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Leann money qibouits Seugogs AND MANY MORE FASCINATING STORIES ABOUT OUR HISTORY Pick up a copy of at 175 Perry Street, vy FM. FINDS 180 Queen Street, Perry website: www.focusonscugog.com Oslers hired local men to serve as gameskeepers for property Continued from page 30 awarded the contract. Construction of the 30’x40’ two-sto- rey clubhouse began in December 1892. The house was located on a rising piece of land on the east shore of the lake, just south of the causeway, known as Hemlock Island. The building featured a third-storey tpwer, surrounded by windows, which provided a perfect vantage point to keep lookout across the marshlands for intrud- ers or poachers. Tan Beare, a grandson of John Murray who was gameskeeper of the Scugog, Game Preserve, remembers the house featured a clubroom, which overlooked the marshland, and a large dining room on the main floor where Mr. Osler and his guests would enjoy great feasts at the end of a day, often with duck on the menu. There was also other smaller storage rooms, and a kitchen with a wood stove, from which dinners were cooked. Upstairs there were a number of rooms for the Osler’s guests. Mr. Murray and his wife Lorena lived in an apartment connected to the north side of the original clubhouse. This was their home for about 40 years before purchasing a house at 279 Queen St. (now Jester’s Court) and moved into town, after retiring as estate managers in 1961. During the 1930s and 1940s many of Philip Osler’s busi- ness friends, from Toronto and Montreal, would travel to the marsh for a weekend of hunting and fishing. Following a hearty breakfast, they were taken out in punts to the duck blinds set up in the marsh for the morning hunt. The blinds consisted of large boxes with marsh grass woven into the treated canvas sides, which could be easily lowered or raised for shooting or camouflage. When the sides were raised the blind looked like a clump of marsh . They also had single person boats called “pups,” in which a hunter would stand in a small square metal box, about two feet deep. A similar woven grass camouflage was used on these small boats Also taken along to the blind would be the decoys, a lunch and sometimes they even took their dogs to retrieve the ducks. But most often, the gameskeeper or his helpers would collect the ducks at the end of the day with the help of their retreiver dogs. Often, Mrs. Murray would prepare a dinner of roast duck for them that evening, served in the diningroom. A number of Scugog men have held the position of games- keeper, or estate manager as they are called today, over the past centu John S. McKenzie was the first to hold the position for the Lake Scugog Game Preserve Co. in 1891, and the following year, Martin Luther Crandell took over the job, for which he was responsible for keeping poachers off the property and ensuring the channels were kept open for hunting. It's believed Crandell managed the property until John Murray assumed the roll of gameskeeper about 1911. Mr. Murray held the job for approximatly 50 years. When Scugog Game Preserve clubhouse Nera and Tony Bloemen were caretakers of the property for more than 30 years. he retired from the duties at the Osler prop- erty in 1961, the job was taken over by Tony Bloemen and his wife Nera, who lived on the property and tended to the needs of the entire estate until Oct. 1996. When Mr. Bloemen retired as the full- time caretaker in the fall of 1996, the duties pertaining to the marshlands were turned over to his apprentice, Peter Overgoor and Ann Julia Bajema, who continue the tradi- tions of the caretakers of the past century. By J. Peter Hvidsten Focus on Scugog FOCUS - MAY 2008 31