3 minute read
Sanford’s Florence Smith recalls 2020 dam failures
DAVE SHANE
For the Daily News
Florence Smith has had many experiences in her life. After all, she turned 99 years old on July 26.
But the Sanford woman who was born and raised in Coleman said that experiencing the broken dams and floods of May 2020 was something she never dreamed could happen.
Smith gathered with four generations of her family recently at the North West River Road home of her son, Bill Smith, to recall the day they looked out the window of his Sanford Lake home and watched with amazement as hoists, docks and boats floated by.
“I never, ever dreamed of it,” she said. “There were decks with solar lights on them just going down the river. You would have thought they were out having a nice ride. It was really something to see.”
She watched the tragedy unfold with her 2-yearold great-granddaughter, Joslyn Smith, at her side.
The spectacle brought to full circle the fact that the elder Smith was just about the same age as her great-granddaughter when they built the Edenville and Sanford dams in 1924 and 1925, respectively.
In fact, Florence Smith remembers making the journey from Coleman to Sanford at about the time the dams were completed and Sanford Lake was formed. The 1941 graduate of Coleman High School now resides at Meridian Acres assisted living.
”
Florence Smith and great-granddaughter Joslyn Smith watch from the window of the home of Bill and Corrine Smith on Sanford Lake during the May 2020 flood. (Photo provided)
“The only thing I really remember was that it was a picnic lunch. I remember the men were log rolling in the middle of the lake,” she said. “If we got there by wagon or car, I can’t remember…But it was exciting because we never went any place.”
The Bill Smith family was raised on the west side of Sanford Lake, in a home high above the water level. His children would ski or fish on the lake nearly every day. The family also remembers taking Florence out to jet ski on her 75th birthday. With sadness family members recalled watching homes on the other side of Sanford Lake become swamped in the 2020 flood – while they avoided the worst of the tragedy.
Bill’s wife, Corrine, said she was filming the flood – until she just couldn’t do it anymore.
“I was videoing it until I just got sick of it,” she said, “so I stopped.”
Bill said his family was able to recognize boats belonging to friends and neighbors as they moved downstream. Many hoists still litter the landscape of the now dry lakebed.
The Smiths own a pontoon boat, but it was out of danger because the flood occurred a week prior to them returning it to the water.
“The boat was not in yet. We were going to put it in that holiday weekend,” he said.
Their boat hoist was in danger, but family members were able to secure it to a tree and save it.
The next generation of Smiths – parents Casey and Jenna Smith – were getting set to help young Joslyn enjoy her first real summer on Sanford Lake. But it never happened.
“We were getting ready to start tubing (with our daughter) in the summer of 2020, and then it all went away,” Casey said.
Instead, they have a once-in-a-lifetime photograph of great-grandmother Florence and her great-granddaughter Joslyn watching together as Sanford Lake disappeared before their eyes.
Long-term plans are calling for a new Sanford Lake dam – almost exactly 100 years after the first one was built. And, once again, a young member of the Smith family is ready to enjoy the experience.
