Lake pulls in the crowds

By REBEKAH DENN
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Residents from throughout Everett are drawn to recreation at Silver Lake.

Navy man George Huerta fishes for rainbow trout from the dock of the new Hauge Homestead Park about twice a week.

On a recent windy afternoon, Huerta carefully selected an orange rooster tail lure from his tackle box, figuring it might work in the well-stocked lake even when his normal bait failed.

"You can catch your limit on a good day," says Huerta, but it takes more cunning to get the fish to bite when the breeze sets in.

The bulk of the lake's action comes from the Thornton A. Sullivan Park on the lake's west side, a 27-acre playground where sunscreened bodies multiply faster than milfoil when the sun comes out.

Volleyball games progress near loaded picnic tables; the water churns with rented paddleboats, and children blanket a new super-sized playground that attracts park visitors in the winter as well as the summer.

"We can do everything here," says Ola Beaman, relaxing on the grass with her 2-year-old son and 9-month-old daughter. "Even when it's crowded, it's still nice, because it's so big."

A strong draw for parents are the lifeguards who closely watch the roped-in swimming area.

"It's one of the nicest facilities I've ever worked at," says beach manager Kelli Zappert, citing regular training and better lifesaving equipment.

Also splashing in the water most summer days are the children from Camp Patterson, a Silver Lake tradition for 37 years.

The camp is a mix of children with and without disabilities, headquartered in cabins on a sweeping green lawn. About 175 children are coming through in two-week sessions this summer, enjoying arts and crafts, water sports and other summer standbys.

The camp -- and in some ways the attractions of the park itself -- was the legacy of Frank Patterson, a former Everett Police Chief now living in Lake Stevens. Patterson, the officer who handled the "boys patrol" of school crossing guards decades ago, wanted a summer camp for his boys close to home, says his wife, Ethel Patterson.

The park had been leased by the Army Air Corps as a recreation area from 1941 to 1946, and it was as much military institution as park by the time the army left, according to the Everett parks history. But Patterson brought together an army of volunteers to clean the park and build the camp.

The parks department has added lakefront park land in recent years, and would like to see more.