Recent News
A Message from the Chairman
“What a Long, Strange Trip It’s Been…”
I don’t think the late, great Jerry Garcia had 2020-21 in mind when The Grateful Dead sang those words in “Truckin” 50 years ago… but they sure do seem to apply. A year ago, Zoom was a speed indicator of young children; now it’s how we meet. We used to be fearful if a masked man walked into a store; now we are fearful if it’s an unmasked one. Working from home was a dream; now, for many, it’s a, well, less than expected…For others, they have found a new freedom and are working from their beloved locations, long thought to be “get-aways”…. Spread Eagle has its share of those. And as we stand in line for our shots like the good citizens that we are, we look forward to NORMAL…however it presents itself.
For many of us, it will include returning to the Spread Eagle Chain to join that ever growing troop of year-round residents. As the ice recedes and the forests come alive with ferns and trillium and the oaks shed the last of their leaves, our eager hopes of warm breezes and cool summer nights are like the new buds of spring opening up.
We hope, no expect, that we shall once again get together for our robust Social schedule, an Annual meeting again at the Svecia Club, and the many impromptu get-togethers and parties with our extended Spread Eagle family.
But, things have not been stationary. Over the fall and winter, your Board has been working on several of our ongoing pro-jects: fireworks, invasives, boat safety, among others, while also fielding new challenges and opportunities.
Recently, Florence County Forestry and Parks applied for a grant to upgrade and expand the North Lake boat landing. Thanks to Jay Weber’s natural curiosity, we became aware of this when surveyors were spotted at the landing.
The Board quickly sprang into action and we had many participants in the January and February Forest and Parks Commit-tee meeting, expressing our concerns and desire to work with the County on any plans for repairs or expansion. While we have had some cooperation and promises of collaboration, much yet needs to be shown by the Parks management and Committee that they mean what they say. Your Board is on top of it and will keep you apprised.
At almost the same time, the Board was approached by the Florence Township Commissioner, Tim Bomberg. He told us that the Township is looking to build a second Fire House and locate it in the Spread Eagle area over on the Township’s property at the old “Dump” off Lake Elwood Rd. They asked that SECOLA be represented on the feasibility committee and we agreed. Deb Cini will be working with the Committee as it begins exploring this proposal. While they will be ex-ploring the many pluses and minuses of this proposal, we do know that it could have an impact on all lake properties by lowering the cost of homeowners fire insurance coverage. In a recent update from Tim Bomberg, he said while there have been some hiccups in the preliminary planning for the Spread Eagle firehouse, he hopes to have those ironed out soon and he is exploring the availability of funds in the new stimulus package.
Meanwhile, behind the curtain, Katie Buchanan Reynolds has begun the process of moving our membership data from Ex-cel spreadsheets to a “cloud” based Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. When complete, we will have much better abilities to communicate, retain historical member data, share information with the Board and committees to continue to best accomplish set goals, and serve the needs of the Lake and its community. The new system allows us to keep track of many new data points. One data point of interest is the growing number of Registered Voters who are also members of SECOLA. It turns out we may be a force in many ways.
We have again committed our “treasure and sweat” to the Clean Boats/Clean Waters program, allowing the county to con-tinue to provide boat cleaning services at the North Lake Landing, as well as other lakes in the County. SECOLA continues to be a key player in the County’s fight against invasive species. We will continue our monitoring and eradication of EWM in conjunction with White Water Associates.
Invasive species control, monitoring and, where possible, eradication remains the largest part of our responsibilities and our budget. We rely on the generosity of our members who donate in excess of $8,300 each year to help defray the cash costs of our Invasive commitments. We are indebted to all who donate large and small to continue the ongoing battle.
It is my honor to announce that SECOLA has received a substantial gift in the memory of longtime Spread Eagle icons the late Ralph and Cynthia Carlson. Their passing, along with several other longtime lake residents recently, will not be forgotten and this gift specifically for our fight against invasives will help ensure their pristine lakes will continue for generations to come.
