“Somebody’s always ringing the mad bell…”
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“THE BELL was rung for meals. In the morning it was rung first a half hour before breakfast was served. I don’t remember if there was more than one ring at noon. In the evening, the bell was rung at dinner time and a half hour later, what we called the “mad bell” was rung to let the absentees know that they had better go in for dinner. Our group didn’t have many before-dinner parties in those days, so we were seldom late.”
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“ONE MEMORABLE campfire was the day the Germans surrendered – we sat around a campfire so thankful that part was over. The Americans felt a little sad for our war was still going on in the Far East. So many lives were touched in all the people around the camp.”
“ALWAYS the great celebration of August was the Edmonds’ anniversary July 30. Walter and Thelma – [on one anniversary] they were kidnapped and put on Betty’s Island for the night…. Another anniversary (I think) we dressed in antique clothes. Bob Coates in his mother’s lace dress was the winner – I will never forget that staunch English gentleman playing lady – fan and all – with rolling eyes. The Jenkins and LaBarthes – the Fieldings (Buffalo) ran the Lodge games – and there were many…. The tennis tournaments were a riot – and the canoe races too….”
“COSTUMES are already being planned for next summer’s tennis tournament. It is rumored that Ross Payne will be one of the contestants, and Pete [Payne] is already getting the camera oiled up to record the contest.”
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THE SECOND dinner bell, rung half an hour after the first, was the signal to cocktail-partying guests to head for the dining room if they didn’t want to miss dinner. As a Billie Bear institution, however, the porch cocktail party still thrives, having outlived the “mad bell” by half a century. Guests made their own fun for the most part, although Betty (Hill) Schielke (Mabel’s daughter) remembered organizing young people for picnics and similar events. Costume parties, planned by staff or by guests, were popular events. Evening dances were held in the dining room or (later) the Court House, and guests and cottage neighbours would often help clear tables so that dinner could make way for the evening activity. The Court House, previously a barn for livestock, was converted for recreational use sometime in the late 1930s or early 1940s. Betty also remembered guests, staff, and cottagers travelling by car to dances at Limberlost and Walker House during the late 1930s. |
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Dances at Billie Bear often featured staff member Cec Corcoran on bass fiddle and sometimes Betty on accordion. The “Englishman turned fishing guide” Geoff Isaac, who often helped organize entertainments in the 1930s and 1940s, called the square dances. “He had a bunch of calls that you never heard before. I mean, they were just strictly his calls,” recalled Betty. Guests held evening campfires, either at Camp or at the First and Second Sandy beaches. Of course, walks to Mud Lake (variably called Jackson or Beaver Lake) or the beach, excursions to the Big East River, and fishing trips and picnics on the lake were always in order. Talent shows, dances, and parties – costume and otherwise – also continue into recent years. |
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| Sources | |||||
Billie Bear Documents Archive, Billie Bear newsletter, January 1947; Gertrude L. Davis, “Random Notes About Billie Bear,” August 1982; Gerry Livingston letter to Barbara Paterson, August 1982; Betty Scheilke interview with Leo Serroul, June 1994.
Dowsett, Bill, conversations 2004 and 2005.
Park, John, “Billie Bear Lodge Memories, 1957 & 1958,” November 2004. Thompson, Liz, “The Way We Were,” Bella Rebecca Community Association story collection, 2003. |
