As we close out the seasonal work to keep the waters of Skaneateles Lake clear and pure, we begin the work of planning for next year. Looking back on what we have been able to do this past Spring, Summer and Fall we have a large number of people to thank.

The “thank you” is extended to the 600 people/families who  joined the Skaneateles Lake Association which helped to fund the work done in the 2015 season and provided us with some of the funds we need for the 2016 season.  We could not have done it without these members of our lake community.

We also recognize the generous “in kind” donations of the Skaneateles Marina which provides us with two moorings for our Milfoil Boats, the Mandana Inn which provided the food for our annual meeting this summer and Village Bottle Shop which was also generous to the SLA for our annual meeting. We owe a big thank you to Ted and Nancy Norman for the use of their property for our Annual Meeting and Ann Killian and Jim Greenfield for providing us with parking for those who attended.  We thank Matt Fogerty and the staff at the UPS Store for the special pricing of all of our printing and their expertise in making it come out looking professional.  Our Board member, Bob Dewitt, and his staff at Lakeview Auto and Marine deserve a special thank you for always being ready with immediate help with any little problem there might be with a boat or motor.  That “right away” assistance meant we lost little work time because of an equipment problem.

“Working the lake” on the milfoil boats and “working the launches” as an Invasive Species Monitoring Steward means being out there in all kinds of weather and conditions. Liam Wilson, Keith Marsden and Jason Hole are veterans of the Milfoil Boat and all the weather and work conditions that come with the job.  Our Stewards, Elyse DuBois, Dave DuBois, Tom Halstead, Will Thomas, Ginny Hamlin, Kim Case, Jeremy Castle, Sophie Hearn, Mia Mason, and Robert Frank were also out there in all kinds of weather and as early as 5:30 am!  Each of our Milfoil and Steward team members deserves a thank you from our community.

As we close out the seasonal work to keep the waters of Skaneateles Lake clear and pure, we begin the work of planning for next year. Before we can complete that planning we need to extend a very important ”PLEASE JOIN US” to many, many people. In order to continue the work we do and to do even more work in regard to threats beyond milfoil and invasive species, we are extending a please, please join us as 2015 members of the SLA to:

• The 200 members from 2014 who have not yet joined for 2015.
• The 500 town of Skaneateles lakefront/lake rights owners have not joined for 2015 and especially the 400 of these 500 who have never joined the SLA or contributed to the Milfoil Project.
• 150 Spafford lake front owners who have not joined the SLA in 2015 and especially the 100 of these 150 who have never joined the SLA or contributed to the Milfoil Project.
• The 130 Niles lakefront owners who have not joined the SLA in 2015 and especially the 100 of these 130 who have never joined the SLA or contributed to the Milfoil Project.
• The 22 Scott lakefront owners have not joined in the SLA in 2015 and especially the 17 of these 22 who have never joined the SLA or contributed to the Milfoil Project.
• The 35 Sempronius lakefront owners have not joined the SLA in 2015 and especially the 13 of these who have never joined the SLA or contributed to the Milfoil Project.

Whether lakefront/lakerights property on Skaneateles Lake is small or large, year round or seasonal, owned for generations or newly owned, it is special and has increased value because of the beautiful Skaneateles Lake water. The SLA needs every lakefront/lakerights property owner around the lake in every town to join the smaller percentage of lakefront/lakerights property owners who have been funding our efforts as annual SLA members for over 5 years. PLEASE.

There are 3 easy ways to join the SLA. You can:

Go SkaneatelesLake.org and registering as a member; or

Call 315-685-9106, ask for a registration form to be mailed to you, complete the form and mail it with your check to the Skaneateles Lake Association P. O. Box 862  Skaneateles, NY 13152; or

Use the registration slip on the bottom of this summer’s SLA newsletter, complete the form and mail it with your check to the Skaneateles Lake Association P. O. Box 862  Skaneateles, NY 13152.

