I first visited Skootamatta in the early 60’s when our family stayed with the Chinnicks at their cottage at the mouth of Jacques Bay. A few years later my parents, Dick and Edna Blake, convinced Lands and Forests to approve the surveying and sale of lots on the island at the head of the Bay and happily bought about four acres. A few years after that the island was officially named Blake Island in memory of my Uncle Bill, who was shot down and killed while serving as a Halifax bomber pilot during World War 2. For the first few years we had a small cookhouse and the kids slept in tents. Over the intervening years our property has seen the building of three cottages and many renovations. It has also been the gathering point for numerous family reunions and special events. I can still remember sitting out by the fire listening to the radio and looking up at the moon as the first astronauts landed.
During the past 50+ years I have served in the Canadian Navy and, following my return to Western to complete graduate work, as a Faculty Member at the Business School at Memorial University in Newfoundland and at the Smith School of Business at Queen’s University in Kingston, where I continue to work. My career has taken me to the East Coast, the West Coast and Ontario but the island has always been an anchor for me, my wife Karen, and for our children Christopher and Caroline.
Karen and I enjoy living in Kingston and particularly like being so close to the Lake. It is hard to believe that it is over 50 years since I first visited Skootamatta and I look forward to spending even more time there, if and when I ever retire!