Feature Article August 1, 2001
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Saint
Andrew the Fisherman - Bobs Lakeby
David Brison
People
gathered from around the lake on Sunday, by boat, car, or on foot, to
attend a service at the Saint Andrew the Fisherman church on Bobs
Lake. During the summers, services are held every Sunday, with the
Rev. Bruce Geddes of Sharbot Lake officiating. This Sunday was a
special occasion - a sanctuary window, given by Mr. and Mrs. George
Parry of Akron, Ohio in honour of her father and mother, Dr. and Mrs.
Earl W. Burgner, was dedicated.
The
new window has been placed in the wall behind the altar, just under
the ceiling. The window lights the dark wood paneling, and also
provides ventilation - a welcome relief for those who have
sweltered in the heat in the past. The Saint Andrew the Fisherman
design, displayed in the church and on the programs, will be etched in
the glass.
The
occasion was an opportunity to renew the rich heritage of community
life on the lake - a heritage that mingles contributions of
"tourists" and full time residents - many of them retired
cottagers who have been coming to the lake for most of their lives.
Mrs. Parry's parents the Burgners bought a cottage on Bobs Lake 53
years ago and lived on a point that came to be known as Doc's Point.
At the dedication, Reverend Bruce Geddes conducted a service of light and my brother, the Venerable William Brison, from Bury, England gave the first reading. Billy has conducted services at the church and assisted a number of pastors over the years. He, his wife Peggy, and 1, own Pine Island, just across a narrow bay from the church. Together we have been coming to the lake since 1955.
Two
immediate neighbours, Sally Wolfe, and her husband, Kevin Langan, both
opera singers with international reputations, sang during the service.
Sally sang Amazing Grace, Kevin
sang Ava Maria, and together
they sang Panis Angelicus. They
have sung opera across North America and Europe for 23 years, and
appeared with all the major opera companies. Sally's father and mother
from Ohio bought the cottage next to the church in 1950.
One of the early visitors to the lake, author Miss Laura Lee Davidson, was instrumental in founding Saint Andrew the Fisherman. Miss Davidson was a friend of another doctor, Edward Renouf, who camped around Bobs Lake in the late 1880's and eventually built a cottage on Ashnelot Island. He interested some friends from Baltimore, among them Miss Davidson, in coming to the lake.
Laura Lee Davidson stayed in her own cottage on the lake one winter around 1914. She wrote a novel based on that winter's experience -- A Winter of Content - which contained thinly disguised descriptions of the local people. Many of them didn't like what she said about them. However, she stayed on at the lake for many years after that and came to be on good terms with the full-time residents. In 1929, she started working with the residents around the lake on the building of the church, and wrote a small book, We Build, describing the building process, again substituting fictional names for the people involved. The story is a heart-warming tale of a community effort to build their own church in tough times when nobody had any money.
The
land for the church was donated by William Badour, Murton Badour's
father. It was finished in 1931 and consecrated by the Bishop of
Ontario in that year.
The community is still helping out. In addition to the generous donation by the Parrys, Reverend Geddes said that the roof had been repaired, the siding repainted, and the brush cleared from around the church by the neighbours.Much of the history for this article was drawn from the book "The Dammed Lakes", by Lloyd Jones.
