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Ronald Malinosky Senior has many fond memories of his four years living with his grandparents at Paradise Beach Lodge during the late 1930s early 1940s.
He attended school, made friends, and like most eight- to 12-year-olds at that time, worked. A lot.
“I was responsible for cleaning around the cabins while living with my grandparents Godfrey and Elizabeth Plante,” he said. “They owned Paradise Beach Lodge, a seasonal business. In the winter, we would move to Naniboujou Lodge and stayed there.”
“I remember the blizzards we would have, and I just loved the blizzards,” he added.
During that period Naniboujou wasn’t open to the public, as Ron recalls. “In the summer, when I had time, I would go to the river next to the lodge and swim in the big pool. Boy, that was a lot of fun.”
“We hunted for a lot of our food, and I enjoyed that. I used to really enjoy hunting with my grandfather.”
But hunting to put food on the table was also a lot of work.
As a boy Ronald Malinsoky Sr. lived at Paradise Beach Lodge with his grandparents. Today he lives in Louisiana and still gets the Cook County News-Herald. Ron, age 88, says he dreams of coming back for a visit. Photos courtesy of Ronald Malinosky Sr.
“I helped the fisherman, Mr. Peterson, who had a fish house just across the highway from us. When I was eight years old, I remember helping him push his fishing boat through skim ice on Lake Superior. Next, we went out on the lake to bring in his hook lines. Once the hooks were baited and the lines reset, we headed back to shore, taking the fish to his fish house, where we cleaned them and then packed them in wooden fish boxes.
“A truck would come twice a week from Two Harbors, and the driver would buy the fish,” said Ron, who today lives in the City of Kenner, Louisiana.
When his chores were done Ron would search out friends to play with. That might involve walking two, three miles, to find a buddy, but that’s what he would do. “I didn’t think anything of it. If my bike had a flat tire, I walked to get places. That’s what kids did when I was young.”
When asked why he lived with his grandparents, Ron replied, “I was born in Grand Portage, but not long after my father took a job in Panama where he helped dig the Panama Canal. So, we went with him, but after a while, my mother got sick and returned home to Louisiana to get better. My siblings were older, and I went to live with my grandparents.”
An old family photo of the Paradise Beach Lodge owners Godfrey N. Plante, Elizabeth Plante (bottom), and their daughters. Mabel Plante, Ron’s mother, is on the right.
Once his mother recovered, Ron moved to Louisiana to live with her. Meanwhile, his father worked construction, traveling to where the work was.
Ron’s older brother joined the Navy during World War 11, and his sister joined the WACs. Later, Ron would serve for eight years in the Airforce, also pulling a tour of duty in Korea during the Korean War.
Throughout his life, Ron has had different types of jobs. He even worked in the stenotype room for The Times-Picayune newspaper; today called the Times- Picayune/ The New Orleans Advocate. He married and he and his wife had two children. His daughter Lisa helped him send pictures to the paper through her computer. She said, “I am very blessed that I was able to know my great-grandmother and grandmother and that my dad, Ronald G. Malinosky, Senior, is still with us at the young age of 88!
Paradise Beach Rental cabins weren’t fancy but did the trick for tourists of the day.
“He was telling me about his “chores” that he was responsible for around the cabins while living with his grandparents when he was younger. It’s a far cry from the chores kids have today!”
As for Ron, he’s happy but has a yearning he hopes to fulfill.
“I would like to come back one more time to see the area. I hope I can come back. I have fond memories of Paradise Beach, my grandparents, the whole area.
“I came back to Cook County once in 1985. I went to Canada, went up the Gunflint Trail, went to Grand Portage. We were there for two weeks. We had a great time. Maybe I can make it back one more time.”
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