NOTES FROM DEE McKay circa 1988
Shore ladies: Dee McKay, Jean Burns and Helen Burns (Helen is one of the Denison girls in the story)
I have thought about what you wanted to know about your family background. So here goes: many times spent on the beach at your point from the time I was about ten years old on holidays and during the summer when we found flint arrowheads that were used by Indians.
Your grandma would live in the old brick powder house which has now been torn down for the new house that Sue and Norm built.
I remember when your grandfather would come home from the sash and door factory hot and tired from working all day and get into his old fashioned bathing suit and take a long swim in the cold water. He was always in a good humour then. He built a shed behind the house where your uncles Bob and Jack and your father slept. There was a separate section where your Aunt Jean and her friends could sleep. One time my sister Ella and I slept over and during the night we heard scratching noises on the wall. We discovered it was Jack and Bob scaring us with bear noises. The bears were close because of the apple orchard behind the house. One time Ted had a new kitten. It was smoky black and was rushing around the kitchen. The Denison girls, who had come over to swim, were getting lunch ready and one of them stepped on the kitten and broke its back. The uproar terrified Ted who was broken up about it. We all planned a funeral and the kitten was buried below the birch trees at the far end of the field.
There were deer trails along the shore down to the bluffs near Ross’s Point and we often hiked along the bluffs. There were Lady Slippers growing near the cliffs. It was a beautiful place to explore the rock formation below Pulpit Rock. There were shallow caves where we found some animal bones that had fed bears or cougars.
When we got married in 1940, I approached your Grandma Rose and asked to buy a lot from her that had a small cabin that had been Bobby’s and after had been used by the mayor to entertain his girlfriends. She agreed to sell it to me so it became our summer home on the lakeshore. It was wonderful to have access to the deer trails and the bluffs.
Your Grandma Rose Yvonne Burns was something special. They went on trips to Spokane quite often. She would buy special hats and come home and not wear them for almost a year. She seemed to have to get used to them on her own before showing them I guess. She would buy new socks for Jean and the boys. She played badminton at the catholic hall with Mrs. Gelinas, Mrs. Perrier, Mrs. McDougal and my Mom. They had many laughs and fun together.
Your granddad built a punt for Ted and each morning in the summer, he would paddle it across the lake to get the newspaper and milk for the family. He didn’t use a regular paddle; he just leaned over the bow and paddled by hand.
Your Uncle Bob graduated from the Colorado School of Mines and came home and prepared for a trip to Lake Athabasca up north to prospect. He and his companions were drowned in a canoe accident. The friend’s bodies were recovered but Bob was not found. Your grandparents spent thousands of dollars for air searches. When he was finally found, his fingers were worn down to the first knuckles. He had tried to get out on the shore which was composed of steep rock and sheer cliffs. It was very sad for the families.
This is about all I can remember except for the 24th of May when we paddled around the bay in laundry tubs your grandpa had made for your gram. We often tipped and got soaked for our effort.
The McKays were such close long time friends and neighbours that one thought of them as part of the family. Danny McKay was fine gentleman very instrumental in the establishment of skiing in Nelson and a pioneer fly fisherman during the glory days of West Arm angling. He was once named Nelson’s Citizen of the year. He died in 1990.
Dee McKay was an outdoor woman with a great sense of humour and an infectious laugh. She was a good swimmer and canoeist and a hunter. She would grab her rifle and boots and take off up the mountain in pursuit of deer or grouse. She died in 1994.
Transcribed by Ted Burns
April 10, 2020
