Hi everyone, I thought that I would throw myself to the lions as it were. I spent many summers on stonedam from the mid 1960s through the '80s. I love the island it is a part of who I am. Sadly what has happened on the lake as of late is disconcerting to say the least. We no longer feel safe on stonedam and we have suffered a great deal of vandalism over the years.
We never had armed guards on Stonedam. Gary may have had the misfortune of running into me at some point. No one else ever patrolled the island. After 1978 only three people had the right to grant permission to vist the private part of the island, which, until 1980, was all of it, they were myself, my sister and my father.
There was one person, whose name I have forgotten who kept insisting that my uncle, Lyman Rice, had given him permission to visit. When asked, Lyman said "Oh, That A****" Lyman, for the record, never had an ownership interest anyway.
I would never have given permission to someone I did not know.
In any event the concept of private property has seemed to have lost its meaning as of late and as we really are not wealthy people it is time to get out with our memories intact. It is my sincere hope that whoever purchases the Rice portion of stonedam will have the time and resources to enjoy the Island as my family has for 70 plus years.
Jonathan Rice
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