Lake George, one week later.

Published in The Post-Star (A8) and poststar.com
10/9/05

On the first weekend since the Ethan Allen tour boat capsized on Lake George, killing 20 senior citizens, life in the village was quietly returning to normal.

Soggy weather Saturday kept most tourists indoors, and business was slow in shops and restaurants along the main streets. Things seemed typical for a rainy off-season weekend, even for Columbus Day weekend, most locals said.

"I think it's getting back to normal slowly, but we're still grappling with this tragedy. It still feels to me like it just happened yesterday, or even a few minutes ago. All I can think is why, why, why?" said Karen Hanchett.

Hanchett owns The Corner Stone, a gift shop next to the Shoreline Cruises dock, where the Ethan Allen was based. Several people from the Michigan-based tour group on the Ethan Allen's final voyage came into her store before boarding the boat.

"It's going to be fresh in everyone's memory for a very long time, but we'll move forward," Hanchett said.

Across the street at Soprano's restaurant, two young waitresses were still thinking about the friendly seniors they had served last Sunday. About 15 or 20 members of the tour group -- identifiable by their nametags -- came in for a few slices of pizza between 1 and 2 p.m. that day. Laura Stevens and Lauren Donigian served them.

"They were really nice. They were just talking about the town and the leaves changing colors," said Stevens, 22.

Donigian, 20, overheard some of them chatting about a cruise on the lake. She didn't think much about it until she heard sirens go by a few hours later and learned that a tour boat had capsized.

"My jaw just dropped," she said. "I couldn't believe it at first."

Stevens had a similar reaction.

"I thought, how could that happen? How could a boat sink in Lake George?" she said.

For their boss, restaurant owner Joe Soprano, the tragedy felt like a close call. His 13-year-old son Anthony had been a passenger on the Ethan Allen just two days before the accident, as part of a "floating classroom" science unit at Queensbury middle school.

"What a strange thing," he said, shaking his head. "But I think Lake George will be fine in the long run. Accidents happen. I'm not blaming anybody."

Shoreline Cruises, which operated the Ethan Allen, was closed on Saturday. A few locals lingered at King Neptune's pub, owned by Shoreline, but no one was in the mood to talk about the Ethan Allen.

The only option for tourists seeking a commercial cruise on Saturday was the Lake George Steamboat Company. More than 300 tourists boarded the company's lunch cruise, despite bad weather.

No one from the company was available for comment -- a common theme in a town wearied by a week of intense media attention.
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