My husband and I opened Sagastaweka Island on April 3 – cold, rainy, and beautiful. Before opening your cottage I suggest you return to February's “Spring into the Boating Season" by Rolli and Danielle Pootmans. I printed Danielle’s provisioning list, the week before, and found it very helpful.
Rick Tague sends his thanks to those who commented on our March "Peacock Yacht House" article. Part II will likely appear in our May issue. In the “It's a small world" department, Peacock’s grandson is a colleague of Patty Mondore, (March issue: "River-Lations" also featured last month) and this led to www.thousandislandslife.com being forwarded to Peacock relatives in far-away places!
Michael Folsom, our regular "Seaway and Shipping" contributor (January "2008 Seaway Season Recap" ), advises that he has written a "balanced" article Seaway's 50th Anniversary - a Celebration or Not?. "Balanced" as not everyone believes the Seaway should be celebrated. Environmental groups led by Save the River and Great Lakes United, are asking that all shipping companies find alternative ways to transport cargo.
Dick Withington returns with A Spring Islander.
This month we present "Music & Art in Clayton" which highlights a joint music/art production by the Clayton Opera House and the Thousand Islands Arts Center.
Kristen Pinkney and Rex Ennis continue to bring important history to us. Kristen's "Part V of May Dewey Diary" makes New York City of the 1880s come alive. Once again Kris has made connections with so many important buildings and people. New readers are encouraged to review Parts I-IV beginning in January. Few documents capture as many references about the Gilded Age in the Thousand Islands.
Rex Ennis, one of our TI Life team historians, provides a short piece about the "Shortest Railroad in the United States". You will find this on a new section under the tab: THE PLACE / HISTORY.
New Contributors in April
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Susanne Richter, with her husband and two children, moved to Gananoque two years ago. Several stories appeared soon after in Toronto, Kingston and Ottawa newspapers which described their move from a residential community in Ottawa, to Gananoque, as the new owners of the "Victoria Rose Inn".
Our story will appeal to readers who appreciate preserving history and who have, or wish to have, a renovation project in mind! We are grateful to Susanne, for taking time away from painting and preparing for the 2009 season, for her story of how she brought past generations of the Victoria Rose Inn back to life for her patrons and friends to enjoy.
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Trude Brown Fitelson is well known in the Thousand Islands for her work in the preservation and protection of historic buildings at Thousand Island Park.
Trude is a member of many civic and preservation organizations. She is currently a Trustee of the Landmark Society of Western New York and Emeritus Director and Founder of the Thousand Islands Landmark Society where she was coauthor of the Thousand Island Park Preservation code.
Trude kindly compiled the story of Swami Vivekananda's visit in the 1890s.
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Editor's Note: In February, my seven-year-old grandson telephoned to tell me that his grade-two class, in New Hampshire, was learning about the War of 1812. “We talked about Canada.” he said proudly. I quickly pointed out that it was a war nobody won. “Oh No Grandmama”, he exclaimed in earnest, “I am sure we won”. The next night he called to say, “You are right. My teacher told me that nobody won!” I started to tell him about the role our Thousand Islands played over the two-year-war period. He listened for about two minutes and then said, “I have to go now, thanks, bye”. I am fascinated by that period of history. Several important publications appear each year - some include the skirmishes that took place in the Islands, while others leave us out entirely. Next month (May 2, 09) you can learn about the War of 1812 by attending a one-day symposium presented by the Fort La Présentation Association in Ogdensburg and the creation of the War of 1812 War College.
We thank Michael Whittaker for writing about this important event. Michael has been a military re-enactor for more than 25 years, as a member of Forsyth's Rifles, the United Train of Artillery of Rhode Island and similar organizations. He also provides heritage interpretation to schools, historic sites and community events.
We have also "begun" to update the War of 1812 pages under THE PLACE/History/War of 1812. Please check back often to see our progress.
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Phil Chadwick, aka Phil the Forecaster, returns to TI Life but this time as a featured artist. Phil presented TI Life with a catalogue of "many" of his beautiful paintings for our feature. Needless to say, we encourage you to view his website or visit one of the many galleries that show his works.
There are many accomplished artists in the region and we hope to introduce several to you in future issues. |
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Kathy Kempson and Peggy Hart take us around Grindstone Island the easy way - they paddle and we enjoy their commentary. They took the title from Keep Australia on your Left by Eric Stiller. Both ladies are also accomplished artists. Kathy provided photographs for our January 2008 issue. Peggy is a well-known weaver in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts. Please visit her interesting site at Bedfellows Blankets .
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Readers' Exchange... An Indian Point Fish Story
Editor's note: This month's we received an old-fashioned "fish" story from Ernest Ruterman who lives on Indian Point Road in Hammond Co. NY. Ernest and his wife, Louise, grew up in southeastern Arizona. They moved to Syracuse in 1958 and soon after began vacationing, every summer, on Indian Point Road in the Town of Hammond. Unfortunately we don't have a photo of "Belle" , but we did find a facsimile.
If you have a story for Readers' Exchange (700 words or less) do send it.
Written by Ernest Ruterman
In the early 1990’s Joe and Audrey Pilcher and their Mexican Chihuahua dog - Belle - came from Sulphur Springs, Texas to visit Audrey’s sister Louise and Ernie Ruterman, on Indian Point Road in the Town of Hammond, on the shore of the St. Lawrence River.
Every evening while Joe and Audrey were on the river, Joe, Belle, and Ernie went fishing. One evening while the river water was calm, they anchored in the middle of the river to fish Peary Shoals across from Sister Island Light at the head of Watch Island.
While fishing they noticed an up-river storm approaching. Ernie immediately tried to pull-up the anchor so they could get to shore before the storm got to them. However, the anchor line was stuck on the river bottom in about twenty-feet of water. So Ernie attempted to use the outboard engine to pull the anchor up. Unfortunately, the anchor rope got wound around the propeller and stalled the engine. This also stretched the rope between the cleat on the bow of the boat and the propeller as tight as a banjo string.
Ernie was trying to remove the rope from the propeller when the storm turned the stern of the boat into the wind, a tall wave broke over the stern, and instantly water filled the boat to a depth of about a foot. Joe jumped up on one of the seats with his new panama straw hat in one hand to keep from losing it in the wind, and his dog Belle under the other arm.
Joe yelled, “cut the rope”.
It was a brand new rope and Ernie did not want to cut it. So Joe put Belle down, put his new hat on his head, and cut the rope. Ernie started the engine and drove safely home in the storm.
The next evening Joe, Ernie and Belle walked single file down the stairs to the dock to go fishing. Everything was normal until Belle stopped at the top step(see photo), turned around, and went back to the house. There were some comments made about Belle having better sense than some men.
The next day Paul arrived on the river, dawned his scuba gear and we searched Peary Shoals, but were unable to locate the rope or anchor because of the swift current around the shoal.
Difficult as it is to believe, the next summer Paul and Ernie were fishing Peary Shoals caught the anchor rope in the boat propeller, and retrieved both the rope and anchor that had been lost the previous summer.
The End.
The TI Life Team will be back on May 15th...
Special thanks to Ian, Kim, Mike C, Mike F, Jessy and David for their help in once again putting a thousand islands in your life!
Susan W. Smith, Editor susansmith@thousandislandslife.com