2023 Holiday Issue

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Goodbye to My Lake Hopatcong Flower House Story by MARIA VOGEL-SHORT As I move from my treasured Lake Hopatcong home, I look fondly back at my 28 years spent among the tempestuous beauty and numerous adventures of the lake. I bid goodbye to the sunny and wet summer days on the beach, the myriad hiking trails where our dog got lost sniffing at the scents of birds and other critters and the endless panoramic views of every season we enjoyed as a family. In the summer, there was boating and swimming. In the fall, great hiking and foliage. In the winter, the lake glistened with insecure ice and the snow covered everything like a frozen blanket. In spring, new flowers and trees would bud with the beginnings of new life and new wonder. If you liked being active, you loved Lake Hopatcong because you had so many options: boating sports, fishing, sledding, sailing, snowmobiling, jet skiing, water skiing, biking, hiking and running. Or you could simply go for walks, enjoying the view and a rush of fresh air and gravel or sand under your feet. My husband, Francis, and I took his parent’s summer home—it’s been in his family for 67 years—and lovingly renovated it to raise our blended family, which included four boys. We went up and out, adding bedrooms and an upstairs aerie where we could look out of the window and see such leafy trees that we felt we were living in a treehouse. We were. The trees released such delicious oxygen that when our son would leave and come back home, he’d comment that nothing smelled as good as home. There were endless places to enjoy. Across the back of the house ran a little brook where our sons played, and my husband and his brothers had played before them. We put a little bridge in the back so the children could run across and play in a playground meant for children under 5—but that never stopped a curious teenager from contemplating life on the sturdy chain-length swings. The beach and the boats provided an escape for us. My husband would take our youngest son in a stroller to the beach and take a swim while the baby napped under a canopy of trees. During the summer, the lake was full of boats jostling the waters: pontoons, small cabin cruisers and deck and wake boats. We had a sturdy canoe that could take us anywhere we wanted on the lake. In the early spring and late fall, we’d watch sailboats cross the waters as calmly as the wind would allow. At night, you could always see the stars in the cobalt sky and feel the crisp night air waft across you like nature’s kiss. 32 LAKE HOPATCONG NEWS <strong>Holiday</strong> <strong>2023</strong> I nicknamed our house the Flower House, but it didn’t start that way. As a former summer home, gardens were not essential to beach days and my mother-in-law got to the beach every day. She had no time for gardening. But once we purchased the house, I was stubborn. I was endlessly toiling in the clay and rock to create rich dark soil full of worms. By the time I was done, I would watch hummingbirds hover and zoom over my hydrangeas and gladioli. Every plant had a particular season. The growing season was a concert of various flowering movements. The bees and butterflies were always busy pollinating my flowers, from the first whiff of spring with crocus, forsythia and hyacinths to the Easter lilies and tulips. Right on cue, the daffodils would appear, then the phlox, azalea, rhododendrons, mountain laurel and sea pinks. The hosta would slowly become little giants even when the shade was minimal and the deer were plentiful. It took a while to figure out where each plant belonged, so there was a great deal of moving and taking up residence in another area of the yard. Each plant was not always destined to survive either, because squirrels, moles, rabbits and other animals were hell-bent on eating them. Along our picket fence facing the road, day lilies fought with boxwood for territory, and each season they looked different, sometimes not surviving the