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Frozen river keeps couple, dogs on Blennerhassett Island

PARKERSBURG – It has been much more than a simple three-hour tour for the assistant superintendent on Blennerhassett Island as he and his wife have been stuck on Blennerhassett Island since last Friday.

Assistant Blennerhassett Island Historical State Park Superintendent Miles Evenson, his wife, Lindsey, and their two dogs, Spartacus and Mr. Knuckles, have been on Blennerhassett Island since Jan. 24.

“Things have been good,” Evenson said Thursday. “I have been doing the normal things around here that I would normally do if I had a day off.”

The Evensons live in a residence on the island as part of Miles’ employment with the park.

On a normal day, they are able to hop on a pontoon boat and make their way to Parkersburg and the Blennerhassett Museum where the park staff have their offices and where Lindsey can make her way over to the hospital where she is a nurse.

“Last Friday, I went down to the dock and the boat was frozen in the water,” Evenson said. “The river was also frozen. It was pretty cut and dry; we were not getting off the island.”

Personnel from the park were able to get supplies to the Evensons Monday by lowering them down from the Blennerhassett Bridge (U.S. 50).

“No one had really thought of doing that before and it just popped in our heads,” Evenson said.

They are well supplied with plenty of food for themselves and the dogs, a Rottweiler (Spartacus) and an Old English Bulldog (Mr. Knuckles).

Evenson has been keeping busy by walking the dogs, housework and reading.

“We are taking things as they come and keeping ourselves busy,” he said.

Because the park is closed for the season, there has not been a lot of work that has needed to be done on the island.

The weather is warming up over the next couple of days.

The National Weather Service in Charleston is reporting it will be cloudy today with a high near 40 and a low of 32 tonight.

On Saturday the high is expected to reach 49 degrees with a low around 38.

The Evensons thought they might have been able to get off the island Thursday, but believe they should be able to leave sometime today.

“It is warming up,” Evenson said. “It all depends on how warm and how quick it happens.”

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