My grandparents, Walter and Sarah Jane Williams Monn, lived in the big white house at Van Winkle Lake. I can remember visiting there often. Here are some of my memories:

My Dad and I used to go beer can fishing on the lake. At the time, beer cans came with tops on them like bottles and you would add a line and hook to a cork and put that into the neck of the beer can, row out into the lake and throw them in, in different spots. A little bit later you would go back out in the boat and pick them up and see what you had caught. This was always something I did with my Dad. Dad also used to go "gigging" for frogs but I didn't like the part of getting the frog legs.

There was a time that Mom and Dad, us kids, and another couple and their children went to the lake and we camped out at the edge of the lake. My brothers, sister and I had some pet white mice that we kept in an oatmeal container. At that time they were made out of cardboard, and the mice came with us. During the night we had a big rain and the next morning when we woke up, our mothers were fishing by the dam. When we looked for the mice, they were gone and our Mom told us that they escaped during the night. Many years later Mom told us they had drowned during the rain and had used them for bait.

I used to spend at least a couple of weeks of my summer vacation with my Grandmother in Canton during my childhood days. I would always go to the park that was just across the creek from her house and join in the games etc. that the park offered for the summer. I remember winning a ribbon for the hurdles. That meant a lot to me. I remember people coming to the house and giving my grandmother a dollar and going fishing.

One time I even got to spend a week with my great aunt and uncle, Henry and Irene Stein Williams. This was out on the farm and I rode their Shetland pony while Uncle Henry walked the fence to check it. Aunt Irene showed me how to make butter in a butter bowl. Then I got to make one batch. When all of us would go to visit with them, we got to play in the silo, etc. and had so much fun. We also got into trouble as we were all rather precocious.

After more than 40 years, I still have fond memories of my visits in Canton and Fulton County.