Good day to you LSC fans.

On this Thanksgiving eve, we'd like to take a moment to thank our membership and the lake community for your support this season.

...and Happy Thanksgiving!

We hope you get to spend it with your family and friends.

Hello LSC fans. We hope you are enjoying the Fall.

We'd like to take a little time and recap the 2019 season - and look ahead to 2020. We'll try to retell the story of 2019 chronologically and keep it brief and to the point. So, grab your favorite beverage and give it a read.

Here we go...

- Membership

Our yearly membership drive kicked off in early February with mailings, emails and postings on our website and Facebook. We are happy to report that we had 342 paid members, which includes 9 Business Sponsors. This generated $52,550 in membership dues which gives us an average contribution of $154. Thank you to all of our members! Your membership dues and additional contributions over and above our base $100 membership level are crucial to funding our important lake programs. We are happy to report that we've increased our membership in both dollars and in individual contributors by around 12% each as compared to last year. We hope to build on these numbers again next year. As always, we ask you to help us spread the word by discussing the LSCA with your neighbors. We will continue to work hard for Lake St. Catherine to earn your support.

- Milfoil Control

Back in December of 2018, we applied for two new permits as part of our milfoil control program. We applied for a 5 year permit to treat milfoil with the new herbicide ProcellaCOR - and a 10 year permit to be able to perform DASH (Diver Assisted Suction Harvesting). While both permits were approved, we had to start almost a month later than we would have liked. The herbicide permit was not approved by the state until 5/10/19. There was then a 30 day comment period, then a 30 day notice period, which set the treatment date at July 10th. We did all we could to try to maintain the schedule that we've had in the past, but that was unable to happen this year because of the approval delay. We hope to get back to our usual schedule of an early June treatment date next year.

We are very happy with the results of the new herbicide ProcellaCOR. As compared to the previous herbicide (Renovate), ProcellaCOR allows us to use 200x - 400x less herbicide, has significantly less water use restrictions, and it’s is highly targeted to milfoil - promising longer lasting results. For example, the recommended water use restrictions this season were only the day of treatment for recreational use (vs. 2 days) and 7 days for using lake water for irrigation (vs. 120 days). We hope the effectiveness of ProcellaCOR will allow us to continue to emphasize DASH for milfoil control.

Our hard working DASH team also had a great season combating milfoil. They worked on 10+ locations around the lake and removed 1,293 buckets of milfoil by suction harvesting.

This balanced approach has kept the milfoil in treated areas in check for 15 years.

This season, we received many reports of milfoil in areas of the lake, asking if it will be addressed by our DASH team. We inspected all the areas being reported, and we discovered that many folks were confusing Illinois Pondweed with milfoil. Pondweed, which is considered native, cannot be removed by our DASH team. However, if you'd like to clear your swimming or dock area of pondweed - you are allowed to do so by raking or hand pulling. Please see the graphic below showing our 2019 treatment areas and the difference between milfoil and pondweed.

- Greeter Program

This season, we were happy to be selected for a grant from the Vermont DEC’s Watershed Grant Program for $4,942. This allowed us to expand our daily Greeter hours, add coverage for fishing tournaments and to further expand hours around holidays. This resulted in inspecting 1,779 boats, a 21% increase from 2018.

The Program, co-administered by DEC and the Department of Fish and Wildlife, distributes grant dollars for noteworthy local and regional water-related projects within Vermont.

All are encouraged to consider switching your current license plate to a Vermont Conservation license plate. Applications to do so can be found at here at the Conservation License Plate website. Currently, there are 3 plate options to choose from: Deer, Loon, Trout:

Our Greeter program is very important to the health of LSC. Greeters do not just check boats and trailers for milfoil - they are checking for many invasive species that are just a lake or two away from us. These invasives include zebra mussels, spiny waterflea, asian clams, water chestnuts and starry stonewort. For example, spiny waterflea were just found in Lake Champlain and zebra mussels were recently discovered in Lake Dunmore. Our Greeters are hard working young adults who have been trained to identify these invasive species to stop them from entering LSC. They also educate boaters about the importance of looking for these invasives on their boat or trailer so they are not spread to LSC or another lake.

