Fantastic Fridge

MANATEE COUNTY — Sunlight filters through the mossy oak trees at Linger Lodge RV Resort, where Doug and Laura Williams sit quietly enjoying the afternoon breeze and near-perfect weather. Their 12-week-old daughter, Melissa, sits alert in Doug’s lap, her bright blue eyes searching her surroundings.

The scene isn’t much different than when they first arrived in Florida from their hometown of Lewiston, Mich., in December, but the Williams’ now are less one 1950s Kelvinator Magic Cycle refrigerator.

The vintage fridge, which has one big white door with a large chrome handle and boasts designated spaces for cheese and other foodstuff, sat on the concrete patio slab to the couples RV for about two months as it awaited its formal donation to the Braden River Historical Society, which is working to recreate the home of Jiggs Landing Fish Camp owners Agnes and Alphonso “Jiggs” Metcalf in a replica cabin at Jiggs Landing park.

“It turns out it’s the exact one,” Doug Williams said of the fridge. “We offered to donate it (last summer), except we were 1,400 miles away in Michigan.”

The Williamses discovered Jiggs Landing during their stay at Linger Lodge RV Resort last winter. They visited the riverfront property frequently and eventually began to notice some type of work would soon be done to the area. However, the Williamses didn’t learn of the county’s plans to turn Jiggs into a county park until Laura’s parents, who live in Sarasota, mailed them a newspaper article about it.

That’s also how the couple learned the Braden River Historical Society was looking for specific vintage items — including the fridge — for their proposed historical museum at the park.

After corresponding with Sandy Metcalf, who grew up on the site with her aunt and uncle Metcalf, the Williamses knew they wanted to donate their keepsake, even after learning it may be worth more than $3,000.

“She really sold us on donating it,” said Doug Williams, who received the fridge from a friend 25 years ago. “There was never any doubt. We really wanted to do it.”

Laura Williams agreed.

“Too often, we bulldoze the old,” she said. “For them to want to keep the old — I appreciate that.”

When the Williamses made their winter preparations this year, they were convinced they would have to leave the fridge behind until Doug figured out how to take off its door. He then removed his dinette table and squeezed the fridge between the seats where their dinette table normally goes. During the four-day drive down to Florida, they simply ate on the couch.

Once in Florida, however, the couple put the fridge on their outside patio and used it for extra fridge space until members of the Braden River Historic Society picked it up about two weeks ago.

“This will make a piece of history come back alive,” Doug Williams said of the donation. “It’s kind of exciting knowing we played a part.”

The Braden River Historical Society is still looking for a 1940s- or 1950s-era white four-burner apartment-sized gas range stove. For information about the organization or for information about donating, visit www.oldbradenriver.org.

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].