Cold temperatures made the Ohio River a little icy in recent weeks, which stirred memories of many Lawrence Countians.

Friday, January 05, 2001

Cold temperatures made the Ohio River a little icy in recent weeks, which stirred memories of many Lawrence Countians.

"I remember my grandfather Baker telling me that, when he was young, he walked across the river in the winter, and swam across it in the summer," said Dee Staley.

"That had to be sometime in the ’20s," she said. "Of course that was back before the river was so deep, and there was so much barge traffic."

Forecasters say temperatures will hover in the 30s now, so if you’re waiting for the next day you can walk across the ice, you’ll have a long wait, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spokesperson Steve Wright said.

"The last time the river froze was 1977, after several weeks of single digit temperatures," Wright said. "We don’t anticipate a problem unless the weather gets colder than it has been."

Wright said that since that last great freeze, there has been minor river ice but no major freezeover.

"We have buildups in the river bends, but nothing that will disrupt river traffic," Wright said.

Still, for some local residents the icy river brings back memories.

"I have a picture of it frozen over in the 80s," said Jerry Leach. "The kids take it to school for show and tell."

Leach, a longtime law enforcement officer, remembers it was so cold that year that the fuel lines froze up on the cruisers.