It was Leap Day, 1992, when Mark and Irene Kowalczyk bought a home on Barron Lake as a place for them and their three children, ages 6 years, 4 years and 9 months, to enjoy.
Traveling with three young children the reason behind their main criteria to travel no more than two to two-and-a-half hours from their home in Naperville, IL.
“These were the days before car televisions, cell phones and personal laptops became popular. You can only play the license plate game, I Spy game, Word Genius or State Capitals for so long,” Irene said. A stop always helps to break up the trip, so they often stopped for a meal. Irene said their oldest son, Brandon coined the term, ‘slow food’ when he would ask, “Are we stopping for fast food or “slow food?’
It was the month of November when the Kowalczyks first saw the home they eventually purchased. She recalls asking the seller if the lake bottom was sandy or muddy. “They could have told us anything since we couldn’t check it out at that time of year. True to their word, it turned out to be a wonderful, clean, clear lake where my children used their swimming skills, learned to water ski, fish and have fun,” Irene said.
She remembers the boys used the three large trees in the yard as 1st, 2nd and 3rd base when they played baseball, and noted their oldest son loves to come to the lake to this day. “He fishes in the early morning hours for Bass, Northern Pike and Bluegill. He and his fiancé love to join in a volleyball game our neighbors’ family holds throughout the summer,” she said.
The youngest, Alexander, does not know life without the lake house. “He felt like the Lawsons, who were our next door neighbors for 30 of our 32 years here, were another set of grandparents,” Irene said.
There is much Mark and Irene love about Barron Lake and at the top of the list: the people. “We have enjoyed our neighbors at the lake more than the neighbors we have at our primary home. There is such camaraderie and sense of community like nowhere else. Everyone would chip in whether to get the boat lifts or docks in the water or have a bonfire and talk to the wee hours of the morning.”
She also noted the neighbors all looked out for each others’ property–whether a storm arose, a window was left open or something was left out in the yard.
In 2011, Mark and Irene had the home torn down and replaced with a new home on the property. “That was the best decision we ever made,” Irene said, noting how over the years there have been many upgrades made to homes around the lake. “Everyone has done such a good job of improving their homes and property such that Barron Lake has become an even more desirable place to have a home on,” she said.
“This home will be passed on for our adult children to center their future families’ precious time together around fun lake activities and memories for a lifetime.”