winter. I will remember how wonderful my neighbors were during the 100-year flood of 2000, when rushing lake waters scraped out the bottom of our house, causing us to later put a concrete The Short family at the lake in 1986. Standing: Kevin, Francis III, Francis II, Mae and Thomas. Sitting: Brain and Cecilia Loftus Salmon. (Photo courtesy of the author.) floor in our first-floor bathroom as a precaution. Flooding hurt our neighbors and many others in the area. But the neighborhood came together, and we all grew stronger. I’ll also remember the time our inflated Christmas Snoopy left our backyard and sailed down the rushing waters of the brook to the lake after a heavy rain in a salute to the holiday spirit. Our neighbor called to tell us Snoopy was on his way to the lake! Yet our beloved lake house survived through heavy rains and strong winds—and it will for many more years. With our children grown, it is time for a young family to come and make their own magical memories along the lake. It is on this lake that we put my husband’s brother and sister to rest, and also scattered the ashes of my husband’s mother and his grandmother. There will be flashbacks of days lying on the beach and watching the clouds. Or the time we took friends on a pontoon and nearly capsized. And the many times we had to run home from the beach in the pouring rain. It is with a bittersweet fondness I say goodbye, but I will treasure the memories and delight in the stories we can tell of our time at Lake Hopatcong. WORKING TOGETHER FOR A CLEANER LAKE! You can be part of a community-wide effort to keep Lake Hopatcong vibrant and healthy, now and for future generations! Give a gift and join us today at lakehopatcongfoundation.org.
LUXE LIFE B Y K A R E N F O L E Y Cheers! Thank you for a great year, all the best in 2024! SOLD $1,575,000 - 42 Byram Bay Rd., Hopatcong SOLD $1,195,000 - 40 Payne Rd., Andover Twp. SOLD $1,149,000 - 18 Lantz Rd., Lafayette Twp. SOLD $630,000 - 205 Bear Creek Rd., Green Twp. For Sale 112 Rt. 206, Augusta, NJ $3M SOLD $599,900 - 25 Bertrand Isl. Rd., Mt. Arlington SOLD $549,000 - 43 Tarn Drive, Parsippany SOLD $429,000 - 14 Hillard Rd., Mt. Arlington SOLD $374,999 - 68 Laurelwood Ct., Rockaway Twp. For Sale 628-630 County Road Rt. 565, Augusta, NJ $2.5M Karen Foley, REALTOR ® Sales Associate c.973.906.5021 karen.foley@sothebysrealty.com luxelifeagent.com Prominent Properties • Sotheby’s International Realty 670 Main Road • Towaco, NJ 07082 Office 973.335.5700 • prominentproperties.com Each office is independently owned and operated. MAKE YOUR FAMILY, FRIENDS, COLLEAGUES, AND KIDS’ TEACHERS SMILE WITH THE GIFT OF THE WINDLASS GIFT CARD THIS HOLIDAY SEASON! PURCHASE $100 IN GIFT CARDS GET A $20 BONUS CARD ON US NOT AVAILABLE ONLINE. 45 Nolan’s Point Park Rd. Lake Hopatcong, NJ • 973-663-3190 • www.thewindlass.com @thewindlass the Windlass lakehopatcongnews.com 33
Page 1: INFORMING, SERVING AND CELEBRATING
Page 4 and 5: 4 LAKE HOPATCONG NEWS Holiday 2023
Page 6 and 7: Left to right: Michael Jarmus as He
Page 8 and 9: KathySellsLakeHomes.com LAKEFRONT S
Page 10 and 11: 10 Local Businessman Bets Big and W
Page 12 and 13: A four-generation family run busine
Page 14 and 15: Debut of Jefferson Winter Stroll Pr
Page 16 and 17: CHRISTMAS @ THE BEACON Join us for
Page 18 and 19: Love of Therapy Dogs Inspires First
Page 20 and 21: FAMILY BUSINESS SINCE 1996! 973-846
Page 22 and 23: Community Turns Out for Lake Cleanu
Page 24 and 25: Lake Cleanup (cont’d.) Fred Lubno
Page 26 and 27: Woman’s Club Helps Those in Hopat
Page 28 and 29: Hopatcong to Offer Traditional Holi
Page 30 and 31: Lake Hopatcong... A fine food and f
Page 34 and 35: HISTORY George Washington Did Not S
Page 36 and 37: COOKING WITH SCRATCH © Cookies Are
Page 38 and 39: WORDS OF A FEATHER 38 Story and pho
Page 40 and 41: directory CONSTRUCTION/ EXCAVATION
Page 42 and 43: ORTHWEST EXPLOSIVES BLASTING CONTRA
Page 44: PLEASE JOIN LIVETHELAKENJ FOR THE 2

2023 Holiday Issue

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