The Sublime and Mysterious Order of Cock-eyed Loons

Mysterious is a pretty good description of the public perception of this “Order” on Lake Weslemkoon. On occasion, questions from newcomers and younger family members can be found on social media, often triggered by the discovery of a relative’s certificate such as the one to the right.

In recent times the order has recognized significant service to the lake and is open to all residents.  

That was not how it originated. 

It started out as a diversion for party guests on Walker Island in 1924. Hosts Cliff Walker and his wife Elizabeth had guests undertake an initiation that included blind folds and plunging your hand into a bucket of worms (water and spaghetti) according to an article in the 1963 Loon Call. Mrs. Brandy Godwin, daughter of the Walkers, wrote of members self-declaring their high “fishermanship” and other positive personal qualities while other guests abetted the spectacle! Alcohol was probably available. The Walkers had prepared an ornate and ridiculous certificate which they issued to themselves and seven others. 

Over the years others were added to the Order, fortunately including a teenaged John Rathbun who caught fish and did general tasks for the Walkers. He kept that certificate awarded in 1928 and so it survived a fire in 1935 on Walker Island that wiped out all the records of Cock-eyed Loons.  The Rathbun certificate provided the template for new certificates when Dr. Howard Bevis (The Grand Ichthyophagic and Amphibious Loon) revived the order at yet another party in July of 1956. It remained an irreverent group with members imitating a Loon rising from the water, flapping of arms and warbling…even as their boats passed. For unknown reasons the Bevis revival lapsed along with its records.

Then in the summer of 1971 lake resident Don Mackenzie renewed the Order, becoming newest Grand Ichthyophagic and Amphibious Loon. In the Spring 1972 issue of the Loon Call he recalled installing all the immediate past Presidents of the LWCA into the Order “in recognition of time and effort spent on our behalf”. That established the new, more serious, criteria for induction to the Order which applies today to all inductees. Mind you, the “Loon salute” remains and recalls the nonsensical origins of the award.

Don also sent out a call to gather the names of all past members which provided the base for the list that exists today that I started maintaining when my late wife, Catherine Rathbun (daughter of John) took over from Don in 2006. 

We remain well aware of the gaps in that list and invite submissions from those who unearth certificates at home or the cottage. You can find our most up to date list of names in the document attached below.