END OF THE DOCK

Steve Grotbo, President

We normally announce the official ice out date in the spring newsletter, but Mother Nature did not cooperate, so now we finally get to announce that it was April 21st (Easter Sunday). Better than last year's May date but still much later than 2017's March date. I am hopeful that global warming will give us more March dates in the future.

The annual pork chop meeting was a great success and included the election of Laurie Johnson and Cindy Hewitt to the board. Be sure to congratulate them. Cathy Klehr is moving away from the lake and we thank her for her many years of service to the lake. Cathy started out heading up the membership list before joining the board in 2011. With her departure, we are looking for another board member for a 1 1/2 year term. Please let us know if you are interested in joining the team. The board officers are the same as last year.

Things are definitely changing around the lake these past years. An interesting statistic I saw was that in 2005 the average lake owner in Minnesota was 55. Ten years later in 2015, the average owner was 65, indicating no property turnover for that period. Within the past few years, we now all have a new neighbor or two, which I think is great and we welcome everyone to enjoy the lake. I am also seeing a number of impressive "toys" on the lake with many of them costing well over $50k. Perhaps one of these days I will be offered a ride?

At Ellsworth landing, the association is sponsoring a garbage can with weekly pick up service. We received many concerns from members on trash just being left in the area. The hope is that people do not abuse this and we can have garbage service in place next season and beyond. To help in this effort, the I-LIDS camera that is already in place for boat launchings will also film garbage abusers.

The lake's Facebook page (www.facebook.com/LakeWashington) is getting a lot of activity these days. Last year we ended at 192 likes, now we are at 312 people. I know the younger generation is saying that Facebook is only for older people, which probably is the category most of us fall under. This also tells me that more members must have Internet access since only 80% said they had access during the 2013 survey.

A big thank you to Renae McKimm for organizing a Lake Washington sweatshirt sale. The first round sold 108 items bringing in over $1200 for the invasive species fund. A second round of sales was done to satisfy the high demand for youth sizes. I am hoping for a third round offering sweatshirts for the dogs.

Click here for list of paid members for 2019

Click here for the presentation that Dr. Michael McCartney gave during our annual meeting in May 2017 covering zaebra mussels

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