This is an update on all things Six Mile Lake.
First up…the next meeting will be Saturday, September 14 at 9am at the Pleasant Valley Free Methodist Church at the south end of Six Mile Lake Rd. Coffee and donuts will be provided. This is for election of officers so please show up to vote. For the first time ever we have more members running than positions to fill. Paula Stephanic is running for re-election for treasurer, Linda VanAndel is running for re-election to the board. Kathryn Bell, Craig Schmidt and Joy Hettig are not running for re-election. Thank you all for your service. Cliff Sorrell resigned as President and Jeff Rogers is filling the last year of Cliff’s term. Also, the board voted to appoint Will Wottowa to fill the vacancy for the remainder of 2019 because of his extensive work on the flooding issue which he has been documenting since fall 2017. So there are three vacancies to fill as well as the two positions already mentioned. Steve Bell, Will Wottowa, Gregg Valerio, Pat Pelong, and Candy Walker are all running for the board. All but Linda and Pat are from Echo Twp. Linda and Pat live in Southarm Twp. Our guest speaker will be Steve Murray from Great Lakes Energy.
Immediately following the meeting at 11am there will be a dedication of the new Nathan Beem Preserve at the home of Dan & Heather Beem at 4966 Six Mile Lake Rd, Ellsworth so please plan on attending. How wonderful that the Beems wanted a memorial to their son and chose to honor him with this nature preserve on Six Mile Lake and that so many of us were included in this forever project.
Thursday September 12 at 7pm is the next board meeting to be at Pleasant Valley Free Methodist Church.
There have been several concerns about the blue-green algae floating along the east side of the lake from Dave Daniel’s place all the way to the south end. PLM has treated for this twice and will be out again. It’s a double edged sword in that many lakes across Michigan are experiencing this same bloom called ‘planktonic’ and it can be both problematic to people using and living on the lake and hard to control because of government restrictions limiting treatment areas to occupied shorelines only and number of days (14) between treatments. Also, you don’t want your pets drinking the water where this stuff is floating as it can make some pets sick. PLM will be out again next week. Once this is treated it is safe to be in the water and use the lake to water flowers, lawns, etc.
Last Thursday, August 8th in the early evening a boat went speeding down the shoreline creating a wake so big that it came almost 36 inches up into my yard. The boat was traveling so fast, I never got a look at it but the close proximity to the shoreline and the size of the wake knocked a neighbor’s boat off their shore station causing lots of damage. If any of you saw this boat or have any information please contact me at 231.676.9969. Also…just a reminder to stay 100 feet away from docks, swim platforms, and other watercraft. Yes, this is a narrow lake but please do your best to put some space between you and the other people using the lake.
We had a nice turnout for the picnic. Thanks to Linda VanAndel and Kathryn Bell for their work putting this together and of course the cooks Steve Bell, Ken Shaner, Gary Batka and Mark Stephanic and also to our new President, Jeff Rogers, for conducting a speedy meeting. Thirty attendees won gifts in the drawing and Michele Nerone won the free membership. Thank you, Kathryn, for the wonderful prizes and thanks to all who brought delicious dishes to share!! Also, the next time you are at the park, take a minute or two and check out all the new information in the kiosk. Steve and Kathryn and yours truly spent a couple hours working on sprucing it up and it really looks nice!
Last, Scott Shepard, of Six Mile Lake has passed away. Scott was President of the SMLA many years ago. Our condolences go out to Scott’s family and friends.
Until next time,
Cherie Hogan,
Secretary