This is an extremely important program that helps to protect LSC!

- Lake Safety - Free Boating Classes

The LSCA provides two free boating safety classes each year - one in Wells and one in Poultney. Anyone born after January 1st, 1974 must successfully complete a boating safety class to be able to legally operate a motorized watercraft. This year, 25 people passed the course and received their boating license. If you'd like to earn your boating license next year, please keep an eye out for our announcement of the classes (usually taking place in June).

- 7th Annual Boat Parade

On Saturday, July 7th, we had 15 boats participate in the 7th Annual LSCA Boat Parade - and the creativity was on full display! We hope you enjoyed watching it - and we were thankful for all the participants and our sponsors.

Our Best Overall winner was the "Loon Pontoon":

You can read more and see photos & video in this 7th Annual Boat Parade recap.

- Membership & Donation Appeal

After preparing our 2019 budget, we projected that we'd have a shortfall of income (membership dues, grants, donations) to fully fund our programs this season. While we’ve been steadily increasing in both the number of members - and the total amount collected from membership dues, support from state and local governments has been decreasing.

Although we would be able to cover these expenses with funds from our savings, we decided to reach out to the lake community in an appeal to reach residents that had not paid their 2019 dues, and to ask for additional contributions from our membership. So, we sent out mailings, emails and postings on our website and Facebook pages explaining the shortfall. You can read that appeal here.

Well, you responded. Since the appeal began in mid July, we've added 40 members and received additional contributions totaling over $25,000!

In 2020, we will be working hard on initiatives to expand our membership base, generate additional contributions and win grant awards (more on that below).

- LSCA Annual Meeting & Dinner

We had a great turnout at the Annual Meeting at the LSC Country Club on July 27th. Trustees gave reports from their committees and answered questions from attendees. We then all enjoyed an excellent dinner with our lake neighbors.

You can read a full recap of the meeting, including our presentation in this Annual Meeting recap.

We hope you'll join us next year!

- The First Lake Wise Award on LSC

In early September, we and the Poultney Mettowee Natural Resources Conservation District (PMNRCD) were excited to announce that the first property on Lake St. Catherine has been selected for a Lake Wise award.

"The goal of Lake Wise is to establish a new normal, a new culture of lakeshore landscaping that is proven to help protect the lake. A property that earns the Lake Wise Award will represent a 'model' shoreland property. The Lake Wise Award certifies a property is well managed, using shoreland Best Management Practices, and is maintained to care for the lake."

On Friday, September 8th, representatives from the LSCA and PMNRCD gathered at Sylvia and Harry Bingham's camp on Peninsula Drive to present them with the Lake Wise award - the first awarded on Lake St. Catherine.

You can read more about the Binghams and the Lake Wise program in this posting: First Lake Wise Award On Lake St. Catherine.

19 properties were assessed in 2019 - and the LSCA and the PMNRCD will be working with these owners to help them earn the Lake Wise award for their property.

We'd like to help other Lake St. Catherine property owners earn the Lake Wise award. If you would like to have your property assessed, please email us at info@lakestcatherine.org.

- Newsletters

You can view our two 2019 newsletters here:

• Spring 2019
• Fall 2019

- 2020

Plans are already underway to do it all again in 2020...

Also, we are currently in the process of applying for grants to: help fund our suction harvesting program, help fund and expand our greeter program, help fund LSCA organizational expenditures and create some education programs.

We hope to earn your support in 2020 - so keep an eye out for our Membership Drive to kick off in February.

To keep up-to-date on all LSC news, please bookmark our Blog, and like us on Facebook. We post all of the latest news on these sites. If you have any questions, please email us at info@lakestcatherine.org.

Finally, a HUGE thank you to our renewing members, our new members, our business sponsors, our volunteers and all who donated to help make this season a great success!

