Ensuring the beauty of the Bay of Islands, Ontario is maintained for today and future generations.
It is with a heavy heart that we share the sad news that Gretchen Scott passed away on September 12, 2026, in Savannah, GA. She was 86 years old and courageously battled scleroderma for the last 5 years of her life.
Gretchen first came to the Bay of Islands with her parents, Agnes and Erwin Schafer, and her brother, Mike Schafer, in the summer of 1953. They stayed at Moredolphton Lodge for a week with four other families from Indianapolis, Indiana, including the Walkers and the Withrows. Gretchen recently recalled her favorite memories of that trip: fishing all day, every day, having shore lunches at Flat Point, participating in talent shows after dinner in the Lodge's main dining hall, and wearing those heavy wool plaid jackets and a kerchief on her head.
She next returned with her husband Fred over several summers in the 1980's to stay with her bother, Mike and his wife, Marianne, on their Island, Isle de la Pierre (now Monarch Island). Finally, she and Fred joined the Bay as permanent summer residents in 1989, purchasing Bluebell Island (now Blueberry Hill) from the Moore family.
Gretchen and Fred treasured summers with their children and their spouses, grandchildren, Mike, and Marianne Schafer and their two boys, Matt and Ben. In 2024, she was joined by Matt's wife, Laila and their daughter Coralee. Gretchen was the family’s “celebrator-in-chief,” organizing summertime gatherings to mark important milestones: birthdays, graduations, marriages, births, “Christmases and Thanksgivings in July,” and countless other happy occasions. If there was a reason to bring the family together, Gretchen found it—and made it memorable.
She and Fred made significant and long lasting friendships with multiple generations of Bay families...too many to name, Gretchen continued to visit the bay annually, even as her illness progressed. Many will recall her arrival at the BICA Fish Fry a year ago, being carried like the Queen of Sheba. There she celebrated her 85th birthday with her BICA friends and family. It was her last visit to the Bay.
We extend our condolences to her family: The Allisons - Lisa, David, Schafer, Reese and his wife Madi, and Scott Allison; the Scott-DeVoes - Cory, Julie, Charlotte and her husband Jose, and Harper; the Schafer's - Mike, Marianne, Ben, Matt, Laila, and Coralee.
Her full obituary can be read here.
What a fantastic BICA Olympics! Thank you to everyone who participated, competed, cheered, volunteered, and helped make this year's events such a success. The competition was fierce, the sportsmanship was outstanding, and most importantly, everyone helped create a fun and memorable experience for all ages.
Congratulations to all of our event winners and competitors!
Thank you again to everyone who took part. Whether you earned a medal, cheered from the sidelines, or simply joined in the fun, you helped make this year's inaugural BICA Olympics a tremendous success.
We look forward to seeing everyone back next year as we defend titles, settle scores, and create even more great memories together!
Congratulations to all champions and participants! 🎉🏅🚣🏊 We hope you enjoy photos from the day below.
Best,BICA Olympics Organizing Committee
When the Island Lodge started up under new owners the Phillips - many of the local teenagers saw an opportunity to be in the Bay for the summer and still make some money.
Both my sisters, Cindy and Coralie, worked there to save up for university and late in the summer of 1976, when I was just 12 years old, Coralie got me a job there cleaning cabins for the last few busy weeks. I made $10 a day and was incredibly proud of myself for saving enough money to buy my first ever new pair of blue jeans at Jones's department store in Espanola - just in time to go into Gr.8 wearing big girl pants. Ha!
The next year I worked there again with Coralie, cleaning cabins, washing pots and at night, staying up well past my bedtime with the older kids, playing caps, drinking beer, and occasionally doing tequila shots. The night I got the worm from a bottle of mezcal was horrifying!
As long as we turned up for work the next morning no one cared and our off-time was our own.
One Friday night the group decided to go into Espanola for a night on the town at the Pit, a seedy bar in the basement of the Espanola Hotel. I'm sure I bugged/begged Coralie and her older boyfriend Dave, the cook from Toronto, so much that they gave in and decided to take me with them, and off we went to the Pit. Cor had put lots of make-up on me and the bar was dark enough that I was admitted and even served a beer. I remember being asked what I wanted and replying nonchalantly, "I'll have a Pilsner." I think that meant a Labatt's Blue, but boy did I feel cool! (Ironically, I was too young to go on the infamous "Staff Frolic" organized by Bobby Dobbins and I got left behind ha!)
At 16, I worked there again the whole summer and made lasting friendships, and swam every day to that big rock by Lunham's, and earned enough money that I was able to go visit Coralie in England the next year when she was doing her semester abroad from Guelph U. It was a wonderful summer.
