Ken Carlson, Mail Boat

Ken Carlson's first exposure to the Oak Point area was in 1947 when a young 17 year old Ken was treated to a boat ride on the Mail Boat Excursion Trips. At one of the stops he took a picture of the owners' lodge at the Mounds Point Resort. 42 years later Ken and Sig bought the exact same owners lodge as their first cabin on Leech Lake. Ken has that same picture framed in their home that they built to replace the old owners' lodge that they tore down.

Harold Fisher and his wife Vera ran the mail boat out of Walker. They had one of the most unusual rural star mail runs in Minnesota history. They had 55 customers from cabin owners to resorts. Mail boxes were on your dock. In addition to mail they also delivered some supplies. The trip covered 71 miles and took approximately 3 hours. It ran from May 15th to Sept 30th. The boat also had room for up to 17 riders who wanted to see the lake sights. Ken paid $5.00 for his excursion trip. In addition to the Squaw Point area the boat served Stony Point, Pine Point and out as far as Otter Tail Point. The boat stopped at Otter Tail Resort for passengers to take a break. The boat was a 23 ft. cruiser with a 210 hp engine. It is said that in the 24 years the Fishers ran the mail route they missed only one delivery day due to weather.

Vera Fisher who herself ran the boat for 15 years just died on May 5, 2010 at the age of 92 in Walker. Her obituary was in the May 12th Pilot Independent.

Ken was the founder and editor for the Oak Point News since July 1995. He wrote three newsletters a year. The first annual picnic he covered was at the Nicholson on Chippewa Beach Rd. At the first annual meeting that he covered at his own home the membership changed the name of the organization to Oak Point Homeowners Association. Ken and Sig have been married for 57 years. We owe Ken a debt of thanks for his efforts.

Rain, Wind and Mayflies

It has been a cool, rainy week here on Oak Point. According to my rain gauge we got over one inch of rain which is good for the gardens, lawns and wild flowers. We now need some good warm weather to get the garden growing. I found this beautiful group of wild roses in the Oak Point Road ditch this week. It had between 60 and 70 flowers in this one area. We had plenty of Mayflies this past week which in turn attracted sea gulls to the area. Used my leaf blower to blow Mayflies off my sidewalk and driveway.

Pure Maple Syrup

We had a meal of pancakes this week with some Oak Point Pure Maple Syrup thanks to Mike Schrank. It was just fantastic.