| PEOPLE & HISTORY
Patty Michaud
As I walked over to Vermillion Lodge the dog started barking. I have been told to listen and watch when this happens. Then I saw them, four proud deer strolling by in the trees across the road from the Vermillion Lodge. It was a good and appropriate omen as I went to meet with Patty Michaud about her connection to Tulameen BC.
My interview with Patty took place in her vacation home, Vermillion Lodge, which is beautiful inside and out. Patty's artistic skills and passion about the area is apparent every where, from the CPR switch at the entrance gate to the artistic interiors. There are even skulls of animals of the area displayed on the gazebo next to the lodge.
Patty clipped threads on antique table cloths (her latest hobby) as she proudly and passionately shared her family and personal memories about Tulameen. She appeared a tiny but mighty and feisty woman with sparkling eyes and a friendly nature.
I learned that Patty has been a summer resident at Tulameen since she was a teenager. She said she couldn't wait to get up at Easter and hated to leave in the fall. The family's first summer home (there have been three different cabins) was a tent by the lake and even though cows tripped over the tent posts at night and teenagers in their hot rods roared by they loved their summers at Tulameen.
It was in Tulameen that Patty said she learned to swim, paddle a canoe, drive a car and attend her first dance. Some of her other special memories of the area are:
- Helping the Cook family bring in the hay crop (this ranch is now the Mullein Ranch where the stage coaches used to stop)
- Attending church services at the Brewer farm (now a designated heritage farm)
- Summer picnics and picking Saskatoon berries
- Putting a bench on the Kettle valley Trail dedicated to her parents, Allison and Rod McDonald
- Recalling that her father Rod McDonald hand built 3 log cabins
Patty and her husband Jim Michaud own Vermillion Lodge which is a lovely log home on a 1 acre water front property perched above Otter Lake just outside Tulameen BC. Patty and Jim are caring and successful financial advisors. Since discovering the beauty and wonders of winters in Tulameen, Patty and Jim try to be at Vermillion Lodge every winter weekend.
I have been told that both Patty and Jim support and mentor their Tulameen neighbors and friends. They are very conscious of the nature and beauty of the environment and actively take part in preserving it. The are avid snowmobilers and ATV riders. Although they live in Abbotsford, Patty and Jim take an active part in the area by attending monthly town meetings in the Tulameen Community Hall. Patty told me they feel it is time for them to give something back to the community they love.
Elizabeth Flett
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