Thank you Lake Carriage Way - submitted by Trustee Franzese

Several weeks back, former resident Trustee Guy Franzese took some amazing pictures of the lake which he was kind enough to share with us, along with some of his memories of Carriage Way:

"I wanted to pass along 2 pictures I took of Lake Carriage Way on the morning of December 26.

The days and evenings prior to when I took the pictures were below freezing with very little wind. The lake froze to a truly "glass-like" appearance. I walked out about 10 or 15 feet and it was quite solid.

Growing up in Carriage Way in the winter time meant endless hours of pond hockey after school and on weekends, as ice conditions permitted. We never had beautiful ice like this. Rink ice isn't this smooth. I had never seen the lake freeze like this before.

More to the story.....

It was called "The Lake" back then, before it was donated to the Park District. When we played, we didn't have any protective equipment, just our skates, a stick, and a few pucks. No pads, hockey gloves, helmets, etc. Goals were two branches laying on the ice or some rocks spaced 3 or 4 feet apart. While in grade school, some high school kids built goalie nets out of scrap 2 x 4's and chicken wire. We would take turns being the goalie, but it was difficult because none of us had goalie pads. The rule was "No Lifting"; no lifting the puck off the ice with your stick when you shoot, otherwise the goalie gets one in the shins. Ouch!

These were "pick up" games. Whoever showed up played. On weekends, sometimes there were 2 games going on at once, older kids playing in one game and younger kids in the other. There were some bumps and bruises at the end of the day, but nothing serious.

The tollway lights at the toll booth allowed us to skate into the dark before dinner.

I continue to play hockey to this day, year round, except when COVID has prevented it. Men's leagues and rat hockey at nearby rinks, tournaments in Canada. For 10 years up until 2018 we had a pond hockey team that played in northern Wisconsin. Really bad ice in those pond hockey tournaments.

Thank you Lake Carriage Way."

Guy Franzese, Trustee

Village of Burr Ridge

And thank you Trustee Franzese for taking the time to share your wonderful memories with us!