| 9. In the News |
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Oswego Palladium-Times, February 28, 1947
Wigwam, Sandy Pond Hotel, Ruined by Fire
PULASKI – Wigwam Hotel, south shore of North Pond at Sandy Pond, was completely destroyed by fire which started at 3:30 p..m. Thursday. The hotel, owned by C. A. Snitzler, has a total loss estimated at $50,000. The blaze was discovered in the kitchen, with the cause undetrmined.
The hotel had always been used as a summer resort until this year when it opened for ice fishing parties. Weekend business had been heavy this winter. At the time of the fire, there were 12 or 14 people in front part of the hotel, but there were no serious injuries reported.
Sandy Creek snow plow had to open the road for the fire companies two-and-a-half miles from Scenic highway. Sandy Creek Volunteer company and Pulaski Ringgold company both got there, but could only save surrounding cottage properties.
A nearby cottage owned by the hotel was leveled by the fire which was fanned by a strong wind.
The two-story structure, consisting of 40 rooms, was built in 1892 by the late Bert Ostrander. Since his death in 1925, L. B. Price was the owner until two years ago. Since then it has been conducted by Leslie B. Price, Paul R. Hadley, Kenneth Buckland and its present owner, Mr. Snitzler. The place is well-known to hunters and fishermen all over the state.
Mr. Snitzler has no plans at present. |
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Utica Daily Press, February 3, 1969
Three Drown As Car Plunges Through Ice
PULASKI, N.Y. (AP) – Two children and a man in his fifties were drowned Sunday at Sandy Pond on the eastern shore of Lake Ontario when the car from which they were ice fishing crashed through a weak spot in the ice.
The children’s father and a 7-year-old brother escaped from the vehicle after it sank into the ice, 12-foot deep water.
Four drivers from the Phoenix Rescue Squad, who drove 25 miles to the scene six miles northwest of this village, brought up the bodies of James Colvin, 4, Theresa Colvin, 6, and Theodore Anderson, described by State Police as in his fifties. [Actually 61.]
Melvin Colvin, whose 28th birthday is Tuesday, escaped, and his son, Joseph, was rescued. The Colvins are from Brewerton and Anderson was from Cicero, both Syracuse suburbs.
It was not clear immediately if the two men were related.
Witnesses among the many ice fishers out on the pond said the car was about a mile from shore and returning to land about 5:30 p.m. when the ice suddenly collapsed.
Two bystanders, David Graham and Gary Getman, both of Syracuse, rushed to the hole. Graham dove into the water from the 37-degree surface with a rope tied around his waist and held by his companion.
Graham rescued young Joseph, who was taken to Watertown Hospital 25 miles northeast of Sandy Pond, while the boy’s father escaped from the car unaided. Graham said that when he returned on a second dive he could see the victims struggling inside the vehicle but was unable to help.
State Police, Oswego County Sheriff’s deputies, the nearby Sandy Creek Fire Depoartment and volunteers used snowmobiles and light from flares and a full moon as they fought to get into the car.
Rescuers said the ice on the pond – a favorite spot for ice fishermen – is normally between 10 and 20 inches thick at this time of the year, but was only four inches thick at the spot where the car went through. |
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Oswego Palladium-Times, February 4, 1969
SANDY POND TRAGEDY
State May Ban Use of Cars
On Ice Covering Waterways
ALBANY – (Special) As an aftermath of Sunday’s Sandy Pond tragedy in Oswego County when three lives were lost while returning from an afternoon of ice fishing, a move was started here to draft a bill prohibiting private cars from being driven onto the ice covering public waterways. Prime mover is State Senator H. Douglas Barclay of Pulaski, who lives close to the scene of Sunday’s fatalities.
A 50-year-old man and two children perished when their car broke through a weakened spot in the ice a mile offshore.
Lester A. Anderson, about 50, of Cicero and two small children, Theresa Colvin, 6, and James Colvin, 4, both of Brewerton, were drowned. The father of the drowned children, Melvin Colvin, 27, escaped from the car as it plunged through the ice, and another child, Joseph Colvin, 7, was rescued and removed to a Watertown hospital for treatment, where his condition today was listed as "fair."
Senator Barclay urged legislative authorities here Monday to draft a bill which would outlaw driving private cars onto the ice. Normally, such vehicles are driven out onto the iced-over lakes or ponds by ice fishermen. In some case, the vehicles not only are used for transportation but as means of keeping warm while fishing.
