Social group made up of women from across southern Adirondacks has been meeting for 25 years after forming in Northville
By Sara Foss
East Caroga Lake is calm when the small band of kayakers sets off, slicing through the water, pointed west.
It’s a mellow Tuesday morning, but not a silent one. Laughter, conversation and friendly banter can be heard as the kayakers glide, pause to wait for stragglers or stop to rest.
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This fun and friendly paddle is a weekly ritual for the Ladies of the Lake. The group started paddling together 25 years ago.
And while members come and go, there are some constants.
The women offer camaraderie and friendship, and there are few rules other than no men allowed.
For those eager to exercise and socialize together, the Ladies are warm and welcoming, happy to loan kayaks and gear to newcomers, quick to crack jokes and to share their signature phrase: “We’re the yak in kayak.”
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“We catch up as we’re kayaking side by side,” said Carol Lott, 71, of the Hamilton County hamlet of Benson. “You go to this kayak, then you go to the next one and find out what’s been going on.”
Most are retired and range in age from the mid-50s to the mid-80s.
Paddlers hail from the southern Adirondacks. The group has roots in the Fulton County village of Northville, on a peninsula surrounded by Great Sacandaga Lake.
The group’s beginning
In 1999, several women from the Northville United Presbyterian Church began organizing kayaking trips, though the Ladies of the Lake were never a church-based group.
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“We were looking to do something active with girl power,” recalled Naomi Parker, an Edinburg resident who has paddled with the Ladies since its founding. “A lot of it to start was mutual support for what was going on in your life, whether people had teenagers or kids going off to college or were retiring. You could talk freely amongst the women, and it didn’t go anywhere.”
The Ladies of the Lake paddle every Tuesday morning from mid-May to mid-September. After Labor Day, they improvise. Sometimes they hike. In winter, they may snowshoe or ski.
Staying active
Parker and the other paddlers prioritize staying active and socializing with friends. In retirement, they remain busy with the arts, their church communities and other pursuits. They acknowledge that living in the Adirondacks comes with long drives but say it’s important to get out and exercise. Being members of Ladies of the Lake helps motivate them.
“You’ve got to keep moving when you get older, otherwise you don’t move,” said Donna Frederick, 74, from the Saratoga County town of Day. “I always had good upper body strength. This keeps me going.”
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“Some people have said to me, with the snowshoeing, ‘Thanks for getting us out there,’” said Lauren Gritsavage, 76, a retired math teacher from Northville.
At 55, Parker is the youngest member. A retired nurse, she said that in her working years she took Tuesdays off to meet up with the Ladies.
She bought a kayak to take part and her family became paddlers, too. Many of the Ladies are much older and were Parker’s teachers in elementary school. “They’re people I’ve known for a long time and feel close to,” she said.
Forming a bond
In June, the group was a source of comfort and support when an adult child died of suicide.
“I could reach out and say, ‘You know, there’s something going on,’” Parker said, while standing on the shores of East Caroga Lake in a Ladies of the Lake baseball cap. “These are my people.”
“And we’re glad she’s here,” Frederick said.
Frederick, a retired physical education teacher, connected with the Ladies when she moved from Clifton Park in 2016.
On a hot day in mid-July, eight members put in at Caroga Lake State Park. Frederick called them the “core group” among 46 on the roster. Events typically draw 10 to 16.
Storms and sweltering temperatures were forecast for later in the day, but at 9:30 a.m., when the group gathered, the weather was pleasant. The bright, clear sky was dotted with puffy clouds.
There were few other boats, and the kayaks spread out on the water. The paddlers headed through a channel to West Caroga Lake.
Near shore, next to the former Sherman’s Amusement Park, a Ferris wheel and carousel building and theater were eye-catching. A string ensemble of resident artists could be heard rehearsing Shostakovich’s Prelude and Scherzo, Op. 11, in the distance.
There are myriad small lakes in the southern Adirondacks, and the group has explored many. Each year, their first paddle is in Northville Lake. Other destinations are Stewarts Pond, Lewey Lake, West Lake and Piseco Lake. The group usually goes out on the Mohawk River and Great Sacandaga Lake. One popular paddle is the sometimes-challenging Kunjamuk River in Speculator.
“We all love the paddle on the Kunjamuk, but this year was a real adventure,” Sandy Peters, a Lady of the Lake from Gloversville, relayed. “On the paddle back, a beaver dam affected the flow, causing a current that pulled one off course.”
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Peters got out and helped from a sand bar and needed backup from Frederick and a rope. Together they got their friend out of the swirling current.
“We know we can depend on one another when the need arises,” Peters said. “We work together to get our kayaks in and out of the water. Some ladies have to work harder to get in and out of their kayaks. Those who are more able help those ladies.”
Peters, 75, a nature and wildlife photographer, manages the Northville art gallery of the Sacandaga Valley Arts Network.
“When you retire and your family’s grown up, you can do so many things you just didn’t do,” Peters said. “It was pretty late in my life before I even tried kayaking … I found it wasn’t that hard.”
“You feel one with nature because you’re down there on the water, and everything’s kind of around you,” Peters said. “I really love it.”
Lott started kayaking after buying a kayak a week after she retired as a family health center receptionist in Galway. With the Ladies of the Lake, she ventured farther afield.
“It’s nice to know all these other places to paddle,” Lott said. “I was afraid to go by myself.”
Kayaking has helped improve her version of retirement, said Lott, who serves as Benson’s town clerk, justice clerk and tax collector. “It’s just breathing time—you just sit back and relax,” she said.
“I look forward to it every Tuesday,” she said.
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