By Pennyjane Murray and Glenn Walker
KAWARTHA LAKES-Our story begins in the fall of 1940 when Spencer and Lina Murray purchased a beautiful piece of property on a point in South Bay on Balsam Lake, after having summered in a rental at Thurstonia on Sturgeon Lake. Residents of Willowdale, they wanted to buy a cottage rather than renting one, and spent their first summer there in 1941. “From our vantage point you get many stunning sunsets.”
The main cottage was constructed of logs harvested from the property by its previous owner, Mr. Howie. He brought out eighteen men from Finland, who worked there for three years. They lived in tents, as they took down the trees (1937), stripped them (1938), and built the cottage (1939). “Mr. Howie had wanted to have a cottage where he could land his plane on the lake.” But, unfortunately, he put his energy and resources into perfecting the ice box, just as people were adopting electric refrigeration. Sadly, this caused him to have to sell the cottage after only one summer.
The Murray family cottage became Nahma Lodge in 1954. Spencer and Lina’s son David (age 27) and wife Aileen (24), applied their youthful optimism, strong backs, innovative thinking and determination to transform the cottage into a business. They hoped that Nahma Lodge would provide a livelihood and allow them to raise a family on the shores of Dave’s beloved Balsam Lake. When Aileen would say when she felt she couldn’t do something, Dave would reply, “Look behind you, is there anyone there? If not, you have to do it.”
The idea to go into the hospitality business came from Spencer and Lina, who, after a holiday to ‘Viamede’ on Stoney Lake thought that when they retired from the coal business, they would start a small lodge on Balsam Lake. The lakes of south-central Ontario had been a tourist destination since the nineteenth century, when railways made long-distance recreational travel possible. Many visitors came to this region from the Northeastern United States, particularly New York and Ohio. Prior to the 1950s, it was unusual for families to own their own cottage. Instead, many people travelled to the Kawarthas to stay at a lodge—meeting new people was often a large part of the experience. Attracting men with claims of bountiful fishing was a huge part of tourism—and just about every resort and waterfront community claimed to have great fishing. The promotional pictures from this era exhibited astounding catches. “The one thing that visitors to the cottage, Nahma, always experienced was successful fishing – catching many large muskellunge and Pickerel (Walleye).” It helped inspire the name Nahma. But, it was not the only lodge on the lake. Other accommodations included Cedar Villa, The Cedars, Burroughes, Royal Resort, Whispering Pines and Shannondoah.
Dave, his brother Paul and other young people from the lake visited Fenelon Falls, Lindsay, Bobcaygeon and surrounding communities. They made friends and attended dances in the area. Aileen grew up calling North Verulam and Fenelon Falls home, so the two were destined to meet in this small community. In fact, David and Aileen met at a dance at Fenelon Falls’ Cameo Club. During their courtship, Aileen lived near Bury’s Green and attended Fenelon Falls Continuation School, and Dave went to Northern Vocational in Toronto.
Dave’s father, Spencer, owned Cosgrove Coal, and after finishing his studies at Northern Vocational, David helped his father in the business where he learned about customer service, sales, and business operation. Spencer hoped that his son would carry on the business, while wife Lina hoped that the boy might become a doctor. Spencer put David in charge of the docks at Toronto, where coal was unloaded from the Great Lakes freighters that were hauling it over from the United States.
During the war years, David, who was one year too young to serve, worked as a chauffer and assistant, driving Dr. MacInteer around the city to make house visits. This was important work, as he was the only doctor left in the community to serve families. He had the opportunity to help with many procedures that were performed in homes, “sometimes on the kitchen table.” As a young man “David was involved with a lot of things. He assisted his father with cottage improvements and repairs, built boats, played hockey and tennis, was a scout leader, hunted and fished.” All things that provided skills he would use later.
Aileen gathered applicable skills for her future as a small business owner in the hospitality sector as a teenager growing up near Bury’s Green in the 1940s. She was not excited about staying on the farm in the summer. Her aunt (Beulah Jones), and a couple of girl friends from the neighbourhood worked at Locust Lodge in Bobcaygeon. They conveniently had accommodations on site, which made it possible for her to work there. Her family only had one car, and her father was often on the road, working as a bulldozer operator.
