CBCW: Training: In-Person and Online

The AIS Program at Oneida County Land & Water Conservation is offering seven free Clean Boats, Clean Water watercraft inspection training this spring:  two virtual training on Zoom and five in-person training at area boat landings. The schedule and registration links are below and in the attached flier.  The virtual trainings are in partnership with Vilas County Land & Water, Lincoln County Land Services, and FLOW AIS (Forest, Langlade, Marinette and Oconto Waterways).

If you would like to become a Clean Boats Clean Waters watercraft Inspector, or need a refresher before the opening of fishing season, a free CBCW training can show you how.  

Virtual Trainings on Zoom:

Wednesday, April 24, 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm. Register for this training here.

Friday, May 10, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm.  Register for this training here.

In-Person Trainings at local boat landings with the link below

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040549A5A928A1F94-48489737-clean

Tuesday, May 14, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm, Boom Lake Boat Landing at Hodag Park, Rhinelander

Thursday, May 16, 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm, Lake Nokomis Boat Landing, CTH N, Tomahawk

Tuesday, May 21, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm, Pelican Lake Boat Landing, CTH G, Pelican Lake

Thursday, May 23, 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm, Lake Tomahawk Boat Landing, Town Bay Rd, Lake Tomahawk

Thursday, May 30, 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm, Cy Williams Park Picnic Shelter, 1704 Superior St, Three Lakes

Moen Lake: Memoirs from the Cunnea Family History

"Every good story should start with a train.” This is the belief of George Stangel, 87, a second-generation resident on Moen Lake who married into the Cunnea Family in 1957. And when it comes to the history of Moen Lake, located about six miles outside of downtown Rhinelander, Wisconsin, trains certainly figured into the stories of how Moen Lake became the source of so many memories for the generations of families who made its shores their home away from home. 

When the Rhinelander Lumber Company established itself, the town of Rhinelander was born. Timber was harvested and transported over a railroad bridge which crossed the channel connecting Moen Lake into Second Lake. The tracks were laid all the way up from the shore to the present-day tracks which run along what is now Lake Shore Drive. Oxen were used to pull the heavy logging wagons that carried the timber harvested all around Moen Lake, opening up farmland on the northeast area of the shore. With the farms came the tradition of a favorite summer activity on Moen Lake: The Potato Festival. The festival was hosted by farmers, complete with a community picnic, swimming, boating along the shore of Moen Lake, and of course…potatoes! Boaters, swimmers, and fishermen alike would often witness the horses from those farms enjoying a long drink down by the water’s edge. Although the bridge that spanned the channel is no longer there, the now-underwater pylons that once supported the railroad bridge endure as a reminder of days gone by. And although the Oxen are long past being used for pulling logging carts, Oxen “shoes” were discovered in the years hence here and there, such as the ones seen in Photo 1. These shoes were found on the Cunnea property and are displayed in the Stangel-Cunnea cottage on Moen Lake.

The Cunneas’ arrival to Moen Lake happened as the result of an interesting deal which had its roots in Chicago. In circa 1910, William Alexander Cunnea, a lawyer who practiced in Chicago, served a client with whom he arranged a barter as payment for legal services. The client paid William in property…specifically some 350 miles north of Chicago in Rhinelander, Wisconsin on a small but pristine piece of shorefront property that sat on what is now known as Del-Stengl Lake. When William acquired the property, he promptly changed the lake’s name to Cunnea Lake. While William and his wife Mary enjoyed the clear beauty of the lake, his attention was caught by a larger, more expansive chain of lakes, and more specifically, the largest of them, named Moen Lake. While many think the lake is pronounced “mowen,” Mr. and Mrs. Moen hailed from Irish descent, and therefore the correct pronunciation is actually “moon.” 

In 1916, William and Mary made the decision to sell their property on Cunnea Lake and purchased a property on Moen Lake, moving the house they currently owned and relocating it right on the shore, just between Jenny Weber Creek and Shepherd Lake Creek. In those days, cottages were called “camps,” and so William’s cottage was named “Camp Cunnea,” and has passed down through the generations within the Cunnea Family, who enjoyed the cabin until the late 1990’s, when it was sold to the Coyle Family.

