lauderdale lakes shorelines - november 2011
DESCRIPTION
News and happenings around Lauderdale Lakes, WITRANSCRIPT
MESSAGE FROM
THE
LLIA PRESIDENT
Dear Lauderdale Neighbors, The winter weather pattern seems to be
close as I write this letter. Just a couple of
weeks ago we enjoyed our last boat ride
around the lake with friends on a cool but
bright sunny afternoon. Then we had to
take the boat out of the water and store it
for the winter season. We all enjoyed an
excellent summer and many of us also
enjoyed a great fall at the lake with many
sunny days and little rain. Now the
Canadian Cold Fronts have begun to arrive
and soon we’ll have snow again and our
lakes will have “hard water”. Our beautiful lakes are great in the summer
for fishing, swimming, sailing, skiing and
boating. Winter brings new opportunities
and ways to enjoy the lakes. Ice fishing is
very popular and good size fish have been
caught through the ice. Sailors bring out
the ice boats and they literally fly across
the surface in the winter winds. Snow
mobile owners love to run the lakes as soon
as the ice freezes to a safe thickness. Dress
warmly and enjoy the winter months at the
lake. This Shorelines brings news about the
Town of LaGrange Spring 2011 election.
The good news is the candidates for Town
Board Supervisor positions do not use TV
advertising. Our next Shorelines will give
you more about the candidates, but see the
article on page 3 for more details about the
election. The Lauderdale-LaGrange Fire Department
fire fighters really appreciated the great
turnout for their Steak Fry Fund Raiser
held at the Landings in August. Turn to
page 2 and read more about the
Department and how they are concerned
for your safety.
The LLIA Fish Committee enjoyed near
perfect sunny weather to stock the walleye
on Sept 28. Read all about the event on
page 3, and the LLIA is very proud of the
10 year stocking program that has added
some 66,000 fish to Lauderdale Lakes. We
plan to do fish stocking again in 2011.
Many of you saw the floating bog in the
area of Middle Lake not to far from the
Landing Restaurant this summer. This may
have surprised you, but it was not a new
event for me. As a youth I observed many
floating bogs on Mill Lake. The entire
southern part of Mill Lake was mostly
shallow and had lots of bogs. The only
way to Don Jean Bay was through a
channel between the north side of Treasure
Island and the south side of the golf course.
That channel is closed now. Much of the
southern part of Mill Lake was dredged
over a 25 year period beginning in circa
1940 and the bogs are gone with one
exception and that bog seems to decrease
in size each year. Read about bog
formation and how they break loose on
pages 5 and 7. The spring’s area of Middle
Lake is the location with the most bogs on
our lakes now.
Take a moment to read how you may use
The Lauderdale Lakes Golf Course during
the winter months. The article on page 8
suggests hiking, cross country skiing and
snow shoeing. Remember the Club House
is closed all winter, so you are on your
own. Snowmobiles and All Terrain
Vehicles are prohibited as the grass can be
damaged.
Many of us have observed the old wood
water tower on the Golf Course. Learn
about the plan to restore the tower by
Lawrence Meyers on page 9.
Another treasure at Lauderdale Lakes is
Island Woods. See the article and pictures
on page 5 that describe the new walking
trail through the woods. The KMLT owns
the property now, however LLIA continues
to monitor the property and owned the
property before the KMLT was formed as
committee of LLIA in 2000.
This is the forth and last Shorelines for
2010. We have already established LLIA
plans for 2011. A major project is the
2011-2013 directory that will be ready for
distribution at the June 11, 2011 LLIA
Annual Meeting. LLIA Board Member
Debbie Ferrari is the Chair and she hopes
you will let her know of companies that
should be advertising in the directory.
Snow will be here soon, stay warm, and
enjoy the beauty of our Lakes during the
winter with the “HARD WATER” and
watch for the ice fishermen and ice boats.
As LLIA President, I wish each of you a
Joyous Holiday Season and the best for
2011. We will be back with our next
Shorelines in February 2011.
Don Henderson
Articles Inside This Issue:
Page
Golf Cart Alert 2
Lauderdale-LaGrange Topics 2
Fish Committee Report 3
KMLT Island Woods Preserve Trail 4
LLIA Web Site 4
Environmental Facts 5
Water Quality Report 5
Kettle Moraine Land Trust 6
Water Safety Patrol 6
Lake Management District Topics 7
Sailing Club Report 8
Lauderdale Lakes Yacht Club 8
LL Country Club Water Tower Restoration 8
Invasive Species Are A Global Issue 9
Ice Anglers Alert 10
A Publication of the Lauderdale Lakes Improvement Association (LLIA)
WWW.LLIA.ORG The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of the L.L.I.A.
