LeMar’s Woods—A Legacy of Faith and Family

In 1969, Len and Mary Williams bought the property on our lake and began to improve it almost right away. They called the land “LeMars Woods” for Len and Mary and their four sons. We all had a lot fun, and we all worked very hard. The hard work was part of a promised legacy to Len and Mary’s children, their grandchildren and their families. Through more than 50 years, the spirit of God, Love, and Family has been the legacy they built and left behind and is now carried by their son’s and son’s families.

The first improvement was a place to pitch the big family-sized tent. We walked in from the road with shovels and rakes and cleared a large area that we built it up using the native clay that we are all so fond of digging in. It was only a glimpse of future work. Happily, we no longer had to camp at a campground forty minutes away.

For the rest of that first summer, we parked on the road and walked in, carrying the tent and the rest of our things. The boats were tied up by big birch log that had fallen into the water and for a few summers, we used it as a dock.

At first, Dad thought we could build the driveway ourselves. After the first tree was down, a six-inch thick maple he cut with an ax, the plan changed and I’m sure Mom was a driving influence. We hired Harold, a guy they found working on the road with a bulldozer. Harold plowed a path along the northern edge of the property.

Soon, we built tables between trees with 2 x 4s, an outhouse, The Triangle, and a big wooden box for a propane-powered refrigerator that came from The Shack at Powell Marsh.

We went to LeMar’s often. It was a place to swim and fish and have fun. Every Saturday evening or Sunday morning, we drove into town and went to Mass at the tiny church.

And that is how LeMar’s Woods came to be.