There was an island out in the lake that I mentioned in Ruthie’s Honey Hole, that many, many years back someone had built a road out to. The name for the island…The island! The old road bed is still there, and the island has a big, beautiful oak hammock on it.
The property next door was owned by another family, and they owned about half the island, while Dad owned the other half. He has about 300 acres of orange grove on his property as well.
He ended up buying the adjoining property, which included the island and I believe another 60 acres. Once getting this property, he went in and cleaned up the old island and lifted up the branches on the old oak trees, and man, is it pretty today.
Since getting the whole island they’ve really cleaned it up. There was an old butcher shop there and just all kinds of junk. Now it’s just the big ole oaks and cabbage palms.
Dad built Mom a nice cook shed, and a nice big sitting area out of rough cut lumber, with a tin roof and a nice porch. This is now, Ruthie’s Cook Shed, and it overlooks Ruthie’s Honey Hole! She has electric, cabinets, water, a cook stove and a refrigerator! She’s set!
Now this ole island has many memories back from long ago times. One such memory is this island was a gathering place for the Ku Klux Klan back in the thirties.
This is true as some of the previous owners told me of this back when I was in high school. The one that told me was actually a Grand Dragon back in the day, and said that was the reason for the old roadbed being built to the island.
You have to remember that back then the island was just that…an island surrounded by water on all sides.
Back all those years ago the island was way off out in the woods , and the island was very secluded and hard to get to. With the old roadbed the only way to get on or off the island, it was chosen as their meeting spot.
This was because they’d post a guard at the entrance of the road, and no one could come or go without the guard letting them pass. This as dark as it may be, was one of the island’s uses since its inception.
I’m also sure that it was used by Indians if you’d go that far back as well, as it supplied a place to build their huts, or chickees as the Seminoles called them, up under the oaks and cabbages. Plus it furnished water to drink and back then fish were abundant.
The island is not a mile to a mile and a half as the crow flies to Lake Apopka, and this lake is one of the biggest lakes in Florida and had a large Indian population, again, back in the day.
The source of the name Apopka was derived from the Indian words, Aha or “potato,” and Papka, meaning “eating place,” or “potato eating place”
Anyway getting back to modern times, back in the seventies, I was probably a junior in high school, I had a green jeep pickup truck, and remember this truck as it will play a role here directly.
During this time Jimmy was the butcher who had the butcher shop on the island and he butchered beef there. Jimmy used to tell me of his philosophy of butchering beef.
It was this. Jimmy would say, I’m going to pick up this cow to butcher, and while picking her up I see the owners have a real long drive, and it’s paved and really nice.
Going by their house to the pen, I notice their house is more mansion than home, and upon arriving at the pen I see they have corn fed this cow for months, she’s butterball fat! These people without a doubt have money…and lots of it!
So…when I’m butchering this cow, I say to myself, “Self, these people have the life, and you know what…if I cut me out a few of their steaks and take them home to my family…they’ll never miss them, they’ve got plenty!
Then I go to pick up an ole cow, and the old lane I’m travelin’ down is dusty, full of potholes, and so bumpy I almost turn around and go back home.
But I keep going and the ole house these people live in is just a tar paper shack. I get to the pen, if that’s what you want to call it, and the ole cow standin’ there is so poor and weak she cain’t hardly stand. I load her up and take her back to the shop.
While butcherin’ her, I get to thinking about this poor family, their road you cain’t hardly get up and down, the old tar paper shack they live in, and the poor old cow so poor she’s almost stringy! You know they ain’t got no money, and have it rough, real rough.
So while I’m cutting her up I say to myself, “Self, these poor people ain’t got nothing, and probably won’t ever have nothing, so I grab me several of their steaks to take to my family also, cause if they already don’t have anything, then they won’t miss these steaks either!”
He told me one other time, “Dub, I got home the other night and my two girls met me at the drive, just a jumpin’ up and down and hollering to beat the band. I didn’t know what was up!
They ran up to me when the truck stopped and said, “Daddy, Daddy, guess what…we’re having hot dogs for supper tonight!!”
He said they eat so much steak at the house, they think a dern hotdog is a delicacy!!
I laughed until I almost cried, Jimmy was really a funny guy! He was almost Mom and Dad’s age but he was just hilarious, and acted more my age!
Anyway, they used to fight chickens on the island, and really I didn’t know they were.
Well, I come pulling down to the island in my GREEN jeep pickup, and right when I started pulling up under the oak hammock, people started scattering like a covey of quail!
I swear I had NO idea what was going on, but the people, and I’m here to tell you A LOT of people were running off in every direction, and many jumping into cars and trucks and screaming out of there, chunking rocks up against the butcher shop and other vehicles.
Honestly I’m bewildered as to what is going on and then, there stands Jimmy in the middle of the road just laughing his dern fool head off!
I asked him what in the world was going on, and he couldn’t hardly tell me because he was laughing so hard.
Finally, he says, “Dub, they were down here fighting chickens this morning, and they didn’t know your truck. When they saw that GREEN pickup pulling down the road coming up to this island, one of ‘em hollered GAME WARDEN, and you saw yourself how you had em piling out of here!
Jimmy and I laughed about that for thirty minutes it was SO funny!
Well, there’s you guys a couple stories of the island, and I’m sure you’ll be hearing more about the island, and Jimmy, down the road!
You guys take care, and we’ll be seeing ya!
God bless!
Dub and Deb