KATRINA BOGUSKI
Staff Reporter
COMBERMERE – 1912 was famous as the year that the Titanic went down in the North Atlantic, but it was also the year that another vessel, The Mayflower, sank to the bottom of Lake Kamaniskeg. Along with the boat went its anchor. That anchor was retrieved some time in 1970 or 1971 by Arnold Norse (Pete) Henry and his son Dennis, while they were scuba diving in the waters off Sand Bay. The anchor lay on the bottom of the lake about twenty feet from where the boat went down in 1912. It remained in Dennis’ possession for some fifty years after he and his father raised it to the surface.
On October 13, Dennis and his wife, Jean, donated the 300 lb anchor to Mission House Museum. Curator David Kelley and board members David Lethbridge and John Anderson where on hand to receive the donation. The anchor was donated in memory of Dennis’ father and a photo of Arnold Norse (Pete) Henry was brought along to mark his part in acquiring this important part of Combermere’s history.
On the day of the donation, Dennis Henry drove his car around to the back of the museum with the anchor on a trailer. Once there, he unhitched the trailer and pulled it manually as close to the door as he could get. He then hand-bombed the weighty piece onto a small dolly and manoeuvred it through the back door. With minimal clearance on either side, there where a few moments of suspense as it looked like the anchor might fall to one side or the other. In the end, Henry’s strength and agility got the job done.
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