A Brief History
of Crystal Beach,
Ontario

Crystal Beach Park seawall

The view from the cottage on the hill

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     Crystal Beach, twenty minutes from Buffalo by bus, auto or boat, in the town of the same name on Lake Erie in Ontario, Canada, began as a health spa in the Nineteenth century, became part of the beloved Crystal Beach Amusement Park in the Twentieth, and succumbed to development as the Crystal Beach Tennis and Yacht Club in the Twenty-first.

     Regardless, the real allure of the place is one of the loveliest sand beaches in North America:  southward-facing to catch the sun from early morning through sunset; gently curving to the west to accept near-constant cooling breezes; and blessed with an endless variety of nature's creatures, from fish to fowl.
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THE BREEZE AND I

Cicadas sing, high in the trees.

Waves whisper at the shore.

A soft and gentle southwest breeze

wafts the echo of an oar

across the Lake.

Beneath the red and rising sun,

a heron spreads its wings to fly.

Two swallows swoop and swerve as one

against the brilliant azure sky

and leave a rainbow in their wake.

Here, once, the "Comet" clanked and roared.

"Canadiana" crowds debarked

to share the comforts of the shore

and seek the treasures of the Park,

arrayed like gems, in easy reach.

The throngs are gone. The Comet's still,

but not the ever constant breeze;

and cottages upon the Hill

remain to tend the memories

of summer, youth, and Crystal Beach.

                                           Ange Coniglio

                                           Professional Beachcomber

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Other writings

Chris Wisestone's
Site

Paul Kassay's
Site

Karl Josker's
Site

Friends of
Crystal Beach

Old
Crystal Beach

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Click on the images above
to enlarge them.

Click on the Golden Pier image
for a short story by Sammy Tiranno

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"The gang", July, 2004.   Click individual for identification.

Our good neighbors at the beach.

The Potts family
  ~ Summer 2005 ~

The Tricolis ~ Jackie and Marty
~ Summer 2004 ~

 Marty Tricoli
 Johnny Trcoli

Chucky (Tricoli), King of the Beach
~ Summer 2004 ~

 Marty Tricoli with
Jean Coniglio and Ray Silvestro
~ 2006 ~

Jackie Provenzano Tricoli
'Where the ACTION is'
~ 2006 ~

The end of another day in Paradise ~ August 16, 2005

A small part of the Coniglio Family Reunion ~ July 2006 ~

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Why we don't like the "beach cleaner". 
Looks like a cornfield, not a beach!
~ August, 2007 ~

Cornfield-by-the-Lake

A real beach

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Even Winter is spectacular at the beach ~ after the ice storm, January 31, 2008

June 19, 2010

Angie Bongiovanni, Pat Poole, Carol Tomaselli, Janet Tomaselli and Rosie Fiorella ~ July 8, 2010

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Generations:

Genesis

1

Gaetano & Rosina

1
Guy

2
Len

3
Ray

4
Phil

5
Millie

6
Connie

7
Mary

8
Tony

9
Ange