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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 25, 1963)
2 g SUNDAY. AUGUST 25. 1968 MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEPFOHD. OREGON . . Diamond Lake Resort Continues To Be Popular Vacation Retreat ideas become reality. Now it By JOE COWLEY I Thielsen, 85 miles from Med-1 how they used to ratlle over a this vacation land is today resting, reminiscing and re tired. George Howard, 331 Crater Lake ave., Med ford, recalls the year 1922 when he and his wife began the hard work of planning and con structing the first building, the lodge, mainly of logs. Was Crudt Affair ing experience, but she i to get away from people and , never carried out. The How wouldn't do it again, Mrs. kept to themselves. ards feel it would be too dif- Present general manager Mail Tribune Siaff Writer ford, continues to be an ever rutted road to the popular Diamond lake resort, nestl- popular vacation spot. fishing spot in a Model T John Koch, Myrtle Point. In 1927 the resort had 11 feet of snow on the summit. Howard said he used skis to get into the resort in April and back out again. When the Howards retired in 1948 they had seen their has a number of modern cab ins, ultra-modern lodge and a fleet of boats for fishing. The resort has consistently been a money-maker. The only time a dividend was not paid was in 1932, at the height of the depression. Howard said. jn njs carly report to stock-1 ficult to keep the ice swept of ed between two snow capped Many long-time residents of Ford. Othtn Visit Reiort holders. Howard mentioned snow mountains, Ml. Bailey and Mt. the Rogue valley like to tell I The first man to pioneer Other movie peoDle who possibilities of winter sports at Since the resort is snowed visited the resort were Fred MacMurry and Ann Soth ern. The film actors and ac tresses liked to visit the resort the resort. He included possi in every winter, the former resort operators feel it would be too difficult to keep it open bility of "ski slides and to boggan courses and ire-skating." But these ideas were for winter recreationists. It was a crude affair com. pared to today's structure Moss was chinked between the logs to keep out the cold DIAMOND LAKE LODGE-Mrs. George L. Howard, wife of the original general manager, Is shown striding down a path from the lodge at Diamond lake. This is how the lodge looked In Its early days. The resort was founded by the Howards in 1922 and run by a stock company. Officers Installed In Voiture Chapter The Jackson County Vol ture 165, 40 et 8 recently con ducted installation of officers for the coming year at n gar den party at the home of Col, H. J. Meiring. Voyageurs installed were Clark J. Walker. Chef de Gare; Roland Smith, Chef de Train; Bruce Harper, Con ducteur; Bert Staats, Corres pondent and Commissaire In tendant; Fred Luy, Garde dc la Porte; Granville Brittsan, Commis Voyagcur; Ralph Et tell, Lampsitc; and Richard Smith, Aumonier. , Installed on the executive committee (Chominots) were Meiring, Hugh McKenzie, Don Wilson and J. E. Rus ell. At the Grand Promenade at Pendleton, Russell was in stalled as Grand Conducteur Du Oregon and Eugene Orr was installed Grand Chcminot for district 11, which com prises both Jackson and Jose phine counties. The Promenade National will be held in Cleveland, Ohio, Oct. 9 through 12. Oregon State Fair To Open Friday Salem -(UPH- Entertainment exhibits, racing and displays will come to life Friday (Aug 30) when the Oregon State Fair begins its 9Rlh session according to fair manager Howard Maple. More than 300,000 persons are expected to visit the fair during its nine-day run, he said. There will be agricultural exhibits, arts and crafts and hobby displays, commercial booths, carnival events and a myriad of other activities. Johnny Rivers and his div ing mule will give four free shows daily. Aug. 30 and Sept. 5 will be observed as children's days. Stan Krcnv len's circus will give two free performances daily. Dean Mclvin Gcist's talent show, including 175 Oregon people in some 30 acts, will be staged daily, except Sun day and Monday, from 2 to 4 p. m. There will be organ con certs and band concerts. In the revue to be held in Jim-Fair-Also the armory auditorium, mie Rodgers and the mounts will be starred. on the program will be the Syltc Sisters, Lucho Navarro, the A r w o o d 's dog act and Danny Wcllon, master of cere monies. Christcnscn Brothers Rodeo will stage a combined rodeo horse show each evening from opening day through Sept. 5. On Sept. 8 the 4-H horse show takes over. A special day for those over 80 will be observed Sept. 3, with free admission to the grounds and prizes to be awarded. Subscribers To report improper nr non delivery of thj Mail Tribune tn Meriford. phone 772-S141; Ash land call at 416 Bridge si. or nhone 482-3002; Yrcka, phone victory 2-2fl!)R before fl;45 p.m. dally and 10;30 a m. Sundav. If regular delivery arrives shortly afler you call plrase notify office, thus eliminat.ng special messenger service. D 0 D D D D D We've even got our 1963 Vz Comet V-8 Sportsters on sale! D D D D! j.