“Bobcaygeon was quite a place in the summer with all the guides.” Dar Kimble, who operated a bait shop on the south shore of Big Bob Channel was an unforgettable character. He opened fishing season by firing a shot gun at midnight. The shores were lined with eager fishermen, who couldn’t wait to cast a line and catch a pickerel. “A lot of the guides were from the Nichols family. They were very much into fishing and hunting. “At Locust Lodge we would pack a lunch for them and sent meals they could cook on Boyd Island after fishing on Pigeon Lake.”
“When I started at Locust Lodge I was working in the kitchen. Then when some of the girls left, I got to be a waitress. I got so that I knew where everything was in the kitchen and how it worked. It was a very well-run lodge. It was very dignified. Doris Anderson looked after it for her mother, Mrs. Edgar. Jack ran the office. Other than fishing and enjoying the weather and small town, they had a big ping pong table in the garage which provided lots of entertainment. Working there was really good training for me, I learned what needed to be considered when planning meal service for three meals a day, developing the menu and how to ensure proper service. For example: Wait staff, to avoid colliding with someone taking a drink from glasses on the right, serve and take food from the diners’ left, using their right hand, or if impossible from the closest point.”
“David and I were married in 1953.” Though it would disappoint his parents, David was not particularly interested in staying in the city and carrying on the family business or pursuing a career in medicine. But he did love spending summer on the south shore of Balsam Lake, and was interested in making a life there. By then, Spencer had passed away, and left in his will that all of his assets were to be sold. “David went to the lawyer, Mr. Fulton of Lindsay, and asked if there was any reason that he could not purchase the property. Mr. Fulton clarified that there were no restrictions on who could buy it. So, for $3,000, we decided to take it on a mortgage, and the annual taxes of $110.”
“When we bought the property, we intended to turn it into a lodge to cater to fishing enthusiasts.” David loved cottage life, and Aileen had the experience from working at Locust Lodge. In the first year after Spencer died (1953), Lina had to rent it to the owners of Herman Furs (Toronto), because the money in Spencer’s estate was tied up. The next year, David and I took over the property, and began the process of opening our business.
As part of the process of starting the business they had to give the property a name. When the Murrays bought the property, the former owner had named it ‘Tall Trees’. That name did not resonate with them, so they began searching for another one. One weekend, Spencer and Lina’s GM car broken down in Oshawa. They needed something to do as they waited for the mechanic to fix the car, so decided to go to the local library and research. There they looked through books and came across the reference to Nahma as ‘King of the Fishes’. The name is found in the poem, the Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: “Take my bait, O Sturgeon, Nahma! Let us see which is the stronger! Take my bait, O King of Fishes!” Though it applied to Sturgeon in this reference, Spencer and Lina adopted it to mean Big Fish or Muskellunge. Aileen explains: “We had to work closely with the Ministry of Tourism to fulfill requirements and build for business success. One major item was to name the business. We had proposed the initial name of the property ‘Tall Trees’. He said, no you want something more memorable than that. So, we offered up the current name ‘Nahma’ he liked that, so ‘Nahma Lodge’ became the business name.” Eileen and Dave put up a big sign at the end of the driveway for “Nahma,” a place to catch big fish.
“To begin the business, we needed to ensure there were two wool blankets for each bed, and that we had the water in our well tested annually, and had a septic tank. The septic tank was a luxury, as many of cottages still operated into the 60s and 70s with outhouses. We also needed to have a double sink in the kitchen, and to meet the food handling requirements of the health inspector. Next, we needed fixtures, and were fortunate to find out from Don Campbell, that a Mrs. Thompson, in Bobcaygeon had decided to close her tearoom. How lucky for us! We were able to acquire a double refrigerator, a big propane cook stove with a grill on top, all the dishes, silver and glassware, plus the tables and the chairs.”