The Poultney Mettowee Natural Resources Conservation District (PMNRCD) will be hosting a public meeting on Monday, September 23rd, 2019 at the Wells Town Office to discuss the stormwater assessment of Lake St. Catherine and Wells River.

Presenters Evan Fitzgerald of Fitzgerald Environmental Associates and Hilary Solomon of Poultney Mettowee Natural Resources Conservation District will facilitate a discussion with all attendees on the stormwater assessment, and listen to recommendations on additional erosion or stormwater issues. They will also look for assistance to prioritize projects for implementation.

The public is cordially invited to attend, and your input is valued - we hope to see you there.

If you have any questions about this meeting, please contact us at info@lakestcatherine.org.

The Lake St. Catherine Association (LSCA) and the Poultney Mettowee Natural Resources Conservation District (PMNRCD) are excited to announce that the first property on Lake St. Catherine has been selected for a Lake Wise award.

Lake Wise is a program developed by Vermont’s Lakes and Ponds Program to recognize outstanding efforts by homeowners who live along a lakeshore to protect the water quality and habitat along the shoreline and within the near-shore area of the lake. Four categories are assessed: The driveway and parking area, the structure (which includes roof, drainage, and septic), the recreation area (the lawn/footprint of non-natural, high-use yard areas), and the shoreline buffer area.

The goal of the Lake Wise program, from the Lake Wise website:

"The goal of Lake Wise is to establish a new normal, a new culture of lakeshore landscaping that is proven to help protect the lake. A property that earns the Lake Wise Award will represent a 'model' shoreland property. The Lake Wise Award certifies a property is well managed, using shoreland Best Management Practices, and is maintained to care for the lake."

On Friday, September 8th, representatives from the LSCA and PMNRCD gathered at Sylvia and Harry Bingham's camp on Peninsula Drive to present them with the Lake Wise award - the first awarded on Lake St. Catherine.

During the presentation of the Lake Wise award to the Bingham's, Hilary Solomon from the PMNRCD said:

"I am very pleased to present this LakeWise award to Sylvia and Harry Bingham. They have a lovely property with many natural features including a diversity of trees and shrubs; a very natural shoreline toward Oxbow Bay; nice gardens which also infiltrate stormwater, and a patio with areas between the stones to infiltrate water, as well. This summer, they added shrubs to both shorelines through the LEAP program, as they continue to build and maintain their plantings.

This property has been in the family since the 1960’s. The Binghams love to garden and Harry built the patio and the lovely stone walls. Their son David brought irises from his expansive garden back home and also helped with the gardening. From the short time that I have met them, it sounds as though they love their home on the lake and the time they get to spend here and they contribute in many ways to the health of the lake and the community of property owners around the lake. They have served in various capacities on the Lake Association and actively participate in community-building events.

Sylvia and Harry, I could not be more pleased to honor you with this plaque today. Your exemplary stewardship and your love for the lake is evident. Congratulations. And thank you for helping us as we take steps as a community to help maintain the water quality and wildlife on Lake St Catherine. The Association and the Conservation District are working with homeowners to assist them with wider, more natural buffers; less overall lawn area; no-mow zones; narrower paths to the lake; leaving duff and mulch in place; maintaining septic tanks and leach fields, and many other activities that should cumulatively help to maintain the high-quality characteristics that we all love about this lake. We hope to award many more plaques in the near future, and this is our first step toward that goal."

Congratulations to the Bingham's on earning the first Lake Wise award on Lake St. Catherine! We appreciate their continued efforts to maintain a lake friendly property which we hope will be a model for all property owners on Lake St. Catherine.

The LSCA and the PMNRCD would like to help other Lake St. Catherine property owners earn the Lake Wise award. If you would like to have your property assessed, please email us at info@lakestcatherine.org.

Vermont DEC Officials visit Lake St. Catherine to learn of the great efforts homeowners have made to control runoff on their properties.

August 26th was an exciting day at the Lake, as we hosted Amy Picotte from Vermont DEC and most of the staff of the Poultney Mettowee Natural Resources Conservation District, who met with the first group of property owners along Lake St. Catherine to participate in the Lake Wise program.

