Having many great memories from late 1950s as a toddler thru the 1970s as a teen, spanning about 25 years, these stand out:

• Picking cattails in June (to dry out for July 4th fireworks ignitions) along "Jersey" channel
• Perch fishing along the south end of this same major cattail marsh with my uncle John (now 98 years old and senior "Water Gardens " resident), one of the first home owners/builders in early 1950s to clear trees out for Maiden Lane lots from old Davidson's Woods (near east entrance to Forsythe Park)
• Ice skating and ice hockey and playing tag thru the numerous cattail/muskrat houses in the marsh during Christmas vacation
• Teal hunting in early September in early 1970s (before high school classes at George Rogers Clark)
• Also the great duck hunting adventures off the island, and numerous other memorable duck hunts in duck blinds that dotted the north and south ends of Wolf Lake. These fond memories are always with me to share with others.

Joe Kruczek, Hammond, IN

In 1964 or 1965 when I was 14 or 15 and my brother Michael was 7 or 8, I took him ice-skating to Wolf Lake. We skated happily for some time, with me noticing in particular the teen-aged boys playing ice hockey nearby.
Being a curious boy, Michael went over to see the hole where I’d told him men had been ice fishing—and he fell in! The water was about 20 feet deep and he was below the ice, bobbing up and down. I had the presence of mind to know that if I tried to pull him out, I could fall in too. In a moment of clarity often associated with emergencies, I realized the hockey players could stand on more solid ice and extend their sticks for Michael to grab onto and pull himself out. I rushed over to ask for help; they did help and Michael was saved.
It was the coldest day of a very cold winter and we couldn’t even tie Michael’s shoelaces because they’d frozen together. As we walked the few blocks back to our home on Avenue N in Hegewisch, I kept telling Michael, “Walk faster!” and he kept replying, “I’m trying!” and I kept answering, “I know!”
When we got home, our parents were overwhelmingly relieved. Michael was given a warm bath and emerged from this would-be tragedy with only some frostbite to his ears. I was emotionally shaken for some time. Our parents contacted the teens to express their thanks with pizza and $10.00 each.
I remembered the bones of this story this way for many years; only recently did I learn a few extra details from Michael, most significantly that there was a brief period of time when this episode got much worse for him: in my haste to skate over and get the hockey players, I neglected to tell Michael where I was going. He thought I was abandoning him!

Christine Szuflita Ricker, Riverside, IL