I am one of a third generation of Chinnicks who have enjoyed and benefitted from time spent at Skootamatta Lake. My grandparents and my Dad (Bob Chinnick) spent time at the Lake (then Loon Lake) in the summers of the late 1920s and the 1930s as guests of associates who were members of the Greater Loon Lake Fishing Club. My Dad remembered fondly his times swimming and fishing in the lake as a youngster.

Flash forward to 1955 and my Dad piled his three oldest children into the car in Quebec City and took us on a camping trip to the Lake. Renting a boat from Harold Maybee at Trails End and powered by a 1945 Johnson outboard motor, we camped around the Lake. During this trip Dad staked out a piece of property to buy at the corner of what is now known as Jacques Bay. By 1956 we were property owners. My mother and her 6 children spent 2 months every summer on this property until we left High School.

Of course things were a bit different at the beginning, with access only by boat from Trails End, no power, etc. Dad’s visits every two weeks and when on vacation took on special significance since he brought fresh food! A close bond was formed with the Lake and the land during this time, which of course continues. Gradually we benefitted from new neighbours and the “comforts” of modern life gradually became available.

My wife Eleanor first came to the lake in February 1966, a winter trip that was quite a disaster, but to her credit she stuck with us and is now a devoted Lake person.

I became an engineer and worked in Ottawa and Calgary as an electronics design engineer, engineering manager, and in international business development. 

We currently live just outside Calgary, Alberta, and make the trip to the Lake for 2 months most years. We are regularly joined by siblings and their families, and now 5^th generation Chinnick descendants are enjoying time at “their” cottage.

I am delighted by the opportunity to “give back” to the Lake community as a Director of the SDRA Board, which has done so much for all of us for many years.