The spring of 2019 was a particularly difficult one, with several storms that overwhelmed culverts and roads surrounding the Lake. It certainly brought attention to the role we all play in protecting the Lake from sediment and an overabundance of phosphorus that fuels milfoil and, potentially, toxic algae growth.

To recognize the good works of local Lake residents, the DEC has a program, called Lake Wise, that assesses lakeshore properties and recognizes optimum management for water quality through an award. If your shoreline qualifies, based on the assessment criteria, a LakeWise plaque is awarded to the property owner. If additional actions are needed, the Lake Wise program serves as a free assessment and consultation.

The Poultney Mettowee Natural Resources Conservation District has been providing the assessments for Lake St. Catherine homeowners. They then work with partners and write grants, receiving funds to provide shoreline plantings, rain garden installation, and other implementation projects aimed at improving water quality in the lake. These programs, the Lake Education and Action Program (LEAP) for example, can be utilized after a Lake Wise consultation to help implement recommendations from the assessment.

It is so encouraging that there is a great deal of interest in becoming a Lake Wise property. If you would like to join in with local residents to have your property assessed, just contact us at: info@lakestcatherine.org. The LSCA is eager to have recognition for those of you who have added buffer zones, no mow zones, fertilizer-free lawns, infiltration steps, water-absorbent gardens and other creative ways to reduce runoff into our precious Lake. We hope you will consider becoming a LakeWise site and encourage your neighbors to do likewise. We look forward to hearing from you!

Photo participants, from left to right: Sadie Brown - Nursery Manager. Martha Hicks Pofit - Vice President of LSCA, Amy Picotte - Environmental Scientist - Vermont DEC, Hilary Solomon - Manager of PMNRCD, Ashley Leemans - PMNRCD staff

On Saturday, August 24th, the Lake St. Catherine Association held their fourth and final meeting of the 2019 season.

The Trustees gave their reports on many topics - Click here to see the full meeting agenda. Meeting minutes compiled by Kemi Mcshane.

August 24th 2019 Meeting of the Lake St. Catherine Board of Trustees

Lake St. Catherine Country Club, 8:30 AM

Meeting called to order by President Jim Canders at 8:30 AM

Present: Ken Abt, Elaine Bagley, Kemi McShane Bostock, Jim Canders, Frank Callahan, Jeffrey Crandall, Jerremy Jones, Martha Pofit, Mary Jo Teetor, Bob Williams, Nancy Liberatore.

Absent- John Belnavis, Rob Goldman, Ed Laird, Phil Pope, Rob Nesbit.

