eagle bay community hall
Eagle Bay Community Hall is the central gathering place for our community. The hall comes alive when people are in it and we have many clubs and events that do just that. But first, a little history.
Prior to 1950, the community came together informally at the schoolhouse. People worked hard but they had time to play as evident from this passage from Renee Hester’s 50th Anniversary of the Eagle Bay Hall”.
“People from all around the lake came to dances and concerts. It was a “family place”. Dances lasted all night because it was said to be too dangerous to cross the lake in the dark. Residents contributed money for fuel for the lamps and wind up gramophones. Local fiddlers and harmonica players supplied the music. Life was simple though rigorous, joyous.”
In February of 1950, a meeting was held to discuss the building of a hall to replace the old schoolhouse, which sold in 1948 for $750.
From the several sites offered for donation, the land belonging to Mr. and Mrs. Charles Coates was chosen.  The Coates donated the land so that “young people had a place to meet”.
John and Hans Whitehead brought logs out to the Whitehead Mill, while Major Howden, Francis Turgeon, and George Whitehead hauled gravel to the site to get the project started.  As Mary Turgeon later explained, "volunteers donated as much time and experience as they had." Volunteers handled every aspect of construction until the last step:  Roy Burke was hired to lay a 'floor suitable for dancing.' The Opening Dance in the new one-room Community Hall was held October 11, 1959.
The kitchen was originally located at the eastern end of the building, where the ladies' dressing room is today, and heat was provided by wood-burning stove. Coffee was perked in two large stainless steel kettles made by Ernie Whitehead; a major feat considering the hall, at that time, did not have plumbing for water or drainage.
In over 70 years since opening, the hall has expanded to include a kitchen, games room, bar, cloakroom, covered entrance, and indoor washroom facilities.
One thing that has not changed since 1950 is that the hall continues to be operated and maintained by volunteers - still willing to donate as much time and experience as they have.