Meet Bruce and Dottie
Our journey to Duck Harbor Pond starts with our mother, whose sister, Hazel, and her husband, Bernard, had a turkey farm "Clark Poultry" on Shady Lane just off Route 191 in Honesdale. Our Uncle Bernard claimed to know where every huckleberry bush was in Wayne County and felt the best were at Duck Harbor Pond.
Our mother and father shared with Aunt Hazel and Uncle Bernard that they were looking for land to build a summer cottage on. Bernard knew that Joel Hill had sectioned off some of his land at Duck Harbor Pond to sell. Bernard arranged for our parents to meet Joel Hill, and after looking at all the lots available, the lot at 35 E. Hill Road was purchased in 1969.
As a licensed surveyor, our father recruited my brother Scott and myself to survey the land. Not just to verify the boundaries but also for the topography which determined where the house was going to be built.
It was natural for the new house to be named Huckleberry Lodge. (Several years ago we learned that the bushes aren't huckleberries.) Through the years, when the berries were plentiful, we had many delicious pies and pancakes. There was a time we could harvest enough berries to freeze and use during the winter.
Before starting the plans for Huckleberry Lodge, our father bought a boat that he kept at their home in West Chester, PA. Several times before building the house, our father hooked up the boat trailer, hauled the boat up to Duck Harbor, put in at the public access, went around the lake, took the boat out, and drove back home in one day.
During the winter of 1969-70, our father, a civil engineer, designed the house. He also purchased cedar siding from the Carolinas which he cured during the winter.
Finally, with blueprints in hand, the cedar siding all cured, footers poured, and the basement blocks outlining the house, the shell of the house was built. In the purchase agreement with Joel Hill, our father arranged for the support beams to come from Hill's sawmill.
To save money and also have continuous projects, our father only had the shell of the house built. He, we, would slowly complete the insulation, paneling, drywall, finished floor, finished ceilings, etc. Making Huckleberry Lodge a continuous project.
This was all happening around the same time I started dating Dottie. So one of our dates was to go to see Huckleberry Lodge and to meet our Aunt Hazel and Uncle Bernard. When we got married in July 1971, Huckleberry Lodge was our honeymoon destination.
Dottie and I both enjoyed water skiing but knew it was unsafe for one of us to ski and the other drive the boat. So we drove around the lake and saw a young teenager on shore and asked if he'd help us by being our spotter. For helping us, we agreed that we'd take him skiing. And that's how we met Jim McMyne.
Huckleberry Lodge and Duck Harbor Pond had been our parents' summer destination as well as our two families' ever since 1970. Our children, and now our grandchildren, have explored the stream and woods on foot and bikes, learned how to water ski, and drive a boat.