Soon after they began to operate the lodge in 1954, David Murray caught a big fish in Balsam Lake that made it into the Toronto Telegram, helping to promote the lodge. “We had a number of brokers from the Toronto Stock Exchange come to stay at the lodge, using it as their company retreat. Dave used his knowledge of the lake to guide, and I applied the experience from Locust Lodge, to create menus and prepare meals. Plus, I did all the housekeeping of the guest rooms.”
“When David took over the family cottage, he took a leave of absence from the coal company so he could work on transitioning the cottage to a lodge with a friend from Bobcaygeon, Don Campbell. They put numbers on the five-bedroom doors, and renovated a hall closet into a small powder room. I had grown up on a farm, so cottaging was new to me. David however had been brought up on the water and knew what people needed. I remember early on, he said that we will need a place for boats to tie-up and get gas. At first, we couldn’t find a company to put in gasoline, but we heard of a Mr. Shoefeld who had just come to Lindsay to start a gas business (Texaco), and was looking for new customers. He was going around with trucks to fill up farmers’ tanks. We purchased a 250-gallon tank and set it on the lakeshore. To fill the small engines of the time, we had beakers that we would use to measure out the gas—they looked like the ones from chemistry class, just much larger. To add to the challenge of serving gas this way, we also had to mix the fuel with oil.”
“The next year, with another friend of his (Bob Carrick), David built a little shop on the water so that we could have a mechanic. The shop had a test tank at the back, to be able to operate the outboard motors as they were repairing them. One of the local men, Sandy McGee, was our first mechanic. He was good, however he got sea sick and could not stand to look at the waves. The solution was to set the test tank at the back of the shop so he wouldn’t see lake all the time. With him on staff, we could fix outboard motors. When building they included a hinged window that could be raised for a small tuck shop and place to take payment for gas. We sold candy and pop and would later add worms, minnows, ice, ice cream, fishing lures, and marine related items such as life jackets and paddles. Slowly the waterfront operation became a hub for people and services were slowly added. In fact, a lasting memory for anyone who worked for us between 1954 and August 27, 1971 was the cry, ‘Camp!’ That meant that there had been a sighting of canoes rounding the point, and the campers from Camp Kagawong were descending on the Tuck Shop. We had such fun serving the young campers, and still believe that any existing buildings are held together by the bubble gum the boys bought. At the time, when Camp Kagawong was mentioned, many locals would remember the story of eleven lost boys and young men in a July 1926 boating disaster. Those who died were mostly from a Toronto Anglican Leadership Camp, not Camp Kagawong.”
Early on Dave and Aileen rented their own residence to visitors. “David and I lived in the garage with children Pennyjane and Andrew. To increase comfort in summer and winter we put tentest on the walls, and finished it as our bedroom. The rest of the garage was the facility pumphouse which drew water from the lake to flush all the toilets. It was not an uncommon practice for lodge owners to save the best accommodations for their guests.
In the lodge, the dining room was no larger than what would be found in many homes of the era, visitors were not shy about sitting close together and meeting people from other places. “The dining room sat about 22 at little tables.”
“I typed up the menus and put them on a piece of birch bark. I would go to bed with my cookbook to get ideas for meals—and for four years I did all the cooking. We did hire some summer help to assist with cleaning (Joyce Douglas), kitchen prep and serving (Donna Hopkins). Later on, as I prepared for my second baby, we hired a cook to help (Mrs. Violet Worsley). At the time, it cost $10 a day to stay here, half was for meals, and half was board. Providing three meals a day for the length of stay was called the American Plan. To keep this in perspective, milk cost $0.92, bread $0.18, and the hourly wage for an adult was less than $1.00 per hour. In addition to other standard items, people looked forward to steaks on the grill on Saturdays, and turkey at noon on Sundays before they left for home. Thanksgiving was wonderful. At our noon meal, we had special treats like homemade candy from Lindsay and décor that featured colourful leaves. It was a big event for us, being the end of the season. Of course, this didn’t become such a big deal until after 1954, as we only had one guest (Matt Wallace), at the end of our season because Hurricane Hazel hit southern Ontario on October 15.”
