What's in a name?

Many early cabins and cottages at Waskesiu had charming names.  This quaint custom unfortunately has fallen out of fashion.  Here are some examples from Waskesiu’s past.

Shadirest was the home built by pioneer boatman, fisher, and carpenter George Pease for his family on the shores of Waskesiu. The Pease lived in several locations in the area which became Prince Albert National Park.

The owners of an original portable cabin maintained the name and the sign for their cabin, named after the tammarack trees on the property.

An unusual sign, which can now be seen in the Museum, used to hang on Otto and Leona (Lee) Hanselman’s log sided cottage on the waterfront in the Lakeview subdivision.  Shaped like a sausage, the English translation of the German word “wurst”, was an appropriate choice as the Hanselmans had German backgrounds and Otto worked with meat in Saskatoon.

Another sign on display in the museum has this alliterative name, Daffy Dilly’s Dive.  The original shack tent this sign hung on was owned by Lawrence and Connie Smith, a couple well known in the area for their practical jokes.

On Prospect Point, there is a lovely, well-preserved, original white cottage with green trim which was named Holiday House by its owners.

Another cottage on Prospect Point was named Noah’s Ark.  The explanation for this name was contributed in an article beginning on page 47 in the first Waskesiu Memories book edited by Dorell Taylor in 1998.  Dr. Paul Gareau wrote that their family cottage, constructed in 1937, “became known as Noah’s Ark, not so much because of the numerous children, pet dogs, visiting squirrels and marauding bears, but because of our visiting grandfather from Ontario, whose name was Noah.” Dr. Gareau details the construction of the cottage and shares many happy memories there.

In the same volume of Waskesiu Memories another contributor, Roger Setka mentions in his article on page 30 that the shack tent he summered in was known as “Le Cochon Malade”.  He stayed in it while he worked at Manville’s Waskesiu Bungalow Cabins and played tenor sax in the band at Terrace Gardens, the local dance hall.