Seeing Sasquatch

[From “The Times Herald-Record”. November, 24/ 2005.]

  Bigfoot, the legendary man-ape from out West, might have some East Coast relatives hanging from the trees surrounding Lembo Lake.

   Some shaky images on an 8-year-old videotape have sent Bigfoot watchers around the world into a tizzy. They think they've found a baby Bigfoot clambering up a tree at the 300-acre former orchard off Route 44/55.

   The video clip appeared on the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization Web site (BFRO.net) last week. The BFRO calls itself "the only scientific research organization exploring the Bigfoot/Sasquatch mystery."

   "Bigfoot? I'll be damned. I thought he was only in California," said Michael Lembo Sr., owner of what is now an ATV track next to the lake.

   If Lembo has his way, his place will soon become a tourist attraction for Sasquatch seekers.

   Turns out the mysterious man-ape has made local appearances before, as far back as 1973 at Greenwood Lake, and in 1985 in Cragsmoor in Ulster County. Sullivan County appears to have stayed Sasquatch-free during the years.

   The baby Bigfoot sighting is a rare instance in which a junior member of the legendary tribe has apparently been photographed.

   The alleged Bigfoot's baby pictures were captured inadvertently in 1997 by a Lembo Lake camper identified as Doug Pridgen, who was videotaping a friend while attending a rock concert at the lake. While transferring the videotape to a different format a few years ago, Pridgen's girlfriend noticed two ape-like figures, one smaller than the next, cavorting in some trees about 100 feet behind Pridgen's friend.

   In his BFRO report, Pridgen says, "At first, you think, 'big monkey,' but what would a monkey be doing in the woods of N.Y.? The thing swings from one tree to the next and moves up and down it with ease."

   A followup report by the group concluded that the tape is not a hoax.

   Lembo says the Bigfoot sighting "will put Modena on the map."

   He emphasized that he found out about the sighting through the Web site. Lembo, who has run afoul of neighbors and town officials through the years for using his acreage for noisy events, emphasized that "none of this is my doing."

   "I didn't invite Bigfoot here – it's not a publicity scheme," he said.

   He's excited by the possibilities presented by Bigfoot-based business, figuring that people will be willing to pay to see the place where baby Bigfoot has swung.

   "They say God doesn't close one door without opening another. This is an opportunity I should take advantage of – wouldn't you?" he said.

   Lembo said a few years ago, a deer-hunting nephew told him he'd once "glimpsed" an apelike creature east of Modena near Marlborough Mountain.

   "I thought he was full of baloney back then," Lembo said. "But now I'm thinking, there's plenty of caves there. That's where they must shelter. They must be a family that's migrated here – who's gonna stop 'em, eh?"

WCSRO, 2006.