The Fox River Lock System officially opens May 16 and this season there is a living nod to the past.
Pat Spaay and his granddaughter McKensie Spaay will be lock tenders on duty at Appleton Lock 3, near South Lawe Street and the Newberry Park trail. The pair are reprising roles that historically were passed down to family members.
When boaters cruise through the locks today, a friendly lock tender in a bright blue shirt will check their digital passes, secure the crafts, and go about the process of opening valves and massive lock gates. During that time, pleasure boaters and lock tenders trade information about water conditions, boat traffic, and talk about lock history.
Roll the clock back to 1900 and the Fox River was jammed with commercial traffic all tooting horns to get through the locks at any hour. When boats blew their horns, there was a saying: “one for danger, two for dock, three for bridge, and four for lock.”
That’s when lock masters and their families lived in homes located at the lock so they were available 24/7 to open the gates. Often, the job of lock tender was passed from father to son, and generations of families lived in the homes. Pat Spaay, 78, didn’t live in a lock tender home, but he grew up on the land that is now Riverview Gardens and was near Appleton Lock 1.
“When we were younger, we were a pain for the lock master because we would jump in the river and swim near the lock doors. But his wife was nice and would give us cookies,” Spaay said.
Spaay thinks it’s “cool” that his granddaughter will be working with him this summer.
“She’ll be able to learn the history of the locks and maybe even pass it on to her children someday. I try to share as much of the history as I can,” Spaay said.
His granddaughter is a high school athlete, swimmer, and works another job besides lock tender.
The Appleton locks will be open weekends from Memorial Day-Labor Day.
The Menasha lock will be closed until DNR testing and independent testing confirm there is a reproducing population of gobies in Lake Winnebago. There already is a reproducing goby population in the Fox River so the Menasha lock has been closed since 2015 to prevent direct migration into Lake Winnebago.
“We will continue our independent testing and monitoring and work in collaboration with the DNR on their testing protocol to determine the future of navigation through the Menasha lock,” said Fox Locks Executive Director Phil Ramlet. “The most important thing for boaters and anglers to remember is, if they do catch a goby, to report it to the DNR,” he added. The DNR has a website for reporting invasive species such as the round goby at this link.
More Information
The Fox River Lock System opens May 16 and the Appleton locks will be open weekends from Memorial Day-Labor Day.
Non-motorized boat traffic on the system has grown. Kayak and canoe portages include:
- All four Appleton locks,
- Little Chute,
- All five Kaukauna locks have new portages constructed last fall,
Existing portages that are slated for future restoration are at De Pere and Cedars locks.
Annual passes are only available online for $150. A season pass gets you through any lock during any hour of operation from May-October. A $15 day pass gives you the same access for a single day of cruising.
- Locks in Little Kaukauna and De Pere are the busiest locks and are open seven days a week 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. May 16-Labor Day. In September and October, these locks are only open weekends until 6 p.m.
- Locks in Appleton, Little Chute, Cedars, Combined Locks, and all five Kaukauna locks are open weekends 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. May 16-Labor Day.
- All locks will be operation Memorial Day, the 4th of July, and Labor Day.
- Public docks are available at Appleton Lock 2, Appleton Lock 4, at the Appleton Yacht Club, at the Little Chute Guard Lock, and at the De Pere Lock.
Menasha Lock remains closed.
