2023 Message From the President

Hello Loon Lake Friends and Happy Spring!

This is my first communication as President of the board and I’m excited for the future of our board and our Lake. John Nick, our longtime President has stepped down after 6 years and will continue to serve on the board managing our invasives remediation program. I will work hard to meet his high standard – thank you for your continued service, John!

Many of you will receive this newsletter delivered to your home in a package with important information about the LLPDA and the lake. Gail Danforth has taken over publishing the annual newsletter from our former Vice President Rich McCrum. Gail has created a package starting last year that we deliver to all the homes in the area. Ken Wade manages our Block Captain program that recruits volunteers to deliver the package. (Rich has also stepped down from the board officer position of Vice President and remains on the board to manage our lake plotting program for invasives management. Thank you for your hard work, Rich!)

We have three new volunteers on the board – Lisa Deering, Sue Chambers and Andrea McDonough. Lisa will serve as our board secretary to keep LLPDA minutes and membership records. Andrea and Sue will serve on our board and work to promote LLPDA programs. Thank you and welcome Lisa, Sue and Andrea!

The Loon Lake Park District Association is an all-volunteer organization that acts as “stewards of the lake”. Over the last dozen years or so, one major focus of that stewardship is protecting our lake from invasive species that threaten the long-term health of our lake and its aquatic life. Loon Lake has Eurasian Milfoil, Curly Leaf Pondweed and Water Chestnuts. We have seen little evidence in recent years of water chestnuts and curly leaf pondweed, but Eurasian Milfoil is here to stay. Eurasian milfoil forms thick mats in shallow

areas of a lake, quickly growing and spreading to block sunlight, killing off native aquatic plants that fish and other underwater species rely on for food and shelter. Working with contractors like Dominic Jude of Aqualogic, we have kept the milfoil to a manageable level. This is an ongoing effort, but we are proud of the progress we have made to protect our lake.

Many invasives come in on boats that are launched in our lake that have visited other lakes with invasive species. For the last few years, the LLPDA has managed the boat wash station at the public launch. Our efforts to identify and clean invasives from boats entering our lake has significantly reduced new invasives entering our lake. Thank you to everyone for supporting the boat wash and

inspection station. The boat launch fee helps to pay for this service to make it as self-supporting as possible.

Another focus for the LLPDA is boating safety and training. You will see our scheduled July class for the New York State boating safety class, we offer this in July on the 5th and 6th. In the past, New York state required the boating safety class only for anyone operating a personal watercraft (PWC). This requirement has been updated to anyone operating a motorized boat for the 2025 boating season. Come and join us for this fun and informative class.

We are truly grateful for the support you have shown the LLPDA. We have averaged over 300 paid members for the past several years and welcome new members every year. Remember to join us for our public meeting the morning of July 9th at the Chestertown Town Hall. We present our work publicly to our members and discuss open initiatives and issues. Would love to see you there!

Kevin Wickert