1. Recording Secretary’s Report- Kemi McShane Bostock Minutes of the July 27, 2019 trustees meeting sent by email. Jeff made Motion made to accept the Minutes as written, second by Elaine. All voted in favor.
2. Treasure’s Report – Elaine Bagley. Updated constantly to date: 81,594.24 in checking and 70, 443.00 in Savings. 2019 appeal generated 20,00.00, 35 new members. Greeters program grant 27,000.00 plus 6,000.00(broken into 2 sections) Greeters and AIS. Discussion on how to keep donations coming in the future and how do we expand the membership. A motion was made to accept the treasure’s report as submitted, second all voted in FAVOR.
3. Report of Annual Meeting 2019- LSCCC likes the LSCA utilizing the facility. The annual dinner meeting was a success. Bob Williams was thanked personally by Jim Canders for the raffle donation.
4. Milfoil Management- Jeff Crandall. Presentation made by Beck from DASH program to report the outcome of this season’s work. They had a delayed start due to the permit process, reported removed 1,293 buckets of milfoil from LSC. Expressed concern for storm water runoff that increases additional nutrients into the lake and noticed floaters in the early Spring so was anticipating a difficult season but were able to work the areas designated for DASH. The milfoil had reached the surface. Saw lots of matted areas and pondweed. The herbicide treatment was very effective throughout the lake. Referred to the survey done by Solotude to designate the locations for the treatment areas. Two surveys are conducted in the Fall and Spring. The Fall survey evaluates the programs effectiveness in managing the milfoil. The Spring survey helps identify the areas the need treatment. The goal is to manage the milfoil with localized treatment with the herbicide and for DASH to supplement the milfoil management. Discussion followed on how to proceed in our milfoil treatment. Three points were outlined: 1. LSCA needs to follow formal case study to show scientifically based work. 2. LSCA needs to reach out to other lakes that use Solotude and compare results. 3. The Little Lake is a major concern and if applied these interventions how would these improve the Little Lake’s condition. DASH end date was August 15, 2019. The plant becomes brittle and not alive. It starts to mat and DASH was vacuuming the bottom of the Lake. All were concerned that this season was going to be bad but had amazing end results. DASH is hoping to start work next June not in July as its important to treat the milfoil early before the growing cycle begins.
5. Water Quality- Mary Jo Teetor- 2019 storms made water quality cloudy. Did 5-meter reading. Send samples to State. 9 samples from the Little Lake. No E. coli testing this summer. Lots of new rules from the State. Creating districts. Dealing with storm water projects, culverts, roads. Phosphorus a major concern. Overall water quality good, heavy rains creating problems as increases run off. Discussion to take samples from specific spots and take Spring phosphorus samples to have a base line. Lake Report Cards need to be more consistent. Discussed the meeting with the Commissioner of the DEC, Emily Boedecker, 8/15/19. Major concern is the phosphorous in the Lake. Encouraged the LSCA to contact the legislative representatives and include them in the discussion regarding the health of the whole Lake.
6. Publicity- Jerremy Jones- the presentation of the Fall newsletter. East Poultney Day was a successful event. Judy Leach has a morning talk show and would like to interview the LSCA on the radio.
7. Lake Safety- Frank Callahan- Removal of cones and buoys. Game Warden visually present to monitor lake safety.
8. Nominating Committee- Bob Williams- Contacted people interested in becoming a trustee. Need to reach out to them so can attend a meeting. Kemi McShane Bostock voted in for a two-year position. Nancy Liberatore appointed a 3 year position.
9. Membership- Elaine Bagley- reported on the results of the fund raising letter. Needs a chair person.
10. Government relations- Martha Pofit- LSCA & PMNRCD Partnership. Prepare for funding opportunities with the Lake Champlain Basin Authority. Need to develop LSC priority projects and Strategic plan. Late Fall meeting with the State.
11. Old Business- Boat Parade- needs committee, Wells Day- still a worthwhile event, East Poultney Day- needs a chairperson.
12. Lake Wise- Amy
13. Election: President – Jim Canders Vice president- Martha Pofit, Treasurer- Elaine Bagley, Secretary- Kemi McShane Bostock, Pass one ballot for all nominations motion made, second and all voted in Favor. Meeting adjourned by Jim Canders at 11:05 motion made and second- all voted in FAVOR.
14. Next meeting May 23, 2020 @ 8:30 am LSCCC

Hello good folks of the Lake St. Catherine community.

We'd like to let you know that the LSCA Fall 2019 newsletter is now available.

In an effort to save on printing and mailing costs, we've decided to only print a short run of copies and distribute them to Otto's Cones Point General Store and the Wells Country Store. If you'd like a printed copy, please feel free to pick one up when you are out and about in Poultney or Wells (starting around noon today). Thank you to Otto's and WCS!

The digital version is now available online via our website through this link: Click here to view the Fall 2019 Newsletter, or click on the image below. When you click on the link for the newsletter, you will be able to view it on screen - and be able to zoom in or out using the controls on the bottom of the screen. Or, you can click the download button in the top right corner to save a copy to your computer to view with a PDF reader or print a copy.

We hope you'll enjoy this edition of the LSCA newsletter.

We welcome your comments: info@lakestcatherine.org.

Thank you for your support!

