The Flickr Bobblatchford Image Generatr

This article was written by James G. Osborne from Winnipeg. Jim and Bob both had cottages on Skootamatta Lake in Cloyne and both supported the Cloyne and District Historical Society.

Printed in The Frontenac News: bit.ly/2DnfTJw March 18, 2015.

Life as a cottager in the 1930s was not for the faint of heart. There were no roads for folks to access their cabins, but there was a network of paths around the perimeter of each lake. Vacationers were picked up upon arrival by the honking of automobile horns and were moved by boat to cottages. If there were accidents or medical emergencies, valuable time was lost to take the injured party to the nearest physician in Tweed.

It was fortunate for both cottages and residents when Dr. Ellen Blatchford and her family purchased the property in 1934 on what is now Loon's Nest Road on Lake Skootamatta (Loon Lake). Ellen, a graduate of University of Toronto's Class of 1923 Medical School, had followed her dreams to become an anesthetist at Women's College Hospital. Gradually she turned her cottage living room into an area where she could treat patients from the lake, the village, Mazinaw Boy's Camp, and the T. A. Wilson Lumber Mill. One of her numerous accomplishments included designing a custom instrument to cut embedded fish hooks (a common injury she treated) that could also be used to remove porcupine quills from both animals and humans.

Ellen Cominsky was born in 1900, in Maple Valley Wisconsin, shortly before her parents returned to Canada in 1901. Ellen married Douglas Blatchford, a Mathematics teacher at Jarvis Collegiate and with their little children Bob and Anne vacationed every summer at Loon Lake. Eventually she lived in retirement in the community.

She was legendary in the area not only for her skills but for her kind words and capacity for friendship.
Thanks to Bob Blatchford, Ellen's son for the photo and to Carolyn McCulloch for the writeup - reprinted from the 2015 CDHS Calendar.

Part of the Bob Blatchford Album
Note: Commercial use of this image is prohibited without CDHS permission. All CDHS Flickr content is available for personal use providing our Rights Statement is followed:
pioneer.mazinaw.on.ca/flickr_statement.php

Another superb photo of tiny Mike's Island on Skootamatta Lake near Cloyne.

The following information is cited from the Spring 2011 SDRA Newsletter (Skootamatta and District Ratepayers Assoc.) written by Bob Blatchford, edited by David and Jim Oborne.

'On July 1, 1927, the Festubert Post Office opened on little Mike's Island between Oborne Island and The Landing, in a small cabin occupied and operated by Mike Schwager for the convenience of the Colony. Mike was also foreman for the construction of several of the first cottages, under the supervision of ̳Tiny‘ Oborne, including the massive stone Skootamatta Lodge, owned by the Pearsons and now the Halperins, and later he became caretaker at Bon Echo.

The Post Office was closed in September of 1927 after only one season of use (for sanitary reasons) and the Post Office was relocated to another building on the mainland by the dock and was operated by the Yanch family as the Royal Oak Post Office.

Mike‘s small cabin became the current Cabin 6 at Trail‘s End on the hill at The Landing but the cement foundation and base of his fireplace remain on the little island today-still called Mike‘s Island. The Post Offices, and their boat access, were very important to the Colony. Later, the Royal Oak Post Office was closed and the building was hauled up hill by horses in the winter and became Royal Oak Cottage, owned by Zella Wood-Roy, the grandmother of Kent Farrow.'

Another article about Festubert appeared in Fitsell's Guide To The Old Ontario Strand:
Directions: Only the very adventurous will want to travel along the maze of roads that lead from Highway 41 to the old town of Festubert.
Festubert Post Office is on of Addington's more obscure spots, but one with an interesting (if brief) history. Located on Skootamatta Lake, Festubert opened in 1927 and closed down in 1931. According to author J. Ross Oborne, the office first operated out of the home of one Mike Schwager. Schwager lived on a tiny island in the lake, and cottagers had to boat out to his home to get the mail. When Schwager's fiancee refused to live on this tiny rock, he gave up the postmaster's job, and Mr. Beatrice Yanch was appointed to replace him. Yanch operated the post office from her little general store on the mainland, known as Royal Oak Cottage, during the summers of 1928 and 1929, (Festubert was a "summer" office only, catering mainly to tourists), After a family tragedy, Mrs. Yanch also gave up the postmaster appointment, and the office never re-opened. It was officially axed on 1 October 1931. The peculiar name "Festubert," incidentally comes from a battle fought during the First World War.

The next 9 photographs are from an album acquired by Bob Blatchford (1932-2015) at an auction in Chicago. Their date, 1908, indicates that they were taken by a very early guest at Bon Echo Inn.

Dr. Weston Price, the original builder of the Inn, still owned it in 1908. Was he also a photographer? Or is it possible that the people in the photos were Flora MacDonald Denison and two of her friends? Prior to Flora buying the Inn in 1910, she had purchased a cottage on Mazinaw Lake south of the Inn where she and her family spent summer holidays. There are many interesting questions left to ask, and to answer.

This album of photos includes some of the oldest known photos of Bon Echo.

You can view several of the original photos at the Cloyne Pioneer Museum which have been arranged in a tribute frame. A photo of the tribute to Bob Blatchford appears later in our Photostream.

Part of the Bob Blatchford Album
Note: Commercial use of this image is prohibited without CDHS permission. All CDHS Flickr content is available for personal use providing our Rights Statement is followed:
pioneer.mazinaw.on.ca/flickr_statement.php

Part of the photo album contributed by Bob Blatchford.

