LAKE PARKER ASSOCIATION, INC.

PO Box 69, West Glover, VT 05875

March 2000 Newsletter

 

JD’s Corner	Hi, it’s summer again. Almost!  Ok, the ice isn’t out of the lake yet, but warm weather is on the way, and we can’t wait! I was snowed in one stormy weekend and couldn’t do normal dog things, so I passed the time by putting some information about Lake Parker and the LPA on the web. I try to keep it current with daily pictures of the lake and notes on the weather and latest LPA news. You can learn about threats to the lake and how you can help. There are links to other lake associations and popular conservation web sites. I even take requests for pictures to post. If you would like to try a new way to keep in touch check it out at:    www.lakeparker.org Ideas and suggestions are welcome from all interested species.	LPA Annual Meeting
		Saturday, July 8th 2000 - 5:30PM  West Glover Church
JD is a water dog and observer of life on the pond.

 

Summer Activities – Please mark your calendar and plan on attending.

EVENT	DATE	TIME	PLACE
Ice-Out Contest Entry Deadline	April 10	Midnight
*** Madeleine’s Year 2000 *** Lake Protection Coffee Hour	June 10th	10:00 AM	Camp 66
Finish 2nd Better Back Roads Grant Project	Deadline is October 31, 2000
Finish EPA 319 Grant - Shoreland Re-vegetation	Deadline is October 30th 2000 – Need Volunteers
Finish Walking Path	We hope to finish this summer.
Old Stone House Exhibit on Lakes and Ponds	Spring and Summer
*** LPA Annual Meeting *** and Potluck Supper	Saturday, July 8th	5:30 PM	West Glover Church
*** Glover Day ***	Saturday, July 29th	All Day	Glover, VT
Dixieland Band	Sunday, July 30th	1:00 PM	Camp 33

 

Remembering Leon   by Lynn Washburn
      Leon Waskiewicz (camp 101) passed away on February 12^th.  Leon was a big man - not only in size but in heart.  He could often be found working around his camp, either fixing something, planting flowers or just sitting at the end of the dock fishing.  I never really knew Leon and his first wife well, but saw them from time to time.  It was only after she passed away that I got to know him, since we both liked flowers and compared notes.  He would often give me extra flowers he had left over from his garden.
     Leon was a staunch supporter of the LPA and even after his health began to fail, would still come to meetings bringing his contribution to the pot luck suppers.  He and his neighbor, Bill George, would joke and banter back and forth good naturedly.  When Bill entered the fishing derby one year, Leon jokingly placed a sign by his boathouse listing the "refreshments" available.
     Leon enjoyed fly-fishing and once went fishing on the lake in his canoe. While casting, he made a wrong move and over went the canoe, sinking to the bottom with all his fishing gear.  Leon managed to swim to shore and walked home, where he phoned us to ask if we could take our pontoon boat to see if we could retrieve the canoe, which we did.  Never again did we ever see him out fishing in his canoe.
     Just a few years ago, Leon married Betty, whom he had known when he was younger.  That next summer, he was beaming with happiness, while he and Betty enjoyed doing things together at their camp.  However, Leon's health declined, and on February 12, 2000, he passed away.  We shall miss him, driving slowly by our place, honking the horn, waving away, and always with that big, wide grin.
    Our condolences to Betty and his family.

 

Year 2000 coffee hour meeting This summer's "Year 2000 coffee hour" is slated for Saturday, June 10th at 10 AM.  Madeleine Ducham, chair of land use & conservation committee, hopes for a good turnout at their camp # 66!  Please plan to come, visit with your neighbors, and discuss lake protection issues concerning us all.  As we enter this new millennium, let us all resolve to do what we can to protect our delicate environment and our beautiful lake.  We'll talk about lake protection projects we would like to do this summer.  Some ideas are--

1- More work on the construction of our walking path.

2- Volunteers to act as "watchdogs" to lookout for aquatic nuisance species, such as zebra mussels and Eurasian milfoil.

3- Volunteers "watchdogs" during heavy rains to report channelized water flowing into the lake or any of the inlet       streams.

4- More work on seeding and stabilizing ditches.

5- Continuing a high level of cooperation between local officials, property owners, state and federal agencies.  We need to keep the momentum going! 

6- Determine the best times for lake protection workdays to complete our grant work. 

The LPA always welcomes your ideas, suggestions, and concerns about ways we can protect our lake.  We all have a stake in its well-being.  Please circle June 10th on your calendar for the "Year 2000 coffee hour"!

 

Lake Parker Leader Earns National Award  - At the annual symposium of NALMS (North American Lake Management Society), held in Reno, Nevada, December 1-4, 1999, the award for “Technical Merit—Volunteer Actions”, was given to Madeleine Ducham (camp 66). Involving both Glover town officials and Lake Parker Association members, Mrs. Ducham led a group of volunteers in a 3-year study of the 5200+ acre watershed of Lake Parker. Working with both state and federal agricultural groups, the results of this study are being used to control nutrient flow into the lake, and to assist lake front residents in good lake management practices. The high quality of her work had been earlier recognized by Vermont State water quality officials. This prestigious NALMS award is made to “individuals or groups involved in documented grass-roots efforts to manage a lake or watershed, with emphasis on local involvement, creative methods of financing and demonstrable success”.

