Manley L. Rusho

36 posts

Memories of our Little Bay on Grindstone Island

Growing up on the little bay on the south side of Grindstone Island, where the Lower Town Landing is located, there were five boathouses that provided shelter from the west winds.

Manley L. Rusho

The Muskrat

If there was one animal that everyone on the island admired, it was the muskrat.

Manley L. Rusho

Childhood Memories of Bullhead Fishing

A bullhead is a primitive looking fish, armed with fins that are capped with very sharp horns, one on each side on top of the head. Fishing for bullheads is a ritual, an almost sacred ceremony.

Manley L. Rusho

Memories of a Spring Duck Hunt

This was 1944, so even shot gun shells were rationed because of WWII, and there were no choices in the store as to size or brand. When we needed supplies, we would travel to Clayton and visit Nunn’s Hardware Store.

Manley L. Rusho

The Ice Harvest

Before electric power was expanded into the Thousand Islands, there was a small, but brutal business called ice harvesting. Basically, it consisted of cutting large chunks of ice from the frozen St. Lawrence River . . .

Manley L. Rusho

The Grindstone Island Skating Trip

Manley Rusho is home from Korea and spends the day on newly formed ice, skating around Grindstone Island. From Rusho Bay past Ken Deed's house, around Point Angiers and more.

Manley L. Rusho

The Christmas Play

Somehow, I ended up with the role of Bob Cratchit, the father of Tiny Tim, although I don’t remember how this happened . . . I was embarrassed and I tried to avoid my role but to no avail.

Manley L. Rusho

The Dobbs

My father obtained the boat, which we called the Dobbs, in 1945 or ‘46. The boat was a 21-foot launch-type boat, built in Morris Heights, New York City, around 1904. A quaint little boat, she was narrow, maybe 6 feet wide, with a round bottom.

Manley L. Rusho

Building an Ice Boat

Bob LaShomb started it all. It began in early February, around 1953. Bob, at that time, was the mail carrier for the US Mail from Clayton to Grindstone Island – two miles across the St. Lawrence River.

Manley L. Rusho

Les Corbin’s Famous Photo of the Ice Punt

There is an old photo taken by Les Corbin in 1946 of a small wooden boat in the icy river with six men in it - just as it is leaving the Clayton Docks . . .

Manley L. Rusho