SEPTEMBER 2010 NEWSLETTER
CONGRATULATIONS 2010 GUARDIAN OF THE LAKE RECIPIENTS:
TREASURER’S REPORT: Beginning August balance: $43,819.40; Deposits: $8626.35; Expenses: $9739.58; Balance at Month End: $42,709.82. Congratulations Bar Stool Open! Despite lake conditions, $11,652.48 was raised for the LIA.
WEBSITE REPORT: Mark Piening summarized the success of the website since opening. As expected, the most page views occurred during the algae bloom. Other than the home page, the most popular page was the “Contact your Legislator” information. Please continue to call, email, fax and write to your legislators. Once is good, but not enough. They know we’re out here! Please don’t stop the momentum. The third most popular page is the Knowledge Base page. Get online. Find out what’s happening. BE INFORMED.
SIGN UP FOR EMAILS NEWLETTERS AND ALERTS: The LIA is in compliance with the AWEBER rules against spamming our members. It requires that each of you go to the website and sign up to be emailed. We have fewer than 70 members out of 1,000 that ask to have their newsletters mailed. Please help us use more of our funds for lake improvements by eliminating the need for stamps! In addition to the newsletter, any newsworthy events/alerts will be emailed to you as they occur.
Tony Seger, newest LIA Trustee, brought 20 new members in this week. Tony challenged each member to sign up just one member in September. A successful membership drive would double our membership. Membership equates to power! Help Grand Lake St Marys!
Tom Rampe, Trustee, Reminded members that the LIA contributes $500 to Wright State, which is matched by the college for a $1000 scholarship to a student interested in Environmental Sciences. Please promote this scholarship.
FISHING DERBY DAY IS ALMOST HERE! Wednesday, September 15th
The LIA will be hosting a fishing day at Eastview Park for approximately 300 mentally and physically challenged persons from Mercer & Auglaize counties. The LIA needs help. LOTS of HELP! We need COOKIES – BIG COOKIES, we need volunteers to help set up at 8:00a.m., we need volunteers to bait hooks and remove fish from the hook; we need volunteers to grill the lunch that every participant gets; we need help to clean up when it’s over. PLEASE contact Dave Meyer to volunteer: email: dgmeyer@bright.net, or by phone: 419-925-4146. If you cannot deliver your cookies to Eastview Park Wednesday morning, please contact Andrea van Horn. She will receive cookies in advance, or possibly arrange for them to be picked up. You can reach Andrea at 419-268-2082.
Tom Knapke volunteered to be the new Group Facilitator for the Lake Restoration Committee. Many thanks Tom!
IN RECOGNITION:
Organizations from around the area are stepping up, using their creativity to help Grand Lake.
Laura & Ryan Brandt family. The Vacation Bible School pre-school students from the St. Mary’s Nazarene Church, led by Laura Brandt, raised $927 for the lake.
The Anna Vacation Bible School donated $327.00 to the GLRC.
A 50/50 raffle was held during Bayview’s Beach Party. $150 was donated to the LIA.
Bella’s Italian Bar & Grill donated $2000 from another successful Guest Waiter night in August.
Myron Schwarz & Alan Basket held a Music Fest when the Governor’s Cup was cancelled. $9500 was raised to benefit the lake clean up projects!
Crossfit Crave held an Exercise-A-Thon and raised over $300 for lake improvements.
3500 blue wrist bands I ♥ GRAND LAKE have been sold with the help of the Chamber of Commerce and Bruce Swonger to assist the GLRC.
Bob & Adele Heeter from Troy donated $1,000 during the meeting. They challenged other families to reach deep into their pockets and also donate $1,000 for lake clean up. 99 other families donating $1,000 each could provide a significant supply of funding toward better water quality in Grand Lake St. Marys and to protect your lake home values.
Thanks to all for the creativity and good work!
SWITCH & SAVE:40% of the marketing fees in your natural gas bill are going to other areas and causes. Contact Alisa Beisner at abeisner@selfproviders.com or phone her at 877-774-4301 to learn more about the program. You may also check www.SwitchandSupport.com. This is a painless way to help Grand Lake from anywhere in Ohio.
Craig Morton, Grand Lake St. Marys Park Manager praised the Vacation Bible Schools and young people for being actively involved in the lake projects. He noted that 3 days after the Day of Prayer and Fasting, the lake re-opened…. Microcystin levels are between 1 and 7.5 ppb, well below the 20 ppb that created the Advisory. There are 3 levels of Advisories. 1st is a Bloom Advisory, the water is potentially unsafe. Avoid contact with surface scum. Level 2 Advisory, recommends minimal contact with water, avoid contact with scum, no swimming. Level 3 Advisory recommends No Contact, No Boats. Craig asks that you avoid contact with the water. Do not swim in the lake.
The lake level is 2” below normal. The dredging crew will be back to work this month for the first time since the Lake Advisory was posted. Riley Bay dredging will begin again by Sept 11th. Please watch for dredge lines. There will be dredging at Beaver Creek. Camp grounds were 80% occupied for Labor Day weekend with 50% off camping fees; Dock fees have been refunded. The GLRC or LIA would be grateful if you’d like to donate that money for lake clean up.
Jared Ebbing presented the STREAM TREATMENT TRAIN project to the members. The concept is In-Lake treatment and In-Lake sediment removal with the goal to unify and use the best impact intiatives or combinations of projects. A summary of the Prairie Creek project, designed to be a systems approach for water treatment is as follows: A soy or alum-based flocculent will be fed into Prairie Creek. The flocculent bonds to particles in the water and the weighted matter settles. Downstream a sediment collector is ready to acquire the weighted flocculent. The water that flows through the Sediment Collector will then be diverted into an area designed to reflect a healthy natural wetlands filter. Berms will be created from dredging to create a cove or embankment to detain the water from quickly flowing out into the lake. Aerators will be added to the cove area. Natural plant life and mussels indigenous to this area will be re-introduced into the cove. Additionally, it will be necessary to prevent external loading into the area. The plan is to eventually replicate this “Treatment Train” on the north side of the lake.
ALUM PROJECT:
6 sites have been selected as testing areas for the Alum projects. The 4H Camp area (Harbor Point area), Harmon’s Landing, 2 areas at Otterbein, West Bank marina area and the west beach area. East Bank Marina, the Eagles and docks along the West Bank have been donated for displaced boats during this project.
CHICKASAW MONITORING STATION:
Theresa Howick and her husband farm 600 acres on the north side of the lake where they grown corn, wheat, beans, steers and meat goats. Theresa reviewed the test results presented in August and pointed out that the phosphorous numbers shown for December were estimated based on a 10 day sampling during the month, not actual data. Since the Howicks report rain measure for NOAH, she was able to recognize that the spikes in May do not correlate to rain records. Theresa noted that in several places the numbers were estimated, not measured which skewed the results. She also pointed out that the conclusion that “farming practices are not working” was under-supported by the report in her opinion.
50/50 Drawing: Linda Evans won $65 at the 50/50 drawing and generously donated it back to the LIA