MJM Resort in the late 1940's
Ivanhoe Resort started out it's resort life as Allen's Resort on the south tip of Walker Bay. I was told that Mr. Allen was a contractor and built the resort cabins either in the 20's or 30's to keep his workers busy during down times. The earliest I found any mention of the resort was 1932. I was told that some of the cabins started life out as small logging cabins that were pulled out of the woods and used for guests. All had some sort of additions, some were built new, and they are almost all still there.
It was next called M-J-M Resort. The letters stood for the names of the three owners, Merle Meyer, Jack Meyer, and Mable Mitchell. I could not find out for sure when it changed from Allen's resort to M-J-M Resort. It most likely happened in the late 40's.
It was M-J-M for quite some time up through the early 60's when it was sold to Ivan and Irene Flowers and became Ivanhoe Resort.
The Flowers ran Ivanhoe until 1976 when they sold it to Bill and Mary DeVries. Bill and Mary ran the resort through 2012 when they sold it and it became a private resort called South Walker Bay.
Today it looks much as it did when Bill and Mary ran it as Ivanhoe resort. Part of the cabins were sold off as private homes, and the rest are run as seasonal leases, but it all looks the same.
I have heard many great stories from Bill and Mary about their time running the resort, great stories from others that have been long time renters at the resort, and I would love to hear your stories. Feel free to post! Pictures would be great.
As a note of disclosure, I am a seasonal leaser at South Walker Bay Resort and it is a great place!
Here are pictures as Allen's Resort.
As M-J-M Resort
As Ivanhoe Resort
Hi...My family went to MJM in 40's and then every year in my young years...15 years! 50's and 60's.
ReplyDelete/cp:Michael O'Shea McGoldrick
February 25 · Long Beach, CA ·
I guess my absolutely most special memories are of Leech Lake Minnesota. My family had been going there since before WWII. I first remember the early 50's. The MJM Lodge on Walker Bay. 683 miles of coast line. In the 50's and 60's you could travel around the lake for hours and hardly ever see a house...Just Nature. I was in complete wonder all the time. The water was absolutely so clear you could see down 20 ft.! Some bays were carpets of multi coloured water lilies for miles. Sometimes you could see old Indian canoes lying in sediment on the bottom. In the 60's when my Dad pulled his own boat up there, I was allowed to take out an 18 Footer by myself for a days fishing. I felt like an explorer I WAS! I am told I would cry if I saw how built up it was around my precious Lake. So I have no urge to go there now.
I have many very cool stories. I cut and pasted something i wrote on FB...
Regards,
Mike
That was a very cool collection of memories. My grandparents started coming to Leech in the 30’s. I was born in 1961 and made my first trip up in 62. We stayed on the east side near Sunset View Resort. I still love the place.
DeleteThanks for your post!!!!
Hi Mike, I came across this picture and wondered if these were the three cabins that sit on the small hill overlooking the lake at the resort. I was wondering if they had been moved as they aren't in the same positions where they sit now. The are pretty much straight across and and have been added on to if they are the same cabins. Any help would be appreciated. We stay there now. We stay in one o them now. When was the last time you were up there? You can email me direct if you like I'm curious about this postcard. kbrown.cdbeab@gmail.com I posted it at the top of the Ivanhoe Resort pictures in this post.
DeleteGrew up with Irene, Ivan and Brock Flowers during summers at Ivanhoe. Could not have been a better place to have summer vacation. We'd put on coats and fish at the crack of dawn and then going swimming all afternoon. Even get leaches on us once and a while. I'd really like to go back. Great memories. Brian Baldwin, Saint Johns, FL 904-233-5619
ReplyDeleteThanks for your post. You didn’t say what timeframe you were up there for sure but I’m guessing 60’s 70’s. I’m sure you would recognize most of the place. Covered harbor was put up in the early 80’s. It’s nice. We started leasing a cabin in South Walker Bay Resort (Ivanhoe) 5 years ago. I understand why you love the place so much. If you wanted to make a trip up you probably could find a place to stay in the old resort as there a couple of the cabins that the leasers sublease.
DeleteThanks again for your post!
Just ran across your reply. It was the late 60s and early 70s. Moved to Florida and haven't been back since the mid-70s. Great memories.
DeleteHello Brian, I came across this picture and wondered if these were the three cabins that sit on the small hill overlooking the lake at the resort. I was wondering if they had been moved as they aren't in the same positions where they sit now. The are pretty much straight across and and have been added on to if they are the same cabins. Any help would be appreciated. We stay there now. We stay in one o them now. When was the last time you were up there? You can email me direct if you like I'm curious about this postcard. kbrown.cdbeab@gmail.com I posted it at the top of the Ivanhoe Resort pictures in this post.
DeleteJack Meyer (MJM) was my uncle, so in addition to visiting many times, I worked there as a "dock boy" during the summer of 1958.Many great memories. Anyone out there stay at MJM?
ReplyDeleteI would love to hear your stories about your time as a dock boy at MJM Resort.
DeleteAny good stories about your time as a dock boy?
DeleteHi! I hope that I hear from you again. sometime. I was looking at a book that Renae Gieving wrote about the resorts and I saw that Jack Meyer managed the resort when it was Allen's Resort? I'd love to hear more.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteSorry, I haven't been back to this site and didn't see your posts.
ReplyDeleteJack, Merle, and Mabel bought the resort around 1946-1947 after having worked at the Rock Island, IL arsenal during the war. If Jack managed it before buying it, it would have been for a very brief time,
I've always considered my time at the resort, both as a vacationer and as a dockboy to have been very special. One of the things that impressed me then and still does, was the loyalty to Jack and the resort. There were many people thqt came every year from places as far away as OK, TX, FL, PA etc,
If I can answer any specific questions, email me at mgmeyer@gmx.com