Shorelines
November 2010 / Volume 33 – No. 4
GOLF CART ALERT
By Rick Callaway
The Walworth county Sheriff’s Depart-
ment will be enforcing the County’s ordi-
nance for non-licensed vehicles driving on
public roads. Primarily affected will be
golf carts.
The Sheriff's office sent an officer
to a recent Town Board Meeting to
report on the complaints received
regarding non-licensed vehicles on
public roads. There are no legal
provisions for these vehicles to be
driven on public roads and the offi-
cer was notifying the Town that the
Sheriff's Department would be issu-
ing citations for violations. The violations
could be for unlicensed vehicles as well
as for Underage drivers. There are vehi-
cles that are open sided and look similar to
a golf cart that are purposely built and li-
censed to be driven on public roads. These
types of vehicles are frequently seen in
vacation areas. But a common golf cart is
not a legal vehicle to be driven on a public
road.
LAUDERDALE-LAGRANGE
TOPICS
By Don Henderson
Lauderdale-LaGrange Fire Department
All the members of the Lauderdale-
LaGrange Fire Department extend their
thanks to the 765 people that attended the
August Steak Fry. The annual event was
very successful this year, and the profit of
$9600 has been designated to purchase
new turn-out gear (the protective helmets,
jackets, pants, gloves and boots fire fight-
ers wear).
This was the first year the Department
worked with the new owners of The Lau-
derdale Landing Restaurant. Fire Chief
Duerst related “The Landing Staff were
very supportive and great to work with”.
All the Fire Department members wish to
extend their appreciation and thanks to the
Healy Family for the use of The Lauder-
dale Landing Restaurant and Grounds for
their Annual Steak Fry Fund Raiser.
Fire Chief John “Curly” Duerst
said, “A volunteer fire department
takes the dedication of many people. The
volunteer staff we have is totally dedicated
to providing the best Rescue and Fire
Fighting techniques and equipment to as-
sure the support and safety of people and
property in this area. The area property
owners and residents are true partners in
this effort by supporting our Department
through gifts and fund raisers. I extend
my personal thanks to all of you for mak-
ing the Department very successful.”
Does Your Home Have An Alarm Sys-
tem?
Many homeowners in The Town have
alarm systems to provide security and also
to send an automatic notification if a prob-
lem occurs while you are away. Alarm
Systems are effective; however it is very
beneficial to have a “Key Holder” near by.
The Key Holder is someone that lives
close to your home, and an individual that
can unlock the home if the Fire Depart-
ment responds to an alarm call. Rest as-
sured that the Fire Fighters have the tools
to enter your home and they will if there is
a fire observed. It is the alarm calls an-
swered where no problem is observed that
it is best to have a Key Holder available to
unlock your home and let the Fire Fighters
in for follow up. Chief Duerst recom-
mends that each home with an alarm have
a Key Holder to help in case of emer-
gency.
Home Fire Safety Tips.
The Lauderdale-LaGrange Fire Depart-
ment Volunteers ask all property owners
and residents to think and practice fire
safety. Test all of your Fire Alarms. Be
sure that an alarm is installed in each bed-
room. Even the fire alarms wired into
your electrical system have a battery
backup. Be sure you have new batteries in
all the alarms every year.
Furnace inspections by qualified techni-
cians assure the combustion process is
correct and the all exhaust gas is going
outside and not into the house. Many
homes have wood stoves and fireplaces
that enhance the ambiance of the home
and also lower heating costs. Fireplaces
and wood stoves are effective, but be sure
your chimney is free of creosote and the
stove vent pipes are not blocked
as you will not want a chimney
fire or a home full of smoke.
Clean them now before you
want to use them in the winter.
The Holiday Season will soon
be here. As you decorate your
home, be careful to keep deco-
rations well away from hot
lights, stoves, fireplaces, and
candles. Also be sure you extinguish can-
dles when you are not in the same room,
as you may forget they are lit and as they
burn down cause a fire to be started. If
you have a decorated Christmas tree, be
sure it is away from the fireplace and other
open flames. Fire Fighters recommend
using low wattage electric lights that will
not ignite the needles.