- .Hi ,ii iillirlinr.,iiiiiiiiil-.iii, i n. ii mp mmi IT D v' 'D 5944900 y PAYMENT AS LOW AS $59 per Month While They Last. ... Best deal of the year given now! Large selection of models, colors and equipment. MEDFORD MOTORS 225 So. Riverside Phone 772-6157 but even then it was drafty. About the same time five tent houses were erected. These were of all lumber floors and sides with tent tops. A natural spring supplied water. Gas lamps provided light. In late 1929 a Kohler power plant was installed and served the resort until 1980. Then what was California Oregon Power company extended power lines to the area. Each new resort addition meant clearing more land. Each year until 1948 many new ideas were incorporated in the resort. A crew cleared the original forest service lease of five acres and later expanded the area to 10 acres. The area was nothing but trees and brush when the Howards conceived their re sort idea. Two assets required to make a resort profitable are natural resources and people. The most prominent of these is Diamond lake. In an early report to the shareholders of the Diamond Lake Improvement company, which he formed, former gen eral manager Howard wrote: Beautiful Water Diamond lake is a beauti ful body of water located 13 miles north of Crater lake with a wonderful highway connecting. The lake is ap proximately five miles long by two miles wide. Our resort is noted for its scenic beauty and outstanding fishing attrac tions. There are no severe storms on the lake. It is stocked with large rainbow trout. Oregon maintains a fish hatchery and egg taking sta tion at the lake. This is known as the largest rainbow egg taking station in the world. They have taken as many as IS million eggs in one season. They hatch and plant back into the lake from one to two million trout every year." Three highways leading into the resort also help, one coming off The Dalles-California highway from the east, one connecting Crater Lake National park, and a third taking off the Crater Lake highway at Union creek. People also make a resort j pay. Thousands of them have visited the resort, rented fish-1 ing boats, motors and the 1 horses kept there for the sum- j mer. ) Former President The people included former President Herbert Hoover, and former Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes. Hoover fished all summer and was easy to get along with, ac cording to the Howards. They don't remember much about Ickes, except that he enjoyed fishing. One of the favorite guests was George Burns, well known movie comedian. He was a good fisherman and liked to visit with the How ards. The Howards' son, Bill, or B. G-, acted as fishing guide. Burns was amazed at the size of the 16-year-old boy. He weighed about 225 pounds. When Burns asked him why he was so large, B. G. replied, "You see, my mom always wanted 17 kids. She only got one. So, I guess, they put all 17 kids in one hide." Another resort favorite was Andy Devino who spent sev eral summer vacations at the resort with his family. He liked to visit with the resort operators, too, but would al ways sneak out when a large crowd gathered. Resort Reserved In 194B, the resort was re served for a cast ot 150 plus 300 extras who filmed the o v i e, "Canyon Passage." Just before the movie com pany arrived afler thai Labor Day, Andy Devine commented to the Howards, "You won't like it. We actors are a lot different on location than we are on vacation." "I often thought of Andy's remark while those people were here," Mrs. Howard said. "Those actors and actresses were high strung due to their work. They partied a lot and lore the place apart. We had to make a lot of repairs later." Devine, who was as easy going "off stage" as he was in his characterization as an easy going weslcrner, was amused as Mrs. Howard did her best In please one of the more difficult and snobbish actresses. It was an interest CHECK BURGLARY State police Saturday were checking on a burglary of a cabin on the Red Blanket rd. near Prospect. Lloyd Carl Hammer, 521 Beatty St., Med ford, reported Saturday a hasp had been pried off the back door hut nothing was found missing. 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