Return to Wake Robin

One Cabin in the Heyday of Northwoods Resorts

De: Marnie O. Mamminga

Narrado por: Susan Sweeney

Five generations of Marnie O. Mamminga's family have been rejuvenated by times together in Wisconsin's Northwoods. In a series of evocative remembrances, Mamminga takes us to Wake Robin, the cabin her grandparents built in 1929 on Big Spider Lake near Hayward, on land adjacent to Moody's Camp. Along the way, she preserves the spirit and cultural heritage of a vanishing era, conveying the heart of a place and the community that once gathered there.

Bookended by the close of the logging era and the 1970s shift to modern lake homes, condos, and Jet Skis, the 1920s to 1960s period covered in these essays represents the golden age of Northwoods camps and cabins - a time when retreats such as Wake Robin were the essence of simplicity. In Return to Wake Robin, Mamminga describes the familiar cadre of fishing guides casting their charm, the camaraderie and friendships among resort workers and vacationers, the call of the weekly square dance, the splash announcing a perfectly executed cannonball, and the lodge as gathering place. By tracing the history of one resort and cabin, she recalls a time and experience that will resonate with anyone who spent their summers Up North - or wishes they had.

©2012 Wisconsin Historical Society Press (P)2013 Wisconsin Historical Society Press

Felt like she was talking about my own family!

My Great Grandfather bought a cabin on the same lake in the 50's, and we are still enjoying spider lake today. I listened to it on the way up north, with my dad, and this book got us so excited for the week to come. So many of the stories reminded me of the ones my Grandfather would tell me. This book was a great window into the past.

Sets off memories of my own camp experience

I grew up spending summers on lake Kipawa in Quebec at a summer cottage very similar to Marnie’s. Woody reminds me of my grandmother. The lodge operators remind of the Scharf camp. The guides, the friends, the family. Relationships forged in the Northwoods that shaped us and bound us together. Thank you for sharing!

brought back so many memories

I can't tell you how emotional this book made me. Thank you. I grew up in the same Era as the author and spent my summers with my maternal grandparents in a tiny house on Lake Huron. Her story brought back so many happy memories of my childhood.