Be Safe, get Vaccinated, see you on the Lakes,
Scott Reynolds, Chair of the Board
“What a Long, Strange Trip It’s Been…”
I don’t think the late, great Jerry Garcia had 2020-21 in mind when The Grateful Dead sang those words in “Truckin” 50 years ago… but they sure do seem to apply. A year ago, Zoom was a speed indicator of young children; now it’s how we meet. We used to be fearful if a masked man walked into a store; now we are fearful if it’s an unmasked one. Working from home was a dream; now, for many, it’s a, well, less than expected…For others, they have found a new freedom and are working from their beloved locations, long thought to be “get-aways”…. Spread Eagle has its share of those. And as we stand in line for our shots like the good citizens that we are, we look forward to NORMAL…however it presents itself.
For many of us, it will include returning to the Spread Eagle Chain to join that ever growing troop of year-round residents. As the ice recedes and the forests come alive with ferns and trillium and the oaks shed the last of their leaves, our eager hopes of warm breezes and cool summer nights are like the new buds of spring opening up.
We hope, no expect, that we shall once again get together for our robust Social schedule, an Annual meeting again at the Svecia Club, and the many impromptu get-togethers and parties with our extended Spread Eagle family.
But, things have not been stationary. Over the fall and winter, your Board has been working on several of our ongoing pro-jects: fireworks, invasives, boat safety, among others, while also fielding new challenges and opportunities.
Recently, Florence County Forestry and Parks applied for a grant to upgrade and expand the North Lake boat landing. Thanks to Jay Weber’s natural curiosity, we became aware of this when surveyors were spotted at the landing.
The Board quickly sprang into action and we had many participants in the January and February Forest and Parks Commit-tee meeting, expressing our concerns and desire to work with the County on any plans for repairs or expansion. While we have had some cooperation and promises of collaboration, much yet needs to be shown by the Parks management and Committee that they mean what they say. Your Board is on top of it and will keep you apprised.
At almost the same time, the Board was approached by the Florence Township Commissioner, Tim Bomberg. He told us that the Township is looking to build a second Fire House and locate it in the Spread Eagle area over on the Township’s property at the old “Dump” off Lake Elwood Rd. They asked that SECOLA be represented on the feasibility committee and we agreed. Deb Cini will be working with the Committee as it begins exploring this proposal. While they will be ex-ploring the many pluses and minuses of this proposal, we do know that it could have an impact on all lake properties by lowering the cost of homeowners fire insurance coverage. In a recent update from Tim Bomberg, he said while there have been some hiccups in the preliminary planning for the Spread Eagle firehouse, he hopes to have those ironed out soon and he is exploring the availability of funds in the new stimulus package.
Meanwhile, behind the curtain, Katie Buchanan Reynolds has begun the process of moving our membership data from Ex-cel spreadsheets to a “cloud” based Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. When complete, we will have much better abilities to communicate, retain historical member data, share information with the Board and committees to continue to best accomplish set goals, and serve the needs of the Lake and its community. The new system allows us to keep track of many new data points. One data point of interest is the growing number of Registered Voters who are also members of SECOLA. It turns out we may be a force in many ways.
We have again committed our “treasure and sweat” to the Clean Boats/Clean Waters program, allowing the county to con-tinue to provide boat cleaning services at the North Lake Landing, as well as other lakes in the County. SECOLA continues to be a key player in the County’s fight against invasive species. We will continue our monitoring and eradication of EWM in conjunction with White Water Associates.
Invasive species control, monitoring and, where possible, eradication remains the largest part of our responsibilities and our budget. We rely on the generosity of our members who donate in excess of $8,300 each year to help defray the cash costs of our Invasive commitments. We are indebted to all who donate large and small to continue the ongoing battle.
It is my honor to announce that SECOLA has received a substantial gift in the memory of longtime Spread Eagle icons the late Ralph and Cynthia Carlson. Their passing, along with several other longtime lake residents recently, will not be forgotten and this gift specifically for our fight against invasives will help ensure their pristine lakes will continue for generations to come.
Be Safe, get Vaccinated, see you on the Lakes,
Scott Reynolds, Chair of the Board
