From the Editor and Paul's smiles
by: Susan W. Smith
It is truly Mid-Summer, since we are starting to complain about the heat and the storms. But suffice it to say, as I am writing this, I am remembering the first snowfall in November, the cold in January, and all the days until now that we were complaining about the weather. Enjoy our River, on it or in it!
Paul's Smile(s)
Once again, Paul Reichert has given us two cartoons to make us smile.
Giggle . . . Both are so appropriate for the middle of July!
And we are pleased to report that Paul has opened a pop-up store. Their booth is at 1000 Islands Artisans and Delicacies, 307 Riverside Drive in Clayton, NY. They also have started an Instagram, @therivercartoonist, where they will be posting River cartoons and content about the inspiration behind them.
Here they are, Jennifer and Paul Reichert in their pop-up store; and look what a nice sign they have posted!
Sad News
TI Life author Richard Palmer, notified us of the sad news that the River lost Maurice David Smith in April 2026. Maurice was the founding director and curator of Kingston's Marine Museum of the Great Lakes. He was credited with establishing and guiding this important maritime museum for over 25 years. He retired in 2004. I hope you will take the time to read his obituary and pay tribute to this gentleman. The Great Lakes lost a real champion with his passing.
Seaway News
Hard to live in the Thousand Islands and not wonder about the ships that ply the St. Lawrence Seaway. One Facebook page to visit is the St. Lawrence Seaway Ship Watchers Network, hosted by Mike Folsom. We saw this tribute recently. (Well done Mike). The statistics on the page are impressive: Public · 101K members · 50+ posts a day
Another location to visit is the official website for Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System: https://greatlakes-seaway.com/en/. Here you will find everything you need to travel or be in a comfortable chair and see the ships going by. Be sure to check out these special pages.
*Seaway Map: https://seaway-greatlakes.com/vis/en/SeawayMap.html
*Pleasure Craft Bulletins for those travelling through the locks: https://greatlakes-seaway.com/en/news-information/subscribe-to-news-broadcast/
"Seaway Pleasure Craft Bulletins address issues specific to a given navigation season, and serve to complement the regulations found in the St. Lawrence Seaway Pleasure Craft Guide. The bulletins are disseminated via e-mail broadcasts to subscribers."
*Plus more and more: https://greatlakes-seaway.com/en/news-information/media-resources/
Please Don’t Forget
Remember our facebook page throughout the month - which is posted by Jennifer Caddick - Impressive graphics and much appreciated by all.
Also Dan Mathis (a fisherman who visits for the big ones) posts Thousand Islands' Events. Be sure to send your next event's information to info@thousandislandslife.com and ask that it be specifically posted.
Do you write about the River - near to it, from above or below? If so, please consider submitting an article. Let us know what you like, or dislike, about TI Life, so we can all share more ideas. And… most of all; please ask questions and leave comments.
By Susan W. Smith, Editor info@thousandislandslife.com
Plus, the TI Life Team: Elspeth Naismith is the "Real Editor," joined by proofreaders Georgia Barker, Dane Zabriskie, John Stencell, and Rick Taylor. Jennifer Caddick, Dan Mathias, Beth Lavos, Marie-Anne Erki do the heavy lifting throughout the month and Allison Burchell-Robinson, Michael Laprade, Mark Russell and Paul Reichert are new team members, and last but not least, Mike Cox is our IT magician!
Header photo for this issue was take by the late Ian Coristine and shared with TI Life courtesy of 1000IslandsPhotoArt.com. For those of us who worked with Ian, we smile each time we see one of his iconic photographs. This is one of those very special ones.
