PRESERVING HISTORY –
Some Personal Comments
Since asked in 2018 to write a weekly mini-story for the MBL web site, I have written over 425 vignettes about Miners’ Bay.
It has been said that “some of us, more than others, are born with an innate sense of History, and the lingering poetry of time and place.” In 1987, I concluded my “Personal Note from the Editor”, in MINERS BAY LODGE – THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS, with the following comment:
“We can never repay our debt to the past, nor neglect our obligation to the future. Truly, ‘we go out of history, into history, and the awful responsibility of time’”. I continue to believe that. We study, and preserve the past, not just to remember, and enjoy it, but also, to learn from it.
As Edmund Burke, (1729-1797), declared, experience, is a more reliable guide to human conduct, than abstract reason. The past can assist in explaining the present, and help guide us as we face the future. In most successful enterprises, things were done a certain way, for a reason. To maintain the essence of an experience, it is best to not greatly modify its components.
In 2022, MBL returned to the “tried and true” formula of success. We all celebrate that fact!
While I have researched, composed, and maintained editorial control of the stories used in what has been known as Wunker Wednesdays, I have not been involved in the scheduling of their release, or any feedback that they evoke. Sandra Ward has done an excellent job in issuing these materials to the MBL community. Initially, there were not a lot of regular postings on the MBL web site, and Wunker Wednesdays helped to “keep the dream alive”.
Now there are numerous postings, bearing testimony that MBL is back on track. The time has come to modify the format and vehicle in which these historical vignettes are issued.
Early in the new year, the material that has been known as Wunker Wednesdays will now be available on the web site of the Miners Bay Church.
If you want to continue to receive historical musings about Miners’ Bay and Gull Lake, go to minersbaychurch1906@gmail.com. We will be issuing materials more regularly, and think that you will enjoy the content.
I have not monitored Wunker Wednesdays, but, on occasion, I have been alerted to specific questions that arise. In reviewing some of the materials that have been sent out, I realized that comments are sometimes made that might be suggesting, or expecting, a response. In order to better relate to such situations, anyone who wishes to contact us directly, may do so at dottieandruss@aol.com. We will reply, as time and circumstances allow.
In closing this last Wunker Wednesday issued on the MBL web site, we provide a couple photos. Shown, is the growing archive of stories about Miners’ Bay, as well as an indication of how Dottie sometimes preserves history! A couple winters ago, she completed six braided rugs. These are constructed from wool strips, salvaged over the years from “retired” MBL blankets. Many were made by the Horn Brothers woolen factory in Lindsay. Some will recall that Alex Horn began vacationing here in 1909. Horn Point is to the left of the MBL beach, as you look out on Gull Lake.
Russ Wunker, January 2023