But the Lodge provided more than just a chance to make some money. It offered a crash course in growing up, in responsibility, a (hard) work ethic, and skills I use to this day. (On my first day Chris Phillips taught me how to sweep properly - using the floor cracks).
I wasn't a very good waitress (understatement) but it was a great way to meet people from all over the world and to learn so much from interacting with the guests. And being there with Bay friends - Nancy and Greg and Bobby and Duncan Bell, and my dear departed friend Ted Nawash, made it all the better.
And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention "The Wedding". Kathryn Wilkins and John Reeves beautiful wedding that was so perfect, on a lovely June day, until "The Fog" rolled in and left many of us floundering about out on the lake in the pitch black. But what an adventure in boating!
My happiest memory of all though has to be just the quiet time - between washing pots after lunch and peeling onions and potatoes for dinner, those few hours we got off in the afternoon, when I could sit on the rocks outside our staff cabin and look out over the channel towards Frood Bay, and the LaCloche hills beyond. They are so close there - the view is spectacular and I remember thinking that I had to be the luckiest teenager in the world.
Submitted by Laurie Cook
I worked at the Island Lodge in 1976 and 1977. I only worked part time in 1976. But in 1977 I worked full time along with my buddy Duncan Bell. And one of the benefits of working full time was that we stayed in a sleep cabin at the Lodge. We got paid $10.00 a day plus room and board. Our fellow staff members included Laurie and Coralie Cook, Nancy Lunham and Karen O'Reilly from the bay. Plus, George and Dave, who were cooks. There was also a guy named Patch who was the dock boy. There were also some older folks that worked there as well.Duncan and I were on call as needed. So, if guests came in at 10 at night, we would get in the Lodge boat and go to Whitefish Falls to pick them up. We would get them to the island, put their luggage in a wheelbarrow, and take the guests to their cabins. We would chat with them and get them settled in. Sometimes we even got tips! Other duties at the Lodge for Duncan and I included digging worms from the giant worm pit under the lodge, filling boat gas tanks and bailing cedar boats.We spent our nights and our pay drinking cold duck, baby duck and apple wine with our fellow staff members. Mornings would come way too early, and Bob Phillips would often have to come down to wake us up. He would say in a British accent "wakee wakee, rise and shine...get your little ass out of bed! Because if you don't you will get a long, tall Sally up your ass!" We would groggily go into the staff dining room, eat breakfast, and commence with digging worms. The staff got the hours of 2-4pm off every day as the guests were usually out fishing. One nice sunny day in mid-August I thought it would be a great idea to take my fellow staff members up to Mussel Beach. So, we gassed up the Lodge boats, filled coolers with ice and headed to the beach. We had a glorious time! When we returned, I climbed up onto the ladder and resumed painting the front of the Lodge, which was my chore for that day. Bob and Kris had gone to Sudbury that day to buy supplies for the Lodge. When they got back, I told Bob what a great time we had at the beach, and I wish they had been there. He replied, "that's nice" and off he went. But some of the older staff members ratted me out and told him what a terrible thing it was that I had done. So Bob called me into his office and said since I had organized the "Staff Frolic" he had no choice but to fire me. So that was the end of my career at the Island Lodge. Submitted by Bobby Dobbins
Spending every summer of my life at “camp” was hard to give up – and in 1973, I was wanting a summer job and wanting to be at camp. Bob Phillips from the Island Lodge pulled up to our dock and said he was looking for help for Chris who was pregnant with Elizabeth. I was thrilled to ditch the “reroofing our camp” job and start a paid position.
Bob and Chris Phillips had just purchased the Lodge. (They told me they were contemplating buying the Lodge or maybe a Sailboat – as a fun summer activity while they were on summer break from teaching.) The Lodge won out - hardly a relaxing summer project!
My first tasks were cleaning out the cabins which were in rough shape, and painting the chairs and windows in the cabins. Meanwhile the cabins were being sandblasted to remove the decades of green and brown paint and then restained. Cleaning out the old gift shop and discovering the lovely Viyella shirts (back in the day considered “technical” clothing), I had to buy one. The old Rock Candy was very soft, and sticky so only fit for the trash. There was kitchen equipment bought at an auction that needed major cleaning as well.
I worked at the Lodge for 6 summers. Once the guests started arriving, I worked 8-12 for breakfast and prepping various dinner items, then 4-8 for the dinner service. (I still use some of the recipes from back then.) Having the afternoon off was ideal for me – allowing time to have fun with the other Islanders. I could tell a few tales about fellow co-worker Bobby Dobbins – but will leave that for him to share…HAHA. We had many games of ping pong in the games room and Euchre in the card room. Many others around the Bay worked at the Lodge including my three brothers. It was a fun time and Bob and Chris were so great to work for.