 

Our Aquatic Nuisance Control Permit Expires on May 8^th, 2000.

To continue our weed harvesting program this year we must receive a new permit. The required application has been submitted. We should know in early June if we will be allowed to do weed harvesting for another 5 years. 

 

Old Stone House Museum Project  The Old Stone House Museum in Brownington is having an exhibit on lakes and ponds in Orleans County this spring and summer. 

 

Grant Update

Thanks to the efforts of Beryl Adams, camp 86, the LPA has been awarded a Vermont Conservation Plate Grant in the amount of $332.00 to be used for construction of the walking path.
This summer we will be working with the Town of Glover to complete a Better Back Roads grant to inventory the roads in the Lake Parker Watershed. This will lead to road maintenance projects that will not only improve the roads, but lake water quality as well.

In January, the LPA received $1200.00 as the first payment on a $1500.00 grant from the VTDEC for shoreline re-vegetation. This resulted from our watershed survey. The work must be completed this summer, so if you want to help or know of a shoreline area that needs re-vegetation, come to the June 10^th coffee hour meeting at camp 66 and let us know.

 

LPA Work Days - We will be holding LPA work days this summer to complete the requirements of our grant projects. We will have a schedule for the works days and tasks that must be done at Madeleine’s “Year 2000 Coffee Hour Meeting” on June 10^th.  Please consider attending and signing up to help.

 

Update from the Treasurer - Joyce Croteau reports that she has received an additional $50.00 for the matching fund campaign. This brings the total donations to $1512.50, with matching funds from the treasury, we now have $3025.00 available, as of 2/12/00, for water quality improvement projects. Many thanks to all who have supported this effort.  Joyce also reports that she has received an additional $558.00 payment on our 1999 weed harvesting grant. This brings the total 1999 grant award to $1885.00. This is great news because we incurred large unexpected expenses in 1999 for spare weed machine parts. Finally Joyce reports that she has received $180.00 so far for year 2000 membership dues. 

LPA Recognized for our lake protection work - Canute Dalmasse, Commissioner of Vermont's Agency of Natural Resources, has nominated the LPA for the EPA New England Merit Award for our lake protection work. Thank you to all of the volunteers who work so hard on behalf of the LPA and Lake Parker.

 

New Water Testing to begin in the spring – Joyce Littlefield

Greg Hennemuth, a science teacher at Lake Region High School, has offered to help us set up a program of water testing. With his students’ participation, they will check for levels of nitrate, phosphate, dissolved oxygen, bio-oxygen demand, chloride, turbidity, and fecal choliform bacteria. John Peloran, of Lyndon State College, has generously agreed to “loan” several pieces of equipment required to perform the testing.

 

Camp Security - To date, one camp on the lake has been burglarized this winter: a TV and outboard motor were stolen from that camp. Another camp had its outside vandalized. Two snowmobiles were stolen from the Lake Parker Country Store, one of the snowmobiles was subsequently recovered.

 

Eurasian Watermilfoil Invades Three More Vermont Lakes in 1999

The statewide total of Eurasian watermilfoil lakes has risen to 49. New infestations discovered in 1999 were in Indian Brook Reservoir in Essex, Lake Willoughby in Westmore and Seymour Lake in Morgan. Two of these lakes are in close proximity to Lake Parker, increasing our risk of infestation. Eurasian watermilfoil is a non-native aquatic plant that was introduced to North America from Europe by accident. In nutrient-rich lakes, such as Lake Parker, it can form thick underwater stands of tangled stems and vast mats of vegetation on the water’s surface that interfere with boating, swimming, fishing and other water recreation. It also crowds out important native water plants. One of the most insidious things about Eurasian watermilfoil is that it propagates by stem fragmentation. Imagine a motorboat passing through a patch of watermilfoil with the propeller cutting away at the plants. Each of the separate pieces can take root to form new plants. In fact, the plant is spread primarily when pieces of milfoil become entangled on boats and trailers that are transported from infested lakes to un-infested lakes. This is why we ask people to thoroughly clean their boats and props when leaving a lake. So far, Lake Parker has been spared the problems that a Eurasian watermilfoil infestation

creates. However, we should be vigilant and redouble our efforts in watching for the plant in our lake because an infestation that is discovered early is much easier and cheaper to control than one that gets a good head start before being discovered. An identifying characteristic of Eurasian watermilfoil is that each leaf has from 12 to 21 pairs of leaflets, whereas the native northern watermilfoil has from 5 to 9 pairs of leaflets. If each of us learned to identify Eurasian watermilfoil and acquired the habit of regularly checking the lake in front of our camps, we would have a much better chance of detecting an infestation early enough for effective control measures to be taken. We’ll be talking more about this in the summer.

