I stopped down at the bait and tackle shop near the beach at Sandy Lake, Manitoba, looking for some spade fuses for the boat.
Sorry, the proprietor said, he didn鈥檛 have any.
And he also let me know that at the end of this season, he would be shutting down operations. He might reopen in a few years, when his grandson is older and able to help out in running the place.
I don鈥檛 do much in the way of fishing, so I haven鈥檛 spent much money there. But I am sad to see it go.
When we first came to Sandy Lake six years ago I noted there was a closed ice cream shop near the beach. Last year this gentleman put considerable effort into renovating it and opening his bait and tackle shop. But the lack of sales and lack of age for the grandson meant it would close. And while he sold ice cream treats, the public beach never teemed with people, despite the numerous seasonal campgrounds in Sandy Lake.
For me, it was a bright spot, as my experience has been that most of the lakes I鈥檝e been to over the years have been in a general slow state of decline. It could be just my limited experience. Maybe things are improving elsewhere, simply not in the places I have frequented.
Here at Sandy Lake, the hardware store is for sale and has been for years. I fear this may be its last season. That would be horrendous for us, as any cabin owner knows there is no end to maintenance. We鈥檝e yet to start a year without fixing burst pipes. But the owner wants to retire, and with no buyer, that might be it.
The sub shop closed a few years ago. The bar/restaurant has long been for sale. The golf course just sold. The convenience store relocated and became a diner, but their hours are reduced and they鈥檙e done by 4 p.m.
One of the unique things about this little primarily Ukrainian-ancestry hamlet/beach resort (they have a Ukrainian museum) was The Barking Moose, a little cappuccino shop in one of those really old buildings on Main Street that鈥檚 probably a 100 years old. It was a wonderful treat, but after several years, they too couldn鈥檛 make a go of it, and shut down two years ago.
This seems to be the case at many places I鈥檝e been. As a kid, we frequented Crystal Lake, a small pond of a lake north of Canora that鈥檚 so small, it doesn鈥檛 appear on most maps. We used to go to the south beach, which at one point held the moniker of 鈥淛ohnny鈥檚 Beach.鈥� That鈥檚 where I failed yellow in swimming lessons five times.
Across the lake, on the north side, was 鈥淏lack鈥檚 Beach.鈥� I鈥檝e only been there a couple times. It closed many years ago, and the last time I was there, it was largely grown in. Maybe things have changed since then. I don鈥檛 know.
On the east side of Jackfish Lake, north of North Battleford, is the resort village of Cochin. When I was a teenager in Yorkton, I remember listening to Saskatoon鈥檚 CKOM radio (when it played music, not John Gormley.) One of the frequent commercials was a takeoff of the Kentucky Headhunters song Dumas Walker. The commercial went, 鈥淟et鈥檚 all go, down to Cochin Lighthouse.鈥�
I was always fascinated by the concept of this place; a bar you could pull up to by taking your boat down the river through Cochin from Jackfish Lake. It sounded like a happening place. But by the time we ended up living in North Battleford in 1998, and going to Jackfish a little after that, it was a shadow of its former self. Indeed, much of Cochin seemed to have been past its heyday.
I don鈥檛 know why this is, but it seems to me that a lot of lakes are past their heyday. Is it rural depopulation? Perhaps the rise of glamping (glamorous camping in real fancy campers) means more people spend time in their spanky accommodations?
Cabins used to be just shacks. Now, most are second homes, so maybe lake people today are more inclined to hang out at their own cabin than use the common facilities. Saskatchewan put a big effort into expanding the campsites at provincial parks. Did they steal people from the private lake facilities?
I am willing to admit I could be totally wrong about this. Maybe some places are growing and expanding, with big crowds of happy customers flush with vitality.
I鈥檓 just not seeing it.