Are you a member yet? Maintaining the lake costs approximately $125,000 annually. Grants, membership dues and contributions make up the majority of our funding. If you'd like to help, please consider becoming a member or making a donation. We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and any contribution that you make is tax deductible.

On Saturday, July 27th, the Lake St. Catherine Association held their third meeting of the 2019 season.

The Trustees gave their reports on many topics - Click here to see the full meeting agenda. Meeting minutes compiled by Kemi Mcshane.

July 27th 2019 Meeting of the Lake St. Catherine Board of Trustees

Lake St. Catherine Country Club, 8:30 AM

Meeting called to order by President Jim Canders at 8:00 AM

Present: Ken Abt, Elaine Bagley, John Belnavis, Kemi McShane, Jim Canders, Frank Callahan, Jerremy Jones, Ed Laird, Matha Pofit, Mary Jo Teetor, Bob Williams. Rob Nesbit via Google Meet

Absent: Jeffrey Crandall, Rob Goldman, Phil Pope

1. Recording Secretary’s Report - Minutes of the June 22,2019 meeting – Sent by e-mail approved.
2. Treasurers Report – approved
3. Annual Membership Meeting and Dinner LSCA July 27, 2019 @ 6:00pm Review of power point presentation – updated notes and discussion regarding the background of water quality.
4. Milfoil Management: Big Lake looks bad on the scorecard. The picture of the Lake looks divided into three sections: Big Lake, Little Lake and Lily Pond. Concerned that information is not reflecting the true present condition of the water quality of the Lake. The watershed management provides information regarding the Lake at it’s present state. Milfoil is gone by the Cones Point area of treatment. Will always have to spot treat, but are seeing good results with the treatment. The posting of the Lake treatment signs need to be collected. The Solitude treatment has produced good results. Collected 3 sets of samples, results from the Lab showed good results, all clear. 48 hours resolved out of Lake. Renovate had results in 2 weeks. The delayed timing for the Milfoil control was a delay in receiving the 5 year permit; a yearly review is required for updates of any changes. And to designate the areas of treatment. Monies received from the 2 grants $27,000.00 ( Watershed grant and aquatic nuisance grant) are designated into 2 categories: Milfoil Control and the Greeter program. Actually received more money, $32,000.00. Receiving the most money. DASH have a 10 year plan/permit. Have to contract on a yearly basis to update areas for treatment. DASH permit for 10 years. Has to be monitored for areas being treated and timing of treatment for fish spawning. Our Lake management approach is in the mainstream compared to other Lakes. Boat Launch Program: Greeter program has training and able to increased hours and monitoring the boats during heavy traffic times for launching of the boats. Educating the public regarding the invasive species located in the Lake and how to control transporting them in and out of the Lake.
5. Water Quality: Lake setting from big rains 5 meters reading. E-coli testing will get kits from the town of Poultney. Algae early on but Lake is in great shape. Water has been too cloudy to test due to heavy rains and run off. The lake is in the best shape as of now. Sandy Beach area milfoil just disintegrating. Sunken Island is being treated with the Suction program. They will be finishing their contract in August.
6. Publicity- update of presentation power point. Discussion as to how to increase out reach and how to generate new membership.
7. Lake Safety- reported results of licensing and how many are ticketed for non-licensure. The Game Warden is only assigned to LSC and checks boats for proper equipment and that the boat is in compliance with state regulations. Review of missing markers and the correct placement of markers. Found the anchor for the Sunken Island to be replaced.
8. Nominating Committee- Review of the Slate to be presented at the General Meeting. Discuss the need for new people to be involved and active in the LSCA. Can appoint from the floor if have only one nomination from the floor. See response from the general public membership. Rand’s position can be an executive appointment for the remainder of his 2 year term. Have 2 trustee positions to fill.
9. Membership- Appeal letter has generated an increase in membership. 326 participating members. Sent 42 postcards and 37 have responded from the mailing. Elaine reaches out personally to get people to respond to her mailings.
10. Government relations- good relationships with the towns of Wells and Poultney and the State.
11. Old Business- Hilary from Lake wise program educate caring for your property and has targeted certain areas on the Lake. Evaluated 30 propertied on the Lake to increase best practices and property management to decrease shoreline erosion and run off. Lake wise takes surveys and manages the information to show results and best practices utilized by property owners. 54 reservation s for tonight’s dinner meeting. John requested a $200.00 facility fee for the use of the LSCCC club house. Motion made and second , all in favor to allocate the money to pay the LSCCC. The Fund raiser raffle will be sold at the dinner meeting. Questioned how the LSCA will respond to our position regarding the Little Lake. Discussion followed how to resolve the conflict between the two areas and how to proceed. Questioned raised regarding the State Park and if they report on the conditions of the Lake and the flow of patrons to the Lake. LSCA is in touch with the State park, notifying them when the treatment dates are. Discussed the present position regarding the closing of GMC. How is the town of Poultney dealing with this situation? Grant writing- Martha is preparing for next year and how to position ourselves to get the most funding available. Elaine requested to redesign the membership card. And how to recognize the members who contribute more then just the membership dues. Do we have levels of contributions such as Gold, Silver and Bronze. How to acknowledge people’s contributions and how to increase membership donations.
12. Motion to adjourn meeting, second and all in favor. Meeting adjourned at 10:22. Respectfully submitted, Kemi McShane recording secretary.

