Note
HEUCHAN, DON AND PETE, F385
By the end of World War II, Don Heuchan and his wife, Pete, whose winter home was in St. Louis, Missouri, had decided to rent or buy a cottage on the Douglas lakeshore. Pete, whose given name is Florence and whose maiden name is von Brecht, had spent many
summers as a child on the lakeshore. And so it came to pass that in the fall of 1946 when they learned that an attractive cottage on Lakeshore Drive was for rent, they sent a deposit check to the lady who owned it. They were a bit perturbed, understandably, when in late spring of 1947 they received a letter from the lady who sent her check
accompanied by a letter saying she was returning the deposit since she had "found another tenant who would pay more." This situation however turned out to be fortunate inasmuch as they found another
cottage at 109 Lakeshore Drive which was for rent and quite suitable for their needs. The Heuchan family spent the summers of 1947
and 1948 in their rental cottage, and upon the death of the owner in 1949, they purchased the five-bedroom cottage from the heirs.
The four Heuchan children, Heather, Buzzy, Charlie and Mary spent happy childhoods on the Lakeshore from May to September.
When the boys were about six and eight years old they received a small dinghy and a pair of oars as presents and the following
Christmas received a 2 1/2 horsepower out board motor which drove the boat about as fast as a boy could run. They were required to wear life jackets and were given permission to go as far as they wanted north or south but only out to the sand bar in Lake Michigan.
One day Buzzy who was about ten at the time, with a companion of the same age, took off to go fishing in t he dinghy one rainy morning,
each holding an open umbrella. Within an hour or so they returned with a boat load of fish. They were the talk of the Lakeshore until they finally explained that some commercial fishermen had thrown the fish into their boat .
All four children learned to swim in Lake Michigan and at one time or another belonged to the childrens' group at Saugatuck Yacht Club where they learned to sail. They also attended Mrs. Taylor's art classes in Saugatuck, and Charlie, at the age of two
years was the only child on the Lakeshore who had a charge account at the public beach soda stand.
For many years, the Douglas Lakeshore Association employed its own policeman whose main purpose was to hold down speeders and to attempt to curb noise at beach parties. He also sold chickens and eggs on the side. Before the days of the super highways, it was a long hot ride from St. Louis to Douglas. It became a topic of conversation on the beach or at cocktail parties as to the best route to follow and always there was a bit of exaggeration as to how long it took this driver or that and who actually held the record time, depending on just when one started the timing, be it downtown or the Chain of Rocks
Bridge.
It is not at all surprising that children who grew up spending summers on the Lakeshore would come back with their children and grandchildren. The spell of the Douglas Lakeshore will remain in our hearts forever.
by Don Heuchan
Source: "History of Western Allegan County," page 279-280
