Hello good folks of the Lake St. Catherine community.

It's that time of year again... As the Lake St. Catherine Association heads into its 65th year, we are asking for your support for the 2018 season.

Your membership dues and contributions help fund many of the services provided by the LSCA:

• Maintain and purchase navigation and shore line protection buoys throughout the lake.
• Test the water for E coli, and water clarity.
• Managing the free boat-safety courses that are state mandated for all persons born after January 1, 1974.
• Inspecting boats wishing to enter the lake for Eurasian milfoil, zebra mussels and water chestnuts.
• Controlling milfoil (and other invasive species) and maintaining native weeds at tolerable levels.
• Working with the state to solve the problems of silting and impacts of phosphorus and other sources of pollution.
• Maintaining "welcome" signs and gardens.
• Liaising with other lakes in order to exchange information concerning problems.
• Sponsor the annual fun-filled July 4th Boat Parade.
• Disseminate information to our membership and the community through newsletters, website, and other local publications.
• Organizing funding through membership fees, donations and grants from the State of Vermont and Poultney and Wells.
• We represent you to state and local governments to protect your rights and the lake in general.
• We protect the value of your property by maintain the beauty, access, and safety of the lake.

Your dues and contributions also help support special initiatives like the Lily Pond Channel Restoration project, which was completed in October. We are still hoping to raise additional funds to cover the cost of this project. We hope that you'll consider adding an additional contribution to your membership dues this year, in support of this important restoration.

There are two easy ways to renew or become a member of the LSCA.

Soon, you will be receiving a mailing from us that contains the 2018 Member Notice. Just fill out the form and mail it in to our Treasurer Elaine with a check for your dues. We'll also send you an email if we have your address on file.

Or, you can renew or become a member on our website. If you were a member in 2017, click here to renew, or to become a new member - and you can pay your dues online with your credit card. If you were a member last year (whether you paid by check or online by credit card), the website has an account ready for you. If you don't remember your password, or never set one up, click on the "Forgot Username/Password?" link, and the site will send you an email with the information.

We'd also like to encourage you to check with your employer to see if they have an Employer Matching Gift Program for charitable donations. Many generous businesses will match donations made by their employees through these programs. So, take a look - you may be able to double your contribution!

If you are a business in the Lake St. Catherine community, we have a new Business Sponsor Membership we'd like to tell you about. The Business Sponsor Membership includes:

1. A listing on our ‘Sponsors’ page on www.lakestcatherine.org with your logo, a link to your web or Facebook page, including a brief description of your business and services.
2. The posting of your events and special occasions to our Events & LSC Community Website Calendar.
3. A posting on our Blog and Facebook page about your business as a ‘Sponsor Spotlight’ feature.
4. A posting for your business in our Spring and Fall newsletters. Newsletters will be made available to the community in both printed and digital versions.

Finally, we'd like to tell you about a very exciting partnership with local artist Peter Huntoon. Peter has generously offered to create an original painting of Lake St. Catherine to be used as a fundraiser to benefit the LSCA in 2018. We'll let you know when the painting is completed - and how the fundraiser will work (auction / raffle). Prints of the original painting will also be available for purchase.

Your membership and the dues and contributions we receive allows us to accomplish our work. Maintaining the lake costs approximately $100,000 annually. While we do receive annual grants from Poultney, Wells, and the State, membership dues and contributions make up the majority of our funding.

We appreciate your support!

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