From the Editor with Paul's Smile

Mid-April, and the seaway is open. Some of us have already opened our islands, and marinas are ready to welcome us back! What fun, eh!

Last month I introduced Paul Reichert, our Thousand Islands Cartoonist... And I am pleased to share his smile of the month - especially as the ships are going back and forth and we need to take care!

Sad News

John Peach 1949-2026. Please see our article about the loss of John Peach this month. As the former executive director of Save the River, John was well known and well liked, he will be missed..

Derek Innis, 1937 - 2026: Certainly, receiving the notice that an Admiralty Islands resident on Island 14 died in March 2026 was sad news. Derek lived in The Towers. Many of us living in the islands off of Gananoque will remember Derek as a sailor. He organized many regattas over the years. When he and his wife moved out to British Columbia, Vancouver Island, he would send large envelopes of clippings. He did not use email, so receiving those packages meant we would have fun the old-fashioned way - reading articles all annotated with references we would recognize. Derek spent his working career as a teacher in and around London ON. So his friends there were also sorry to hear the news. Back in the fall of 2019, Derek sent one of his packages and we published three articles in TI Life:

The summers of 2019 and 2020 were not the same after he moved, but Derek sends wonderful handmade newsletters telling me what he has been doing, and now I do not feel all that sad for them! You see, they live on beautiful Vancouver Island on Canada’s Pacific Coast. This fall, his news was so interesting that I decided we should share it - why? In case you want to take an excursion to British Columbia in the future. Therefore, this article appears in our December issue, as well as on our Excursion Tab.

Do Bats Swim?

Arriving at a neighbour's boathouse, ready to have a quick check after the winter, our family disturbed a bat. Not only did they scare it, but the bat scared our family. However, the drama did not last long, as they realized the bat had fallen into the water. The conversation quickly shifted to, "Do bats swim?" The results proved they do, and not only was the bat quite content with its journey to swim under the dock, but someone also happened to catch a photograph.

Of course, Mr. Google provided the answer, and yes, they do swim. More luck followed with the delivery of the April 8th New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Newsletter, which provides welcome information about birds and bats to start our summer. In fact, April 17th, is Bat Appreciation Day. Be sure to read more here.

Reminder to Readers

Remember, we changed the format of Thousand Islands Life back in June 2019. Mike Cox, our IT Magician, kindly copied all the old issues from 2006 to 2019 in PDF versions. Over this past winter, we have discovered some were not copied – so we will republish these in the future. If you find one is missing – PLEASE let us know. Together, we can make sure that nothing is lost.

Conclusion

Please send comments to info@thousandislandslife.com and they will be posted.

Reminder that if you are off on an excursion a little off the beaten track this summer, away from the Islands or even on an amazing cruise, think about writing about it for TI Life's Excursions section.

By Susan W. Smith, Editor, info@thousandislandslife.com

Plus, the TI Life Team: Elspeth Naismith is the "Real Editor," and our proofreaders are Georgia Barker, Dane Zabriskie, John Stencell, and Rick Taylor. Jennifer Caddick manages social media, Dan Mathias shares events, Beth Lavos posts books, Marie-Anne Erki illustrates, Allison Burchell-Robinson, Mark Russell and Paul Reichert are new members, and last but not least, Mike Cox is our IT magician!

Header photo for April is by Pete Medcalf, entitled "Ivy Lea Sunset."

Our March header for Volume 21, April 2026 is by Ian Coristine courtesy of Photo ©Ian Coristine/1000IslandsPhotoArt.com