‘That’s my lucky puck!’: Trash or lost treasure? Sylvan Lake reveals curiosities and memories

Work on a century-old earthen dam has presented a rare opportunity for residents of a tight-knit community in central Lake County to revisit their collective past.

With Sylvan Lake drawn down, curiosities of all kind have surfaced on the exposed shoreline and in some cases set out for all to see.

“A lot of people have been walking around the lake,” said Dan Trahan, president of the Sylvan Lake Improvement Association and a lakefront resident. “We now walk the shoreline instead of on the street.”

A community pier near his home is lined with a cornucopia of finds dropped off by residents.

“People have been taking the really cool items back to their houses,” he said. Trahan has one of his own: an old plastic sled, possibly from the 1970s, when kids used the common boat launch property sloping to the water as a sled hill.

Found fishing lures, poles, swimming masks, goggles and empty beer cans are generic and timeless reminders of a day on the lake. Makeshift cinder block anchors, exposed large tree stumps, barrels and tires also are plentiful. In fact, much of what has been found is more trash than treasure.

But what about the empty safe that became visible? Or dentures dug out of the muck? Or an empty Prohibition-era Canadian whiskey bottle? And how did a PlayStation2 end up in the water? Good questions. Most don't have answers, but some do.

The Borst family has lived on the lake since 1949. Every winter when ice on the lake became thick enough, brothers Mike and Rich with dad Frank were in charge of hosing a section down to create a smooth surface.

“It became the hockey rink for the entire neighborhood,” said Rich’s widow, Terri. Sometimes, pucks would disappear into the snow banks that formed the rink’s perimeter. A puck might be revealed when the snow melted, but by then the ice was too thin to retrieve it and it was considered lost.

With the lake in retreat, the family has found at least half a dozen pucks. One in particular caught their attention.

“You could see the 'B' carved into it,” said Terri's daughter, Erin. Uncle Mike, who lives in Wisconsin, was alerted.

“His immediate response was, ‘That’s my lucky puck!,’” Erin said. It will be delivered at the next visit.

Many residents didn’t look forward to losing the use of the lake in the summer, but there has been a benefit, she added.

“In a way, I think it’s brought the community together on a different level,” she said.

Sam Kendall grew up in California and moved to Sylvan Lake in 2020 to be closer to his wife’s family. He didn’t know much about Lake County.

“That being said, I love history, local, national, global, and so I enjoy the lowered lake as it’s like going on an archaeological adventure in my own backyard,” he said in an email.

Oars, dice and marbles have been among his finds. Last weekend, he found a muddy glass bottle that when cleaned read: “Joseph Peterkort Gray’s Lake, IL.” Kendall learned a man by that name in Grayslake may have died in 1912 but had other family members.

Posting on a neighborhood Facebook group, he learned from the Grayslake Historical Society that Peterkort in 1899 ran a business with beer, whiskey and cigars in Grayslake and that may still have been operating when Sylvan Lake was created.

Was it a last stash or part of an old collection, Kendall mused.

“It is small things like this, and more (like one of the original Pepsi Cola bottles) that keep me going out when I have a spare hour, instead of sitting at home watching TV,” he said.

Then there is John Hynds, a resident since 1980, who became an expert metal detector in retirement. Since the lake was lowered his notable finds include a Bourbon de Luxe Whiskey bottle from Vancouver, Canada, dated April 1931; a variety of old bottles, jars and coins; gold and silver jewelry and more.

Work on the dam also yielded a surprise. After draining the lake six feet to install sheet piling, a cement wall below the surface with winged sides was encountered below the lake bed. The lake was lowered another two feet before work resumed.

The dam was built in 1924 by entrepreneur August Schwerman to create the 32-acre Sylvan Lake. Highland Drive, the main entry, was built atop the dam but not to modern standards. For years, officials have feared potential flooding or impact of a ruptured sanitary sewer line if the dam breached.

A $3.43 million project to modify the dam, relocate water and sanitary sewer lines and other work began in June and is scheduled to wrap up in the fall.

The old spillway is being removed but the concrete sides bearing the initials of Schwerman and his son with the date 1924 are being saved for posterity for future display with other items.