Hello LSC fans - we have some great news to share with you about our membership and donation appeal.

A few weeks ago, we sent letters & emails and published postings on our website and Facebook pages detailing our projected budget shortfall for 2019. You can read that posting here. To summarize, we've projected that funding all the programs and services at the level we need to this season will result in a $30k shortfall. Fully funding our 2019 budget without raising additional funds would result in depleting almost half of our savings.

So, we decided that we needed to reach out to the lake community to try to reach non-members, asking them to join - and to our current members, asking if they could make an additional contribution this year to help us make a dent in our projected deficit... and you have responded.

Here is the great news: since our appeal began on July 17th - 21 new members have joined, and we've received just over $20k in membership dues and and donations!

This is amazing. In just over 2 weeks, you've helped us eliminate two thirds of our projected deficit.

Thank you.

We'd also like to thank you for all the kind words we've received... notes in sent in with donations and membership applications, emails, Facebook replies, face-to-face conversations around the lake and at the annual meeting. We appreciate them, and they certainly help to keep us motivated to fulfill our mission of the preservation, protection and maintenance of Lake St. Catherine!

We also hope that you can help us spread the word to your neighbors, friends and family. Let them know about the good work we do for the lake, and ask them to become a member, or make a contribution.

If you have not become a member yet, we hope to earn support.

Information on how to become a member or make a donation are listed below.

Finally, we also want to mention that we are not just relying on our membership for funding. In the Fall, we will be applying for approximately $50k in grants - and we are hopeful we receive some of those funds. We will also continue to work with State and local governments to increase and maintain our current funding levels with them.

Thank you for your continued support of the Lake St. Catherine Association!

Become A Member:

To become a member (or renew your membership), you can join on our website by filling out the form on our Become A Member page, using a credit card. Or, you can fill in this 2019 Membership Application and Donation Appeal form and mail it in with a check.

Make An Additional Donation In 2019:

There are a few ways you can make a donation to the LSCA. You can visit the Donation Page on our website, or click on the blue Donate button at the top of our Facebook page to make your donation by credit card. Or, you can fill in this 2019 Membership Application and Donation Appeal form and mail it in with a check.

Hello LSC fans.

We'd like to give you a quick recap of last night's Annual Meeting & Dinner.

Thank you to the Lake St. Catherine Country Club for again being our host, and preparing an excellent dinner for all attendees.

We'd also like to thank Williams Hardware in Poultney for donating a Grill Gazebo, which we raffled off to raise money for the LSCA.

We had a great crowd of folks interested in hearing about and discussing lake issues.

Thank you all for coming!

