No information is known about this photo other than these men were on Dalhousie Lake, Lanark County. Photo: Charles Dobie Collection from Ruth Duncan
There is a story that has gone around the town of Carleton Place about four young lads that went camping on Dalhousie Lake and became remembered during a certain summer a long time ago. They scoped out the area around the lake and decided to camp some distance away from five or six campers that had come from Kingston. After they put everything away their stomachs began to rumble so they got a fire going in the sand and put a pot of beans to boil on the fire.
By this time their method of cooking had tweaked the interest of a few nearby campers and they came over to see what the lads were up to. When they told the onlookers they were cooking beans in the sand that really got everyone’s interest as no one had seen that before. The group of folks which had gotten larger at this time watched the boys pour off the water and add generous slices of salt pork and molasses to the pot on top of the beans.
Things got interesting as the boys dug a hole, put in the covered pot, and covered it over with sand. They built a fire on top of it and kept it going all day long. That evening when they removed the pot from the sand all the campers came back to see how things had turned out. Some people even began to laugh thinking what on earth had these boys done.
The Carleton Place lads had the last laugh and gave each bystander a saucerful of the hot baked beans. Immediate shouts of “By George these are delicious” rang through the night air and the boys were now the “candy kids” of the campground. Each day for the balance of the week they baked a pot for the campers and in turn the recipients kept the lads supplied with homemade pies, ice cream and some even slipped in a few cigarettes on the side.
Cheryl added: in the story From the Files of The Canadian — Who is This? Where is This?
My Uncle Harry Majore made the sand-baked beans for the annual Bean Supper at St. Declan’s Church. I remember going behind the drive shed and watching Uncle Harry work around the pots of beans. The aroma was amazing! It was always a fun time, with great food, home-made pies and games. It was also a time to visit the graves of my relatives. Thank you so much for writing about this area of Lanark County!
My Uncle Harry Majore made the sand-baked beans for the annual Bean Supper at St. Declan’s Church. I remember going behind the drive shed and watching Uncle Harry work around the pots of beans. The aroma was amazing! It was always a fun time, with great food, home-made pies and games. It was also a time to visit the graves of my relatives. Thank you so much for writing about this area of Lanark County!
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