Fran Rotunno Fish
This is a busy time of the year for the Milfoil Boat Team. They are in the water rolling up the matting put down earlier in the season. The first matting put down is the first matting taken up so that the Milfoil patches are matted for about 8 weeks.
This is hard work and very dependent on the weather. If the lake gets rough, it becomes hard to see the bubbles from the submerged divers and keep the boat in position. So there are days when work has to stop to ensure the safety of the crew. The team rolls up on the mats in each area addressed this season. When all the mats are rolled and piled up on the bottom of the lake, the Team returns with a different boat which is rigged to pick up the mats. These rolls of mats are heavy because they have the metal cable sewn into them every 6 feet to keep them stable on the bottom of the lake and because they are wet! Getting strapping around the rolls and then using a wench to lift them up and onto the boat for transport back to shore for winter storage live takes still, strength and patience. Our lake community members all owe thanks to Keith Marsden, Jason Hole Victoria Zanicky, Sam Clymer and Liam Wilson for the great job they do under the direction of John Menapace.
Our Invasive Species Monitoring Steward Crew this summer included Elyse DuBois, Will Thomas, Griffin Dunn, Sara Signorelli, Jeremy Castle, Alex Frank, and Anna Denhoff. As they make their way back to school and college we are pleased to have hired adult stewards from the lake community with funds provided by the Central New York Community Foundation for this first year of an extended steward season. Roy Truswell, Laurie Kenyon, John Colomb and Al Coon are joining the Steward Team and will be covering the DEC, Town of Skaneateles and Town of Scott boat launch sites along with Jeremy Castle who will help provide weekend coverage for the fall season. Labor Day may be the “official” close of the season, but the lake remains open to many and our Steward coverage during the fall months is very important.
Please thank the following individuals whose 2017 memberships and additional donations co-sponsored the Milfoil Boat for a day: Patricia Orr, Barbara & William Dean, Mary & Paul Torrisi, Deborah & James Tifft, Anonymous 18 (2 days), Kathleen & Daniel Mezzalingua, Paula White, Demetra Vounas, Jaime Tuozzolo, Pamela & Douglas Hamlin, Barbara & Jed Delmonico, Robert Congel, Ann Hinchcliff, Kate & Mont Pooley, Eleanor & Ben Ware, Patriia & Bill McAvoy, Maureen & Joe Wilson, Ursula & David Hutton, Deborah & Richard Hole, Lake Farms, John Priest & Lynne Boles, Lisa & Michael Wetzel, Donald Babcock & Carolyn Kaye, Noreen & Michael Falcone, Hobbitt Hollow Farm, Joyce & Robin Jowaisis, Jennifer Sutherland, Alice & Neal Houser, Patricia & David Stone, Judy & John Varney, Barbara & Myron Egtvedt, Ellie & Chet Benoit, Lynn Lenihan, Norma & David McCarthy, Elet & John Callahan, Janet & Donald Frank, Jill & Todd Marshall, Judy & Doug Robertson, Katherine & Lawrence Weiss, Cate & Sally, Goffe Cottage (Carla & David Goffe), Barbara & Kenneth Hearst, Marcia & Robert Hunt, Nancy Thomas & Chris Legg, Cynthia & William McCauley, Paula & Edward Conan, Celeste Gudas, Bettina & Tom Smallman, Joan & Michael Niswender, Charles O’Neal, Maureen & Don Plath, Linda Lavery, Jacqueline K. Bays & Joseph McCaffrey, Mason & Jane Howard, Kristine & Jeffrey Bogart, Susan & Bill Burch, Diana Coyne, Twin Birch Dairy (Karen & Dirk Young), Jolie & Scott Johnston, George Ann & Edwin Bock, Edward Nichols, Steve Mott, Randy Cobb & Jackie Brown, Kelly & Gregory Weaver, Heather & David Wheat, Karen & Chris Kreidler, Lynne & David Curtin, Gary Dower, Virgina & Gerard Shanley, Barbara Benedict & Duncan Wormer, Patricia Lynn Ford & Stevn Ford, Jane & Joseph Kite, Kuni & Patrick Riccardi, Margaret Bersani, Mary Socci & Peter White, Dr. Robert Vitkus, Shadowlawn Lakeshore Corporation, Susan & James Solomon, Anonymous 8, Judy & Philip Hiser, Maureen & Brian Harkins. Ann & David Lee.
Source: Skaneateles Press