Sandy Pond Continued

Our family vacationed at Sandy Pond for so many years, it has lots of memories for me, so it needs at least one more blog entry.  The photo to the right is from about 1957-58.  Janet mentioned the fact that swimming in the pond on the side the cabins were on was not great.  There were lots of weeds, which were great for fish to hide in but not much fun to swim in.  As a kid, I swam in it anyway, even bathed in it when I got fed up with sponge-baths using water heated on the stove, because the cabins didn't have hot water.   But back to the point, across the pond was a lovely little sand bar, a few hundred feet across, which separated the pond from Lake Ontario. The sand extended out far enough on either side of the sand bar to make swimming pleasant, except for one small detail.  There were abrupt drop-offs.  You could be wading along in 2-3 ft water and all of a sudden step off into 6 ft deep.  One of my earliest memories was of swimming on the pond side with my brother Kenny, sister Janet, and others.  I use the term swimming loosely, because I was only 3 or 4 and didn't actually learn to swim until years later.   We were all playing in the water and I waded a step to far and went off the edge.  Kenny was there in a flash to pluck me out and save me.  It's good to have an older brother looking out for you. 

The water on the pond side of the sand bar was calm, but the lake side had waves and was also more secluded.  When I got a little older I used to save my allowance each year so I could rent my own row boat and motor, so I could go swimming on the sand bar whenever I wanted.  I had a friend who lived there all year round, Cathy Carr, and she and I liked to swim on the lake side.  Over the years we made friends with other vacationers, but Cathy was a constant for me.  We were even pen pals during the year.

Janet mentioned that she and Kenny were friends with the children of the hotel owner.  I believe their names were Bill and Janet Howard.  Gail Bezewski would also have been with them, since she was their age.  When I was little I would play with Bobby & Lee Bezewski, but they were "boys" and once I met Cathy I didn't spend much time with them.

Mom & Dad had other friends there too - Scotty & Eddie.  Scotty was a bachelor who lived in Pulaski with his dog.  I believe she was a Scottish Terrier, but I can't remember her name.  Eddie was a widow who lived next door to Scotty.  I don't know what there relationship was beyond that, but they were nice people and Mom & Dad enjoyed their company.  Eddie had a son named Billy, but I don't think he lived with her.
In the photo on the left and going clockwise around the table, Eddie (in pink), Scottie, Daisy, Clay, Leo, Lois, Alice, and Bobby.

Although my brother Ronnie was married when I was about 5, he played an indirect part in later trips to Sandy Pond.   Ronnie built a boat in our backyard in Lyndhurst.  It was a great boat, probably about 18 ft; great for fishing but a little too heavy to pull water skiers.  Some years Ron & Lorraine would come to Sandy Pond too, but once the boat was finished he loaned it to Dad for the annual vacation.  Dad let me drive it a few times out on the pond, with him in it of course.   It was great to have this boat instead of the motorized row boats.  This is the only photo I could find of the boat, with Cathy & me on the bow.

I looked for Sandy Pond on Google maps and found the town still there.  The pond is labeled North Pond.  I don't remember it ever being called that, but maybe that was it's name and Sandy Pond was just the town name.   It looks like the channel between the pond and Lake Ontario is very shallow - you can see the sand feeding into the pond.  The area where we used to swim is labeled "Sandy Pond Beach Unique Area."