For the first two years that they operated Nahma Lodge, after the season ended, David and Aileen returned to Toronto. “As a trained comptometer operator, I used my skills from school and ES&A Robinson to take winter work doing inventory for Woolworth’s, Simpson’s and Eaton’s. We had big books to record all the merchandise to make sure that everything was balanced at the end of the year. It was a very different experience returning to work in an office, sitting on a hard chair. I never had time to sit when I was running the lodge. The first week working in the office I could hardly walk when I got up. Dave went back to Cosgrove Coal for the winter to continue the transition to the new owners. When we decided to stay at the lake for the winter, Dave and his friend Don Phillips would take on jobs: roofing, painting, snowplowing, providing surveillance and clearing snow from roofs for cottagers during the winter.”
“Many of our customers would come up to stay for the weekend. Some stayed for a week and others for almost a month at a time. At the start, many of our guests were people that we knew from Toronto. One was a secretary at ES&A Robinson, some were people that David had sold coal to—once they knew that this was a good place to go fishing, they were eager to visit. That’s why having a marina was important, so they could go out fishing. They had friends who worked at Westclox in Sharon, Pennsylvania—a group of them came up all the time. We had a horseshoe pit at the lodge, and while they were waiting for their meals, they would play horseshoes or cribbage on our extra-large board. We kept the cottage tennis court in the first year, it was home to a rivalry that Dave had with a slightly more experienced tennis player, Ruth Conquergood (McWhirter). In 1955, we needed to use it as a parking lot as it was part of the property where the trees were already cleared.”
“In years to come we had to clear trees to make room for the business. It was accomplished with much physical labour. Others who came to assist included my father and brother (Alvin and John Griffin). They used horses and tack as well as other equipment to assist.”
“In 1954 we needed to have a phone, so we approached the local telephone company. At first, they did not see how they could extend the service from Mr. Ivan Dewell’s farm down to the lake. Than who came to investigate the situation had a hook for one of his hands. While discussing it with Dave, he realized he had been the fireman on the train, where Dave’s Grandfather was the engineer. He went away, mulled it over and came back with an idea. They could string and attach the line along the fence line. Dave pointed out there was a culvert in the way. His accomplice had an idea for that too – they would lead the wire through the culvert tight enough it would stay at the top and not be affected by the water and debris that would flow through. Once we had the phone, it provided a local place for calls to come in for cottagers. Our phone number was Cameron 20R22. Delivering phone messages to cottagers was a standard task long into the 70s. Other services were introduced to our lakefront community.”
“At first, we didn’t have mail delivery, I would have to go to Dewell’s to get our mail. Later on, since both our family and George Hoyle’s family were year-round residents, we started to get mail delivery. In the summer, to provide the dining room with supplies, Silverwood’s would send the milk truck. It brought milk, eggs, butter and bread. This was a great service for the cottagers too. Often, one parent would stay at the lake all summer with their children. But they were most often without a car – the delivery of staples allowed them to stay. In those days, I took our garbage to Fenelon Falls to the dump located where the Salvation Army Thrift Store is now.”
When Nahma Lodge first opened, fishing was a huge draw. Visitors and locals alike were genuinely excited to get out on the water. “All the guests and neighbours would come down at midnight and gather on the dock for the opening of fishing season. At first, they all came with their own worms, later they would buy their bait as part of the evening’s excitement. Our children were ushered to bed early, with promises of being called before the midnight fun. Then they would stand on the dock until they caught something or got tired out. That was in the 1950s and early 60s, as time went on it got to be old hat and people didn’t bother with it the same way. In addition to fishing, other water activities enhanced summer fun – there used to be boat races at Rosedale that restarted in the late 1940s and endured into the 1950s. Lloyd Jenkins, had some grainy 8mm film of these races as Dave, brother Paul, Don Good, and others joined the fun for sea flea races. Rosedale and the emerging Cottage Associations started regattas, again we have some film of the early ones for the Romany Ranch Cottagers’ Association (RRCA). Such fun was had and memories created by generations. Some associations have been able to keep these alive. However, our RRCA, has not been so lucky as it is harder to find people to volunteer.”
