5

Essentials on the Pier!
Circa 2002
Atton's Lake Golf Club


Credits:
Rutley, Marianne

6

Paul Finley
Lake Memories

I was very young when the Dance Hall was first in operation. But I still can remember that the Thirties really was a swinging decade at the lake. The orchestra stayed at the lake all summer. There were dances twice a week. It was a four or five piece orchestra. One of the band members was 'Phat' Jones from Rockhaven.

During the 1930's, my parent's cabin was built where the tent camping area was at that time. I remember the lake level being so high that it was only about twenty feet from the tree line.

In 1940, when I was eleven, I noticed that the lake was so much quieter. The young men of the area were gone and people did not go to the lake. In our teen years, my brother Bob and I spent all of our summers at the lake.

When I built my cabin in 1953, close to Dad's cabin, I just looked around and picked a spot and put the cabin there. There were no such things as lots in those days. The lake was just beginning to become more popular again in the early 50's.

Some highlights that I remember at the lake are:
" The planning for the first Regatta in 1954.
" The extensive advertising that the Elks did and how worried I was the night before when it was raining that the day would not be able to be held.
" The large amount of prize money that was offered to boaters.
" The large boat that I built one winter that had a Ford V8 engine as an inboard motor. I ordered special manifolds from the United States for the boat. I envisioned this very powerful boat that would skim over the lake water at about 100 miles per hour. When I tried it out on the water, it would only go at a maximum of four miles per hour. I think it weighed about three ton! I was lucky to find a guy near Watrous who traded it for an old truck. I think I had the best of the deal.