The Lake St. Catherine Association is pleased to announce that the LSCA Greeter Program has been expanded to the Lake St. Catherine State Park.

In the fall, we applied for, and were awarded a Vermont Watershed grant to expand our Greeter Program to include the State Park. Each year, it's estimated that 1,800 vessels are launched into LSC from the boat launch there. Unfortunately, that grant was canceled due to the COVID-19 situation.

However, we felt it was worth launching a pilot program this year so funds were allocated to get it started.

Our Greeters will be stationed just past the main entrance booth on Fridays and Saturdays from 1:30 - 5:30. These two days and times represent the busiest check in times. This will allow vessels to be inspected as soon as they enter the State Park. Park visitors will also be educated on the dangers of transporting invasive species.

From left to right: Patrick Dundas, Lucas Milazzo and Amy Rohrman.

Patrick and Amy are supervisors at the park - and they have been very supportive of our Greeters.

Our Greeters have been trained to identify invasive species (like spiny waterflea, asian clams, water chestnut, starry stonewort and zebra mussels) 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. Each year, they do a fantastic job checking vessels and educating the lake community on the dangers of invasive species for Lake St. Catherine.

Finally, we'd like to thank Reuben Allen, Parks Regional Manager for his support with setting up this pilot program. We hope we will be able to expand our program at the State Park in 2021!