Hello LSC.

As you may have heard, back on Saturday. September 30th, someone completely destroyed the Welcome to Lake St. Catherine sign, and a memorial slate plaque for Martin Greenberg at the bottom of North Street.

A plaque was placed there in memory of Martin when he passed away in December of 2018. Unfortunately, Martin's plaque was also completely destroyed.

LSCA Trustee John Belnavis reached out to Sheldon Slate, who produced the plaque for us back in 2018, and they were able to recreate it for us:

We'd like to thank Sheldon Slate, and especially Pete & Karen, for reproducing Martin's plaque, and for very kindly donating to the LSCA.

THANK YOU!

You can read more about Martin, and his contributions to Lake St. Catherine and the LSCA here: "Longtime LSCA Trustee Martin Greenberg Passes Away".

The LSCA is currently working on designs for a new sign. We'll share those with you when we are a bit further along in the process.

You can read more about the hit and run destruction of the sign here. Based on reported observations, it happened between 7:30 AM and 8 AM on the morning of September 30th. Based on parts left behind, the car was a blue 2000-2005 Toyota RAV4, which would have parts missing from its front bumper. If you have any additional information you can provide, please let us know.

Our Game Warden Justin Turner sent us this final summer update about Game Warden patrols at the lake to pass along to the lake community. He has been providing updates throughout the season, and this is his sixth and final update for the season.

We thank Justin for his work, and providing these updates to the lake community!

Justin's Report:

"Game Wardens conducted approximately 100 vessel inspections on the lake this summer, the majority of which resulted in a pass and a sticker. To date, there were not any boating incidents that required an immediate response. One arrest was made for boating while intoxicated. The majority of violations were addressed with a warning and education, and significantly less were addressed with civil tickets.

The State Park was busy with campers and call volume for complaints was nearly nonexistent.

The brown trout fishing seemed to pick up as summer came to an end, with the occasional lake trout hitting the net. If you’re going to be out targeting brown trout during the “frost bite” season or any other target species for that matter, please remember your safety equipment. Life jackets save lives.

The LSC patrol boat will remain ready and operable for the coming weeks. As the local Warden, it was nice to meet many people on the water and I look forward to seeing you all next summer, if not sooner. As always, please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or concerns.

Lastly, as deer season is upon us, if you witness a wildlife crime or see poaching activity, please do not hesitate to contact Warden Turner directly at 802-595-8754 or through Vermont State Police dispatch at 802-722-4629. In the event you wish to remain anonymous, you can call the toll-free hotline: 1-800-75-ALERT (1-800-752-5378). The toll-free hotline is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year to report wildlife violations or visit this link if you wish to remain anonymous via online submission:

https://vtfishandwildlife.com/hunt/hunting-regulations/operation-game-thief

Thank you and be safe."

Thank you to Justin for working to keep us all safe on the lake, and for providing these updates throughout the season!

You can read more about boating rules, and how to contact Justin on our Lake Safety page here: https://lakestcatherine.org/lake-safety

The episode of the public affairs show hosted by Senator Brian Collamore called Catamount Community Connection featuring an interview with the Lake St. Catherine Association (LSCA) and Poultney Poultney Mettowee Natural Resource Conservation District (PMNRCD) aired this morning, October 1st, on 98.1 WJJR Rutland.

Jerremy Jones from the LSCA and Hilary Solomon from the PMNRCD had a great discussion with Senator Collamore about the projects and programs our organizations are working on, and how we are working together on numerous preservation and protection initiatives for the lake and the Lake St. Catherine watershed.

Thank you to Senator Collamore and to Catamount Radio for this opportunity to speak about these important topics for the lake community and all in the Poultney Mettowee conservation district.

You can listen to it here on YouTube:

Check it out!

Hello LSC, we have some unfortunate news to share.

On Saturday morning, September 30th, someone completely destroyed the Welcome to Lake St. Catherine sign, and a memorial slate plaque for Martin Greenberg at the bottom of North Street.

Based on car parts left behind at the scene and some observations from folks around the lake, it appears that the vehicle was a blue 2000-2005 Toyota RAV4, and the sign was hit between 7:30 and 8 AM.

If you have any info that you can provide, please let us know, and we'll send that along to VSP for their investigation. Also, keep an eye out for a blue RAV4 with front bumper damage.

We have already started planning for a new sign, and we'll have more info soon.

Thanks again to the Kings for all the hard work they provide to maintain and make this area look beautiful for all of us.

Hello LSC.

The Lake St. Catherine Association and the Poultney Mettowee Natural Resources Conservation District (PMNRCD) were recently interviewed by Senator Brian Collamore for his public affairs show Catamount Community Connection.

