Name:	rga82 -	Reply
Subject:	Kowaliga Resort, 1961
Date:	4/18/2018 3:22:56 PM

I bought this historic picture on ebay. It's from a newpaper archive and labeled "Water sport facilities abound at Kowaliga...boating, fishing and picknicking included in expansion". 

I would have been 6 years old, soon after my mother had to "sell" her Russell Cabin lease, and we started staying at the resort, right where Kowaliga Restaurant is located now.  The original picture seems to have had some early "photoshop" editing...the woman on the left has a pencil drawn shadow on her left.  I love those Whalers tied up at the dock.

I'm not sure the picture upload was sucessful, if it doesn't show up I'll try later.

Enjoy the memories.

Name:	JimD -	Reply
Subject:	Kowaliga Resort, 1961
Date:	4/18/2018 4:51:41 PM

 As I recall the resort consisted of a string of small white cement block cottages along what is now the north shore of the marina and out to where the restaurant is currently located. The former restaurant was much closer to the highway and the old bridge.  That restaurant was quite noisy due to the low ceilings and brick floors. But the food was good (including "squealers") and it had patio/deck right on the water. There was small general store-type establishment about where the marina showroom is now. I remember buying post cards there. And you could mail them from there, too. The Church in the Pines also dates to that era.  

Name:	wix -	Reply
Subject:	Kowaliga Resort, 1961
Date:	4/18/2018 5:06:24 PM

We stayed in the cabins in the mid 70s for a week.  If my memory is working, the cabins were wood and looked a lot like the lease Russell Cabins look today.  First overnights on the lake with a roof (not a tent).  Sold us on lake Living.

Name:	JimD -	Reply
Subject:	Kowaliga Resort, 1961
Date:	4/18/2018 6:11:00 PM

You may be right about the old cabins at Kowaliga being wood, not cement block, Wix. My memory of cement block cabins may be the ones that used to be at Castaway Island, now Anchor Bay.

Name:	BAJ -	Reply
Subject:	Kowaliga Resort, 1961
Date:	4/19/2018 2:42:35 AM

Mostly good recall. As noted, the cabins were wooden, very much like the typical Russell cabin of the day. And while the restaurant was noisy, it was mostly because of the brick floor and abundance of glass; the ceilings were actually quite high. Eventually "stylish" carpeting was hung from the ceiling in an effort to dampen the noise; it might have worked, but what those carpets really did was trap all sorts of dust, grime, and -- not a misprint -- onion rings and french fries. None of that was known until the carpets were removed, creating an unforgettable dust storm inside. (It was decided that the random bits of food came from kids who were bored enough to spend their time trying to launch parts of their meals up onto the carpet withot their parents noticing.)

As for those postcards... I have been trying to find them for years. I have run across some old Lake Martin postcards, but not those that were sold in the store at Kowaliga. (As I recall, those included: a shot of the marina; Chimney Rock; the Bob White Motel; Church in the Pines; a blonde woman in a green bikini. I'm sure there were others.)