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THIN Ir Venturing onto a frozen lake can be deadly and unforgiving Lake Scugog’s latest drowning victim is a 61-year- old ice fisherman, who was making his way off the lake early on January 4, when he broke through the thin ice and slid into the icy water. His body was recovered by the York Regional Police dive team later that day. Police reports say the victim was dragging a pop-up tent on a sled when he went through ice. The lake was estimated to be only an inch-and-a-half thick where he broke through. Despite annual warnings about the dangers of travel- ling on the lake — over the past century there have been dozens of people die in accidents on Lake Scugog. As far back as the late 1800s, warnings about the thickness of the ice were common and the local news- paper warned: “The ice is not now to be trusted and parties will do well to avoid it’. But death from drowning was not an uncommon oc- curance after ice formed on the lake. Following are a few examples of the more than 30 drownings reported in the pages of the newspapers over the past century. In November 1867 a 14-year-old boy drowned while out skating on Lake Scugog when he was returning from his uncle's place, where he had skated for lunch. In April 1869 a man had a close call with death. His team of horses were crossing the lake hauling a load of lumber to Lazier’s factory, when it broke through the ice, and team, load and driver all went down. Fortunate- ly the teamster was pulled from his perilous position by an native riding with him on the load. More than a century ago, in March 1877, William Lee was driving his team. of horses across the lake when his horse broke through the ice, punging him into the lake. In the late fall of 1894 a young lad out skating on the lake disappeared. His body was found floating near Washburn Island in April the following year. Sixty years ago, three Caesarea men were driv- ing their car on Lake Scugog when it plunged through the ice. One man was able to scramble out, but attempts to pull his friends to safety failed, and they disappeared into about 20 feet of water. Their bodies were found by 20 FOCUS - FEBRUARY 2015 Department of Transport diver is seen here descending into A Lake Scugog near Caesarea in March 1955, to of two men who were pulled to the bottom of the take, ver the bodies divers the following day. Another tragic accident occurred in January 1979 when a scuba diver entered the water near Seven Mile Island to hook-up a car that went through the ice. The divers life-line slipped loose from his waist and his body wasn’t found until the ice disappeared in the spring. Not all winter deaths associated with Lake Scugog happened by drownings. In February 1975, a 34-year-old man was tragically killed, when the kite he was flying attached to a car col- lapsed, plunging him 100 feet onto the to the ice. Snowmobile accidents on the lake have also claimed numerous lives. In January 1998 the township’s most tragic snowmobile accidents took place near Caesarea over a span of a few days. Four men lost their lives in three separate ac- cidents when their snowmobiles plunged through thin ice in the same area of the lake. More fatalities were racked up in March 2007 when two men collided at high speed, while measur- ing the speed of their snowmobiles. Both men were pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. While Lake Scugog is one of this communi- ties most valued assets, providing pleasure for thousands of people year-round, unfortunately it’s expansive, inviting panorama can also bring tragedy... if used without respect for its dangers. By J. Peter Hvidsten Focus on Scugog