The small tuck shop needed to be stocked. “My children have many fond memories of going to Fred and Russell Webster’s confectionary (now Cornerstone Home Furnishings), to buy cigarettes, candies, candy bags, chocolate bars and chips for our shop. I had to go to Merton Street, Toronto for placemats and serviettes.”
“As the years went on, the business came to focus more on the marina and snowmobile business. We installed gas pumps for the boats, and expanded our basin to add docks for more boats to come in. We even had a forklift and gantry to lift the boats out of the water for repair and storage. To lift large crushers and houseboats, we built the gantry with Jim and Brian Magee. The later gas pumps had a dial that you turned so it would automatically mix the oil with the gasoline—before that we had to mix it by hand.”
“In the early days, we sold Mahone boats—they came from Nova Scotia, and McCulloch motors. The boats came by train to the Fenelon Falls station for pick-up, as did our first Ski-Doos. Later we would add Evinrude, Volvo, Starcraft, Century and Hackercraft representation to the mix. In the 1960-80’s we branched out into the snowmobile business and were one of the first dealerships for Ski-Doo. We had many a harrowing drive to North Bay, and later Barrie to pick-up machines, clothing and parts. Thank goodness for our sidekicks, Lorne Gray and Jean Sproat (Coates). A fond memory, is one New Year’s Eve (1969), we had a snowmobile run in the evening and by midnight we had more than 100 machines out in front of our Quonset hut. This replaced the original shop and expanded the store to allow for a showroom. It was also a perfect place for a dance. David had recently purchased it from Don Pearson in Bobcaygeon. Sadly, he and our doctor, Dr. Frank Moran, had tragically drowned the year before on February 4, 1968. People used the Quonset hut as a landmark—you could see it across the lake. In fact, after 2023 when it had to be removed for shoreline repairs, we had people lamenting how they missed it as a navigation reference spot.”
“We also leased space for John Sproat to operate Kawartha Airways, so he and pilot, Lou Mackie, could fly fishing enthusiasts into northern lakes. Mixed with hard work, there was always something fun going on. Once in the 70s my daughter PJ and co-worker Cindy Worsley (Barrett), decided to swim across the bay. I was their watch-boat and started to row. Not being much of a boater myself, I was sitting backward on the seat and started rowing in circles. Finally, I had to start the motor to catch-up to the swimmers. The staff, guests and cottagers had great fun teasing me. The co-owner of a marina that can’t row a boat. From then on, I left the on-water work to others.”
“The lodge was busiest shortly after the Second World War, because there were not enough places for people to stay in that era.” In the years that followed, cottages were built all around the lakes, and instead of staying at the lodge, many families enjoyed summer at their own cottage. People started flying overseas for vacations, and guests would not stay at the lodge for the same period of time. After Dave had three heart attacks (1974), we had to divest of some of our activity – I guess I got tired of planning meals and cooking so we closed the dining room, and only maintained our housekeeping accommodation. I had a brain tumour in 1991, and then in 2011, due to changes to fuel handling we removed our storage tanks and stopped selling gas. Dave had mixed feelings about this decision, because although financially it was no longer viable, he really was reluctant to make a change that would require people to use jerry cans. He felt the risk of spillage into the lake was heightened.”
“As we worked on our business, Dave served with others during the 1960s with Emergency Measures to plan to provide safety and security during any national emergency. As a result of this and other activities he became more well known in the neighbourhood. In 1969, Wes Webster and Bert Boston invited him to attend a community meeting in Cameron. At the meeting he was nominated from the floor to run for the Township of Fenelon council. David had not planned on running and had planned a hunting trip – so he went hunting. When he got home, he found out that he had been voted in and was on council. This started his municipal government involvement where he served as Councillor, Deputy Reeve and Reeve of Fenelon Township, as well as County of Victoria Warden. In a blur of meetings and committee work, he was involved from 1969-1997. I think he was a good representative as he held fairness to individual wants and needs, and stewardship of our community at the centre of all decisions. He was not afraid to try new things, after careful consideration. During this time, he was involved in many areas of passion. One was improving infrastructure, so he was a member of Ontario Good Roads and served as President for a year.
