A Little History...

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During the Spring of 2022 Robert (Bob) Lautenschlager III passed away unexpectedly, leaving the care of Fred's Camp to his two children, Antonia and Robert IV. Having spent all of their summers at the camp playing, swimming and helping Lotte and Bob out with this and that, the camp was not unfamiliar to them. With the help of their families and the support of the community and longtime visitors, Antonia and Robert organized and continued operating Fred's Camp. The two are committed to improving Fred's Camp and the overall experience of all visitors. What will the future hold? Stay tuned... 

Lotte and her son Bob continued working at the camp every Spring, Summer, and Fall hosting guests from all over the globe. Lotte took care of all of the washing, the gardens and ran the office for many years. Bob worked on improving the infrastructure, building new things and refreshing the cottages and bungalows when needed. Bob, being more computer literate, also took it upon himself to create a website and start connecting with people online. This helped modernize Fred's Camp further and encouraged more visitors to vacation at Fred's Camp. Bob and Lotte's work, along with Robert II, created the Fred's Camp we know and love today.

Fred’s Camp was sold to the Lautenschlager family. The family immediately started improving and restoring all of the cottages and building new bungalows. A work shop and residential bungalow were also constructed, tearing down all buildings that were too far gone. Lotte and Robert had built 10 new buildings and restored 7 cottages, bringing Fred’s Camp's accommodations up to a higher standard. In addition to this, the couple took care to make gardens and beautify the property. It was unfortunate when Mr. Robert Lautenschlager II passed away in the summer of 1995. Leaving his wife, Lotte, and his son, Robert (Bob) to continue improving Fred's Camp.

Betty Colwell (the main cook for the camp and matriarch) got a job at the lawyer’s office in Gore Bay working for Cliff Boyd.  This meant she was no longer available to cook for guests of Fred’s Camp. That led to all the cottages being converted to house keeping cottages. The cottages now had a stove inside and the guests, mostly hunters and fishermen at the time, were expected to cook for themselves. Afterwards, in 1963, Fred’s Camp was sold to Stanley Slavinsky. From this point on there was a lack of maintenance, which began to show over time. With the deterioration and no improvements, Mother Nature and her creatures started taking over. Mr. Slavinsky was unable to maintain the property anymore and made plans to sell the camp.

Fred’s Camp finally got electricity! This meant running water for the first time. During the warmer months they were able to pump water directly up from the lake. During the winter months when Lake Kagawong was frozen, they would cut out blocks of ice to store in an ice hut. The ice hut was insolated with sawdust and wood shavings from the saw mills. This would keep the ice and enable them to stock the ice box (refrigerators) in the summer months for the guests. 

The Colwell family from Ohio state purchased the hunting and fishing camp and renamed it Fred’s Camp after Fred Colwell, the patriarch of the Colwell family. The camp had a few small cabins but no running water or electricity yet. During this time, Fred's Camp was primarily a fishing camp for vacationing Americans. Fred’s Camp offered motorboats, fishing guides, and bait! The worms were sold for 2 cents, and the minnows were sold by the dozen. During these years the camp received more and more visitors during the summer months and 2 more cottages were built to accommodate more guests. 

The Cranston family purchased a slice of land from the Clarke’s family, whom were also an original homesteader family. Now the owner of the property, George Cranston built a 4 bedroom cottage. The 4 bedroom is still in use today, and is known as The Lodge. Our barn was constructed by the Clarke family and still stands today. These buildings are some of the oldest on the property.