Part of the Bob Blatchford Album
Note: Commercial use of this image is prohibited without CDHS permission. All CDHS Flickr content is available for personal use providing our Rights Statement is followed:
pioneer.mazinaw.on.ca/flickr_statement.php

During the days of the Bon Echo Inn there was a steel staircase leading from the bridge at the Narrows to the top of Mazinaw Rock. Part of the staircase can be seen today in the rock rubble above the Narrows.

In this historic photograph it appears there is a wooden walkway part way up the cliff face. Part of the Bob Blatchford contributed photo album.

Part of the Bob Blatchford Album
Note: Commercial use of this image is prohibited without CDHS permission. All CDHS Flickr content is available for personal use providing our Rights Statement is followed:
pioneer.mazinaw.on.ca/flickr_statement.php

This photo was taken when Bon Echo Inn was in full swing in 1908. The persons are unknown.
The location appears to be just south of the 'Old Walt' inscription which did not exist at the time of the photo.
Part of the Bob Blatchford photo album.

Part of the Bob Blatchford Album
Note: Commercial use of this image is prohibited without CDHS permission. All CDHS Flickr content is available for personal use providing our Rights Statement is followed:
pioneer.mazinaw.on.ca/flickr_statement.php

This Wigwam was built by John Bey at the Bon Echo Inn on Mazinaw Lake. This photo is part of the Bob Blatchford photo album. At the time the Inn was owned by Dr. Weston Price.

Part of the Bob Blatchford Album
Note: Commercial use of this image is prohibited without CDHS permission. All CDHS Flickr content is available for personal use providing our Rights Statement is followed:
pioneer.mazinaw.on.ca/flickr_statement.php

It is unknown what Spring the photo refers to at the Bon Echo Inn or possibly the photo was taken 'in the Spring'.
The persons in the photo are unknown. Location is likely along the shores of Mazinaw Lake.
Part of the Bob Blatchford photo album.

Part of the Bob Blatchford Album
Note: Commercial use of this image is prohibited without CDHS permission. All CDHS Flickr content is available for personal use providing our Rights Statement is followed:
pioneer.mazinaw.on.ca/flickr_statement.php

Bon Echo Inn had a tall water tower that can be seen in some vintage photos. This is the view from the tower in 1908 during the ownership of Dr. Weston Price.

Part of the Bob Blatchford Album
Note: Commercial use of this image is prohibited without CDHS permission. All CDHS Flickr content is available for personal use providing our Rights Statement is followed:
pioneer.mazinaw.on.ca/flickr_statement.php

There may have been several bridges over the Narrows at Bon Echo Inn - this one built of birch poles. The bridge led to a steel stairway up the cliff face to the top of Mazinaw Rock.
This photo looks southwest.

Notice the large dock in the centre of the photo south of the Narrows - part of the dock remains can be seen today.

Part of the Bob Blatchford Album
Note: Commercial use of this image is prohibited without CDHS permission. All CDHS Flickr content is available for personal use providing our Rights Statement is followed:
pioneer.mazinaw.on.ca/flickr_statement.php

A tribute to long-time CDHS member and contributor - Bob Blatchford. This framed collection of photos from Bob is proudly displayed in the Pioneer Museum in Cloyne and was presented to Bob's family at a CDHS meeting in the Barrie Township Hall.

The tribute reads:
'An integral part of the community, Bob Blatchford was a life long cottager on Skootamatta Lake and a researcher and historian of Bon Echo's past.

These photographs are from an album acquired by Bob at an auction in Chicago. Their date, 1908, indicates that they were taken by a very early guest at Bon Echo Inn. Dr. Weston Price, the original builder of the Inn, still owned it in 1908. Was he also a photographer? Or is it possible that the people in the photos were Flora MacDonald Denison and two of her friends? Prior to Flora buying the Inn in 1910, she had purchased a cottage on Mazinaw Lake south of the Inn where she and her family spent summer holidays. There are many interesting questions left to ask, and to answer.

We are indebted to Bob Blatchford and his ever inquiring mind for these extraordinary pictures. Thanks to Jim Oborne of Winnipeg and Skootamatta Lake for the generous donation which made this display possible."

A group shot of the FOBE (Friends of Bon Echo) members taken at the Barrie Township Hall in Cloyne, Ontario. They are celebrating 25 years of service.

Front row (left to right) Dave Cuddy, Red Emond, Betty Pearce, Mary Jane Turner, Phyllis Mills, Ernest Lapchinski,
Second row: Pat Cuddy, Bill Gould, Maryanne Gould, ?, Joan Flieler, ?, Barb Hutchison, Loretta Corrigan, Al Hutchison, Lisa Roach, ?, Georgina Hughes, ?,
Back row: Stuart McKinnon, Bob Blatchford, Helen Yanch, Ken Hook, John Flieler, Harold Kaufmann, ?, Ruth Maggs, Derek Maggs, Peter Turner, Eleanor Nowell, Chris Winney, Judith Evenden, Bill Campbell, Beth Campbell, Glenn Pearce, ?, ?, Ross Boden, Nancy Boden.

Photo by Cathy Hook.

Note: Commercial use of this image is prohibited without CDHS permission. All CDHS Flickr content is available for personal use providing our Rights Statement is followed:
pioneer.mazinaw.on.ca/flickr_statement.php