Generations of Andover residents and visitors have enjoyed the beauty and calm of the Andover ponds. Fishing and canoeing are just a couple of the activities residents enjoy here. Some folks will also remember building homemade rafts in ACS shop class that inevitably sunk in the pond while Mr. Buchholtz shook his head at you from the banks. Another celebrated past-time is skipping rocks down at the ponds, but alas, that may be only a memory.
Recently a local man brought to our attention the lack of skipping rocks on the banks of the Andover Ponds stating, "You may be able to find a single skipper, or a 2 skipper, and if you're lucky maybe even a 3 skipper, but the elusive 4 skippers and beyond have all been taken by previous generations' greed."
We investigated the area to see if this report of a notable lack of skipping rocks was, indeed, true. Much to our dismay we found primarily sinkers and at most 2 skippers. It seems that all the good skipping rocks must be at the bottom of the ponds never to be seen again.
What constitutes a good skipping rock you might ask? Well, if you're asking I'm really sorry that your elders let you down in the knowledge department like that. The best skipping rocks are flat and round with smooth worn edges. There are none of these to be found without wandering into the creek bed or into the pond shallows. You can find some rocks that are flat with rough edges, which is better than nothing and you might get a skip or two if you're a particularly talented skipper. The majority of the rocks in the pond area are larger round rough rocks that have no worn edges and are not flat and they make a distinct plop with absolutely no skip. Some would argue that any rock can skip if thrown with enough skill, but lets be real we're all amateurs here, at best.
Speculation is that the rocks are harder to find as the vegetation around the pond is much healthier and more plentiful than in previous years due to the excellent efforts of wetland conservationists. This makes it harder to hunt down good water worn skipping rocks. However, we agree with the initial reports that overzealous previous generations have just thrown all the good rocks into the pond. There seems to be no easy solution to this issue beyond taking up fishing or kayaking instead of rock skipping.
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Perhaps we could import some from Stony Brook or Watkins Glenn.