TI Life in October 2011

Written by Susan W. Smith posted on October 13, 2011 02:05

We have just completed our Canadian Thanksgiving. We remember cooking our turkey on a cold icy morning, or a windy and blustery day, but this past weekend was just like summer 2011 – warm, sunny and far too nice to be putting on shutters or closing down the water system!

I want to take this opportunity, on behalf of our fellow islanders, our cruising sailors, and the nearby mainlanders, to thank all the marina operators, local business and the many performers at the Clayton Opera House or 1000 Island Theatre, for making this a summer to remember!

This month:

Tad Clark remembers Thousand Island One-Design Sailboats , Brian Johnson remembers The Dreamer: Captain Robert Beckstead of GBL , Dave Whitford tells us all About Hunter Grimes , and Konrad Linckh reminds us how quickly a boat ride can turn from being enjoyable thanks to An Unforgettable Turn of Events….

Dennis McCarthy tell us about Protecting “One Dive at a Time”; and Dennis and his wife, Kathi present Seeing Underwater…. Kim Lunman tell us about Reality TV’s Great Escape filmed on Dark Island. Michael Folsom reviews All Sorts of Boats that came to Clayton, Lynn McElfresh introduces Augusta Cecconi-Bates: Willow Wind, well known composer of operas and operettas and I bring you good news about legislators in Ontario and New York Doing Something about Border Issues.

New Contributors

Konrad Linckh - An Unforgettable Turn of Events…

Originally from Germany, Konrad, an electrical engineer, was working as CEO for the US-subsidiary of a German laser-equipment manufacturer when he came to the Thousand Islands for a vacation, in August 2010, and as he says, “I immediately fell in love with the scenery!”

He applied for, and received, permanent residence in Canada, moving to Gananoque in April 2011. Since the boating season began, Konrad, wife Heidi, and son Jonathan , have enjoyed a wonderful summer on the River.

Dennis McCarthy - Protecting “One Dive at a Time”

Dennis McCarthy retired in 2009 from a management career in Consumer Electronics and CATV industries. As a business traveler, he has been to 28 countries. He now prefers to spend his time, with his wife Kathi, living in Cape Vincent, NY, and enjoying the Thousand Islands. A certified scuba diver for over 40 years, he made his first dives in the River in 1971. Co-founder of the St Lawrence Historical Foundation [SRHF] in 1993, he helped organized the underwater survey of the Niagara Shoal Wreck which was identified as the French war ship L'Iroquois that sunk in 1761 (see website). He and Kathi now spend their time with their long-time friend, Skip Couch, promoting Scuba Diving via the Thousand Islands Area Scuba Divers web site www.tiasd.com and by writing and publishing diving guides and shipwreck books.

Kathi and Dennis McCarthy - Seeing Underwater…

Kathi and Dennis McCarthy are active members of the Thousand islands diving community and are the owners of Blue Ledge System Inc. which recently published five books relating to diving and/or the history of the Thousand Islands. To see a TI Life profile of this very industrious couple, please see our March 2011 article, Kathi and Dennis McCarthy’s Discoveries …

Dennis also provided Protecting “One Dive at a Time” in this month’s issue of TI Life.

Comments Please

Do you like our articles? Do you have questions or can you add more information about an article? We thank several who took the time to write to us this month Here are just a few:

The first two involved the same June 2010 article written by Dr. John Carter: Patriot Chronicles: Four Who Didn't Come Home.

Comment by: Christine Davey ( Alvie, Victoria )
Left at: 12:34 AM Wednesday, September 07, 2011: My gg grandfather was Hiram Sharp (pictured in this article). I was wondering how I could get a copy of the photo. HIs descendants have spread far and wide across Australia.

Comment by: Betty Radcliffe ( Sydney, Australia )
Left at: 3:22 PM Thursday, September 29, 2011: Hiram Sharp is my g-g-grandfather too. HIs son Milo was my maternal grandmother's father. I'd also be interested in knowing how to obtain a copy of his photo.

Yes, the two great great grandchildren of Hiram Sharp, now living in Australia, found the article and wanted copies of our published photograph. Dr. Carter was certainly pleased to learn more about the families he has researched with a connection to the Thousand Islands and Jefferson County.

The third comment was posted on February 2010 article: “The Summer Cottage: Retreats of the 1000 Islands” reviewing the book written by Syracuse writer Kathleen Quigley and photographed by well-known Syracuse artist, James Scherzi.

Comment by: Dolores R. Buckley ( Worcester, Ma )
Left at: 8:37 PM Tuesday, September 06, 2011: I am researching the architect who designed our home in Worcester, MA, a Frank T. Lent who died in 1919, His home “ Wee Rock’’ was mentioned in his biography. Do you have any information or a picture? Delores

We were able to direct Delores Buckley to Professor Pierre DuPrey, at Kingston’s Queen’s University. We also introduced Delores to Catherine Van Sickle, who lives on “Wee Rocks” which is now known as “La Vignette”, the original summer home of the architect, Frank Lent in the Admiralty Islands. Delores has already amassed a great deal of information about the architect and this was another piece for her puzzle. A couple of weeks after I posted the comment, I received a gift from Delores: the postcard of “Wee Rocks” that she purchased on eBay!

Please keep your comments coming and we will post them as soon as possible. By the way, we try not to put live links to other websites in our comments section . These links are not reliable and often lead to “online gambling sites!”. We also require a name and return email address.

Fall Favorites

We asked for Fall Photographs… Special thanks to Susan Gosson Crane for sending in this series from an early-fall morning. Susan and her husband live in Rochester, NY, but own a cottage near Cape Vincent. They have just completed their second summer, in the islands, with their two young boys. Susan is a freelance graphic designer who “ loves iPhone photography as a hobby”. She takes her phone everywhere and says “it's amazing what can be captured on the small camera”. She also writes, “I enjoy my time up North IMMENSELY and even came up in February, last winter, to see what it was like in the bitter cold. Although we're new to the 1,000 Islands lifestyle, I think we have adapted really quickly. At this point, we're already counting down the days until the summer season of 2012!”

Photographs by Susan Gosson Crane – Click to enlarge