Source:  Skaneateles Press

In 2015 the Skaneateles Lake Association put down benthic matting over 5 acres of significant milfoil growth, hand harvest milfoil in other areas that could not be matted, and inspected and cleaned, as necessary, 3617 boats to prevent the introduction of potential invasive vegetable and animal species into Skaneateles Lake.  This work was only able to be done because we had the funds.  Those funds come almost exclusively from the annual membership fees and additional donations of members who joined the SLA.  Getting our fund balance to point where we can comfortably contract for the work that needs to be done in 2016 is going to require more 2015 annual memberships.  We are specifically looking for 2015 annual memberships at this time from:

• 200 members from 2014 who have not rejoined for 2015.
• 500 Skaneateles lakefront or lakerights owners have not joined for 2015 and especially the 400 of these who have never joined the SLA or contributed to the Milfoil Project.
• 150 Spafford lakefront owners who have not joined the SLA in 2015 and especially the 100 of these who have never joined the SLA or contributed to the Milfoil Project.
• 130 Niles lakefront owners who have not joined in 2015 and especially the 100 of these who have never joined the SLA or contributed to the Milfoil Project.
• 22 Scott, lakefront owners have not joined in 2015 and especially the 17 of these who have never joined the SLA or contributed to the Milfoil Project.
• 35 Sempronius lakefront owners have not joined the SLA in 2015 and especially the 13 of these of these who have never joined the SLA or contributed to the Milfoil Project.

To join the SLA as a 2015 annual member please:

Go SkaneatelesLake.org and registering as a member; or

Call 315-685-9106, ask for a registration form to be mailed to you, complete the form and mail it with your check to the Skaneateles Lake Association P. O. Box 862  Skaneateles, NY 13152; or

Use the registration slip on the bottom of this summer’s SLA newsletter, complete the form and mail it with your check to the Skaneateles Lake Association P. O. Box 862  Skaneateles, NY 13152.

The SLA thanks the following individuals for their additional donations in support of the Milfoil Boat and the Lake Stewards.

Milfoil Boat Sponsors: Sept. 8 William Kopp, Ham Fish, Kathy & Dan Mezzalingua; Sept. 9 Lisa & Daniel Riordan, Virginia & Gerald Shanley; The Coppo Family, Mary & Joseph Gaffney; Sept. 10 Maggie & Ed Dienst; Sept. 11 Sherill & David Ketchum; Sept. 13 Eleanor & Joseph Hubbard, Nancy Thomas & Chris Legg, Elet & John Callahan, elizabth Liddy; Sept. 15 Nancy & Ted Norman, Lorraine Gudas in memory of Stuart Kagel: Sept. 16 Mark Congel, Sept. 17 Shirley Feldman, Sept. 18 & 21 Mary Ellen & Joseph Hennigan; Sept. 21 -25 & Sept. 28 – 30 The Kaufman Foundation; Sept. 31 Karen & Chris Kriedler, Cate & Sally, Rober Congel; Oct. 1 Christine & James Hueber, Carol Aroesty, Ten Mile Point South Cottage Owners Association; Oct. 2 Margaret O’Connell & Eric Allyn, Patricia & Ralph Troisi, Sheila & Kennthe Weldon.

Steward Sponsors: Aug 18 Gail & Christopher Booth, Aug. 19 Joanne Viggiano & Kenneth Cannon; Aug. 20 The O’Keefe Family, Aug. 21 Mary Pat & Dan Suits, Aug. 22 Anonymous, Aug. 23 – 27 Donations to the Hardy Fund made by Maureen & Brian Hawkins, Robert Hoson, Ellen & Todd Donovan, Sharon and John Paddock, Susan & James Solomon & Mary and Ed Blum.