 

2000 Membership Dues - The LPA fiscal year starts on July 1, so you have until then to pay your year 2000 dues. If you’re worried about forgetting, it’s perfectly ok to use the attached form and send them in now, while it’s fresh in your mind. You can also pay at the Annual Meeting and Potluck Supper on July 8^th. When you mail in your dues, please take the time to fill out both mailing addresses and phone numbers. This helps to keep our records up to date and assures that mailings are sent to the correct address. There is also space on the form to share your ideas on Association matters. We are counting on your continued generous support.

A FLATLANDER'S VIEW

By Beryl Adams

 

Last week the temperatures spiked unexpectedly into the 40s, above zero, bringing a quick glimpse of the mud-season to come.  Snow avalanched off our metal roof with a roar that sent the cat flying, in fluffed-up sideways hops, off the top of the aquarium (warm) and under the bed (safe). The Lake Parker ice-crust flexed and heaved with moans and crystal-tinklings that harmonized in a weird, X-Files kind of way. And then, a very improbable thunderstorm rumbled in, flashing and crashing, and turning to back-lighted snow at sunset. 

 

The next morning, our driveway became an Olympic arena: world-class slalom-driving through hubcap-deep, melted Hershey bars.  I think the U.S. team has a real good chance against Yugoslavia in 2004.

 

But the highlight of the week was when we finally dropped off several rolls of film that had been sitting on a designated corner of our cluttered kitchen table for so long that they qualified as decorator accents.  The timing was perfect.  When we got them back and spilled out the photos, there it was… summer.  Just when we needed it most.

 

As luck would have it, I have been formally trained as a Fishing Consultant/Specialist, which means I can convince several people that I know what I'm talking about, when, in reality, my greatest catch is a 4-inch perch, accidentally hooked as I trawled through a good-sized school at great speed.  I have learned about Fishing because Bob and I have this arrangement.  When I ramble on about how my day went, he listens patiently and nods supportively at all the right moments.  When he watches The Nashville Network Fishing shows, I slouch sleepily and nod off supportively at random moments.  I feel it's the least I can do, and Bob agrees.

Having clearly established my credentials, I herewith submit a professional, running narrative for these selected summer photos.

 

	The most important thing to know about Fishing is that it is a unique sport, delicately balanced between skill and sensitivity.  That it is an art, best practiced with childlike trust and innocence.  That a sense of its soul can be captured in candid photos if you move slowly, watch lazily, offer dog biscuits generously, and lean nonchalantly against itchy young cedars.
PHOTO #1: Our pier: Mary Slater's granddaughters, who didn't know I was taking pictures, and Buddy Day-Williams, who suspected that I was, and posed artfully.
There is another aspect of Fishing that can only be captured in the celebration of the moment.  A bond between catcher and catchee that defies description and transcends language.  Note the childlike joy on these childlike faces.
		PHOTO #2:  Bob with Pickerel;  PHOTO #3: MARY ANN with Bass, uppercase, italics, and bold, because she took me out to lunch to celebrate.

 

 

	The Zen of Fishing is a mindset curiously balanced between excitement and tranquility.  It is the faith of a child blended with the loyalty of a dog, the promise of nature counterpoised with the constancy of sky.  Like the mindfulness of meditation, it reminds us that All is One and One is All…
PHOTO #4,  Mary Slater's granddaughters, once again, just minutes after loudly overcoming WormPhobia, with Buddy Day-Williams supervising patiently.
So, to ground ourselves, it is sometimes necessary to establish a concrete, baseline reference…
		PHOTO #5, Pickerel posing artfully against measuring tape.

PHOTO #6, One of Mary Slater's granddaughters casts a perfectly-aimed line, (toward a fish that I probably could have caught had I not been totally involved in artfully capturing The Moment), as another Mary Slater granddaughter carefully plunks her sunfish into the 5-gallon, ceremonial bucket, with Buddy Day-Williams monitoring alertly;  PHOTO #7,  one of Mary's granddaughters triumphantly holds up a 4-inch perch that looks suspiciously like the one I hooked and released just days before; Zen coincidence?

It doesn't matter how big the fish is, it creates a unique opportunity for delightful family sharing.  Colors and markings are more important than size, a 45-second event takes 10 minutes to tell, and the relationship web vibrates: Daughter (I'm Gonna Name Him Charlie); Father (So What'd You Use For Bait); and Mother (Not In My Toilet Tank He's Not).

Grounding ourselves once again, it is sometimes necessary to re-establish concrete, baseline references, to correct for elevation and prevailing winds, to convert and reconvert to metric measurements...
	PHOTO #8, pickerel angled scientifically to get a more accurate, i.e, longer, measurement.

 

To get absolutely impeccable, documented, photographic proof of that moment when you become One with the Universe.
	Un-numbered PHOTO:  Bob with PICKEREL, uppercase, italics, and bold because it appeared mysteriously in the middle of this article while I was out shopping.

 

	It makes us re-think. Maybe we need cold winters and muddy springs in order to truly appreciate summer.  Maybe vacation days wouldn't be as sweet if we had them every day.  Maybe there should be at least one picture of your wife in 4 rolls of 36-exposure film. Maybe we should check the computer archives for evidence of Zen photo tampering.
PHOTO #9, Granddaughters return to fishing while Buddy Day-Williams discreetly guards the catch.