Written Stories

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Sharon Bartosch

My name is Sharon Bartosch. My husband John and I have had our place near Boulder Jct. (on Kern Lane) since August 1986. Our original home is in Madison, WI – 225 miles away.

When we bought our place here our daughters were 10, 6, and 4 years old. Now they are all in their 40’s and we have 9 grandchildren who love to come up here too. When my husband was a religious brother his place was on Big Lake near Phillips. He wanted to get a place for his family to go to. I wanted a vacation place less than 50 miles from Madison. But he said no, “you’re not up north until you are beyond the pine trees of Merrill.”

We have been married since March 9, 1974. He likes to come up here just after our anniversary until the middle of November. I let him do that because he says “don’t touch my summers” and I don’t because he loves to come up here with family and friends. Our daughters and nine grandchildren and family and friends have grown and like to come up here. I am more of a social butterfly and I was a teacher at one of the high schools in Madison, but now retired.

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Josie Blaisdell-Allen Early Memories

I lived in BJ all of my life. My sisters and I are the 5th generation of Blaisdells in BJ/Trout Lake. My two great-grandchildren Jack and Marli are 8th generation.

My great-great-grandparents, Augusta (Smoke) and Jack (John) Blaisdell moved to BJ/Trout Lake in 1888 from Pardeeville. As a teenager I thought it quite amusing: “Party-ville.”

As a little girl my first boat ride was on Trout Lake. Most likely, Uncle Enoch, who with Aunt Myrtle owned and operated the Trout Lake Pavilion, drove the boat. Uncle Enoch rented boats, as well as having a grocery store, ice cream parlor, post office, and dance hall.

The boat ride was amazing and fun for a little five year old. The breeze blew my hair against my face. I watched as the waves came up even with the back of the boat. Mom held tightly to my little three year old brother, Jack, and had an arm around me. Perhaps mom would have enjoyed the boat ride better if she wasn’t concerned with the safety of her kids.

Aunt Myrtle would give us kids a “snowball cupcake.” A chocolate cupcake with cream filling, marshmallow frosting, pink or white, covered with coconut. They were huge. Over the years they seem to have gotten smaller but maybe because I am bigger!

I loved visits to Uncle Enoch and Aunt Myrtle’s, they were great people! Uncle Enoch Blaisdell was the youngest of four sons born to Augusta and Jack Blaisdell.

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Jonathan Phillip working at Northern Wisconsin National Canoe Base on White Sand Lake

My name is Jonathan Phillip and my story begins 1978. In the summer of 1978 I worked as what was called then as a “Party Trainer” at the Northern Wisconsin National Canoe Base on White Sand Lake. My job was to train Scout crews from all over the country on how to canoe and camp responsibly. In 1978 northern Wisconsin was much wilder and many private lands were open to the Scouting Program. We canoed on most of the lakes around Boulder Junction. I loved the daily work of camping and canoeing. To show responsible use of fire and to show we had used a camp we would ground the wet ashes by hand into a square mound and then put a cross on it. We got one day off a week, Saturday noon to Sunday noon. Therefore, since Boulder Junction was the nearest town to the base, we spent time off in town. I have a lot of wonderful memories of the Base, the north woods, and Boulder Junction.