Protecting a Monster Legend
Is there a Loch Ness-type sea creature lurking in the depths of Seneca Lake?
The founder and organizer of Geneva Night Out isn’t going that far, although he made a tongue-in-cheek appeal to City Council Wednesday to pass an ordinance protecting any mythical sea creatures in the lake.
Meaney reported that the theme of July’s Night Out will be the “Seneca Lake Monster.”
“Geneva Night Out has a theme each month,” Meaney said. “Our Scott LaFaro Day last month was very successful and deserved. A man from Pennsylvania was visiting and saw the sign designating Scott LaFaro Drive and was thrilled. He grew up a big Scott LaFaro fan ... (he) plans to come back up here next year for our annual Scott LaFaro Day.”
LaFaro, a Geneva native, had become an iconic jazz double bassist when he was killed in a car accident in the Ontario County hamlet of Flint in 1961. He was 26.
“Our new idea is the lake monster,” Meaney continued. “Some 20 people claim to have seen it over the years, the latest in 2013.
“On July 14, 1900, [people on a] steamboat from Watkins Glen to Geneva claimed [they] saw the large creature and ran into it, with the sidewheel apparently killing it. They said as they were trying to pull it up, it slipped and sunk into the lake, which is very deep.”
Seneca Lake, the biggest of the 11 Finger Lakes, is more than 600 feet deep in some places.
Articles published July 22, 1900, in the New York Sunday Telegraph and July 16, 1900, in the Utica Herald-Dispatch chronicled the boat’s encounter with the sea creature.
“Seneca Lake Sea Monster Killed by Steamer’s Sidewheel” the Sunday Telegraph headline said. Witnesses claimed the serpent was about 50 feet in length and displayed two rows of sharp teeth.
“Bold Mariners of Seneca Lake” was the headline in the Utica paper. It reported much the same story.
Meaney said he’s not sure if there is a large serpent or sea creature in the lake.
“But talking about it engages people’s imagination,” he said. “I’m no marine biologist, but it’s a fun thing. Some have claimed to have seen something, but it hasn’t been proven.”
A film crew from Pennsylvania investigated for a period of four years and eventually produced a documentary titled “Exploring Seneca.” It looks at the legend of the monster. The film will be shown at 5:45 p.m. and 6:45 p.m. today at the Smith Opera House, part of the June Night Out. Admission is free.
The documentary will be shown again at the July Night Out.
Meaney said he hopes every July 14 will be devoted to the sea creature legend.
“I think you should consider an ordinance to protect mythical creatures, like Lake Champlain has done,” he told Council. “It doesn’t try to confirm that one exists, but celebrates that it might. It could be a tourism boost.”
In his report, 1st Ward Councilor Ron Martino said Meaney’s comments about a sea creature reminded him of a recent dream he had of seeing two dolphins in Seneca Lake.
“It was so real that I went out fishing the next day and was looking for them,” Martino said with a smile. - Geneva Night Out founder to City Council: Protect ‘lake monster’
Read more at Monsters and Legends - Seneca Lake, NY
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Hemingway’s Frozen Leopard of Kilimanjaro - In 1926, local missionary Dr Richard Reusch discovered and recorded the mysterious carcass of a frozen leopard at the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. Hemingway saw Reusch’s photo of the frozen leopard and it inspired his famous short story, “The Snows of Kilimanjaro.”
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Godzilla Is Now Officially A Resident Of Japan
Godzilla is stateless no more.
The famous monster now has the papers to prove he is officially a resident of Japan, according to Japanese-language news site Shinjuku Keizai Shimbun.
Godzilla was appointed both a “special resident” and tourism ambassador for Tokyo’s Shinjuku ward back in April as a promotion for the district’s new Godzilla-themed hotel, Hotel Gracery Shinjuku. Guests at the hotel can opt to stay in what is called the “Godzilla View Room,” where they can look out at the head of a "life-size" Godzilla statue from bed.
On May 25, the Shinjuku ward office produced 3,000 copies of an official residency document for the big guy, to be handed out to fans on a first-come, first-come basis.
The document states that Godzilla was granted special residency for the purpose of "promoting the entertainment of and watching over the Kabuki-cho neighborhood and drawing visitors from around the globe in the form of the Godzilla head built atop the Shinjuku Toho Building," according to a translation by Rocket News 24.
The Immigration Bureau of Japan states that those who have been sentenced to fines or imprisonment are not able to become permanent residents of Japan. Luckily for Godzilla, despite being caught on film on numerous occasions doing billions of dollars worth of property damage, he has never faced any time behind bars. - Godzilla Is Now Officially A Resident Of Japan
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Bigfoot Encounter in Iowa
Lon, I want to tell you about something that happened in 1972 on New Years eve. I live in a small town in Iowa, it was about 11:30 or at night, I was laying in front of the TV kinda dosing off. I suddenly woke up with the feeling that I was being watched. I thought at the time it was one of my brothers playing a joke on me. All of a sudden I heard something walking in the brush next to the house, and then we all heard something howl, then what ever it was ripped the window screen from the top of the window to the bottom. So my older brother and I got our shotguns out and waited for our parents to get home. After our parents got home they knew something was up and had the neighbors call the police, we lived next to the railroad tracks and the window the had been ripped up was facing the tracks. The police said it was just someone on drugs walking around in the snow bare foot. I went out after they left and looked around, the police had messed up the tracks or so I thought. I found two tracks and I was able to put both of me feet in one track and still had room left. I wore a size 7 shoe so the tracks were huge. And our windows were higher then normal and what ever ripped the screen had to be pretty tall. It was pretty scary. So I was always down by the river trying to find out what was out there. Thanks, Gene
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