Our episode will air next Sunday, October 1st on WJJR, 98.1 FM at 6 AM, and on Cat Country, 105.3 FM at 11 PM. You can listen to both of these stations online by clicking the attached links.

We'll do our best to record our episode in case you miss it and make it available for listening at another time.

Jerremy Jones from the LSCA and Hilary Solomon from the PMNRCD had a great discussion with Senator Collamore about the projects and programs our organizations are working on, and how we are working together on numerous preservation and protection initiatives for the lake and the Lake St. Catherine watershed.

Thank you to Senator Collamore and to Catamount Radio for this opportunity to speak about these important topics for the lake community and all in the Poultney Mettowee conservation district. 

We hope you can tune in!

Hello LSC. 

The Lake St. Catherine Association recently made a donation to the Vermont Center for EcoStudies (VCE) to support and acknowledge the fine work of VCE and loon biologist Eric Hanson for loons in Vermont - and at Lake St. Catherine.

Eric has travelled to Lake St. Catherine numerous times over the past few years in support of our increasing loon visits.

This May, he came to LSC to observe a pair of loons that had exhibited nesting activity in the Channel. Although they ultimately did not build a nest, we'll work with Eric to place a nesting platform for them when they return in April. You can read about his May visit here: https://lakestcatherine.org/blog/13207383.

In August, VCE also provided a collection tube that we installed at the boat launch in Wells to collect lead tackle and old fishing line, both deadly to loons. You can read more about that here: https://lakestcatherine.org/blog/13235860

Eric was also at LSC twice in July of 2022 to participate in the Libraries Love Lakes event, and to present at our Annual Meeting & Dinner. At that Annual Meeting, Eric gave a fantastic presentation about loons, which was recorded - and you can view that here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUrY1PqirzU.

In 2021, Eric also rescued a sub-adult loon on Lake St. Catherine that had been caught up with a lure and fishing line. You can read about that here: https://lakestcatherine.org/blog/12107471.

Yesterday, we were very happy to read this nice note from Alyssa at VCE thanking the LSCA and our members for the donation, and inviting members to a special conversation with Eric about loons - and we'd like to share it with you:

"First off, I want to thank you for giving to the Vermont Loon Conservation Project (VLCP) during our recent Loon Appeal. Thanks to you and your fellow supporters, Vermont's loons are better supported than ever before. Your gift will support our efforts to reduce the amount of lead tackle being used on Vermont's lakes, provide nesting rafts for the loons that need them, and more.

As a new VLCP donor, the Lake St. Catherine Association is invited to a special conversation with VCE's loon Biologist, Eric Hanson, to hear about the state of Vermont's loons, including stories from the field and time for a Q & A. This is an exclusive opportunity to connect with Eric, who criss-crosses Vermont all summer visiting our lakes and ponds, rescuing loons, and conducting our ongoing loon monitoring. Eric has been the loon biologist for the VLCP since 1998 and hearing him share his knowledge and insights from the past couple decades is always a treat!

This conversation will take place on Zoom at 7pm on 9/25/2023. That's just a week away! Please pre-register for the Zoom meeting here to receive the link to the conversation. Please feel free to pass this link along to your members."

This is a great opportunity to learn more about Vermont's loons, and Eric always gives a fantastic presentation!

We hope to see you there!

Hey there LSC. Wow - what a fantastic meeting this morning!

It was great to see so many folks who care about the lake joining in on the discussion about the Lake St. Catherine Stormwater Master Plan (SWMP) this morning at the Wells Town Hall. There were 40 attendees in total!

12 projects from the SWMP were selected and will move ahead into the design phase. You can see a plotting of the projects on a Google map on the LSC Stormwater Master Plan Page here: https://lakestcatherine.org/stormwater-master-plan

Projects selected were: 

• CT-1 (Clayton Tract)
• RT30-1 (RT 30, near Otto's)
• CP-1 (end of Cones Point Road)
• LL-1 (Lochlea Lane)
• WL-1 (West Lake Road, south of the Lighthouse)
• WL-6 (West Lake Road, near Idylwild)
• CD-1 (Channel Drive)
• FCR-1 (revisit), FCR-2, FCR-3, FCR-4, IVL-1 (grouping of issues on Ferncliff Road)

Although noted as separate projects, the grouping on Ferncliff will be looked at together in scope, as will the multiple issues that have been observed on Channel Drive.

This was an extremely productive meeting, and we thank all attendees for your participation, input and enthusiasm to make this project a success! Also, many folks that were unable to attend wrote in to share issues they have observed, which have also been noted.

We'd also like to thank the town of Wells for the use of the Town Hall meeting room, and Hilary, Sadie, Sophia, and Evan (from Poultney Mettowee Natural Resources Conservation District and Fitzgerald Environmental) for all the work they put forth in preparation for the meeting. 

