Province Lake Association Newsletter

Spring 2010

 


Newsletter editors:
Jack and Barbara Wilkins

  

To all PLA members:

This is the newsletter that includes your annual membership application. Please complete it and return it BEFORE the annual meeting in July if at all possible. Should you misplace it there is one on the website at www.ProvinceLake.org as well as several places around town.

This Newsletter is being emailed to all that requested it that way. This really helps out the association by reducing postage costs and us by eliminating the stuffing of many envelopes. So thanks to all that requested it. You also receive it about a week before the snail mail version. (In last years’ case about 2 months before.)


Boat Parade

The annual boat parade was held on July 5th last year. There will not be one this year unless someone steps forward to coordinate it. It really isn’t that hard. If you’re interested send an email to the website: info@provincelake.org. 


Annual Meeting 2009


The minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Province Lake Association held on July 18, 2009 at the Province Lake Golf Club are available on our website. They will not be distributed or read at the July meeting.

Province Lake Association Annual Meeting    July 18, 2009

Welcome:  Mary McLoughlin, President, called the meeting to order at 9:34 AM and welcomed everyone to the 37th annual meeting of the PLA. She thanked the Porters for the use of the room and for the coffee and refreshments they provided.  The Porters told us how glad they were to host the meeting and outlined the restaurant schedule.

 

Speaker: Adam Shoukimas, Technical Director of the Acton/Wakefield Watershed Alliance, gave a presentation describing various means of preventing erosion into waterways as a means of improving lake and stream water quality.  He also told us of the organization’s youth group which can help with design and installation of erosion prevention systems.

    He also outlined the new firewood movement restrictions now in place to protect New Hampshire and Maine trees from harmful insects.  He told us of the Asian Longhorned Beetle, which attacks all hardwoods, and has resulted in the destruction of thousands of trees in Worcester, MA.  The beetle is spread by movement of affected wood from infected areas to uninfected areas.

   The Acton/Wakefield Watershed Alliance website address is:  www.awwatersheds.org.

 

   At the conclusion of Adam’s presentation, Stan Maluchnik described an erosion problem on Bonnyman Road that he has been trying to get Wakefield to fix for several years.                                                                               

Secretary’s Report: Marion Chouinard moved to accept the 2008 meeting minutes as published in the Fall 2008 newsletter. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

 

Treasurer’s Report: Marion Chouinard reported that we have $6537.77 in the checking account, and two CD’s, for a total of $27,730.96.  She also reported that we have received $355 in weed control donations this year.

 

Audit Report:  Dennis Derby reported that he had audited the books recently and found them to be in good order.

 

Loon Report:  Tori Ketner reported that we have one pair of loons and one single loon on our lake this year.  There have been no signs of eggs or babies on the raft.

 

Weed Report:  Steve Craig reported that no invasive weeds have been found to date, but emphasized that we must keep looking for them.

 

Membership Report:  Carl Davis reported that we have 85 members at this point, and our membership has historically fluctuated between 80 and 90 members.  He and Jon Samuelson have researched town records and found that there are about 500 potential members, counting Wakefield and Effingham landowners and campers near the lake.  His goal is to get 50% membership, in order to improve the growth of our weed control fund.  He has sent letters to potential members explaining the benefits of association membership and asking them to join.

 

Boat Parade:  Four boats  participated; the McKelvies won.  The Cartwrights have decided this year is the last for them to organize the parade, so anyone interested in organizing future boat parades should contact our president, Mary McLoughlin.

 

Water Quality Report:  Norm Dudziak reported that 2008 was the 18th year of water testing, and the water quality was very good, similar to that in 2007.  His full report can be found on the website.

 

Water Control and Lake Level:  Dennis Derby reported that the logs were installed on May 17th with the lake level at nominal.  Rainfall to date has been 14 inches, and the lake level is now 3 inches above nominal.

 

Newsletter and Website:  Jack Wilkins reminded members to send in any interesting

happenings or photos around the lake.

 

Raffles:  Several groups of photos, notecards, Cabin Life magazine subscriptions, and one icebox were raffled off.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 10:47 AM.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Jim Steltenpohl, Secretary

President’s Message


It is hard to believe that two weeks ago I was covering my tender perennials at night and today it is a hot and humid 87 degrees.  Ah, New England!