Be sure that your driveway is clear of tree
limbs and branches. If you have a prob-
lem, you will want the fire truck or rescue
ambulance to reach your house without
being damaged by your tree limbs. And
with winter snow soon to arrive, please
keep your driveways and private roads
plowed wide and frequently so that an am-
bulance or a fire truck may quickly reach
your home during an emergency. The
Town Highway Department plows snow
on all Town owned roads, but many
homes around Lauderdale Lakes are lo-
cated on private roads and/or long drive-
ways. The home owners have total re-
sponsibility for private driveways and
roads. Make your snow plowing arrange-
ments now to assure a clear roadway for
the emergency vehicles to reach your
home should they be needed this winter.
Call 911 if you need to report a fire, medi-
cal emergency or an accident. And last
but not least, have a fire safety plan for
your family. Review it with your family
members and practice the plan so your
family will be safe should you experience
a fire in your home.
(Continued on page 3) 2
The Walworth county Sheriff’s
Department will be enforcing the
County’s ordinance for non-licensed
vehicles driving on public roads.
Primarily affected will be
GOLF CARTS.
(Continued from page 2)
Town of LaGrange Highway
Department
Winter may seem to be far off as this arti-
cle is being written. Often the first snow-
flakes fall in October, but the first snow-
flakes seem to be far away with the warm
fall we have enjoyed this year. Still, High-
way Department Commissioner Pat
Hoffman has been preparing for winter for
several weeks. Road side ditches have
been mown, trees and brush cut back along
the roadsides, and three Town Trucks have
been prepared for snowplowing and sand-
ing.
The LaGrange Town Board passed an Or-
dinance regulating the placement of snow
on roadways by Town Residents in March
2008. Excerpts taken from ordinance no.
2008-01 follows:
SECTION 1 states there shall be no plac-
ing of snow on any roadway in the Town
of LaGrange that would create a hazardous
condition for vehicle travel and persons
shall not plow snow across the roadway
from their driveway.
SECTION 2. COSTS AND PENALTIES.
A. Penalties. Any person adjudged to have
violated any provision of this Ordinance
shall, upon conviction thereof, forfeit $50
together with the costs of prosecution per
for each offense.
SECTION 3. ENFORCEMENT AND
BOND
This ordinance may be enforced by a
Town of LaGrange Road Commissioner or
the Walworth County Sheriff Department
issuing a citation pursuant to the provi-
sions this ordinance, as amended from
time to time.
The homeowner or renter is responsible
for snow placement, and you are responsi-
ble for the snow regardless if you hire a
person to plow snow for you. Snow on
your property should stay on your property
and it shall not be pushed across the road
when you clear your driveway and walk-
ways. Please inform your snow plowing
contractor if you hire this work.
Please drive with care when following a
snowplow truck
Pat has three snow plow routes and in total
over 63 miles of Town roads are cleared
and sanded with each snowfall. Driving a
snow plow truck is demanding as the snow
often swirls up across the cab and limits
visibility both forward and backward.
Wisconsin law requires motorists follow-
ing a Snow Plow Truck to stay back 500
feet. Town Highway Department employ-
ees ask all motorists to use extra caution
and please stay back the required distance.
This is especially important at intersec-
tions when snow plow trucks often need to
plow around a corner and then back up
before turning to plow the other direction.
Plowing snow off the many winding and
hilly Town roads around the Lakes is the
greatest challenge. Pat asks all of us to
please keep our boats, utility vehicles,
ATVs, cars and trucks, and garbage and
recycling containers well back from the
road side. It is important to have area
along side the road free to plow snow onto
so that the road width is not reduced dur-
ing the winter months.
The garbage and recycling containers con-
tinue to be used, and John’s Disposal Serv-
ice will make the collection on the regular
assigned day which is Monday for most of
the Lake properties. PLEASE ASK A
NEIGHBOR THAT LIVES NEAR YOU
YEAR AROUND TO MOVE YOUR
CONTAINERS BACK TO YOUR
HOUSE AFTER COLLECTION IF YOU
ARE THERE ONLY ON WEEKENDS.
The containers may interfere with snow
plowing and certainly they detract from the
beauty of our property when left next to
the road all week.
2011 Town of LaGrange Election
The Second, Third and Fourth Side Super-
visor positions will up for election in 2011.