Source:  Skaneateles Journal

Robert G. Werner

In our surveys for milfoil patches this year we noticed that a shift seems to be occurring in the plant communities in Skaneateles Lake. While milfoil is declining precipitously as a result of our matting efforts, a native species seems to be expanding, filling in many of the places that milfoil used to occupy. A preliminary identification of this plant is that it is the clasping leaf pondweed (Potamogeton perfoliatus), a native, non-invasive plant. We have taken samples from 10-12 areas on both the east and west side of the lake and they all appear to be clasping leaf pondweed.

We are fortunate in that clasping leaf pondweed is not a threat to the lake like milfoil. Milfoil is a very aggressive plant that takes over an area and fills the space with dense heavy plant biomass, largely pushing out everything else. In contrast, clasping leaf pondweed is not aggressive, grows in relatively open stands and is much less likely to cause any serious problem to the lake. In fact, it was most likely a part of the original underwater plant community in the lake. It also offers shelter for young fish from predators and food for waterfowl. There is another positive benefit to this species in that the presence of clasping leaf pondweed in the locations where milfoil has been removed will inhibit the return of milfoil to those sites.

You can tell milfoil and clasping leaf pondweed apart quite easily.  Milfoil has a feathery leaf with small leaflets coming off of the midrib. The leaf looks like a green wet feather.

Clasping leaf pondweed has a flat, elongate, blade shaped leaf with a wavy form to it and a smooth edge to its leaf. The base of the leaf tends to wrap around the stem of the plant, thus the name.

While it can be risky to try to predict what Mother Nature will do, it seems that the lake is beginning to move toward a more natural condition with respect to its underwater plant community. Let’s hope so.

The SLA thanks the following individuals for their additional donations in support of the Milfoil Boat and the Lake Stewards (names with an asterisk are those whose annual memberships and additional donations or a matching donation were received in the last few months of 2014):

 Milfoil Boat Sponsors: Aug. 3 *Susan & Curt Andersson; Aug. 4 *Erica & Ken Byrne, *Anne & Robert McKenty; Aug. 5 *Patience Brewster & Holly Gregg; Aug. 6 *Judy & Phil Hider, *Amy & Christopher Neumann, *Mary Beth & William Gleason: Aug. 7 *Mr. & Mrs. Gardner McLean; Aug. 10 *Lorraine Gudas, * Ellen Brown & Carl Schramm; Aug. 11 * Linda & Russell Ruthig, * Patricai & Ralph Troisi, Dr. Robert Vitkus, Patricia & David Stone; Aug. 12 *Patience Brewster & Holly Gregg; Aug 13 & 14 *Ellen Brown & Carl Schramm

Steward Sponsors: July 30 * Charlene & Edward McGraw; July 31 – Aug. 9 Donations made in memory of Grace Parcells; Aug. 10 Suzanne & David Nagle; Aug. 11 The DuBois Family; Aug 12 Mary & Michael Hearn; Aug. 13 Judy & Doug Robertson

Source:  Skaneateles Press 8/12/2015

Our 2015 Annual Meeting is Scheduled

The Skaneateles Lake Association 2015 Annual Meeting will be held on Sunday, July 12^th from 5 – 7 pm at Brooklawn on Fire Lane 43 in Mandana.  We look forward to seeing all of our members at the meeting.  Membership registrations for 2015 will be accepted at the door.  Please hold the date and go to our website, SkaneatelesLake.org, (Events) for complete information on the event and information on how to RSVP.

Skaneateles Lake Association Receives Grant from Onondaga County Legislature

In April of this year, the SLA made a request to the Onondaga County Legislature for funding to purchase a replacement motor for the pontoon boat that carries the benthic matting out to the lake for placement and picks it up after about 6 weeks.  The matting is heavy when dry as it has metal rods sewn into every 6 feet or so to keep it in position on the lake bottom.  It is even heavier when wet when it is picked up late in the summer.  The motor we had on the boat was not really powerful enough to move the load efficiently and it was frequently breaking down.  Our request to our local legislator, Michael Plochocki, with a copy to the Chairperson of the County Legislature, J. Ryan McMahon III, was posted on our website and sent out to our members by email with a request for calls, emails or letters in support of our request.