What a winter and spring this has been.  I can’t remember such a cold and windy spring.  The lake seems to have adjusted to the spring.  Our dam master, Dr. Derby, has already put in the logs to maintain the water level.  The level was much lower than normal for this time of year.  Boats are awaiting returning to the water in the coming  weeks….families are planning their vacations so they can get back up and enjoy all that our Lake has to offer.
We will be having our annual PLA meeting Saturday July 17th, 2010 at the Province Lake Golf Course at 9am. Our guest speaker will be speaking on weeds: the good, the bad, and the ugly.  I can’t wait to hear this one!  As we all know, milfoil is an invasive weed that could be devastating for our Lake.

Our water tester and weed expert Steve Craig is a member of the newly formed Effingham Conservation Commission Milfoil Group.  The goal of this group is to work towards the prevention and mitigation of invasive infestations in the water bodies of the town of Effingham.  We are fortunate that Steve has generously donated his time to this group.

At our July meeting, elections will be held for officers.  My term for president will expire, Carl Davis who is our current vice president is on the ballot for president, Marion Chouinard, our treasurer is on the ballot for another term, Jon Samuelson is on the ballot for vice president.   Jim Steltenpohl, who is our current secretary, term expires in July.  We are still in need of a secretary. If you are interested in this position or know of someone that is, please let me know.


I hope that you all have a safe and Happy Memorial Day weekend and that I see you up at the lake!


Mary McLoughlin

President

from member William Carter

 

As I sat on a deer stand near sunset one day last November, beside a wetland behind the west shore of the lake, a black bear cub ran rapidly by.   Another cub hurried by a few seconds later, followed shortly by a young sow, their mother.  All were headed for the Province Lake shore.


They were clearly eager to get to sources of food they could enjoy in the coming darkness, very likely garbage, pet food, or seed in bird feeders outside lakeside homes.


If the members of this bear family avoided any fatal encounters during their foraging before their winter dormancy, they will be back this spring.  The black bear is an intelligent animal that will learn and remember where there are easy sources of calories and nutrients to exploit after its winter torpor.

Bear that become accustomed to associating people and human habitation with food will lose their natural fear, increasing the risk of unhappy encounters with humans or pets.  Black bear have broken into homes in New Hampshire after food, and, while they are not aggressive, they are strong wild animals capable of inflicting harm if caught in the wrong situation, particularly a mother with cubs.  Wildlife managers have an expression: "a fed bear is a dead bear," because elimination is the often only effective remedy for a problem bear which has become conditioned to tolerate humans.  The New Hampshire Fish & Game Department has issued a news release asking the public to take in bird feeders for the season.  Please read it at: http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/Newsroom/News_2010/News_2010_Q1/bears_birdfeeders_030410.html

There are other ways to attract birds in the spring and summer.  Native flowering trees and plants will attract insects that are the natural food of most spring songbirds.  The same type and size of nest box designed for bluebirds, if mounted eight to twelve feet off the ground, will bring the tree swallows that skim over the lake's water through September.  Perhaps someone could attract a colony of the larger, sociable purple martin with the type of large multiple-unit birdhouse designed for these increasingly rare members of the swallow family.  Phoebes will nest on a small platform under your eaves.  Great crested flycatchers might use a large box mounted high up far enough from your house or camp.

Feeding out of season can harm bird populations.  The blue jays attracted by feeders also eat other species' nestlings.  European starlings and house finches bully native species from their territories.  Seed spoils in warm weather and can cause sickness.  Young birds may fail to learn natural survival skills.

In May, that west shore will have a campground and seasonal cottages full of children.  Don't make their first experience with the magnificent black bear a fearful or sad one.

Miscellany

 

Ways to contact us:

 

Question pertaining to weeds in the lake email: Weeds@ProvinceLake.org

 

General questions about the PLA email: President@ProvinceLake.org

 

If you want to submit any pictures or have questions about the website or change your email or regular mail address during the year email your changes to: info@provincelake.org

 

Ads for sale, wanted, lost and found, etc email: Adboard@ProvinceLake.org

 

Change of address may also be mailed to our P.O. Box 24, Effingham, NH 03882-0024 


 



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