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  • J

    John collenetteSep 18, 2021 at 8:08 am

    What can I say, greatest time. Of my life. I worked for Homer off and on for over 20 years. I lived at the lake for 4 years. Worked hard, played hard. I got to know a lot of great people like a lot that have committed already. I grew up on Forest st and played in the woods behind my house so what I can add to this story is that I know for a fact that just off of Mine street on the north side just a bit off the road there are a couple sulfur pits that are still pumping out sulfur. I fell into one when I was younger and my clothes had to be thrown away, Prue orange and it would not wash out. The creek tcoming off the hill behind my old house runs underground through stoneboro . This creek joins up at Gilligan’s gas station and then runs down into the swamp of the lake. I have hunted every hillside east, West, north and south and know of no other sulfur creeks other than the one behind my old home off of mine street. I know for a fact that many people, a lot of my dear friends have died of cancer and other terrible illnesses in the town of stoneboro. Way too many. My heart will always belong to this lake and area.

    Reply
  • R

    Rodney HERRONSep 17, 2021 at 12:33 am

    Born in 1947. As a kid would walk the tracks from Sandy Lake to Stoneboro Lake. I can still see Mrs Greer in her straw hat. I would pay her and she always had a kind smile.Then she would stamp you hand. I’d hurry into the bath house, get a basket and change. I loved the twin diving boards and the real high diving board. Boy we had a lot of fun there and so many great memories. Oh, fishing at night in a boat catching largemouth bass was a thrill. It was just so nice out there on a moonlight night! I would love to rent a cottage there. Since I have the owners name I’m going to check it out. Thank you for this article. My Nickmame is Nub

    Reply
  • G

    Gabe Kish SrAug 11, 2021 at 12:34 pm

    This is fantastic. I very much appreciate that folks have so much history to give about the area. My wife and I are new property owners in the area. We bought a place just north of town. Our water has a very high iron content, as I’m sure most places with wells deep enough around here, do too. Anybody else?

    Reply
  • G

    Gary GyderMay 25, 2020 at 9:46 pm

    Homer Widel was my uncle
    And we called
    Helen , aunt Helen growing up No better place to spend summers!

    Reply
  • E

    Edward BromleyMar 27, 2020 at 9:23 am

    To this day I can remember waiting at the lake for Helen Greer to show up in her old Mercury. We used to ride our bikes to get there. Fond memories of summers there.

    Reply
  • A

    Albert JesionowskiAug 14, 2019 at 2:06 pm

    I’m not sure about all of the rerouting of the creek up at Sandy Lake, but my Aunt used to rent Cottage 15, Blanche/Ed Michalski. Unfortunately, both have passed, and then around 1978, my family started renting Cottage #9. I have been going up there since I was 5, my father since he was 5, unfortunately, he passed away this past January. They rented that place for 42 years. The Jesionowski/Michalski’s have had great memories at that place. I loved it up there, and my kids have been going up since they were born. My oldest is now 17 and my youngest is 14. Unfortunately, after my father’s passing in January, we just couldn’t pay for the rent any longer. My father was a lifeguard at the beach, along with several of my cousins, sister, and myself. We all enjoyed the quiet setting the cottage had to offer. My mother used to tell me stories of going down to Cottage #5, where Hellen used to have her cottage and sit on the porch talking to her about the early days of the lake. It’s a shame that the time goes so fast, and the History just fades away. I hope someone is able to bring the History back to that lake, as well as the town that has supported it all of these years.

    Reply
  • G

    Gretchen Freni AugustynJul 10, 2019 at 5:21 pm

    My grandparents came to Sandy lake in about 1921 and had a summer cottage . They would walk each day, along the railroad
    tracks from Sandy Lake to the lake in Stoneboro. People have been enjoying the lake,, swimming an boating since the turn of
    that century. It is so sad to think that the public beach is no more, just like McKeever Center (mentioned above) My father was
    one of the founders of McKeever. My heart breaks, knowing both of these amazing places are no longer operative. My sister and
    I still own the farm in Sandy Lake where we grew up. Although I left Sandy Lake in the fall of 1957, my heart remains there.

    Reply
  • C

    Cindy BlincoApr 14, 2019 at 11:44 am

    A group of us have been trying to find some facts about not only the coal mining factory and the asbestos factory. In my research their have been numerable people from our area that have had cancer and sadly some have passed. I do not know an exact number but if anyone can help me with this and or the correlation between this and the asbestos and other dumping seem to be directly connected. Just has to be more than coincidence.

    Reply
  • M

    Mary SherwinMay 28, 2018 at 9:21 pm

    I can’t imagine my childhood (1953-1973) without images of friends and family have fun at Sandy Lake. I also remember riding our bikes up and down the huge piles of asbestos in the warehouse. Yikes.

    Reply
  • J

    Jason A. SippolaMay 9, 2016 at 10:26 pm

    The Cleveland, Painesville, and Ashtabula Railroad completed the rail line to Stoneboro, PA in May of 1864. The line ended at Mercer Iron and Coal Mine No. 1. The railroad extended the line to Franklin, PA between 1865 and 1867. During this extension the offending creek was relocated by the railroad. This rail line came under control of the New York Central Railroad. I posses New York Central Railroad valuation maps that show the original and relocated creek; it is labelled as ‘Sulfur Creek’ on the map. So, the railroad responsible for creating the borough of Stoneboro also saved the ecosystem of Sandy Lake.

    Reply
    • J

      Jim TiborFeb 7, 2018 at 10:35 am

      Not having seen the map you refer to I of course don’t know what it indicates for the course of the stream after it was relocated. However, I can tell you with certainty that up until about 1960 or so, the stream continued to flow into Sandy Lake, but entered the lake further to the eastern end of the lake near its outlet. About that time the stream was relocated again from where it crossed under the RR tracks directly into the outlet itself. During that period I can tell you that the stream carried raw sewage from some of the homes in Stoneboro located along the stream.

      Reply
  • J

    Jow HueksOct 31, 2015 at 3:13 am

    Great article. My folks owned Sandy Lake and my sister runs it now. It was a wonderful place to grow up. Homer Widel, my stepfather, took great pains to make sure that no pollution fouled that precious water.

    Reply
    • R

      Roman AmonMar 8, 2018 at 5:17 pm

      My friend above’s name is Joe Huels there is a spell check issue with his name.
      I was born in 1953 & lived on the hill connected to the north side of Sandy Lake the Lake often referred to as Stoneboro Lake to the natives here. I have enjoyed this area for 55 of my 65 years here. Rocky Basin now known as the former McKeever Environmental Center is many acres of woods & a Creek called Mucheoun Run
      The area is full of shallow underground coal mines & much of the water runoffs flush iron up from it’s natural environment.
      There was once an Asbestos Factory on the property just East of the Sandy Lake that has since been torn down consisting of several multi story concrete buildings, where Asbestos was processed & consequently ran off right through the lake for years.
      Environmental protection was evidently not a concern in those days.
      The Above article is an interesting document of some of the History here.
      Homer was a great guy, Helen Greer managed the lake before Homer now Julie Widel/Marsteller manages & owns it now.

      Reply
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Back from the brink: uncovering the forgotten history of Sandy Lake