Sen. Barclay said the Sunday accident was a “tragic thing.” However, he emphasized he does not want to “react too quickly” and promote passage of a bill which later might prove harmful and still not correct the problem it was intended to solve.
Barclay said that after the bill is drafted, he will give it wide circulation for reaction and comment.
He noted that stock car races sometimes are staged on the ice and commercial fishermen used vehicles in plying their trade. Both are conducted in a perfectly safe and proper manner, he said, and he would not want to place undue restrictions on them.
There is also the problem of snowmobiles. Many snowmobile owners and operators spend their weekends whizzing around over frozen lakes and ponds.
Some encounter mishaps. On Sunday, four persons riding on a snowmovbile with an attached sled-like trailer, broke through the Lake George ice and had to be hauled to safety by an Albany newspaper photographer.
A decision must be made on whether or not to include snowmobiles in any law barring trips over frozen, offshore surfaces. |
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[NOTE: My reading of current New York State ice fishing regulation indicates it is still permissible to drive on ice-covered waterways. There are guidelines, however, and all refer to "clear, blue, hard ice on non-running waters." One person is permitted on foot on two-inches of ice; a group in single file can cross three-inches of ice; a car is permitted on 7.5 inches of ice and a light truck (2.5 tons) is permitted on eight inches of ice. One theory about the 1969 Sandy Pond tragedy was that the car was driven over a spot that had been weakened by current from a river that entered the pond nearby.]
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Another tragedy occurred on December 31, 1949 on South Sandy Pond when two boys plunged into the water while walking back to their family cottages after an afternoon of ice skating.
Two Syracuse families, the Parratts and the Failmezgers, who owned neighboring cottages were spending the New Year's weekend together. Mrs. Portia Pearson Parratt fell into the water after she rushed onto the ice to help rescue her son, Lyman Victor Parratt, 14, and his friend, Eugene Failmezger, also 14.
Spencer Parratt, a well-known Syracuse University professor, went out on the ice with a wood plank to attempt a rescue, but he, too, wound up in the water. Meanwhile, Eugene Failmezger scrambled to safety. His brother, Robert Failmezger, 19, pushed a boat onto the ice, but it overturned, sending him into the pond.
However, the older Failmezger boy was six-feet, four-inches tall and able to stand up in the water. He grabbed Mr. and Mrs. Parratt, saving the man's life, but the woman slipped back into the water. She and her son both drowned.
THE WILDEST ice-related Sandy Pond item I found was a 1949 article in the Oswego Palladium-Times, recalling an incident from 1918 involving a cottage owned by long-time Oswego County judge Don A. Colony, who called his place, "Colony Lodge." This story has a happy ending.
The cottage was built along Blind Creek Cove on the far eastern end of Sandy Pond. Colony bought a lot located more than two miles away on the western shore in what was known then as Ackerman's Cove. And how did that cottage get moved from one place to the other? Over the ice, which in February 1918 was an estimated 30 inches thick.
Ray Ackerman, who, I believe, was the brother of Harma C. Ackerman, who ran a Sandy Pond restaurant called (what else?) Ackerman's, contracted to move the two-story cottage, which, according to the article, took two weeks. It was pulled across the ice by four teams of white horses.
All of the furnishings remained in the house during the move. Afterward the Colony family reported that nothing was broken, not even a dish, and that all doors operated perfectly when the building was set up in its new location
Luckily, it was a typical northern New York February, and, if anything, the ice was thicker at the end of those two weeks than it was at the beginning. |
Mexico Independent, May 18, 1933
Fire believed to have been caused by an overheated stovepipe caused considerable damage Monday morning, May 8, at the Hotel Comfort, conducted by Joseph Sniper at Sandy Pond.
An alarm was telephoned to Sandy Creek firemen, but efficient work with fire extinguishers from the hotel and from the Wigwam Hotel nearby had brought the flames under control before the fire company arrived on the scene.
The fire was discovered about 7:30 a.m. by Mr. Sniper and family who were at breakfast when they smelled smoke. Investigating, they discovered flames had broken out in the living room and spread rapidly over the flammable surface of the woodwork which had just been revarnished.
All the living room furniture, including a piano and radio, was lost and the walls were scorched as flames spread to the stairs and upper story also and considerable damage was done on the second floor by smoke and water, the hotel pumping system having been utilized to check the blaze.
