LAKE GEORGE, N.Y. -- Many in Lake George remember of the morning of Oct. 2, 2005 the same way.

"It was a beautiful day in Lake George,” said Robert Blais, who’s been mayor of the tiny village for the past 45 years. “It was one of the fall days that we hope for."

"I thought to myself 'what a great day,'” said Bruce Kilburn, who retired as village fire chief in 2008. “We had gone all summer without having a major incident on the lake, we got off lucky."

That picture-perfect day would sharply turn to one of the darkest moments the Lake George community ever suffered. It was mid-afternoon when the Ethan Allen, a small cruise ship, set sail from the village. Carrying nearly 50 passengers, most of them elderly from suburban Detroit, it was shortly before 3 p.m. when the vessel capsized.

"I remember the time exactly that I got the call," said Kilburn, who still lives in the village.

"There is rarely a time you come down to the beach here where you don't think about it," Cramer’s Point Motel owner Frank Sause said.

"This was a national tragedy," Blais said.

"I was mostly just helping people out of the boats and went into a neighbor's house and grab some blankets with them," said Sause, whose motel sits a few hundred feet from where the boat overturned.

Close to 30 people, including the ship's captain, made it to shore safely with the help of first responders and private boat owners.

"The people in their private boats that pulled people out of the water are the true heroes," said Kilburn, who initially served as incident commander before the Warren County Sheriff’s Office took over the response.

Twenty others would not be so lucky.

"The next thing I knew, I had 19 people lying on the ground next to me," Kilburn said.

"I made my way to the scene and noticed there were several folks in bags laying on the grass of a private residence,” said Blais, who was playing golf in Warrensburg when he was notified of the accident. “I realized it was a tremendous tragedy."

Sause had returned to his motel on Lake Shore Drive shortly after the boat went under.

"I remember talking to one guy, he was looking across the lake at the other side where they were putting the bodies, which I hadn’t even noticed at the time, and he said, ‘that is my wife they are grabbing,’” Sause said.

Though it was never proven, the Ethan Allen's captain initially blamed the wake of a passing ship on the accident. A decade removed, it remains one of the largest inland water disasters in New York history.

"It was kind of eerie,” Sause said. “You didn't really realize the depth of what was going on until it kind of hit you in the face."

Two miles south of where the Ethan Allen sank, a stone marker honors the memories of the lives lost. It was a day people in this small Adirondack village will never truly put behind them.

"It should be remembered forever," Blais said.

"They were here enjoying the twilight of their life and enjoying a great time and beautiful day,” Kilburn said. “We can't forget those folks."

"Life is precious and we need to take some time and enjoy life while we can because you never know when your last day is going to be," Sause said.

Local leaders and first responders will mark the 10 years since the Ethan Allen disaster at a special ceremony at the site of the memorial at 12:30 p.m. Friday.