St. Gabriel de Brandon – Camp Marian

St. Gabriel de Brandon on Lac Maskinonge – a large lake where the English diocese of Montreal owned a large swath of sandy beach with Camp Marian (girls), Camp Orelda (boys), and the Colony (ten family cottages.) George’s (2) son Michael, a school principal, spent summers as manager. His family and that of his sister Dorothy rented cottages on the site of Camp Marian. Among those renting cottages at the Colony were Michael’s brother George, two of his wife’s sisters, cousin Barney and Dorothy’s sister-in-law. Talk about keeping it in the family! Wonderful feeling of belonging. Always tons of kids to play ball, swim, hang out with. We joined in camp activities: hayrides, huge bonfires, baseball Sunday at Orelda, and Thursday hikes to St. Gabriel, five miles away around the lake. And of course, everyone, adults and children, spent lots of time swimming, diving and sunning during the warm, hazy, lazy days of summer. (If the weather was coolish, the adults would stop at Dorothy’s on the way home for a ‘petit coup’ (Prendre un p’tit coup, c’est agréable, Prendre un p’tit coup, c’est doux) - for them scotch and water, whereas for the locals it was Pepsi and alcool.)

To harness the boys’ exuberance, Mike hired them at age 14 to work on the roads and do general outdoor grunge work. We girls worked in the camp kitchens, setting table, serving out food…. Michael’s daughter Rita and I worked at Camp Marian the summer Frank McLaughlin and his brother served as dishwashers. That is how Frank met and married Barney’s daughter Stella, and ended up part of the Rochford clan. Lucky man! St. Gabriel has a very special place in the memories of so many of us.