4 Wednesday, September 8, 2021 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon History repeats itself at Clear Lake By Bill Bartlett Correspondent Clear Lake in neighbor- ing Linn County is a popular recreation site with Sisters Country folk. The 142-acre lake with a maximum depth of 175 feet is one of the clearest and coldest lakes in the Cascades. It is the source of the McKenzie River. The bottom of the lake, one of the premier freshwater diving spots in North America, is a perfectly preserved, ancient forest. While situated inside the Willamette National Forest, the lake and its resort, trails, boating (non-motorized), camping, and lodging are designated as a Linn County park. A hallmark feature of the lake is its picnic pavilion constructed in 1938 by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) the Depression-era voluntary public work relief program for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18-25. During its nine years of operation, three million young men participated in the CCC, which provided them with shelter, clothing, and food, together with a wage of $30 (equivalent to $600 in 2020) per month ($25 of which had to be sent home to their families). Much of the work of the CCC was constructing buildings, trails, foot bridges, and camp sites on federal lands. One of those projects was the Clear Lake picnic shelter and warming hut constructed entirely of local, natural materials. It is a rustic-style, humble edifice about 75 feet from the lakeshore with a shaded view. No doubt, thousands of picnickers, scouts, church and youth groups, and occa- sional wedding parties have availed themselves of the 1,500-square-foot roofed structure. The building is typical of the times built with hand- hewn timber up to 16 inches in diameter. The round logs with interlocking corners weigh up to 1,500 pounds each. Most of the logs have withstood the test of time, but not all. And the hand-split, cedar-shake roof was all but a disaster waiting to happen. The impressive masonry fire- place was no longer usable, with warning signs posted. Enter HistoriCorps and Northwest Youth Corps, who are rehabbing the iconic structure to its former gran- deur before winter and the snows set in. HistoriCorps is a Colorado-based founda- tion committed to preserv- ing historic structures on public lands across America. Vo l u n t e e r s w o r k w i t h HistoriCorps field staff to learn preservation skills and put those skills to work sav- ing historic places that have fallen into disrepair.