have melted. By the time he wanted to
get off the lake the ice would break off
and “ol’ Ben” was stranded. That’s when
the yelling started. “It seemed to happen about every year; I’d think that if
you fell in once you’d watch yourself.”
Bud laughs and says, “It never bothered
him!” Maybe Ben figured that Bud
would be there to pull him out.
Several areas of Emma Lake are
spring fed. As a result the ice isn’t as
thick as it appears. Bud says that less
than ten years ago, “Shorty Lambright
would go when the ice wasn’t thick
enough; I know he fell through three
times.”
Neither brother can remember
anyone ever drowning at Emma Lake.
They do remember ice saws ending up
at the bottom of the lake. Richard tells
about an Eli Yoder family who lived at
the south end of the lake where Bud
lives today. “He had about four or five
boys; and I think it was Melvin and
Manass who built this ice saw,” Richard
recalls. “It was built on skids with a big
circular blade and a Model T engine
to run it.” The boys designed it with
a lever so they could raise and lower
the level of the saw. They would cut
out an area of ice, make one cut across
about four inches deep and then they’d
go crosswise and make cakes. Using
a horse and a rope with a big hook on
the end, they would pull 10 or 12 cakes
up to the ice house. The cakes were
stacked like bales of hay inside.
One day as the boys were making
the second cut, the saw broke through
and is still at the bottom of Emma
Lake. But it didn’t take the Yoders long
to build another saw.
Both Bud and Richard remember
the days of cutting ice. There were ice
houses built with rough lumber on
both the east and the west side of the
lake. The ice houses stood a little south
of the present public access. “It was a
neighborhood thing, an annual event
where everyone who used ice came
together,” Bud says. One day it was for
the people living on one side of the
lake and the next day for those on the
other side.
The ice was cut in squares and
stacked in layers. Between every layer
the ice was covered with sawdust.
According to the Hostetlers, the ice
froze together and would last all year,
even during the summer months. An
ice-spud was kept in the ice house
for people to chip off whatever they
needed. With no modern refrigeration,
people used “ice boxes” to keep food
fresh. Bud smiled as he recalled how
their family used ice almost every week
to make ice cream.
Few people would want to give
up appliances, but it would be nice to
recapture those times that brought
neighbors together for the common
good.
The Hometown Treasure · February ‘13 · pg 19