The loss is partly covered by insurance. |
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Oswego Palladium-Times, June 4, 1971
Restaurant Badly Damaged By Flames
Sandy Creek and Lacona Fire Departments rushed to a fire at the Beach House, a summer restaurant, at Sandy Island Beach on Sandy Pond at 10:51 a.m. today. Oswego County Fire Conrol said that the fire started in living quarters attached to the restaurant. The building sustained heavy damage to the interior. Pulaski Fire Dept. sent one truck to Sandy Creek station on standby duty. |
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Oswego Palladium-Times, June 5, 1971
Troopers Probe Possibility Of Arson
In Restaurant Fire
The possibility of burglary and arson to the Beach House, a summer restaurant on Sandy Island Beach in the Town of Sandy Creek, is being probed by state police investigators.
Fire early Friday caused heavy damage to the interior of the restaurant as well as the living quarters of the building, according to Fire Chief Ralph Woods of Sandy Creek.
Aided by Lacona firemen, fire fighters spent more than 2-1/2 hours fighting the blaze and one truck remained on the scene until late in the afternoon.
State police from the Pulaski substation were called into the investigation after arson was suspected. Investigators said that it was believed that a burglary had been attempted at the summer restaurant. |
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Oswego Palladium-Times, June 25, 1979
Bayview Hotel Hit By Fire
SANDY POND – An early morning blaze of undetermined origin forced some 80 guests of the Bayview Hotel out into the early Sunday morning cold.
Flames engulfed the old two-story wood structure, destroying the hotel. One fireman was treated at the scene for a hand injury and several hotel guests were given oxygen. There were, however, no serious injuries reported.
Firemen came on the scene a little after 1 a.m. Sunday and fought the blaze until about 7:30 a.m. Volunteers from the Lacona, Sandy Creek and Pulaski Fire Departments were on the scene. |
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| Stephen Kappesser, now a Maryland resident, grew up in Sandy Pond and well remembers the Bayview Hotel fire. He says the cause was a lit cigarette tossed in a waste basket in the women's rest room. |
Oswego Palladium-Times, February 24, 1967
Hold Ice Racing At Sandy Pond
Sandy Pond Ice Racing Club, a group of stock car drivers, have been holding their races at Sandy Pond.
These races are held every Sunday afternoon in front of the Wigwam Hotel at Sandy Pond.
Any stock car on ice driver is welcome to participatse by meeting the safety rules. These races provide a full Sunday afternoon of thrills and excitement.
Following the races each Sunday there is held a powderpuff derby with women drivers competing.
Most summer stock cars meet the regulations. |
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Stephen Kappesser, who has his own Sandy Pond website – sandypondmemories – recalls the races.
"Once or twice a winter, on a typically cold winter-cloudy-gray Saturday afternoon, huge crowds of people would watch dozens of cars compete in several classes. A few days before, a crew would plow the snow in the ice to form a big flat oval track with snow banks for walls. Tires and hay-bales were piled around the curves for extra protection.
"The cars were typically backyard budget creations, right down to the tires outfitted with spikes. The spikes helped, but ice is still ice and the lack of friction provided the crowd with plenty of crashes (more like slow-motion fender-benders). Top speed, if a driver was skillful, was probably a brief 40 MPH, and none of the cars had mufflers, so you could hear the roar no matter where you were within a 3 mile radius. If it snowed it made the races MUCH more interesting…
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I also remember a demolition derby in front of the Wigwam one or two years, with similar noise and crowds."
And, as you might expect, there also were snowmobile races on the Pond. |
Forever shifting and sliding
The channel that connects North Sandy Pond with Lake Ontario has been both a boon and a headache to boaters since the first one was dredged in 1896. That's because the unreinforced passage is at the mercy of often cruel weather, ever-changing Lake Ontario water levels and shifting sands.
While a problem, this kind of channel seems a better fit for the area than one built with steel and concrete, complete with a 50-year warranty.
What follows are newspaper articles that provide a helpful overview of a situation that may never change. Perhaps that's the way it was meant to be. |
Fair Haven (NY) Register, June 13, 1893
[In a column headed VICINITY AND STATE NEWS]
Among the items allowed in the Supply bill just signed by the Governor is an appropriation for $10,000 to construct a canal from Lake Ontario to Wigwam Cove in Oswego County. This is a small bay in what is known as Sandy Pond. It is understood that it is the intention to spend the ten thousand dollars to dredge a canal through the sand so that duck hunters and fishing parties will not have to pull their boats over the sand beach to reach the lake. |
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Oswego Palladium Times, July 25, 1950
Start To Dredge Channel
SANDY CREEK – Dredging will be started this week by the A. S. Wikstom Co., Skaneateles, on excavating a new channel connecting Sandy Pond with Lake Ontario, entailing moving nearly 5,000 cubic yards of material at an estimated cost of $3,500.
