How I Came To Schroon Lake
Our Stories
How I Came To Schroon Lake
My parents spent some time in a cabin resort in Lake George . They wanted to buy lakefront property , but had limited resources . They ended up buying isolated property on the Crown Point side of Bulwagga Bay . We camped there for about 9 years for vacation . No electricity , no running water . Relatives and friends would pitch those smelly canvas tents with us . My dad eventually put up a cabin with a real toilet and water pumped from the lake . Eventually , DEC came looking for my father . The State wanted to make that shore of Bulwagga Bay " forever wild " and we had to sell . Dad still wanted to be on a lake and found a parcel on Schroon Lake where they had razed the Edgewater Hotel dining hall . He and a friend he worked with bought the property . My father and brotherin-law built a house that was first for summer and then became my parents permanent home .
I worked as a lifeguard for a couple of summers on Schroon Lake Town Beach . Schroon Lake was a fun place for me ! Once married with kids , what a great place to bring my son ' s for the summer ! The only problem was that my parents were getting older and were used to peace and tranquility . My kids were super active and noisy and " obnoxious ". So we started looking for our own place . I had always dreamed of having a Bed and Breakfast . We bought a rundown older home in 1990 . We gutted it , yet spent most of the summer here as projects moved forward . The kids loved it here . Schroon Lake offers so much fun for children to enjoy such as tennis , golf , swimming lessons , hiking , square dancing , boating , water sports , etc .
15 years after purchase , we opened the Tumble Inn . My father thought we were nuts for renovating the tumbled down house we bought into an inn , but many of his friends have said he would be proud of our accomplishments .
By the way , my father was the first to find milfoil in Schroon Lake and was known as the " milfoil man ". Thanks to the SLA , Schroon Lake is still pleasurable due to the efforts to control the problem , but Bulwagga Bay ( my sister and I have kayaked to where our camp was ) is loaded and not very pleasurable for kayaking and swimming !
-Nancy Belluscio
I came to Schroon Lake in 1982 . Our property was originally a small chalet used mostly on weekends in the Summer with an occasional Winter Skiing weekend keeping warm using a Franklin Stove . No TV , AC , etc . We really didn ' t interface with the community . As retirement approached in the we decided that we should turn the chalet into a real house . We tripled the living area adding multiple TV outlets , Heating , AC , pool table , CAT5 cable throughout , etc . We had concluded that the place where our kids would likely return on a regular basis was the lake . We also thought that we might retire in Schroon Lake with occasional trips South .
We also concluded that we should get more involved with the people of Schroon Lake and and community . We looked for things we could do to help the community . We started to look at organizations where we could help the community . We also had an experience that changed our charitable giving directions . Our church in Hopewell Junction wanted to add a new building . They raised about $ 500,000.00 in about a month . At the same time the Community Church was trying to sell bricks to raise $ 3500.00 and having difficulty . We concluded that any charitable giving was much more appropriate in Schroon Lake than Hopewell Junction and National funds like United Way . When we retired we jointly or separately joined SLAC , Lions Club , Seagle Colony , Marathon , Schroon Lake Centennial Committee , Town Beautification Committee , Fish and Game Club , Golf Leagues and the Schroon Lake Association . We went for zero to full speed quickly . Over time we became way over committed .
We went from full time Schroon Lake to 7 months in Florida and concluded we needed to pull back . All the organizations do wonderful and important activities for Schroon Lake . We are still involved in many , but to a lesser degree . I also concluded that the most important organization for the future of our area was the Schroon Lake Association . Without a healthy lake , the area would be devastated . Thus , while I am not in Schroon Lake during the Winter , I remain heavily involved with the SLA Arts and Crafts Fair Silent Auction and am in charge of the SLA water sampling done at two sites 8 times a year and some other activities .
-Charles Harste
Volume 7 Issue 1 Spring/Summer 2016 11