“One day, Ken Reid came to see Dave and said ‘I want you to come with me and see this property, that I want to leave for recreation. I don’t have a family and I want to leave it so people can enjoy it.’ There had been a thunderstorm while Ken was showing David the property. They came to a place where he had been pasturing cattle – much to Dave’s surprise the cows were lying dead under a tree where they had gone for shelter, only to have it struck by lightning.”
“From these early discussions, Dave went on to be a founding member of the Kawartha Conservation Authority. He had the opportunity to serve our community and work with others passionate about leaving the environment so our children and their children can enjoy. As I recall, there were a lot of people who were not very enthusiastic about it at the time—as it brought in restrictions about where farmers could install drainage. “
“As the Conservation Authority was being founded, they had to start a committee, and decide on the buildings that they would need on the property, because at the time, the Ken Reid Conservation Area was just a big pasture field. David served on the committee and went to visit other Conservation Authorities to see how they had turned their land into something that people appreciated. He became the first chairman in 1979. He appreciated the landscape of the Kawarthas, and spent much of his life helping others be able to access it and appreciate it as he did—whether it was through Nahma Lodge, the marina, Ken Reid Conservation Area, or the Rail Trail.”
“I was involved in the community as well—like many other small business owners. I served as a volunteer at the Ross Memoria Hospital, and with Dave assisted our son Andrew, in 2007, to raise money to fund the Dialysis Unit. In addition, I served with other organizations as CHMA Victoria, Association for Children with Learning Disabilities and the Women’s Resources. I worked with forward thinking women like Judy Dickson and Donna Speer.”
“Dave and I had the time for our community work, because we had wonderful people assist in the business. In the beginning after Sandy McGee retired, David’s mechanic brother, Paul, joined and became the head mechanic. Ernie Jordan took over, followed by Nick Swain and Paul Lees. After serving as our head mechanic, Ernie went on to open Ernie Jordan Electric, and Paul to work for the City of Kawartha Lakes. Of course, we had many others who provided seasonal and specialized assistance. As the demands changed and we aged, the business also changed. Now Tara Wright coordinates specialized assistance to our clients.”
“Staying in business for 70+ years requires one to evolve and stay relevant. I can’t think of Nahma Lodge without thinking of all the characters we met, and life-long friends we had the privilege to make through our many ventures. And of course, Dave, who we lost in October 2022. As I reflect on his contribution to our business it and us to the community, I am amazed at how he, as a fairly shy person, pushed himself to step-up and try. He always said, ‘You can just sit back and complain, or you can step in and try and make a difference. People won’t always agree or like you, however you can look in the mirror and know you actively participated in making a difference. He was always seeking new and different challenges, in fact, at 95 he did not feel he was done. He had ideas to support work of the Community Foundation which was established to help the Kawartha Lakes community grow and prosper, and how the Grove Theatre could attract new people to the area and expand opportunity for youth and others. He was also sincerely interested in learning how to turn Ken Reid Conservation Area into a success, and more recently, how to represent all parties at the Central East Detention Centre as a CAB member.”
“Both Dave and I believe we were blessed to have the opportunity to live on Balsam Lake. We often talked as a family how it is impossible to increase the amount of land around the lake, and how many people can’t afford to maintain waterfront property. But we can maintain an access point for people, a ramp for people to launch boats, as we offer other support services. To that end, my daughter, her husband, our grand-daughter, husband and grandsons – keep the ramp open, and because the log home is like a museum of what old-fashioned cottages used to be like, we are exploring the addition of a coffee shop so people can come share in the memorabilia, and sit by the lake.”
“I couldn’t have had a better partner to navigate the building of a business, and its many changes over the years. Dave and I often laughed, while we listened to big band music, and said, ‘70 years of candy bags and providing first jobs – what a life!’”
This story is a memory and nobody’s memory is perfect. Sometimes details get a little mixed up, things get forgotten or overlooked, and the perspective is inevitably subjective. If you notice something that not right, have something you would like to tell us, or a memory to share the museum would be happy to hear from you: [email protected]
