Lake Community Bonded as Family

Nestled in the heart of Martinsville, and still very much a part of Bridgewater, lies a small section of town that was once considered a summer resort for those looking to escape the big city life. With a clubhouse and a private community-owned lake, it was the ideal spot for families looking to relax for a summer.

And now, Sunset Lake has become a permanent home for families excited to be part of that resort and familial landscape.

“The lake brings everyone together,” said Priscilla Lant, who has been a resident of Sunset Lake almost continuously since 1951. “We care about each other here, and it has always been this way.”

Lant shared her experiences in the community that recently celebrated its 75th anniversary with a movie put together with submissions from residents of photos, videos and other memorabilia from the years at Sunset Lake.

“This was always a great community,” she said.

Lant was 9 years old when she moved to Sunset Lake, although it was not her family’s original choice.

“We were going to move to Foothill Road, but someone told us about this area,” she said of the community surrounding the lake that was first made in 1921. “We fell in love with it. It had qualities that were considered great back then.”

Although she left the area to attend college, Lant moved back to the house she had once lived in with her parents at Sunset Lake in 1975, when she started her own family.

“I bought the house from my mom, and my dad had passed away,” she said. “The area was more built up at that time, but there was the same feeling of community. We got to know the parents, although they were all new.”

Lant said the community originally began as that summer resort in the 1920s through the late 1930s or so, when things started to change. At that point, she said, the log cabins that were built there started to have heat, so people were able to live at Sunset Lake year-round.

But a sense of community is what has always been the most important aspect of the Sunset Lake community, and that extends throughout the year. Between caroling around Christmas and a large Fourth of July party, Lant said the community comes together often for special occasions.

“There are summer activities, and a Fourth of July picnic, where we all make food and buy meats,” she said. “And kids used to go trick-or-treating and not be afraid [of being out alone].”

That sense of family and friendship was present when Lant first moved to Sunset Lake as well.

“Kids swam all summer, and would spend time on the beach,” she said. “It was a great environment.”

“Everyone would build fires on the beach and people put tents up all over for families to camp out,” she added.

The lake itself, Lant said, is man-made, and is owned by the community as a whole. Those interested can choose to take part in all the activities by paying their membership dues.

That money, Lant said, is used to maintain the area.

“The lake is so important to the community, and we have already dredged it several times,” she said. “We test the lake, and know it is the safest water to get in and swim.”

Lant said the community also has an elected board of five people who put together programming, and are in charge of moving projects forward for cleaning the lake when it is needed.

“When the need arises, the board gets together to do it,” she said. “And we chip in hundreds of thousands of dollars to do it.”

Lant said that although the Sunset Lake community has its own special area, it is still very much a part of Bridgewater Township as a whole, as is she, having been a teacher in the school district for many years, and sending her children through.

“Sunset Lake as a whole is very interested in the township,” she said.

But the community, Lant said, is not without its share of environmental issues that pop up around the lake from time to time.

A nearby horse farm in Basking Ridge, Lant said, causes some issues with manure and other runoff from the stables, in addition to problems with asphalt creeping into the lake.

But, Lant said, that is not the beauty of the neighborhood, which is not considered to be a country club exactly, but a community with its own association.

“We have a lot of people who don’t have much money, but family is the value not just the recreation,” she said. “We like to see the community grow and thrive.”

When she first moved to Sunset Lake, Lant said, she remembers all the woods around the house, snakes in the lake and other natural predators around.

Still, that didn’t stop the families from having a good time.

“We would swing on vines across the ravine,” she said. “It was like an old swimming hole.”

Even now, Lant said, there is still a focus on the children throughout the community, in addition to parties in the clubhouse for the adults.

In June, Lant said, they hold a Father’s Day Brunch and new member welcome event, plus they have a Teen Triathlon party, a Tricky Tray and a Talent/No Talent Show every year.

All summer long, Lant said, people spend time down at the Sunset Lake beach late into the evenings, sometimes bringing ribs and other meals down for families there, and meeting each other.

And of course, Lant said, there are the inevitable cleanup events to keep the area preserved.

“We lay sand, get the weeds out of the lake, clean the clubhouse,” she said. “And we want to start a community garden. Everything is done by the community.”

Lant said the community is always there to help each other too, in times of natural crises and sickness.

“When we had the recent floods, we went to each other’s houses to bail out the basements,” she said. “And for those who had no electricity for a week, we invited them over for showers and meals.”

“Plus when some women were dealing with cancer, we made meals for them, and we have planted trees in honor of loved ones who have passed away,” she added. “We care about each other, and it has always been this way.”

For Lant, Sunset Lake is home, and it is where she intends to stay.

“As I’ve gotten older, I’ve thought about leaving,” she said. “But I’m not leaving. I’ll never go. Sunset Lake is in my heart.”