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OLD COTTAGE In 1954, Wayne's father, Lloyd, learned of some vacant cottages on an island in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, near Cedarville. In April of 1955, Lloyd, his wife Lois, and friends Joe and Freda Steelman went up to investigate. The end result was that the two families bought cottages right next door to each other. These cottages were located in the Les Cheneaux Islands. The name "Les Cheneaux" (pronounced "Lay-Shen-O") is French in origin meaning "the channels." In total, Les Cheneaux is made up of 36 islands along 12 miles of Lake Huron shoreline. The Eastman cottage is located on LaSalle Island. This island is only accessible by boat. Wayne, his parents, and his sisters spent most of their summers at this cottage. It did not have running water, a telephone, or many modern amenities, but it was a treasured retreat. Just about everyone in the Eastman family has wonderful memories of the old cottage. It's hard to forget your first trip out to an outhouse in the middle of the night! "The Cottage," as everyone called it, was old, crooked and needed repair. Lloyd disliked it so much that upon his retirement in the late 1970's, he tore it down completely and rebuilt it from the ground up using many of the existing materials. Although the new cottage is much more comfortable, it will never replace the old one!
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