All Smiles and Sunshine

That summer, and the following year, it wasn't all Hungarian goulash that went on at Porcupine Bay. It was love American style that the Bay contributed when a lonely soldier from Boston asked, "Do you know any good Catholic girls who like horses?" We did know of one and Sugar saw to it that Peter Caisse met Karen Conrad on the swimming dock. It was all smiles and sunshine. In a couple of days we knew they were falling in love because they were pushing each other off the diving dock.

When love became solid enough, the desire to get married set in. A lot of us Porcupine patrons were invited to their wedding and dance. In dedication to their happiness, Peter and Karen built a quaint lake home at Porcupine which they and their kids occupy whenever possible.

There are all kinds of special people that we Porcupiners get to meet seasonally. Some we knew long ago as singles looking for summertime fun. Now we get to visit with their grandchildren. Some left the water's edge when their kids grew up. Others took up building lake homes. A few dropped out and settled in their ownback yards for summer fun. All in all, vacationing groups and get-togethers are still very much the summer scene at the Bay.

"A Bit of Porcupine History" Kik-Back Country, page 81, part 4 (previous)     (home)     (thread)

"The Finneys on Butterfly Surfboard , 1920s"

Photographer Frank Guilbert / NorthwestMuseum.org

Porcupine Bay Campground

Nine of these photographs are copied from Instagram.Two are 

my own and one is from a friend. I regret I do not have a photo 

of Walt and Sugar at Porcupine Bay. I met them here in 1971.

The Spokesman-Review 1966

A memory from a camping trip during my first year of marriage, 1974:

One summer we camped at Porcupine Bay for a weekend. The second day there Connie asks me why I am being so quiet. I am quiet because being here has brought back memories I have not had since 1972. My mind is racing and racing with thoughts and feelings of people and adventures during those two summers. That night some teenagers from Davenport are goofing around the big tire. I go talk to them. (I probably brag about being a lifeguard here.) Sherri's little sister is there. She tells me Sherri is coming tomorrow with the family for a picnic. Sunday morning we are packing to leave. Darla comes over to our campsite. She looks serious. She stands right in front of me, points down at the ground, looks me straight in the eyes, and says: “YOU...STAY...RIGHT...HERE...UNTIL...SHERRI...COMES!”