Funds for the work have been collected by popular subscription from fishermen, cottagers and local organizations, Dr. Stanley A. Groman leading the committee with Mrs. John R. Waterman collection pledges made earlier.
The area in which the channel will be dug will be a half-mile south of the channel dug by the state 54 years ago, which has been virtually filled in by sand. The new channel will be 40 feet wide with a least depth of 10 feet of water.
Engineers of the Wikstrom Co. surveyed the site and water area by airplane finding three sand bars on the lake side extending 500 feet north. Land owned by Perry A. Bartlett was donated for the new channel. About 10 days will be required to complete the dredging. |
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Mexico Indepenent, August 17, 1950
Army Engineer Corps Predicts
Filling At Sandy Pond Channel
Local residents of Sandy Pond in Oswego County, N.Y. are rugged invidiualists and do not wait for the Corps of Engineers to initiate a project for dredging a channel between the Pond and Lake Ontario. Residents and boating enthusiasts long have tried to interest the Federal government in the construction of a channel, but were told in a Federal report that the project in its entirety was uneconomical and would cost $620,000.
Yachtsmen are impatient people when they can’t sail where they desire, so a fund was raised locally to finance a small opening between the Pond and Lake Ontario. A contractor was contracted who saw a chance for publicity and took the job for $3,500.
The small boat gentry of the neighborhood will have a chance to use the channel in a few days, according to local reports.
It is only fair for the Corps of Engineers, however, to state that the project considered by them consisted of steel sheet pile piers and a ten-foot deep channel 100 feet wide designed to last a minimum of 50 years with proper maintenance.
Corps of Engineers spokesmen laud the efforts of the local residents, but warningly point out that the channel may fill up as a result of one storm and tell the yachtsmen to enjoy their hobby while they can, as a channel dug in the shifting sands will not long stay open.
Anyway, they say that the local people should have obtained a permit before commencing work and point out the dire consequences that may result from such inaction. The Corps of Engineers are good fellows, however, and point out that a permit can be obtained after the fact if extenuating circumstances so warrant. The traditional impatience of yachtsmen seems to be the only excuse.
Further, the Corps of Engineers state that newspaper reports of local residents at Sandy Pond saving the taxpayers of the nation large sums of money are in error as there is no authorized Federal project at Sandy Pond and no plans for spending $620,000. |
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Oswego Palladium Times, December 30, 1957
Channel Between Lake,
Sandy Pond Completely Gone
SANDY POND – Robert Parker of Sandy Creek and Ontario Bay drove his jeep along the lake beach last Monday and reports that all traces of the old channel have disappeared and the shore line is now perfectly straight at the point as if the channel had never been there.
This marks the end of a channel which served as an outlet from Sandy Pond into Lake Ontario for more than 60 years, the channel having been dredged in the summer of 1896.
A hurricane-like storm occurring in March 1955 at a period when the lake level was high, swept away some of the beaches, carrying away a few cottages and damaging others. At this time the action of the waves created a new channel about a half a mile north of the old channel, the old channel since that time has gradually been filling in until now no traces of it remain. The new channel deeper and straighter, is an improvement on the old.
Dredged in 1896
Before the first channel was dredged in 1896, the streams draining North and South Ponds united near the site of the present bridge to Sandy Island Beach. To those familiar with the Pond in year’s past, this was at the end of the road near the old Outlet house, later used by the YMCA. These streams coming together here found outlet into Lake Ontario at a spot in front of the Outlet house. After the dredging of the channel, this natural outlet filled in.
The State legislature in 1895 appropriated $10,000 for dredging the channel. The purpose of the dredging was to open Sandy Pond for a harbor of refuge in bad weather. The work was begun on May 11, 1896, the contract for the job having been let to Daly Brothers of Ogdensburg with Captain W. J. Daly in charge of the operation.
The difficulty of keeping open a channel when the elements of sand, water and wind are involved became apparent all too soon. Although the channel dredging was not completed until August, an item in the News of October 15 of that year revealed that the channel was rapidly filling with sand and that at that writing there was only two and one-half feet of water there. |
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