Lynn E. McElfresh

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Queen Elizabeth II & HMY "Britannia"

Lynn McElfresh and Rick Casali's past articles are remembered. Also, Robert and John Street share a lovely movie of the Queen's passage through the Thousand Islands.

Volume 17, Issue 9, September 2022
Lynn E. McElfresh

Camp Life at the American Canoe Association

While the events attracted spectators, the camp itself was a curiosity, as interesting as a circus or Wild West show.

Volume 16, Issue 3, March 2021
Lynn E. McElfresh

Paddling in the Thousand Islands

Sketches of early canoes don't look like canoes at all. To me, the vessels they were using looked like kayaks and very skinny sailboats. Canoes were often referred to as “the poor man’s yacht."

Volume 16, Issue 2, February 2021
Lynn E. McElfresh

DELANEY'S POINT: Before and After the Canoes

In 1883, this tract of land, known as Delaney's Point, looked very different than it does today. Decades before, loggers ...

Volume 16, Issue 1, January 2021
Lynn E. McElfresh

Turtle Takes a Tumble

I stood to see that it was a tiny snapping turtle, small enough to fit inside the palm of my hand. We’ve had turtles pass through...

Volume 15, Issue 12, December 2020
Lynn E. McElfresh

About the "Cottage on Stilts of Light" on Murray Isle

About the "Cottage on Stilts of Light" on Murray Isle; who lived there and when! The Hon. Henry Spicer, Col. James T. Watson & Hannah Watson, woman suffrage.

Volume 15, Issue 11, November 2020
Lynn E. McElfresh

Nature's Guest Book

We may pay the taxes but our point belongs to Nature...

Volume 15, Issue 10, October 2020
Lynn E. McElfresh

From Out of the Twilight - a Ray of Hope

In mid-July, Clayton P. O. mailboat driver, Brian Parker, delivered exciting news with the bag of mail. “Have you seen the comet?” he asked.

Volume 15, Issue 9, September 2020
Lynn E. McElfresh

The Fawn that Came in out of the Rain

The fawn arrived exhausted on shaky legs on the shore of Grenell Island in the St. Lawrence River. Our daughter named him Pete.

Volume 15, Issue 8, August 2020
Lynn E. McElfresh

Grenell Island’s Chapel First Wedding

On a Wednesday afternoon in August 1904, Lillian May Stoddard was the first bride to ever be married in the Grenell Island Chapel. Everyone on the island was invited.

Volume 15, Issue 7, July 2020
Lynn E. McElfresh

A Stink of Mink

A group of minks saw this opening as an invitation: “Welcome! Spend your winter here.”

Volume 15, Issue 6, June 2020
Lynn E. McElfresh

A Walk in the Parks

When I think “park”, I think slides, swings, and merry-go-rounds. My husband, on the other hand, might think Fenway or Candlestick. But in the late nineteenth century, a "park” was a resort

Volume 15, Issue 5, May 2020
Lynn E. McElfresh

Ghost Island Affair

Authorities were hunting for a Syracuse man, Dean Hethington, a steel executive of Globe Forge and Foundries, Inc., who had been missing for nearly three weeks.

Volume 15, Issue 4, April 2020
Lynn E. McElfresh

Thank you Ian Coristine...

Ian, may you fly as low or as high as you wish from now on. You have "raised the bar" for all of us and we are grateful.

Volume 15, Issue 2, February 2020
Susan W. Smith

Ethos of Design – Steve Taylor and Arch Kerr

Arch Kerr was the architect, I was the builder, and I became his pupil, though I’m not sure he knew that at the time.”

Volume 15, Issue 2, February 2020
Lynn E. McElfresh

Island Terrarium

It was always my dream to take a piece of the river home with me in the fall to help me savor my island world until I could return in the spring. Last fall, I did just that.

Volume 15, Issue 1, January 2020
Lynn E. McElfresh

Phat Boy, Thousand Islands Showman

At the time of his death in 1891, Phat Boy, Edward Fredrick Babbage of Rochester, NY, age 51, was regarded as the best tour guide on the St. Lawrence River.

Volume 14, Issue 12, December 2019
Lynn E. McElfresh

Dog Tales from Days of Yore

As I troll through the newspaper archives I see that dogs and the River has been a tradition for over a hundred years.

Volume 14, Issue 11, November 2019
Lynn E. McElfresh