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John Swierenga made public profession of faith in the Second Cicero CRC in 1929 at age 18. He was motivated by a "shattering disaster," a drowning of several close friends, from which he was providentially spared. On Labor Day 1929 he and his best friend Evert Veldman had arranged to take their steady dates, Anna Meyer and Marie Hoekstra, respectively, for an outing to Long Lake north of Chicago where they would join eight other couples from area churches, including Harry Wezeman and the brothers Thomas and Peter Huizenga of Cicero, Cornelius Gelderloos and John Hoving of Chicago, and George Ottenhoff of Hinsdale. The men were between 19 and 23 years old. Marie Hoekstra took sick and canceled her date that morning, much to John's chagrin. He had to stay home and spend the holiday with the family. Later that evening John learned the awful news that five of the men including Everett Veldman and Harry Wezeman, his classmates at Timothy Christian School for eight years, had drowned when an overloaded boat with an outboard motor capsized after the motor caught in weeds and swamped the boat in 15 feet of water. Six were in a boat designed for four and none could swim. Thos. Huizenga, who was driving the boat, clung to the boat seat until being rescued by his older brother Peter, who was following in a second boat. Two Chicago newpapers carried the tragedy. The heading of the Chicago Daily Tribune article read: "Boys Tip Boat, Five Drown in Tragic Outing" (Sept. 3, 1929). The bold, black, front page headline of Onze Toekomst cried out: "6 Hollandse Jongelingen op 'Labor Day' Verdronken," (Sept. 4, 1929). The Tribune said witnesses among the 3,000 people at Stanton's Resort enjoying the holiday reported that the men were "frolicking in an overloaded boat,.. standing up and rocking their boat to amuse Miss Helen Brouwer, 1642 West 14th Place, and Miss Jennie Dekker, 1413 South Ashland Avenue, who were in another boat close by." The editor of Onze Toekomst disputed the frolicking charge. "One of the girls strongly denies [it] ... and we readily believe her. Moreover, all five boys had a good reputation and in some respects exhibited exemplary behavior," said the editor. The Tribune reported there were ten men and ten women at the Dutch outing, but named only the five victims and the two women. The Onze Toekomst account states that "many young people came too" and identified the seven men noted here plus five women, namely Brouwer, Dekker, Anna Klein, Bertha Holtrust, and Thomas Huizenga's date Jennie. Others were Veldman's date Ann Meyer and possibly Peter Huizenga's date Betty Bovenkerk. Dekker, Brouwer, and Klein had rented a cottage at Long Lake for the prior week, and this was the base for the holiday party.
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