Essex, The Gem of the Lake

Jeff Moredock · November 25, 2017 · Leave a Comment

(Sung to tune of Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean)

O Essex, the gem of the lake
A most beautiful place to see
Where the past and the present are one
A village where we all like to be
For your streets are lined with history
And you offer a marvelous view
With mountains so green in the distance
On a lake that’s always true blue
On a lake that’s always true blue
On a lake that’s always true blue
We who live here, a most lucky few

You once built ships for our commerce
Serving thousands who praised your name
Now the highways and crisscrossing ferry
Both continue to do the same
In summer you’re a whole size larger
When snowbirds return by the slew
Watching shops come and go on Main Street
On a lake that’s always true blue
On a lake that’s always true blue
On a lake that’s always true blue
We who live here, a most lucky few

And since everyone loves a parade
You stand tall on the 4^th of July
You’re a credit to our great nation
Patriotic like Mom’s apple pie
So lift up your glasses to Essex
We are proud to be part of you
Be it winter, spring summer or fall
On a lake that’s always true blue
On a lake that’s always true blue
On a lake that’s always true blue
We who live here, a most lucky few

McClain Jeffrey Moredock
6/2/17

About Jeff Moredock

Bred and buttered in Dry Tavern, PA, Jeff Moredock was, before he gainfully retired in 2004, a farmer, folksinger, minister, teacher, coach chaplain, headmaster, and a chief operating officer. Married to a saint, he and his wife, Etta, have two children and four grandchildren. They have been summer residents of Essex since 1980.

He first began writing poetry in 1979 when he was the head of North Country School in Lake Placid. In a fit of scotch-fueled frenzy he wrote a long narrative poem that included the names of the school’s 87 children, 25 teachers, 10 staff members, and countless community pets. Read aloud at the school’s annual Christmas dinner, it received sufficient praise to encourage him to continue the practice through his career as headmaster at three schools. More poetry followed, most often poetic testimonials for various friends’ birthdays, weddings, and retirements.

Poems about Essex started to bubble up about the turn of the century, and since then he has written more than a dozen, all noting and celebrating people, places, and events in and around Essex. He has published a collection of poems, Poems from Essex & Elsewhere and a collection of short stories, Nine Holes, Nine Lives: The Front Nine. He has also written an unpublished mystery novel, A Zebra in the Lake, set in Essex. Suffice to say, he loves words and he loves Essex.