Finally, we'd like to thank Don Preuss & Paul Woodruff from the Wells Select Board, members of the town road crews from Wells & Poultney, Senator Terry Williams, Poultney Community Development Director Sarah Pelkey, Poultney Town Manager Paul Donaldson, and Vermont DEC Watershed Planner Angie Allen for attending and contributing.

It's going to take all of us contributing and working on these and other important lake issues to make progress - so it was just so great to see so many folks participating - THANK YOU!

We'll keep you up-to-date on this and all other projects as they move forward. We'll look to have another gathering soon to discuss the Lake St. Catherine Watershed Action Plan.

Enjoy this beautiful Labor Day Weekend...

Today marks the Lake St. Catherine Association's 70th anniversary!

A lot has changed over those 70 years, and the LSCA has evolved to meet new challenges over that time. As you’ll read below, the LSCA has updated its original stated purpose a few times as the needs of the lake have changed, and to focus on the responsibility of stewardship.

Back on August 31st, 1953, the founding Trustees of the Lake St. Catherine Association submitted our Articles of Association with the stated purpose of “…encouraging, and promoting the development and beautifying of the grounds, cottages, beaches and roads of privately owned homes and cottages on or near Lake St. Catherine...”

On August 28th, 1980, the LSCA’s Trustees submitted an Amendment of Articles of Association to update our purpose. It was changed to “The purpose of this corporation is the promotion of the common good, general welfare and civic betterment of the Lake St. Catherine community by restoring and maintaining the quality of Lake St. Catherine, a public body of water, and the surrounding area, for the benefit of all those people who visit and use the lake and for the benefit of the total environment of all people.”

Then on July 30th, 2011, the LSCA’s Trustees submitted another Amendment of Articles of Association which updated our purpose to what it is today, and instituting our 501c3 non-profit status: “The purpose of this corporation is to be a public charity to receive donations, grants or contributions and to utilize its income and assets for the preservation, protection, and maintenance of Lake St. Catherine, a public body of water in the State of Vermont, and its environs.”

What started in 1953 as a well-intentioned group of folks promoting the beautifying of the grounds of Lake St. Catherine has evolved into an association of dedicated volunteers planning for the long-term future and health of the lake.

As we acknowledge this occasion, we also reflect back to think of those who started this great organization. We sincerely hope that they would be proud to see what the Association has grown into.

So, as we mark our 70th anniversary, cheers to those founding members of the LSCA, to those who have served in the past, and to our current 15 Trustees who continue to work to preserve, protect, and maintain beautiful Lake St. Catherine!

Our Game Warden Justin Turner sent us this update about Game Warden patrols at the lake in August to pass along to the lake community. He has been providing updates throughout the season, and this is his fifth update.

We thank Justin for his work, and providing these updates to the lake community!

Justin's Report:

"Game Wardens patrolled the lake throughout the month of August conducting safety inspections and visibility patrols. Several patrols resulted in addressing zero violations, for example no wake violations, illegal operation of personal watercraft, or the mandatory requirements for having a personal flotation device(s). Having said that, as a reminder anybody born after January 1, 1974, is required by statute to complete a boating safety course.

Here is a link: https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/23/029/03305b

Fishing pressure seems to be increasing while the recreational boating seems to be slowing down. There are several fishing derbies scheduled to be on the lake in the near future. Here are those dates: 09/02, 09/10, 10/07, 10/08, and 10/14.

If you see a violation or any activity that raises concern, please feel free to contact Warden Turner directly at 802-595-8754. If there is an emergency and you are unable to speak directly with Warden Turner, call State Police Dispatch at 802-772-4629 and the next available Warden can assist you.

Stay safe, keep dry, and enjoy the lake!”

One of those numerous safety inspections Justin conducted in August was with me as I had stopped to observe a loon this past Sunday in Oxbow Bay:

Justin checked that I had my boating license, and also inspected the boat for things like proper PFDs, working lights, a fire extinguisher, and registration.

When you pass the safety inspection, you get a Warden Service Inspection Sticker:

Thank you to Justin for working to keep us all safe on the lake, and for providing these updates!

You can read more about boating rules, and how to contact Justin on our Lake Safety page here: https://lakestcatherine.org/lake-safety

The Fall 2023 Newsletter is here!

In an effort to save on printing and mailing costs, we've decided to only print a short run of copies and distribute them at Wellsmere Farm. If you'd like a printed copy, please feel free to pick one up when you are out and about (available now!). Thank you to Michelle for having them at the farm!

Also, your LSCA Trustee neighbors will have printed copies available around the lake over the weekend.

The digital version is now available online via our website through this link: Click here to view the Fall 2023 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 in your browser window. Or, you can click the download button to save a copy to your computer to view with a PDF reader, and/or print a copy.