Families Dine On Tradition
Tonight the folks at Carlin Bay will keep the feast as they have for most of the past 62 years.
They’ve cooked turkey and ham. Volunteers also have decorated the simple community hall just above the shore of Lake Coeur d’Alene with greenery and candles.
About 6:30 p.m., families will arrive bearing their potluck specialties - side dishes to keep warm on the big iron cookstove’s already-hot surface. The hall will smell comfortably of wood smoke, coffee and good food.
Each family will bring its own flatware, plates, cups and glasses and stake out a spot at one of the long tables lining the room’s center.
This is a tradition dating back to the 1930s, a part of Carlin Bay’s history that has remained strong, if not unchanged.
One thing has stayed the same over the years. There is no piped-in water. So dirty dishes go home with their owners. Board members, the same people who build the fires and take care of business, also bring the water and make the coffee.
As the crowd grows, so does the noise level. Children play and people greet one another and settle down on benches and chairs to catch up on the latest. Surely it was the same in 1933.
According to handwritten records, the Carlin Bay Community Club was organized “… to build a community hall for the benefit of residents of Carlin Bay and surrounding country.”
From the building’s beginnings in the depths of the Great Depression until the present, The Carlin Bay Club has been conceived, built and maintained by volunteers.
In the minutes recorded by the first secretary/treasurer, Lorine Wilkinson, the membership decided to raise money by selling $5 shares in the 24-by-40-foot structure. Some made pledges for one share that they paid off a dollar at a time as they could afford it.
Others donated heating wood or labor in lieu of money. Henry Waldo deeded over the land. According to longtime area resident Wendle Renner, shoreline property wasn’t worth much then. “You couldn’t grow anything on it.”
Construction began in late January 1933 with Waldo as head carpenter. “Waldo cut the stringers from native logs and leveled the tops with an adz,” said Renner. “That floor is still solid.”
Renner said that in 1933, lake steamers still were the main means of transportation for goods and people, and ice hampered shipments. The lake road, now state Highway 97, was gravel, and mud during high water often made the lower sections impassable.
Despite obstacles, the center was built and has been maintained over the years, a venue for dances, bake, crafts and rummage sales. It is rented out for the occasional wedding reception.
Attendance records show a fluctuation in interest. At times the secretary’s minutes seem to complain of only a few coming to the potlucks and on one occasion no one showed up for a meeting.
For several years, in the late ‘50s, Jo Renner remembers that the potlucks took place in area homes rather than in the building.
“Sometime in 1962,” said Jo, “Eileen Stott and I repaired the steps that had rotted out. After that we went back to having the Saturday night potlucks in the hall.” And so it has been ever since, on the first Saturday night of each month, October through June.
Over the years, both the names and faces have changed and a whole new group has formed around The Club. But the spirit is the same. This past summer Mike Lukasiac sanded and refinished the wooden floors and Mark Harns along with Rick Palmiter and Bob Eddy cleaned and varnished the larch walls. The men also painted the ceiling.
So tonight, when members pin on their name tags, greet friends and settle down to a good meal, they are carrying on a tradition, preserving a sense of place and community - it’s been that way from the beginning.