• Sunday-What'sUP August 13 - 12:55 am

I can't recall a summer that has flown so quickly. Labor Day is right around the corner. Today's Shoebox Memory is from Labor Day of '29 as the Roaring 20's were about to come to a crashing conclusion, and usher in the Great Depression. But these carefree swimmers don't appear to be concerned about the stock market on that Monday afternoon. Just some quality family time, enjoying the beauty of the Keweenaw Peninsula at historic Mendota Lighthouse, down past the end of Bete Gris beach.

Fortunate for us that John Thorley Reeder had his camera on the beach that day 83 years ago. Next week we'll share more about this Copper Country resident who captured so many interesting U.P. scenes early last century, from his great-grandson Mike Cooper, a neighbor with a cottage here in Eagle River (which has shown up on the Pasty Cam before).

A perfect way to cool off, if one can swim....I never learned how.:(

Is the Mendota Lighthouse privately owned? This summer has gone fast. Memorial Day weekend usually thought as the summer season opener. July 4th, summer half over. Labor Day weekend as one of the last weekends of summer.

Yes, Janie, the lighthouse is privately owned. The
folks who live there are great ~ gave my cousin a
private tour!

I love the old pictures of times past. Wondering what might have been...

Do people still swim over there, or do they just swim at the waters at Bete Grise?

Anyway, I just said yesterday that I think this summer has gone by faster than any in my recent memory. I know our vacation just flew by. It seems we just got there and it was time to leave. So sad :-(

I love the Mendota lighthouse!

The channel looks like it was wider back then?

As you can see the channel was very shallow back then. If I remember correctly it was in about the late 50's or maybe early sixties when the channel was dredged and the irons were installed. It is very sad that most of Bete Gris has become private property, back in my youth most of it was open to the public and we camped and fished there on weekends.

I remember seeing campers there when I would go swimming up there when I was younger. It's such a great beach. It seems everything is becoming private property, and if you can't afford to be one of those who buys a place, you're out of luck! I'm so happy they did what they did out at Great Sand Bay, because now there is a specific designated spot for picnickers.

We used to be swimming out at Little Traverse, but the cottage on the one side of the beach area bought the rest of the beach so nobody else could go swimming there. Seriously, you can't share the spot that isn't even in front of your camp? I don't get it!

Deb and Dave,
Sometimes it is the nature of the land owner that results in closing areas to the public. But mostly. in this 21st Century America, it is insurance companies and lawyers. Exposure to liability is the bane of insurance companies, and liability is the bread and butter for tort lawyers. Someone drowns off your beach or is dumb enough to break their neck in an ATV accident on your land (even if they were trespassing)you are liable for 1. Not having a lifeguard present or 2. Not warning the person with the broken neck that ATV riding is hazardous on your dangerous terrain. The Douglass Houghton Falls (I'll use the modern name)is privately owned and has been posted for years, for those of old enough and fortunate enough to have visited it, it was a great place. But it was dangerous for those who weren't endowed with basic common sense. Today, we live in a fault free society, if one takes a risk and falls off a cliff, it isn't their fault, it is the owner of the cliff who is at fault. This is because, in this country, we assume all people are stupid and need to be protected from themselves. While this is not true, there are, unfortunately, enough who actually are stupid to keep the theory alive.

Amen, Paul.

Amen, amen!!!

So true, Paul. I, too, loved visiting the Falls as a kid. We were not stupid enough to try climbing them or doing something which would cause injury. We just loved to go there, have a picnic lunch, and marvel at the beauty surrounding us. Even as kids we appreciated it.

I guess that would be why we have all the warning labels that are on products now as well. When you read a warning that appears to be common sense to most of us, you know that there was somebody out there who actually did what the statement warns against. So sad!

Amazing how our generation and the others before us grew up without all these warnings, and have nothing but great memories of our childhood.

The summer has gone too fast? try living in Phoenix Arizona. Baahaahaa Just Kidding. Miss living in the UP. Hopefully someday again.

scot turnquist (Scotturn):
"The summer has gone too fast? try living in Phoenix Arizona. …"

Oboy, that's for sure.

Since Friday, August 3, Phoenix has had daily high temperatures at or above 110° each day — that's nine days and counting — with more of the same in the forecast through at least Tuesday August 14.

Oh, and record highs of 112° on Tuesday 8/7, 116° on Wednesday 8/8, 114° on Thursday 8/9, and 115° on Sunday 8/12. Even a record high minimum of 93° on Thursday 8/9.

Just for good measure, based on Cooling Degree Days, August 2011 was 15% warmer than August of 2010, and August of 2012 is looking to be at least 10% warmer than last year.

This is getting seriously old! For a veteran desert rat, I think I'm melting!

How many remember the SAD SACKS arriveing in Bete Gris each summer for ther annaul picnic - have learned that they were all single from Ahmeek/Mohawk and had an outing just on the curve after leaving the Bay heading to the canal.