Shades of 1964 at Lake Lonnie

On a sweltering Father’s Day in 1964, Lake Lonnie was packed with families carrying metal coolers to big, wooden picnic benches and setting up charcoal grills before venturing into the cool waters.

Stronger swimmers showed off their diving skills at the platform in the middle of the lake, sun worshippers soaked up the rays on the sandy beach and moms waded into the water with their children.

Dads cooked hot dogs and hamburgers while listening to the Phillies game on small, transistor radios, and they heard whispers of something special after second baseman Tony Taylor made a diving stop on a ground ball and threw out Jesse Gonder of the Mets in the fifth inning.

By the bottom of the ninth, parents had called their sons out of the water to listen as Phillies pitcher Jim Bunning – who had already retired the first 24 batters in order – struck out John Stephenson on a curveball for the final out. A roar reverberated around the lake: Bunning had just pitched the seventh perfect game in baseball history.

It was a bonding moment that lasted a lifetime for kids and dads, cheering for the Phillies on Father’s Day at the popular lake in Delran Township that drew more than 15,000 guests a season from 1953 to 1968.

“Some current neighborhood residents will tell how cars would be lined up for blocks and blocks all the way down to the railroad tracks, waiting to enter Lake Lonnie,” wrote Karen and Josh Ruza in “The History of Lake Lonnie.”

Delran purchased the property in 1976 using Green Acres funds, in an effort led by then-Mayor Lorraine Schmierer. By 1985, the lake had been closed to swimming, the grounds became overgrown and the site generally fell into disrepair.

But thanks to the efforts of Debbie Hammond and the township Green Team, Lake Lonnie was reopened to the community in 2024 as a place to fish, hike and even horseback ride.

“During the years in between, Girl Scout and Boy Scout troops would camp on the grounds,” recalled Hammond, a Scout leader at the time. “The picnic tables were great. We had fun playing Hunt for Bigfoot in the woods.”

Along with Hammond, Green Team members Monica Francesconi, Tom Stanuikynas, Teresa Rogan and Al Carp were all working hard on the Saturday morning of June 6, clearing out reeds on one of the two small beaches that now surround the lake.

Across the water, two young men were fishing while sitting on an iron bench at the other beach created by the volunteers. Located at the end of Fifth Street off Leon Avenue, Lake Lonnie Park is open to the public during daylight hours.

“We are opening up the beach area,” noted Carp, who moved to Delran in 2015 and has been an active volunteer since. “It’s a Green Team project we have been doing for three years since the park was reopened.

The Delran Township Fire Department has been working together with the Green Team to keep the trail around the lake opened up, said Hammond as she walked toward a fallen tree, “as they were having trouble getting their equipment around in the event of a fire on the property.”

Already there with chainsaws to clear the trail were firefighters Harry Caraballo, Carter Johnsen, Gokdeniz Haliloglu, Artie Show and Connor Porter.

“This is a beautiful park. I have seen people riding horses, and one person was even walking a ferret,” marveled Hammond, who was pleased with the help from the fire department.

From its beginning as a popular summer destination for families from surrounding towns and Philadelphia, and through its dormant years, nature has thrived at Lake Lonnie.

And now, thanks to the Green Team and the fire department, people can again enjoy all the wonders of the lake. And some of them may remember a bonding moment there on Father’s Day in 1964.