Yup, the biggest fish tale was recounted by the piano player. About 20 years ago, dogs baking wildly woke Christine Hebert on a foggy night. A new dock had recently been built at the Auer Family Boathouse, with a light that extended out into the water. Christine looked out to see what was alarming the dogs, thought someone might be taking a boat, and to her astonishment she saw a large creature rise up out of the water right under the light. It was Champ, green with algae, a dinosaur head and humps on it's back... s/he was seemingly curious about the new dock, and the light. The next night, a juvenile appeared, looking like a smaller dinosaur and also causing a dog barking frenzy. Christine woke her mother and took her to the window to be a witness. If you go down to the Boathouse before they shutter up for the winter, you can hear these stories for yourself.
John Shappy's father could build a boat in 8 days, without power tools. His secret? Lots of smart, strapping kids who picked up the art and didn't need much sleep! The boat cost $150, and the Shappy identifying mark was placed up under the bow. If someone stole a Shappy boat, they went to jail.
Charlie Auer encountered a skunk, and successfully used the trick of shining a light in it's eyes while quickly picking the skunk up by its tail. A skunk can't spray unless it's feet are on the ground. Problem was that Charlie walked by a log, the skunk got a foothold, and Charlie got it good.
By popular demand, we'll do a follow-up mid-winter.
2 comments:
My grandmother used to play the piano down at the Auer Family Boathouse for dances on Saturday nights. It was well before I was born! She also used to play the piano at the silent picture shows for the Strand Theater. When they closed it up, and they donated the piano to her, as a gift, and it stayed down at the Boathouse for many, many years, and was played well. It got ruined during the record high waters about 4 years ago, and yes, was replaced by a generous donation. There were many years of wonderful dancing and singing down there....
That post came from Kimberly Auer, via Facebook. Sorry, I meant to identify her!
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