The SLA Board is pleased to be able to report that our members came through with many supporting communications to Mr. Plochocki and Mr. McMahon.  This week we received calls from them to advise us that the grant we requested had been approved.  The SLA Board extends our thanks to our members for their communications supporting our request and to Mr. Plochocki and Mr. McMahon for the approval.  In many of our requests for membership we have spoken to the fact that the volume of our voice (number of members) is important when we deal with government entities for support of our efforts. This funding approval is a reflection of just how important the voice of membership is.

You can join the Skaneateles Lake Association and become a part of the volume of our voice by going to SkaneatelesLake.org to complete your registration and pay your annual dues.  If you do not have access to the Internet and would like a registration form mailed to you please call 315-685-9106 and leave a message with your name and mailing address.

The SLA thanks the following individuals and organizations for their additional donations in support of the Milfoil Boat and the Lake Stewards:

Milfoil Boat Sponsors:  6/19/15 Marjorie & Kenneth Blanchard; 6/22/15 Lynne & David Curtin, Gwen & William Birchenough, Louise & Robert Ganley, Anna Marie & Carl Gerst; 6/23/15 Barbara & Jed Delmonico, Cookie & Jack Helmer; 6/24/15 Ann Hinchcliff, Deborah & Gary Hind, Hobbitt Hollow Farm, Donna & Raymond Kurlak; 6/25/15 Lynn Lenihan; 6/26/15 Libby & Arnold Rubenstein

Invasive Species Monitoring Stewards: 6/12/15 Allison & Andrew Hider; 6/13/15 Lake Farms LLC; 6/14/15 Mary 7 Patrick Dooley; 6/15/15 Jill & Todd Marshall

Source:  Skaneateles Journal

The best part of my role in the Skaneateles Lake Association as the Membership Chairperson is that I have the opportunity to have conversations with many people from our lake community about the lake, their love of the lake and their hope for it to remain the beautiful lake and lake community that it is.   When we get a membership from someone who has not previously joined the SLA it is always interesting to find out why.

Last year we received a membership from a couple who were not lakefront property owners and did not have property with lake rights.  They were not people on my huge list of potential members who had received a letter asking them to join and it appeared that they were not friends of any of our board members who might have encouraged them to join.  I sent them an email and thank them for joining and asked them how it was they came to join.  Their answer was:

“Your flyer was in our welcome to Skaneateles package we received from the Chamber of Commerce.  I honestly have been in love with this town since visiting it in college. Am proud to say it has been my work home for most of the last 8 years, and am now ecstatic to call Skaneateles my home home too. And to be living in such a lovely town, it only made sense to support the effort in trying to keep our lake looking its best!” (Note: a letter to new residents from the SLA, a current SLA Newsletter and an SLA Membership Registration Form is included in the new resident packets sent out by the Chamber of Commerce).

Recently I spoke with another person who joined for the first time this year.  He is, as I have termed it, “a child of the lake”.  He grew up spending a lot of his youth in and on the lake.  He now works in Washington, D C, but still gets back to the lake every time that he can.   Getting out of Washington, D C for a week end is an exercise in patience with a lot of time spent just sitting in traffic.  But he noted that he spends that sitting time visualizing the lake and the beautiful water of Skaneateles Lake.  He joined because he wants to be a part of keeping it that way.  His job involves developing political strategies and his quote to me about why he is a member is a quote to remember….”the strength of the wolf pack is in the leader and the strength of the leader is in the pack.”  Bob knows the SLA Board needs a committed pack for its strength and he became of member of the pack.

You can join the Skaneateles Lake Association by going to SkaneatelesLake.org to complete your registration and pay your annual dues.  If you do not have access to the Internet and would like a registration form mailed to you please call 315-685-9106 and leave a message with your name and mailing address.

