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 12th 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