12/03/2025
It's that time of year to get the frozen water depth guide out. I see rocks of varying sizes have been tossed out on the pond (please stop that) and a few footstep attempts to test the thickness. Parents, please talk to your children about staying off the frozen water. If you allow your kids to venture on the frozen water, please inform them to never venture out alone and teach them what do do if they find themselves in the cold cold water. Since the Lake unfortunately isn't used for much, not a lot of people venture out with anything larger than an ATV. Be conscious, frozen water thickness is not consistent and may change from day to day or hour to hour. You won't find record deepness in our lake but the depth past the cattails may suprise you. It's always a good idea not to snowmobile or ride ATVs alone or without others knowing where you are going. Also being able to rescue yourself if you do break through the frozen water is always the 2nd best option. The first, is not falling through. Also let your children know that they will not be in trouble if they have to call 911 to rescue a friend, stranger or themselves from the lake. The Minnesota Lake Fire Department , Minnesota Lake Ambulance with the Police have the proper equipment and have trained to rescue people from the lake, we don't want someone worried about getting in trouble to delay any sort of rescue. The hard truth is, When it comes to venturing out onto frozen water, for the most part, you are responsible for yourself, yes there are exceptions but I'm not getting gonna argue over semantics. So if you see someone has fallen through, whip that phone out and remember to start recording AFTER you call 911. I haven't forced public works to check the frozen water depth yet (sarcastic semantics) as it hasn't been cold that long, so I would say stay off the frozen water for a bit longer.
Stay Safe,
Chief Standahl
