Civic Association work to honor lost friend

May 22, 2021, marked the 31st anniversary of the death of Caroline McCahon, who died unexpectedly at age of 28 in 1990. In her memory, the Baldwin Civic Association is working to name a local pond that she loved for her.

Upon her death, the Oceanside and Baldwin communities came together in Silver Lake Park to plant a Kwanzan cherry tree and install a plaque behind Parkview Place and Lakeside Drive. This northern body of water was McCahon’s favorite place, and since her death, the state has unofficially referred to it as “Caroline’s Pond.”

A friend of Caroline’s and recording secretary for the Baldwin Civic Association, Marguerite Grasing Keller, has the opportunity to make Caroline’s Pond official:

“In my role as recording secretary of the Baldwin Civic Association, I pitched the idea to both the board and my [county] legislator, Debra Mulé. All are on board with the renaming. This will go out to the general body of the Baldwin Civic Association in September for a vote.”

Grasing Keller and her fellow members at the BCA say that McCahon loved the pond and park area. She had relatives who lived in a house overlooking the pond and spent much of her time there throughout her life.

“The pond is part of a big park system, so if you grew up around here like I did, you spent your winters sledding in one park and skating in another,” Grasing Keller explained. “In the summer, the park that has ‘Caroline’s Pond’ in it extends to Merrick Road, and closer to Merrick Road there was a giant slide and a fort so as kids, you [kids] gravitated to that end.”

Even after their school years, Grasing Keller and McCahon would still spend time around the pond: “We would sneak out of work and have lunch in one of her favorite spots sitting by a pond that’s now behind the home I own. . . She liked to sit on the side of that pond and sun herself.” 

Grasing Keller said, “Back then, you basically sat on the ground on the edge of the water. Now there’s a fence where she sat so it’s impossible to do.”

McCahon is remembered by her friends as someone who loved being outside, being with her friends and family and being adventurous with a personality that could charm almost anyone.

The pond that the BCA is working to name does not have an official name because it is already incorporated into the Silver Lake Park, according to Grasing Keller. The cherry tree and plaque can still be found by Caroline’s Pond.

Grasing Keller posted on Facebook that the vote to name the body of water “Caroline’s Pond” will be held in September, and the vote is open to all