We actually were introduced to Armour Lake through the Kalina’s. Page taught with Barb Kalina at Batavia Junior High.. He eventually had all of the Kalina children–all five of them. They are a talented group and through their participation in theatre and Dick Kalina’s carpentry skills with set construction, we became good friends.
We had expressed an interest and a dream of one day owning a lake home. When Dave and Iva Christensen put their house up for sale in 1988, Dick and Barb called us. We left the next morning at 4 a.m. to hopefully be the first to make an offer. To our dismay, they had already sold. Thankfully they decided not to sell and have become great neighbors and friends. But by then we learned the two lots next door (ours and Ferry’s) were available. There were no “for sale” signs but we learned that Marshall Schriner of Arbor Vitae was the gentlemen to speak with.
Page really left it up to me. “If you want to do this, go and make an offer” and that’s exactly what I did. By the way, we call our place “Stinger Point” because while walking the lot, our boys got into a mess of ground bees and suffered several stings. Scott was so young that he just stood there and screamed–he was stung several times (face, legs, arms). Jack faired a little better. That didn’t deter us; however, we bought the lot and spent the fall and winter planning for construction. The most difficult part was building a bridge at the edge of the ravine so we could get to the lake side of the lot. Through tree trunks, rocks and other on-site debris, Island City Dray made us the bridge that we use on a daily basis. Though it needs extra gravel from time to time, it has remained in tact—just as they had said. In May of 1989 the foundation was put in and as soon as school was out for the summer, we headed up. Though Page had some help from time to time, he lovingly refers to that summer as the summer he never left the “compound.” For his efforts, however, we went back to school with everything done but carpeting and flooring.
The rest is history. We have enjoyed several summers with our boys taking full advantage of all the lake activities. It is at Armour Lake they learned to swim, fish, hike, water ski, snowmobile and respect and love the outdoors. It is so much a part of their fiber. From first jobs at Curley’s Grocery, to construction projects, to sharing the lake with their Illinois friends, Jack and Scott made the most of their summers. Though teenage years found us staying in Illinois, now that they are married, they can’t believe they passed up the chance to be on Armour. I suppose we could say “we told you so,” but we don’t. We are just thankful their wives love it too and we look forward to continuing and starting new traditions.