Elections are held the first Tuesday in
April, which is April 5, 2011. Candidates
elected to the Town Board serve two year
terms of office Candidates must file for-
mal nomination papers to be on the elec-
tion ballot and the closure date is January
3, 2011. Candidates must be Town of La-
Grange residents. The first day nomination
papers may be obtained from the Town
Clerk, Crystal Hoffmann, is December 1,
2010 and they must be filed with the Town
Clerk before the closure date. Don Sukala
is the current Second Side Supervisor,
Rick Callaway is the current Third Side
Supervisor, and Jeff Schramm is the cur-
rent Fourth Side Supervisor.
FISH COMMITTEE REPORT
By Greg Schindler
& Jim Frenchy
The annual LLIA fish stocking this year
took place on September 28th. This year
stocking was walleye and next year will
again be smallmouth bass. We contracted
for 2700 fish 6" to 8"and were surprised
that a large number were in the 10'' range.
In six trips the fish were released in all
three lakes and Don Jean Bay.
The release was a success with the help of
volunteers: Greg Schindler, Jim Fren-
chy, Don Henderson, John Nason, Bill
Gregory, Justin Jankowski, Larry Cady,
Randy Norris, Ron Mueller, Dave DeAn-
gles, Merle D. Schinke, Charlie Lawrence,
Pete Spaulding, Larry Zerwas. Ron Olejic-
zak and our new Chairperson, Brian
Walsh.
Funds for this year’s fish stocking were
provided by membership donations to the
stocking program and funds specifically
ear marked for walleye from a Tim Walsh
Memorial donation.
This is our second stocking of walleye
and some may now be catchable from our
release a few years ago. If your lucky to
catch one, remember the size limit is 15"
so practice catch and release.
(Continued on page 4)
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
2010
DATE EVENT
11-30 NABA Scholarship App. Due
12-1 Election Nominating Papers
1-3 Closer Nominating Papers.
1-16 LLYC Winter Bowl
2-5 LLMD Dir. Mtg.
4-5 LaGrange Town Supv.
Election.
3
(Continued from page 3)
The committee would like to also thank our
commercial supporters for their donations
of gifts for the “Kids Jamboree in July:
Home Run Inn of Chicago, Carbellas of
Hoffmann Estates and Sherwin Williams
Paint Co.
Big thanks to all who have supported this
effort to maintain and improve our fishery.
KETTLE MORAINE LAND
TRUST COMPLETES AND
NAMES ISLAND WOODS
PRESERVE TRAIL
By Herb Sharpless
During the spring, summer and
fall of this year, Kettle Moraine
Land Trust expanded the trail
located in Island Woods Pre-
serve from 1/8th mile to 3/8th
mile. The trail follows the con-
tours of three larger kettles lo-
cated within the preserve, thus
it is now named the Three Ket-
tle Ridge Trail. The trail starts
just west of the Oak Park Road
parking area where two of the parking
spaces are reserved for trail users. The ex-
pansion connects the trail with both Oak
Park Road and West Shore Drive, enabling
a nice hiking loop around the
peninsula.
Three workdays were organ-
ized to help with the trail ex-
pansion. The first was an edu-
cation activity sponsored by
KMLT and LLIA with Elk-
horn Area High School where
18 Advanced Placement sci-
ence class students and their 4
teachers helped control garlic
mustard along the trail, learn
about water quality testing
from Dave DeAngelis and Bud Vance, and
helped haul wood chips supplied by the
Town of LaGrange from the town compost
site to the surface of the new trail. Work-
ing in shifts, this group covered almost half
of the new trail while learning about ero-
sion control and the native plant habitat
provided by the kettles.
A second workday was advertised at the
LLIA Annual Meeting and several
community members came to help.
Walker Johnson and Don Henderson filled
bags with wood chips and Josh DeAngelis
brought some of his baseball team to help
haul chips to cover the steeper portions of
the expanded trail. Ben and Josephine
Johnson helped with the hauling, while
Phyllis Apelbaum welcomed the volunteers
and made sure they stayed hydrated!
Later in the summer, Herb talked some of
his visiting relatives into helping him com-
plete the wood chip trail cover. After sev-
eral hot mornings, the whole trail extension
was covered with a layer of wood chips!
Herb also was helped by Josh Kline from
Whitewater, who completed some of his
high school volunteer service hours by
working with Herb to prepare for each of
the workdays, and supporting Betsy Ingle
with the Fish Jamboree critters displays.
