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
Bay Of Islands Community Association