Jackson’s Lodge in the News 

The six sisters who Elmont “Monty” and Audrey Jackson wanted to keep busy in the summer gathered Sunday to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the family’s ownership of Jackson’s Lodge on Wallace Pond in Canaan. Pictured from left on the porch of the 1920s lodge are sisters Hylie Marquis, Gloria Jackson, Francine Bigney, Donna Lemay, Connie Jackson and Bonnie Crawford. (Photo by Vincent Illuzzi III)

Jackson’s Lodge Celebrates
60 Years In Canaan

This article is courtesy of the Caledonian Record and was originally published July 30, 2018 by Vincent Illuzzi III

WALLACE POND, CANAAN — Elmont Jackson knew 60 years ago that his daughters probably wouldn’t be interested in taking over the family logging business.

So he and his wife bought a fishing lodge with cabins on Wallace Pond in Canaan to help ensure their girls would have jobs as they grew up, before they moved away or married and started their own families.

That decision 60 years ago was celebrated Sunday afternoon at Jackson’s Lodge. A free cookout including former and current guests, staff and community members, was hosted by the next to youngest of the six Jackson girls, Gloria, the owner since 1986.

“I scheduled it this week because many of the families who have been coming for generations are here now,” she said. “There are many memories.”

Logging in the 1950s required brute strength and it was dangerous work. Chainsaws evolved from two-man units to lighter weight, one-man operable units. Even so, in 1959, a saw weighed about 26 pounds compared to today’s saws that weigh about 10 pounds.

The Canaan area, then and now, is logging country. Elmont’s father, Arnold, owned thousands of acres of forestland from Canaan to Holland Pond in Orleans County, including land on the Canadian side of the border.

In May 1958, Elmont knew there wouldn’t be a lot of jobs outside of the logging industry for his three girls and the baby on the way, which turned out to be the fourth girl in the family. Later came two more girls.

The town of Canaan, bordered to the north by Canada and to the east by rural New Hampshire, in the last two centuries has been and in large part remains dominated by large tracts of land used for logging and recreation.

Elmont and his wife, Audrey, purchased the Marshall Camps on Wallace Pond, which included several seasonal cottages and a lodge on May 24, 1958. The buildings have been upgraded, but still have a rustic feel in a quiet corner of Vermont.

If you say hello to the neighbor across the fence to the north, your speaking with someone standing in Saint Herménégilde, Quebec, Canada.

The camps and lodge, popular with fishermen in the 1950s, were purchased from Millard and Jane Duff of Waterbury, Connecticut, who had purchased them eight years earlier from Rose Marshall, who with her husband had started the rustic fishing property.

Wallace Pond, the third and largely unknown international body of water in Vermont, has developed into a vacation destination for summer recreation and snowmobiling.

The 60th anniversary of operation in the Jackson family was nostalgic for some.

Erle Blanchard of Santa Clara, California, worked summers at Jackson’s Lodge as an office helper and in the dining room from 1963 to 1967. He said Sunday, “We learned how to work here. The Jacksons worked with us. We became part of the family.” Blanchard went on to become president of Strum-Ruger in New Hampshire.

Gloria Jackson, the next to youngest of the six daughters, bought the property, and she runs it as a seasonal resort for guests from across the U.S. and Canada.

However, family members aren’t too far away. The sisters and families lend a helping hand in the kitchen or around the property from time to time.

Gloria and her partner, Mark Leveillee, who grew up in Burlington, have worked to “maintain a relaxing get away” for guests who come and stay for a week or even the entire summer.

Breakfast for cottage guests and the public is offered on Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning. Pizza night is Thursday and Mexican food is served on Friday night.

Although no credit cards are taken, there is satellite TV and WiFi in the lodge.

This article is courtesy of the Colebrook Chronicle and was originally published August 3, 2018

Jackson’s Lodge Holds A 60th Anniversary Celebration

This past Sunday, Jackson’s Lodge hosted an “on-the-house” 60th year anniversary celebration barbeque for alumni and current cabin guests, employees, community and family members.  Owner Gloria Jackson “scheduled it this week because many of the families who have been coming for generations are here now. There are many memories!”

On the eastern shores of Vermont’s third international lake, Lake Wallace, resides a historic lodge and lakeside log cabins on the border with Quebec, Canada and just west of New Hampshire–situated in Canaan, Vt. Built in the early 1920s and originally known as “The Marshall Camps,” this sportsmen destination once offered fishermen and their families rest and relaxation while they enjoyed some of the best trout and landlocked salmon fishing in all of New England.

On May 24, 1958, Elmont Jackson, a renowned logger and resident land owner, purchased the Marshall property with the intent of providing a family business to be run by his wife Audrey (Gemmel) Jackson and their six daughters (“to keep my girls busy”), whom all had a hand in running “Jackson’s Lodge and Log Cabin Village” for close to three decades.
In 1986, Elmont and Audrey’s daughter Gloria Jackson purchased the property from her parents, and has continued the Jackson’s Lodge time-tested tradition–this year marking “60 years of family serving friends.”

Today’s Jackson’s Lodge provides a reminiscent atmosphere from those early days of a bygone era.  Jackson’s Café is a dining experience of going back in time to the mid-1950s when Audrey Jackson provided her guests with the “American plan.”  Back then, the cabins did not have kitchens. Audrey served breakfast, lunch, and dinner to her patrons in this cozy, endearing space. Given the original table clothes (today protected under glass), antique wood-burning cook stove, Edison hand-crank phonograph, original artifacts that grace the walls, window sills, and ceiling fixtures; Gloria stewards this tradition by showcasing original dining room memorabilia.

The 60th anniversary was nostalgic for many there.  Eric Blanchard of Santa Clara, California, worked summers at the Lodge as “office boy” from 1963 to 1967.  He said on Sunday, “We learned how to work here.  The Jackson’s worked with us.  We became part of the family.”  Blanchard went on to become president of Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc., one of the nation’s leading manufacturers of firearms for the commercial sporting market.

Gloria and her partner Mark Leveillee strive to deliver to their guests a restful sense of going-back-in-time where they can disconnect, find peacefulness, and enjoy our natural environment. It’s all about making many memories…