Halley's Camps History

In June of 1941 Louie joined his fellow Canadians and enlisted in the military. Not exactly a young man by military standards, after basic training he became a military cook with the Royal Canadian Military Service Corps, and spent the next year in Canada training other military cooks. Then, Louie was sent overseas and was attached to the South Alberta Regiment as a cook on the front lines.

After spending 3 long years in Europe Louie returned home, a man with a plan, to his wife Yvonne and their young children. Louie and Yvonne moved their family to the Kenora area, and opened up a small tourist operation on Black Sturgeon Lake - the original location of Halley's Camps.

After 4 years on Black Sturgeon, opportunity and bountiful wildlife farther north caught their attention and Louie and Yvonne moved their small operation to Tetu Lake south of Umfreville, then up to Fletcher Lake, north of Umfreville and the Sturgeon River. After spending several years at Tetu and Fletcher, Louie and Yvonne again pulled up stakes and settled once and for all on the massive reservoir present behind the newly constructed Caribou Falls Dam at the south end of Umfreville Lake.

At Caribou, it was another few years before Louie and Yvonne were able to obtain permits to construct permanent buildings, so Halley's Caribou Falls Landing at that time consisted of camping spaces with a small store run out of a mobile trailer. We sure have come along way, haven't we? And this story probably explains why it is that all the guys in the Halley family can cook. It's just the way it is.