Growing Up On Duck Harbor Pond
by Andrea (Dipalo) Iorio
My name is Andrea, and my parents, Barbara and Nick Dipalo, came up one weekend with Marylou and Bill Menconi to visit Mr. and Mrs. Fern (Marylou’s parents), and they fell in love with it!
They purchased a home on 6 Ash Lane in 1968. I was 2 years old at the time, and my brother Jeff was a baby. A couple of years later came my other brothers, Greg and Mike.
My dad was a cigarette salesman in New York City, and my mom was a stay-at-home mom.
When we got older, on the last day of school my mom packed us up in the van, and we spent the whole summer up here. My dad took off Mondays all summer so he had long weekends with us. We always had Thanksgiving together with Marylou, Bill, and their kids, Billy and Lori. The dads went hunting while the moms made turkey dinner.
We had a bunch of us kids all grow up together—Billy and Lori Menconi; Laurie and Robert Gimenez; Jimmy and Doris Sesak; Wendy and Johnny Von Ohlsen. All of us used to play manhunt in the woods at night across from our house. We always took walks up the Indian Trail, where there was a treehouse the caretakers who worked at the farm built. We took walks to the farm to feed carrots to the horses and see the pigs and cows. We rode quads, went swimming, and took the canoe to the stumps, looking for turtles on the logs that were under the water in the lily pads.
My dad had a boat he called the Suzi Q. I have been water skiing since I was 9 years old. One time my dad took me, Laurie, and Wendy all at the same time. That was pretty cool, but of course not allowed on the lake anymore. Now only one skier at a time is allowed.
We always went to the Wayne County Fair every year—we never missed it. I still go to this day.
We also used to pick blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries along the road. There were so many bushes!
We all grew up with an older crowd—Patti (Jersey) Harrison, the Crambos, the Yurkovicks, and the Faist girls. These girls used to swim across the lake. The Crambos always had the fast boats. Then there was this man who we thought was awesome—Jimmy McMyne. He used to waterski “barefoot.” My brothers and I thought that was the best!
As time went on, we all got married. In 1994, Vinny and I bought a house on Beech with my brother Jeff and his wife Donna. We lived together for 10 years, and then they bought a house on Aspen Lane. Lori was already on Aspen Lane. My brother Greg and his wife Charlene also have a house on Aspen Lane.
Laurie married Jimmy Sesak, and they took over his parents’ house on Maple. We all now have kids of our own. They are all growing up together like we did and loving it just as much as we do.
Since living over here now, we met Nancy and Mario Coniglio and their kids Ricky and his wife Connie, Diane and her husband John, and Paulie and his wife Heather. Through them, we had friends from Long Island also come up and buy houses here on Duck Harbor that we all call our PA family. It also includes Stefan and Johanna Gimenez, JoAnn and Jim Gimenez, Michelle Cusa, Rob and Debbie Cusa, Vicki and Carlo Bartolomeo, and Vinny’s brother Frank.
When we are up on the weekends, we do potluck dinners at someone’s house so we can be together.
Nancy and I started a 4th of July pig roast tradition for the last 12 years, and we all have a blast. We usually have a Memorial Day weekend BBQ and a Labor Day breakfast. It’s all about spending time together as family.
Laurie and I are the first to have grandchildren. I count this as the 3rd generation starting up here at Duck Harbor.
There’s no better place that I call home than Duck Harbor Pond. It’s a beautiful place to be!
