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Sunday, May 19, 2013
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Summer is extended for some tourists, businesses

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While Labor Day often has been considered the unofficial end of summer, some tourists and businesses throughout the Thousand Islands region say fall will just have to hold off a while longer.

Historical events and record-setting temperatures are some of the reasons this has been the best summer yet for some of those groups.

Diane M. Briggs and her daughter, Marisol M., 5, Pulaski, strolled through the village of Alexandria Bay on Monday.

“We got a lot of boating and swimming done, and we were downtown almost every weekend,” Mrs. Briggs said. “We might be up for a few more weekends. The water’s gone down a lot, so we’re not sure how much longer we’ll keep the boat in.”

While low water levels weren’t good for one activity, they actually benefited at least one businessman. Robert W. Dick, operator of Moby Dick Charters, Henderson Harbor, said he’s been so booked with fishing charters that he has had only one day off in the past three weeks.

“It’s been fantastic,” Mr. Dick said. “The water levels don’t bother us as far as fishing goes. A lot of people are fishing the trench now out of Henderson Harbor for salmon. With low water, it might hold them in the lake longer. If there isn’t much rain, the salmon will be in the lake longer instead of going upstream.”

He said he doesn’t remember there ever being a season such as this summer, with good weather and busy fishing, since he became licensed to run charters in 1987.

Nice weather also meant residents and tourists of the Thousand Islands region were out on Labor Day, boating, patronizing local shops and enjoying views along the St. Lawrence River.

On a relatively quiet Monday morning in Clayton, tourists rested along the recently constructed pavilion at Frink Park, Riverside Drive. Many businesses were open throughout the village as people celebrated the holiday.

Boaters also were soaking up the sun Monday in Cape Vincent, and visiting area attractions such as Tibbetts Point Lighthouse.

Groups of children were fishing Monday in the village of Dexter, and businesses along West Main Street in Sackets Harbor were full of patrons. Constance B. Barone, the site manager for the Sackets Harbor Battlefield State Historic Site, said this summer has been one of the site’s best.

“We’ve doubled the people going through the house next door almost to the level two years ago with the Grand Tactical,” she said of the Commandant’s House. “I don’t necessarily know why.”

Good weather and the bicentennial of the War of 1812 may have been factors, Mrs. Barone said. She said she could not provide an exact number of battlefield visitors, as those numbers have yet to be calculated.

While the regular season ended Monday for the battlefield site, it will host group tours throughout the fall.

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