» Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Fishermen owe lives to alert gardener in Cannon Hills
Because a friend had to work, Marlene Goll wasn’t on the golf course early Friday. Instead, she was puttering around her back yard and likely saved the lives of three fishermen.
“I was doing some transplanting in my yard, and I saw three men in an older fishing type boat going south,” she said. “They looked like they were having a hard time because the waves were quite large and there were white caps.”
Charles Sacra, 69, Leonard Bracher, 65, both of Owensboro, and Garry Wade, 65, of Pensacola, Fla., were rescued after the waves swamped their boat, about 9:15 a.m.
Goll said the fishermen went about 70 yards and their boat sank. “I saw it go up and then it went down,” she said.
The high winds and waves had swamped the small boat dumping the men into the water.
“I saw they were hanging onto the boat, and I ran to the house and called 911 and told the dispatcher the circumstances,” she said.
Goll then called her husband, Dick, and plumber Raymond Dawes who were working near the street in front of the house.
Daniel Richardson, conservation officer with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife who investigated the incident, said the men were not injured. They were staying at Hurricane Creek Campground, and were on their way back to the boat ramp, Richardson said.
The Golls live in Cannon Hills South Subdivision on Lake Barkley where the main channel of the Cumberland River hugs the rocky shoreline. Their back yard slopes down to the limestone boulders along the bank. She estimated the water is at least 50 feet deep there.
Dick Goll said he and Dawes heard his wife hollering. “She said there was a capsized boat out there full of fishermen and to come in a hurry, and that’s what we did,” he said. “We saw the overturned boat and the rough water — it was awful rough out there. The waves out there were probably three or four feet high, steady swells. Every so often, a big one came along, and I imagine that’s what they caught.
“They were clinging to the boat when we got there,” Dick Goll said.
Dawes said one of the men finally swam close enough that he was able to throw a line to him.
“Then he made it to the bank, and he had hold of a rope that was fastened to his boat,” Dawes said, adding that they didn’t have to go in the water though “Dick was ready to.”
Goll said one of the men didn’t know how to swim. “We didn’t want to lose sight of him,” he said. “Had he let loose (of the boat) because of the cold water, we knew we’d have to get after him. He was the older gentlemen of the three.”
Goll said it was very important not to lose sight of the non swimmer. “You lose sight of somebody in those type of waves, and you are not going to find them,” he said.
Dawes said two of the men made it to shore, and the man who was clinging to the overturned boat, was picked up by other nearby fishermen.
“They had enough trouble themselves, but they did come over, and did their best and got the man in the boat in very rough water,” Dick Goll said. “They were really handy because we don’t know what would have happened in that rough water with him.”
Goll, who is a volunteer fireman with the Trigg-Lyon Fire Department, warned boaters and fishermen to pay attention to weather conditions on the lake.
“It’s the old story, when they are predicting storms, stay off the water,” he said. “This lake can get awfully rough; we live here on this main lake and it can get very dangerous.”
Marlene Goll noted how fate played roll in the rescue.
“It’s kind of funny because today I was going golfing, and my friend, Nancy Geiger, had to work,” she said. I’m going to tell her that she save their lives.”
LANAN– big name, big results
A group of Lyon County volunteers used last week’s good weather to install a new roof on the Sunnyside Loop home of a disabled man.
Lyon Association of Neighbors Assisting Neighbors began early Thursday removing the old roof from William Whalen’s home, said Hylan Gray, who heads the group.
Gray said Kathy Holsapple learned that Whalen’s home needed a roof. So the community collected money and furnished help to assist the organization with the job.
 “This is our thing we do,” Gray said. “This is a bigger job than I had envisioned LANAN doing when we got started, but it blossomed out and with the assistance of neighbors letting us know who needs help, contributions from neighbors and organizations, we’re able to fund and get some of these things done.
“We have both crews down here working now, and the neighbors are furnishing lunch, assistance and moral support,” he said. “We hope this brings all the communities in the county together.”
Most association members are newcomers to the county who want to do something to help someone, and roofing the house was their 28th project, Gray said. “They’ve gone from raking leaves to trimming bushes to removing and replacing a roof,” he said.
Gray said the group receives no funding from any government agency, though it does have moral support from county leaders. “We’re not asking for any,” he said, noting that the projects are funded mostly by donations. However, many of the people who are helped are financially able but not physically able to do it. So they make monetary donations.
“We’ll go help anyone in need if they can’t get someone else to do it, but we’re not out to adopt you and take care of you for the year,” Gray said. “It’s a one-time or two-time deal, emergencies only.”
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