A lot of people who have been on Barron Lake for a long time have wonderful memories of Kugler’s Beach—a public beach off Barron Lake Road and Starr Avenue that provided outdoor fun for thousands of area residents each summer.
For Sherri Myers Wray, memories of Kugler’s Beach were more than just summer fun in the sun. The beach was her life. And that’s because it’s where her house was located.
COMING TO THE BARRON LAKE AREA
A job at Tyler’s Refrigeration brought Sherri’s family to the Niles area in the 1950s. Her father, Jim Myers, was head of research and development in the company’s model department. Her grandfather came to Niles earlier to work for Niles Cabinet Company, which was across the bridge on Main Street near Riverfront Park.
Sherri’s father also was very good with his hands, and although not a contractor by trade, he had a big hand in constructing the buildings, including the concession stand, ticket office, barn and bar. In exchange, Glenn Kugler, affectionately called “Grandpa Kugler” by Sherri and her sister, gave Jim Myers a parcel of land closer to Starr Avenue for Jim to build a house.
Kugler also gave a small adjacent parcel to Sherri’s Godfather, Ernie Wickham, in appreciation for the work Ernie did to construct the buildings with Sherri’s father. Sherri noted Ernie soon after got a job with Kodak and moved to New York so he never built a home on that parcel. It still stands vacant today.
But for Sherri’s family, the home they built on Starr Avenue at the end of Kugler’s Beach holds many memories from her childhood. The house, first one on the right when you turn onto the street, had three bedrooms, one bathroom, a kitchen and living room. Her father built a patio, which also was known as a “summer kitchen,” that was screened in and used for entertaining guests. Her family also brought a television set outside. “That’s what brought about a lot of uninvited guests,” she said. “Folks who were visiting the beach walking through the parking lot would crowd around the outside of the patio to watch the sports scores,” she said.
She noted that on occasion her family would return from a trip into town and would find a surprise on their property. “I remember one hot Saturday we came home and my mother was so upset. Cars were parked all over our lawn and even on her garden,” she said. Soon, a fence was installed on their property.
An exciting moment for Sherri was when she got her first bike. “It was a white and baby Blue Schwinn that we purchased from Elmer’s. I was allowed to ride my bike down Barron Lake Road to a little store called Ecklers. It was a five and dime,” she said, of the store that once was just north of the corner of Barron Lake Road and Lake Shore Drive. “I would go in there with a penny and get two pieces of red licorice out of the jar. The owners lived in the back, so when you went in there sometimes you’d find them sitting at the kitchen table watching TV in the backroom.”
WORKING THE BEACH
She also recalled that while her family was busy doing chores at the beach and its properties, Sherri was too young to really participate. She would be given a can full of coins that Grandpa Kugler would paint with nail polish. Her job each morning was to put those coins into the arcade games to make sure they were working.
“Yeah, that was my job,” Sherri said, noting she was about six or seven years old. “But I really think they did that just to keep me out of their way.”
She did get to help in the concession stand while her mother and “Grandma Kugler” were working. “I got to make the onions in the morning, which was just adding water to dried onions,” she said. “I’ll tell you if you miss the flavor of hotdogs from concession stands, I suggest you purchase dehydrated onions at the dollar store and add water!” One of her favorite cravings was the giant slowpoke suckers, something that was a bit too expensive for them to buy. “I saw a Facebook discussion about that sucker not too long ago and evidently I was not the only one who coveted that dollar sucker. I just looked it up and today it would be priced at $8.50 No wonder our parents wouldn’t purchase it.”
GROWING UP ON A BEACH
Growing up on a beach had its advantages, but there also were some disadvantages, as well as some very tragic moments.
“It sounds like it would be an ideal place to grow up on a beach, but I didn’t always have friends to play with,” Sherri said, noting that she wasn’t yet in school so had no classmates or friends from school. “I only had friends that came if it didn’t rain or if the weather was nice. So when people would be saying it was all fun and games, it’s probably not as much as people would think.”
Many days Sherri spent alone if the weather wasn’t conducive to outdoor activities. “The only friends I had were those who came to play at the beach. If it rained, I was on my own,” she said. “I think that’s how I became such a people watcher.” She recalls a vivid memory of a frequent visitor wearing a bathing suit. “It was the one of the first bikinis I had ever seen. And she had cat-eye sunglasses, a tiger-striped blanket and her portable typewriter. I bet I sat back and stared at her for hours.”
Being so close to the beach as a child also brought with it some tragic moments, as there were numerous people who drowned in the 1950s. “I would say maybe once a summer—maybe not that often but it just seemed that way to me, someone would drown. They wouldn’t allow me to go into the area when they were searching for the person so I had to go sit in the concession stand,” she said.
She noted that Kugler’s did have lifeguards and not all of the drownings occurred there. Some, she said, happened across the lake at another beach area. “You have to stop and think there were hundreds of people there every weekend.”
LIFE AFTER KUGLER’S
After Sherri’s mother passed away in the 1969, the family moved from that home to one on Lake Shore Drive. She now lives in Florida where is an artist by trade.
As told by Sherri Myers Wray. Written by Jodi Marneris. Barron Lake Association.