Submitted by Nancy Lunham Renaux
I first heard about Moredolphin Lodge thirty years ago when we were building our camp in the Bay of Islands. Neighbours and friends spoke of it with real fondness -especially the fish dinners.What I didn’t expect was to learn that my mother’s first cousin, Lois Robertson (Park), had worked at the lodge as a young woman. She travelled by train to reach the island and spent several summers there beginning in 1948. I regret not knowing more of her personal stories while she was alive, so I wrote to her husband Earl, now in his mid nineties, to ask what he remembered.He replied with a few photographs, postcards, and a short note. Lois and her sister Shirley were hired by Ruth Wittig, a teacher from Kitchener who brought students she knew from Kitchener-Waterloo. The pay was modest, but there wasn’t much to spend it on. Lois often mentioned Hank, and “the little missus,” as he called his wife. Hank, originally from Ohio, was an unpredictable manager who liked to change course mid-task and often filled the lodge with visiting friends.Earl ended by wishing us well for the celebration and hoping the forest fires would be under control.As Moredolphin Lodge, aka Island Lodge, marks its 100th year, it feels fitting to add Lois’s story to its long history. The photos and postcards Earl shared remind me how many hands and voices shaped this place and how those memories still echo across the island.
Submitted by Marlene Rantala
The following was submitted by Alex Diehl and his brothers, Ed and Peter, tracing the origins of Moredolphton and the legacy of their great grandfather, Edward Stotz Sr., in the Bay of Islands.
Edward Stotz Sr. was a member of the Moredolphton group who had summered at the original Moredolphton Lodge (what is now the Severn Lodge) in Georgian Bay in years prior to 1926-27. He was an architect in Pittsburgh, PA, with a number of prominent buildings in his career (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Stotz).
Edward Stotz Sr. was hired by the Moredolphton group to secure a more remote location and once located, to design the main Moredolphton Lodge building.
Edward Stotz Sr at work designing the main lodge building in May 1927s. We used to have blueprints for the building, but I don't know where they are now.
He also secured and built the structures on Snug Island, adjacent to Moredolphton, for his family's use. It is still owned by our family (the Diehls) today.
It had no telephones, but there was an abundance of ice for preserving fish, as massive chunks of the frozen lake were cut during winter and stored for summer use.
Arminda Stotz ("Min") and Edward Stotz Sr., 1930 (great grandparents of Peter, Edward, and Alexander Diehl) and Doris Davidson Stotz and Edward Stotz Jr (grandparents of Peter, Edward, and Alexander Diehl) outside a Moredolphton Lodge tent.
Here is the site of main lodge building in 1927, prior to its construction.A bridge was built from Ireson Island to Snug Island, which stood until the early 1970's. My brothers Edward and Peter and I used to cross this bridge to buy candy bars at the Lodge when we were children.Yes, the water level varied a lot between years even 90-100 years ago!
Here is a link to an iCloud photo album of photographs of Moredolphton Lodge and the adjacent Snug Island from the period 1926-45 or so. The originals are in a photo album assembled by Edward Stotz Sr., our great grandfather, probably in the late 1940's.
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B2M5yeZFhvaKX8
The Withrow history began at Moredolphton in the 1930’s. It was the one vacation where Dorothy and Lyle Withrow, along with Bob and Helen Walker could experience the North Woods and the Bay of Islands. This trip was repeated annually, resulting in a deep appreciation for both Moredolphton and the friendships made while enjoying all of what Moredolphton and the bay offered.
These annual pilgrimages North continued and soon included young Tommy Withrow and Bobby Walker. Fishing, swimming and exploring the grounds provided a life’s worth of memories, still being shared today.
Because of Moredolphton, Tom brought his new bride to the bay in 1964 and shortly thereafter they purchased an island to raise their three girls in the Bay. Now their grandchildren, the fourth generation of Withrows, explore and enjoy the same waters and islands enjoyed by their great grandparents, Lyle and Dorothy.
Our grandmother loved to fish and won the fishing contest at Moredolphton in 1950. The winning plaque is still proudly displayed at Moredolphton and one in the Withrow/Boatman cabin, ensuring that Moredolphton's legacy will live on forever on the Withrow Island, 2709.
Submitted by Cindy Withrow
BICA is pleased to introduce a new resource for our community. On our website, you’ll find a comprehensive map of island numbers and corresponding owner names.
To access the map, visit bayofislands.ca, enter your member login, and navigate to Connect/ Search members here/ Map view. To make the map searchable, expand to a full screen view.
Map data was derived from our membership database plus the public domain. To protect your privacy, it is located behind the membership login. If you wish to have your name removed from or added to the map, email us at news@bayofislands.ca. The map data was compiled by Max Thoburn. Big thanks to Max for the many hours that went into this important community project.
This is V1 of the map. Look for updates soon as we develop easier ways to access the location data you need.
Bay Of Islands Community Association