The Old Times: Ice Fishing on Lake St Clair

 


 Fishing is apparently a much more dangerous hobby than one would think. There's two stories from the Detroit Times that I've got from the same newspaper and the same day in February of 1941. History tells us that the more things change, the more they stay the same:

 Plane Saves 2 on Ice 

Fisherman Marooned on Floe in Lake St. Clair Rescued by Navy Flier 

    Two fishermen, marooned on an ice floe more than a mile from shore on Lake St. Clair, owe their lives today to the crew of an amphibian plane from the naval reserve aviation base at Grosse Ile.

    The fishermen are Dan Vandenbossche Sr., 58, of Harrison Township, and James Sinclair, 40, of 7743 Sherwood avenue, Detroit. Their rescuers are Ensign Henry McNeely and Machinist's Mate M. T. Woodcock. 

    Two planes joined in the rescue, the second one from Selfridge Field being piloted by Lieut. R. B. Hubbell with Lieut. Dale Garvey, observer. The men were fishing from a shanty on the ice about a mile from shore when a floe, about 30 feet square, broke off and carried them out into the lake.                      

    Persons on shore near the foot of. Crocker. boulevard, about three miles east of Mt. Clemens, saw their plight and notified the coast guard.

     Selfridge Field and the naval aviation base were notified and both sent planes. The Selfridge Field plane could not land near the men but the amphibian came down on the open water a few hundred yards away. A collapsible rubber boat was launched. and drifted down to the floe, where Vandenbossche and Sinclair jumped aboard and paddled back to shore.

I absolutely love how they send the notion, "Here's a boat, go save yourselves." And it sounds as if that's exactly what they did. Take caution, fisherman risking life and limb for a piece of Perch, and bring your collapsible rubber boat when fishing on the ice a mile from shore. It's not like they drove their car out there with kids in it or anything. Which brings me to the second story. 

Father Saves 2 Sons
Car Crashes Through Lake Ice; He Tosses Boys to Safety; No More Fishing, Says Mother 

    Joseph and Peter Visconti, 11, and 12 year olds, are alive and safe today because of the cool head and quick thinking of their father. Anthony, who hurled them to safety from the family automobile after it had crashed through the ice of Lake St. Clair. off the New Baltimore shore.
    Visconti, 32-year-old factory worker, who lives at 7243 Marian avenue. Center Line, took his two boys ice fishing early yesterday morning. A half mile off shore the car. a convertible coupe, crashed through the ice.
    There are two other Visconti children, Nancy, 6, and Reta, 10. Pretty Mrs. Phyllis Visconti, 29,, said firmly:
"There will be no more ice fishing."

This story is full to the brim with charming whimsy. They play this off as if Anthony Visconti is a hero here with his quick thinking and reaction abilities. If Anthony is a hero, then I'm the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Thor because I've never driven my kids a half-mile out onto ice in a convertible to slay Walleye for an afternoon. It sounds as if the women in the family may be a bit more sensible, as Mrs. Visconti politely yet firmly declares the end of ice fishing. I also love that they threw in that Mrs. Visconti is a stone-cold fox for some reason.



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