Kelly Klub: Fun and Games on the Bluff

Cooler By The Lake
Kelly Klub: Fun and Games on the Bluff

Left to right: unknown, unknown, Will Rankin, unknown, Will Johnston, Dick Dunn, unknown, Ed Dunn, Will Waidner, unknown, Al Johnston, Fred Waidner.

In the 1890s a group of young men who summered in Lake Bluff during the Camp Meetings formed the Kelly Klub. Their group played an important role in the social life of Lake Bluff’s summer residents and visitors, providing entertainment for the village youth including the infamous Pink Rabbit Ball. Unlike many of the Camp Meeting attendees, Kelly Klub members were not temperance advocates. One meeting place was the barn behind 112 East North Avenue, the cottage of club member John Cole Jr.