Other important news…..Our 2015 Annual Meeting is Scheduled

The Skaneateles Lake Association 2015 Annual Meeting will be held on Sunday, July 12^th from 5 – 7 pm at Brooklawn on Fire Lane 43 in Mandana.  We look forward to seeing all of our members at the meeting.  Membership registrations for 2015 will be accepted at the door.  Please hold the date and go to our website, SkaneatelesLake.org, (Events) for complete information on the event and information on how to RSVP.

Skaneateles Lake Association Receives Grant from Onondaga County Legislature

In April of this year, the SLA made a request to the Onondaga County Legislature for funding to purchase a replacement motor for the pontoon boat that carries the benthic matting out to the lake for placement and picks it up after about 6 weeks.  The matting is heavy when dry as it has metal rods sewn into every 6 feet or so to keep it in position on the lake bottom.  It is even heavier when wet when it is picked up late in the summer.  The motor we had on the boat was not really powerful enough to move the load efficiently and it was frequently breaking down.  Our request to our local legislator, Michael Plochocki, with a copy to the Chairperson of the County Legislature, J. Ryan McMahon III, was posted on our website and sent out to our members by email with a request for calls, emails or letters in support of our request.

The SLA Board is pleased to be able to report that our members came through with many supporting communications to Mr. Plochocki and Mr. McMahon.  This week we received calls from them to advise us that the grant we requested had been approved.  The SLA Board extends our thanks to our members for their communications supporting our request and to Mr. Plochocki and Mr. McMahon for the approval.  In many of our requests for membership we have spoken to the fact that the volume of our voice (number of members) is important when we deal with government entities for support of our efforts. This funding approval is a reflection of just how important the voice of membership is.

The SLA thanks the following individuals and organizations for their additional donations in support of the Milfoil Boat and the Lake Stewards:

Milfoil Boat Sponsors:  6/19/15 Marjorie & Kenneth Blanchard; 6/22/15 Lynne & David Curtin, Gwen & William Birchenough, Louise & Robert Ganley, Anna Marie & Carl Gerst; 6/23/15 Barbara & Jed Delmonico, Cookie & Jack Helmer; 6/24/15 Ann Hinchcliff, Deborah & Gary Hind, Hobbitt Hollow Farm, Donna & Raymond Kurlak; 6/25/15 Lynn Lenihan; 6/26/15 Libby & Arnold Rubenstein

Invasive Species Monitoring Stewards: 6/12/15 Allison & Andrew Hider; 6/13/15 Lake Farms LLC; 6/14/15 Mary 7 Patrick Dooley; 6/15/15 Jill & Todd Marshall

Source:  Skaneateles Press

In April of this year, the SLA made a request to the Onondaga County Legislature for funding to purchase a replacement motor for the pontoon boat that carries the benthic matting out to the lake for placement and picks it up after about 6 weeks.  The matting is heavy when dry as it has metal rods sewn into it every 6 feet or so to keep it in position on the lake bottom.  It is even heavier when wet when it is picked up late in the summer.  The motor we had on the boat was not really powerful enough to move the load efficiently and it was frequently breaking down.  Our request to our local legislator, Michael Plochocki, with a copy to the Chairperson of the County Legislature, J. Ryan McMahon III, was posted on our website and sent out to our members by email with a request for calls, emails or letters in support of our request.

The SLA Board is pleased to be able to report that our members came through with many supporting communications to Mr. Plochocki and Mr. McMahon.  This week we received calls from them to advise us that the grant we requested had been approved.  The SLA Board extends our thanks to our members for their communications supporting our request and to Mr. Plochocki and Mr. McMahon for the approval.  In many of our requests for membership we have spoken to the fact that the volume of our voice (number of members) is important when we deal with government entities for support of our efforts. This funding approval is a reflection of just how important the voice of membership is.