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3. WAR TIME
4. PEACE TIME
5. ARBORETUM
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LAKE BLUFF WAR TIME PRODUCTION Eggs Beef Milk Butter Pork Vegetables Fruit |
The History of Lake Bluff
By Margaret (Gray) Vickery and Bob Gray
Following is a reprint of the article announcing the gift of Lake Bluff to the Michigan Audubon Society as it appeared in the MANISTEE NEWS ADVOCATE, Friday, January 22, 1988.
PART 3
WWII—A TIME FOR TOIL
Eddie was too old to be drafted into the war and his job as manager of the bromine and magnesia plants at Morton Salt was considered “essential” to the war effort. What he and Trudy did to do their part on the home front, however, was considerable. They took their resources in land and agricultural know-how and for a period of ten years produced eggs, meat, dairy products, fruit, and vegetables.
LAKE BLUFF ORCHARDS WERE AT THE PEAK OF THEIR PRODUCTION OF CHERRIES, APPLES, PEARS AND GOOSEBERRIES
The dairy and poultry products were shared with neighbors and friends and bartered for the family’s groceries at the Economy Food Market in Manistee. The fattened beef and hogs were slaughtered for use by family, friends, and neighbors or sold at auction in Sparta, MI. The gooseberries and sweet cherries were shipped to “Stop-And-Shop” in Chicago while the sour cherries went to the cannery in Onekama. The rest of the fruit, the potatoes and tomatoes, went to the local Manistee fresh produce market.
FATTENED BEEF AND HOGS WERE SLAUGHTERED FOR USE BY FAMILY FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS
The labor force for all of these enterprises was limited. There were two full-time hired hands and members of the family. Trudy did all the milk separating, butter churning and egg gathering, candling and packing. Eddie worked evenings and weekends on all the other activities. Bob cultivated the gardens, helped with the milking and other chores. Margaret, a preschooler during much of this time, “supervised.”
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OUTSTANDING ENVIRONMENT FOR RAISING A FAMILY
It was lots of hard work, personally gratifying, and an outstanding environment to grow up in and for raising a family.
NEXT> 4. PEACE — A TIME FOR EXPANSION
Lake Bluff History
3. WAR TIME
4. PEACE TIME
5. ARBORETUM