Jones Pond Family Reunion
by Therese Fenner Boucher
Charlton Gazette, Vol. 20. No. 8
Charlton, Massachusetts, August 2009
The grown children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Louis Boucher recently gathered on the shores of Jones Pond for a family reunion. Their visit coincided with the recent closing of the Bement Camp, which is an important moment in the history of the property. But their visit also marked an important moment in the history of their family, as they gathered to remember a departed sister, Shirley Boucher Williams, who was a longtime resident of Charlton. The Bouchers were armed with old photos of their family camp on Jones Pond and a whole lot of stories to share. Bob Boucher gave everyone the grand tour at the edge of the water and down memory lane.
As the story goes, Louis Boucher (1899- 1981), and his brother Joe Boucher (1891-1969), bought the 580 acres in northern Charlton in the early 1930s, so they could cut wood and sell it to their milk customers in Worcester. Early on, they realized that Jones Pond would also be a great place, both to cool off in the summer, and to go ice skating in the winter.
"In the 1930s and 40s, the Bouchers had two cabins, one for Louis's family and one for Uncle Joe's family," Bob explained. And there was a garage built into the hill for trucks and family vehicles. Up the hill behind the two cabins and the garage, was a field where they grew corn and potatoes. They began and ended their visit by the first cabin, right on the lake. And whether or not it was a remodeled version of their family cabin was the biggest topic of conversation. Louie's old cabin had no windows, just tar paper covering the openings where windows would be and screens that would be propped up against the building with a piece of lumber. The second floor had a dorm for his five children, aunts, uncles, in-laws, "outlaws" and whoever else they took pity on when it was hot.
The lake had been a bit larger (without the present landfill) and there used to be a farm across the water, where cows would graze. Swimming and fishing were definitely the high points back then. Bob chuckled as he recalled the day that Uncle Oscar snagged a large pickerel, too large to reel in. For weeks, the children saw the fish jumping out of the water with the hook in its mouth.
Mrs. Bertha Boucher and her sisters had a different plan for enjoying the water. They just sat on the dock, soaked their feet, transferred large skeins of yarn from one to the other, and enjoyed shooting the breeze. But at one point, all the good family memories were also tempered by recalling a tragedy that occurred on these same waters. In May of 1938, Salime Boucher, a brother of Louie and Joe launched a brand new motorboat from the dock. And in all the commotion that happens when six men celebrate in a small craft, Salime toppled overboard, hit his head and drowned, despite a hasty nine mile trip to Harrington Hospital in Southbridge.
The Bouchers completed their visit by sharing memories of Jones Pond in the winter. That's when Louie would drive his car out onto the ice, or pull a sled full of children behind him as he skated along. Then there was the year when the young men caught hell for decorating a Christmas tree with beer cans; and the time when a nearby dam was washed out during a storm and reshaped the pond. And finally, there was the end of the Boucher's presence on Jones Pond, when the Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts approached Louie about selling the land in 1947. After much thought and some haggling, and Louie's insistence that the Bement people "had better sharpen their pencil!" both brothers said yes. And so they left. But Louie would check the place out every now and then with his youngest daughter Diane. And now, on one important day in July, Diane and all the Bouchers checked it out one last time for him.
