Thanks to this winter’s frigid temperatures, ice was harvested in Tobyhanna for the first time since 2022, attracting a record turnout and yielding 42 tons in just five hours.

Cabin fever and an interest in the past drew many of the spectators and participants. Children, adults and several energetic dogs gathered for the time-honored tradition at Millpond #1 in Coolbaugh Township on the last Saturday in January.

“Close to 500 people came out,” said organizer and fourth generation ice harvester Bill Leonard Jr., who grew up just down the country road. His father worked in the industry as a youngster, enjoyed collecting tools and was the impetus behind the event.

“They are eager to see a little bit of history,” he said, noting that attendees came from Monroe County, other parts of Pennsylvania, nearby states and even from Puerto Rico.

Both old-timers and newcomers were on hand. The last large turnout was roughly 300 people about a decade ago, when a train from Steamtown brought visitors from Scranton.

“It was a great way to spend a winter day,” said Liz Kaminetz of Gouldsboro, who attended with her husband, Josh.

The Reese family of Tobyhanna — mom Juli, dad Bruce, and children Ajay, 14, and Alynn, 12 — took part for the first time, even though they had known about the event for years.

“We were trying to get here for five years and the stars finally aligned,” Juli Reese said, noting that the COVID-19 pandemic and warm temperatures didn’t help in recent years.

They enjoyed breakfast at nearby VFW Post 509 beforehand. They had fun walking out on the ice, also a first for the family. And a bonfire at the edge of the pond warmed them and many others.

“I liked learning about the history and understanding the impact that the ice production and distribution made on bigger cities,” Bruce said. “I was amazed at the production and how many tons could come from a small pond,” Juli added.

Alynn and Ajay both liked picking up tools, like a spud bar and pike pole, to help out with the process.

Saw debuts

This year’s harvest yielded blocks that were 13 inches thick, measuring 22 inches by 22 inches and weighing 200 pounds each.

“We need 8 inches minimum to cut,” Leonard said.

The ice is scored with lines or grooves before it can be cut.

He said that this was a highly productive harvest, with the total close to previous two-day events that yielded 50 tons. A 1922 Gifford Wood Company ice saw with a two-cylinder engine helped with the productivity. The “new” saw was acquired a few years ago, but just used for the first time thanks to the help of some local engine experts.

Leonard described the ice as “Grade A and clear,” which means it “is better quality and keeps longer.”

The setting for the festivities was reminiscent of a Currier & Ives print. Children and some grown-ups playfully slid on the frozen pond. Onlookers watched volunteers, friends and ice industry enthusiasts using various tools. Participants cut, pulled and navigated the “floats” and “cakes” along a channel to the water box at the base of the ice house ramp.

Jennifer and Wayne Beers of Paradise Township, who took part in the first harvest in 1994, were surprised by the large turnout.

“The cold temps were in our favor,” Jennifer Beers said, adding that the tradition “is amazing and fascinating.”

There was 24 inches of ice the inaugural year, but there were seven years when ice couldn’t be cut due to poor conditions.

“It’s nice that people in this day and time still find history interesting and enjoy bringing the children there,” said Shelley DePaul of Gilbert, who also grew up down the road.

While she enjoyed ice skating on the pond when she was young, this was the first time she was at the Ice Harvest.

“For me,” she said, “it brought back a lot of memories.”

Both of her grandfathers, Bill Marsh and Sam Hallstead, worked in the thriving ice industry in Tobyhanna in the early 1900s. It reached it heyday in the 1920s.

When DePaul was in college at East Stroudsburg University in the 1980s, she wrote a history of the area for the state park service.

“Bill Leonard is responsible for keeping the history alive,” she added.

The local economy included the logging business and textile and clothes pin factories, DePaul noted.

“It’s important to know that the people who lived there had to work hard to make a living,” she said.

More than 500 workers were employed by the Pocono Mountain Ice Company to cut and move the ice blocks that provided old-fashioned cooling before modern refrigeration became available.

“When business was at its highest, 150 carloads of ice per day were shipped out from the Tobyhanna and Gouldsboro area plants,” DePaul cited from her history.

Chipping in

With the assistance of real “horsepower,” the ice cut this year was hoisted up the ramp to an ice house that is insulated with sawdust and straw. Fifty-four cakes are in a layer, with eight layers total.

“It is free to anyone who helps out,” Leonard said. For example, local churches will use it for picnics, and it has kept beverages cool at Penn State football games.

The Coolbaugh Township Historical Association co-sponsored and underwrote the event. The organization invited the public to stop by the Wills Mansion Museum for hot chocolate and to see ice harvest videos, artifacts and memorabilia. Attendance there was also high.

The small ice house and ramp at Millpond #1 was constructed for Coolbaugh Township’s bicentennial celebration, to be used for the first modern-day ice harvest on Feb. 19, 1994. Unfortunately, Leonard’s father died unexpectedly in 1993, before he saw it reach fruition.

Volunteers for this year’s ice harvest included members of Boy Scout Troop 71 in Doylestown. The troop took part due to a connection with a longtime participant from the area.

Norwegian fjord horses Reggie and Gryla also helped out again, thanks to their owner Dave Swingle, who has Black Horse Farm in Sterling. Gryla worked in the morning, with Reggie providing the horsepower in the afternoon. As Swingle either rode Gryla or led Reggie, they went back and forth as they pulled the blocks of ice hooked to a rope and pulleys.

Since it was the first time Reggie worked at the event, Swingle started him off with a lighter load of two blocks (400 pounds) before adding a third. During their lunch break, a tractor filled in, albeit “not historically accurate,” Swingle noted.

He has been involved with the ice harvest for about 20 years. He used to offer sleigh rides and have mules on the lake to help groom the surface with an ice plane.

“It enables the current generation to appreciate what they have and to see the old ways of how things used to work,” he said.

Attendees could also see a vintage ice chest/box and many tools in a refinished railroad car near the ice house.

Some people attending reminisced about older generations of their family who had ice delivered to their home.

Enjoying event

Longtime volunteer Jim Connor of Brodheadsville enjoys showing people how to use the hand saws, pike poles and other equipment and to explain their purpose.

“I like to deal with the public, especially the kids,” he said.

Connor said the Leonard family taught him how to use the implements, adding, “I feel like I’ve done all the jobs.”

The Masker family of Stroudsburg came to the celebration after seeing an online post about the event.

“We absolutely would go back again,” said Sarah Masker, who was at the railroad car with her husband, Drew, and daughters Adeliene 7, Charlotte, 6 and Raelynn, 4.

“We enjoyed seeing the horses, hand tools and the whole process of what they did in the old days,” Sarah Masker added.

They were just a little worried when Raelynn tried to push the ice into the chute with the help of her dad, making sure she didn’t fall into the icy water.

The next ice harvest is planned for Jan. 31, 2026. For more information, visit www.facebook.com/millpondiceharvest. Additionally, the Monroe County Historical Association, www.monroehistorical.org, has videos of presentations that Leonard did for the organization and public.