SANDY CREEK, NY – Watching the seasons change across the broad expanse of North Sandy Pond, Linda Goodnough has a lifetime of experiences and stories to share about life on the 1000-acre waterway that her family has called home for generations.
The placid bay, separated from Lake Ontario by a narrow barrier dune, has been a magnet to water lovers since the late 1800s. Linda’s grandfather, Lindsey Greene, grew up near the pond, at a time that what is now Greene’s Point was pasture and orchard land. He decided that he would develop a summer resort on the property. He cleared the land and built three two-story camps.
“These camps were very rustic,” Goodnough said. “He would go to the train station in Lacona and bring guests down to stay in the camps.”
The number of camps eventually grew to about 16, with guests steadily coming to enjoy the many benefits of a visit to Sandy Pond.
Greene was an entrepreneur, and a bit of a showman, who owned several ships that he used to travel the inland waterways, gathering specimens of sea creatures for display to entertain the public.
“Eventually he built a building here, and displayed the specimens,” Goodnough recalled. “One of my jobs as a child was to conduct tours.”
The centerpiece of the collection was a 50 foot long whale, caught in Florida and brought to Sandy Pond by way of New York City. Goodnough’s mother and aunt grew up on Lindsey Greene’s ships, travelling the east coast while receiving their education from a tutor that sailed with the family.
Greene died in 1932, and the business was passed to Goodnough’s grandmother, aunt and mother, who saw a steady stream of renters visiting the camps from the Southern Tier.
“IBM employees would come and rent all of the camps during the last week of July and the first week of August,” Goodnough said. “My father would build boats and oars in the basement of our home, and I can still smell the Cuprinol, a wood preservative he used.”
These boats would be rented with the camps, and became the basis for a marina business. Goodnough’s father grew up in South Florida, and brought north the idea of building canals around the point to increase the value of the lots, some of which were sold, allowing owners and renters to dock a boat on their property.
Life on Greene’s Point has not always been easy, as the exposed spit has been ravaged by winter storms, heavy Autumn gales and occasionally flooded.
“The very high water in 2017 was bad, with my daughter Cathy having to work indoors in hip boots,” Goodnough said.
Like many Sandy Pond residents, Goodnough feels that the International Joint Commission’s Plan 2014 caused more harm than good.
“We have had to build up, at great expense, to recover from the flooding,” Goodnough said. She also recalled a windstorm heavy enough to flip over trailers on the point.
“The wind sounded like a freight train coming through…very scary,” she said.
The seasonal economy of Sandy Pond is threatened by an ever changing and unpredictable situation at the outlet of the impoundment, with the channel to the lake being slowly choked with sand. July’s frequent rainfall has created a flow of water that has helped to open the channel a bit, but a more permanent solution has yet to be found.
“The channel has probably moved four or more times,” Goodnough said. “All of my life I have listened to people say we have to do this or that, but the problem is that it is difficult to build something on the shifting sands.”
A recent visit by New York Assembly Republican Minority Leader Will Barclay, along with representatives from the NYSDEC and Army Corps of Engineers will hopefully prompt some activity on the issue. The Sandy Pond Channel Maintenance Association, led by Goodnough’s daughter, Cathy, is asking for annual dredging from the north and south of the channel.
“This would make a good safe harbor,” Goodnough said. “It hasn’t always been easy, with a family run business, because there are sometimes disagreements… I worked behind that counter for over 40 years.”
She said that the business would have been lost if not for the constant investment in the property. Despite the challenges of business and weather, and the many changes that have taken place over 85 years, Goodnough said, “I do feel a very strong emotional connection to this place.”
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