The trustees gave reports summarizing the good work of the LSCA this season - all in support of our mission to preserve, protect and maintain Lake St. Catherine.

Here is the presentation:

Some highlights:

• Ashley Leemans from the Poultney Mettowee Natural Resources Conservation District (PMNRCD) spoke about three important topics:

- LEAP - LEAP is a program that offers free plantings to help mitigate stormwater runoff into the lake from your property

- Lake Wise - Lake Wise is a State of VT program that awards lake property homeowners for having a lake friendly property. The PMNRCD will be providing Lake Wise assessments to LSC property owners over the next two years. Using a point based system, your property will be assessed for lake friendly best management practices. If your property meets the Lake Wise standard, you will be awarded a specially designed Lake Wise sign to proudly display on your property. If your property did not initially qualify, the PMNRCD will inform you on what to work on, and they will even offer assistance. If you would like to sign up to have a Lake Wise assessment for your property, please contact us at info@lakestcatherine.org.

- LSC Stormwater Masterplan - The PMNRCD has been working around the lake to identify problem areas where rain from storms bring nutrients and pollutants into the lake. A public meeting will be held to discuss the plan. Details of this meeting will be announced soon

• Mary Jo Teetor explained that the water clarity has been recovering steadily from the extremely wet spring that had a huge impact on the water. She also spoke about the importance of all lake property owners to make their property lake friendly. Here are a few documents that discuss best practices and outline the problems caused by runoff into the lake:

- Sharing The Edge - A Guide For Lakeshore Property Owners In Vermont

- Your Lake And You!

• Jim discussed our 2019 milfoil treatment program. This season, our 5 year herbicide treatment permit and our 10 year DASH (diver assisted suction harvesting) permit were both approved by the state. Beginning this season, we are using a new, highly effective and targeted herbicide called ProcellaCOR as part of our milfoil control program. This was applied on July 10th - and the results have been excellent. Our DASH team has also been hard at work, efficiently removing buckets of milfoil daily from many locations around the lake. You will see them working throughout the summer. Our goal is to maintain a balanced approach with herbicide and DASH to help control milfoil. This season, we are projecting approximately 2/3 DASH, 1/3 herbicide of the total acreage being treated for milfoil.

• Elaine updated everyone on our membership numbers. To date, we have 326 paid members, generating $51,300 in membership dues. Elaine then discussed our 2019 budget and the projected deficit. Pie charts can be seen in the presentation.

• Jerremy then described the appeal campaign we started a few weeks ago to try to address the budget shortfall. As we continue to receive less and less from State and local governments, we need to continually work to raise funds so we can maintain our programs. This year, we will be applying for $50k in grants from the Lake Champlain Basin Program - and we are hopeful to receive some of these funds. Two weeks ago, we sent letters to the lake community asking non-members to join and asking our members if they could make an additional contribution this season. Since the appeal started, we've had 14 new members join, collecting $6,070 in dues and donations, so we are off to a great start. We will continue to reach out to the lake community for additional members and donations. Please spread the word - and thank you for your support!

Other discussions included John's report about the boat launch and our Greeter Program, Kemi's report about the Boat Parade, and Frank's report on lake safety and the 25 new licensed boaters that passed the boating safety classes.

At the end of the trustee reports, Bob announced slate of 5 trustees to be reelected, which was approved. Bob also noted that the LSCA is seeking people interested in joining the board and becoming a trustee. If you'd like to actively participate in helping the LSCA fulfill its mission, please contact us to express your interest at info@lakestcatherine.org.

After a Q & A session, the meeting was adjourned - and it was time to eat! Thank you to everyone who pitched in the mad scramble to quickly change the dining room from stadium to dinner seating as the food was coming out of the kitchen.

We hope all who attended enjoyed our presentation and the dinner.

We had a delightful evening sharing a meal and speaking with all of our lake neighbors.

If you missed the meeting this year, we hope to see you next time.

If you have any questions about the meeting or the presentation, please contact us at info@lakestcatherine.org.

Thank you for your support of the Lake St. Catherine Association!