William took pleasure in having a boat commissioned that would be able to hold as many as 13 adults. The finished boat (which can be seen in Photo 2), was huge and required oars that were each seven feet long. This way, two people could row each oar. As can be seen in Photo 3, four men could sit side by side and row the entire clan of family and friends to picnic on one of the islands that jutted out just beyond the pier. There were no shorts or tee shirts for the picnickers though…this was a dress-up occasion despite the warm weather. William would say, “Put on your glad rags and man the oars, boys! We’re going on a picnic!” Photo 4 shows one of the seven-foot-long oars that currently hang in the Cunnea/Stangel cabin on Moen Lake, paying homage to the past craftsmanship of the time. 

Going back to the trains and their continued significance in Moen Lake’s history, one could travel from Chicago to Rhinelander by train. Passengers would transfer to a local train after arriving at the downtown Rhinelander station, which would stop anywhere along the line to where the passengers needed to disembark. Space was limited, so passengers and their luggage would share space with the train crew in the caboose. Pioneer Park in downtown Rhinelander displays the caboose that would transport these passengers to and from the downtown station. Furnishings were typically delivered by train as well, and often any kind of furniture would need to be assembled upon arrival. Tables and chairs required hours of time to assemble, with layers of sticks having to be glued together with heated horseshoe glue (smelly stuff, that) for each chair and table. It was a cumbersome process that would put IKEA’s furniture kits to shame, but the result was a solid, long-lasting piece of furniture, as can be seen in Photo 5. These particular chairs, still in use today, were assembled by members of the Cunnea family and are over 100 years old. 

Lake Shore Drive, formerly known as County C in the 1930’s, was moved to the north side of the railroad tracks during the 1920’s. Originally, the road stood between the tracks and the lake and was more of a trail than a road at that time. On the northeast corner of Moen Lake, known as Roosevelt Crossing, is a house which is still there, but was once a general store. Behind the general store stood an icehouse. The ice was removed from Moen Lake every winter and was stored at the general store for customers to purchase for their ice boxes. If one is driving by Roosevelt Crossing, they can see the old general store which has been converted into a residential home. An original icebox, while not holding actual ice anymore, can be seen in Photo 6. It was lovingly restored to its original finish by George Stangel (husband of Margaret “Sugar” Cunnea) on Moen Lake and can still keep ice cold!

Not everyone needed to take the train. In the 1920’s if one had a car, they could travel by automobile from Chicago. William and Mary eventually purchased a vehicle and while they could enjoy the convenience of traveling at their own pace, the carried north was an all-day affair. Highways didn’t yet exist in this area. There were no motels or restaurants along the way, so the custom was to stop, find a shady spot, and have a roadside picnic. As cars made their way on their journey, it was not unheard of to pass another car along the road. Drivers were known to stop in the middle of the road, share pleasantries, and ask where each were coming from or headed to before continuing the long journey.

In the 1930’s, William Cunnea’s son Frank and his wife, Emma, purchased property on Shady Lane. So many people came to stay and visit with Frank and Emma that they decided to purchase a second house on the property. Times were good financially, and the Cunnea children spent long, lazy days playing on the sandy beach and walking along the shore to what is now known as Pine Valley Lodge. There at the lodge sat a giant wooden slide that splashed the laughing children right into the lake. 

When the Great Depression hit and World War II began, travel became limited from Chicago to Rhinelander. Frank and Emma sold the larger of the two houses, and eventually were forced to sell the second, smaller cabin. The two houses still stand, now almost 100 years old, on the shoreline overlooking the lake from the northwestern shore. The larger of the two homes can be seen from across the lake, its newer second story prominent along the waterfront. Camp Cunnea remained in the family, and William’s children maintained the property despite the difficult times. 

In 1963, Frank and Emma Cunnea returned to Rhinelander and purchased 40 acres of land on the east shore of Moen Lake near the channel into Second Lake. Spaced over the 40 acres stood two cabins. One cabin was occupied by Emma and Frank’s son Jack Cunnea and his wife, Catherine. Their daughter, Sharon Cunnea Oraweic, enjoys the summer season there to this day, as does her daughter, Maureen, and Sharon’s grandchildren. In 1973, Emma sold the other 20 acres to her daughter Margaret “Sugar” Stangel, and Sugar’s husband George. The Cunnea/Stangel Cabin, named “Rhinehaus,” overlooks the channel into Moen Lake from a clifftop from which the most spectacular sunsets can be admired. Sugar and George’s children and grandchildren still spend the summer seasons at Rhinehaus to this day, grateful for the happenstance that brought William and Mary Cunnea to this beautiful lake one hundred and thirteen years ago.

-Story told by George V. Stangel and put to words by his daughter, Cheryl Stangel Curry (Great Granddaughter of William A. Cunnea).