassmund, Jaclyn

My sister Jane obviously had the same mother I did. Here are her memories:I loved seeing the cousins. The picture of all of us in the inner tubes is exactly the way I remember it. I was so thin, I would fall through the hole trying to lean back and put my legs over the tube. I do remember Lena being such a sport about it all. The picture is just the way I remember it. Most women today would feel so weight conscious they would let it interfere with having fun. Not her, she was in the middle of it.

Jane, LeRoy Long, Me

I was ok in the river, but it was always muddy and I think Dad [LeRoy Long] always had a fear of river undertow. But, I hated the club house. It was always buggy and we had to go to the outhouse. So staying down by the river was the way to go. Longs and Maupins: (adults)Lena and Roy, Ronnie, Maxine and Bob, Louise and LeRoy, Mary and Bill, Walter and Maxine Maupin (children) Steve, me, Michael, Kathy, Bob, Jane. I'm not sure who the babies are---probably Cheryl or Janet
The clubhouse always seemed too small for all the people who would come. The nights were hot and full of mosquitoes. The best part was the river with the cousins.I'm not sure if this photo is Big River or Joachim Creek. I only know the women: L-R: Martha McKay, Rosemary O'Keefe, Gladys Wilson McKay, Maxine Long Delaney and Vera Stribler. I suspect the boys/men are Maupin/McKay relatives.