About the time the trail extension was com-
pleted, the property the trail crosses to
reach West Shore Drive was sold. The new
owner is willing to have the trail continue
to cross his property, but he also wants to
limit his liability. KMLT is working with
him to create an easement for the trail area,
enabling the land trust liability insurance to
cover trail users as they traverse the last 50
feet of trail. When this easement is com-
pleted, KMLT will install a second boot
brush station near the trail entrance on
West Shore Drive.
One request to trail users who bring a pet
along for the hike, please keep them on a
leash so they stay within the treated areas
adjacent to the trail. Letting pets wander
through areas not treated, brings seeds of
invasive species seeds into the treated area!
Most of the trail is clearly defined by wood
chip cover, and some trees along the trail
have surveyor tape bands to help mark the
trail location. You will note there are a
couple of brush piles along the trail. These
will get burned during the winter, when
snow cover makes for a safe bonfire.
Please enjoy the trail with its scenic views
throughout the year.
IMPROVEMENT
ASSOCIATION
WEB SITE
By John Antonicic
The last couple of months have been rela-
tively quiet. Most of the activity has been
keeping the web site updated with the cur-
rent meeting notes and shorelines articles.
I have been doing some behind the scenes
clean up on the web site to purge old docu-
ments and some files that don’t seem to be
necessary to the sites functioning. I am do-
ing so cautiously so that nothing gets bro-
ken.
You may have noticed the fourth menu but-
ton looks different. What was FUN AND
GAMES I have changed to SPECIAL
TOPICS. While I have not changed the
contents under the button, I wanted to see if
I could figure out how to make a change in
the button for some possible future use of
this area of the web site.
Don’t forget to check the scrolling marquee
on the home page for time sensitive mes-
sages.
Visit our web site at: WWW.LLIA.ORG. I
can be emailed at: jantonicic@hotmail.
com or telephone 630-964-0393.
(Continued on page 5) 4
(Continued from page 4)
ENVIRONMENT FACTS
By Abe Goldsmith
Credit: Smithsonian Magazine
o 16.1 billion pounds: the total amount
of fish that commercial fleets kill or
fatally injure before discarding at sea
each year.
o 3 pounds: the amount of wild mack-
erel or anchovies needed to produce
one pound of farmed shrimp or
salmon.
o 82.4 percent: decline in the spawning
population of western bluefin tuna
since 1970.
o 33 percent: amount of U.S. crude oil
production from offshore sources.
o 0.7 parts per billion: concentration of
weathered crude oil in seawater that
kills or damages Pacific herring eggs.
o 100 percent: projected increase by
2100 in the number of coastal dead
zones, where bacterial spurred by pol-
lution deplete oxygen from the water
and make it impossible for marine
animals to survive.
o 0.7 percent: proportion of the world’s
oceans that are part of marine pro-
tected areas.
o 15 million years ago: the last time
carbon dioxide levels in the atmos-
phere are as high as they are today.
o 2037 projected year: when the Arctic
will become almost entirely free of
summer sea ice due to melting.
o 2050 projected year: when coral reefs
worldwide will shrink because of in-
creased ocean acidity, as atmospheric
carbon dioxide from burning fossil
fuels dissolves in sea water.
WATER QUALITY REPORT
BY Dave DeAngelis Water testing update
With 17 sets of test results in the books so
far this year, we are close to the end of the
water testing season. One of the most im-
portant tests we run is the Secchi Disc test
for water clarity. This data is collected bi-
weekly from the time the ice thaws until it
freezes. The reason water clarity is so im-
portant is that it affects many of the char-
acteristics of the lake that are important to
us. It not only controls the amount of sun-
light that penetrates the water, but it also
has a direct impact on the algae bloom and
the oxygen levels that are so important to
the plants and fish that live in our lakes.
Below is a recap of how the water clarity
trends compare dating back to 2006. The
data below reflects the average readings
taken during peak season (July-August). Comparison of water clarity readings
(seechi disc) in lauderdale lakes 2006-
2010 Green Middle Mill
2006 8.9 7.1 5.0
2007 8.1 9.0 5.8
2008 11.0 8.2 6.5
2009 11.3 8.5 5.1
2010 9.1 7.5 6.1
Note: Quantities are in FEET While the 2010 data seems to show the wa-
ter clarity has declined in 2010, the wonder-
ful weather this past summer (and fall) made
for a busy year on the lake. Boat traffic,
while always busy on weekends, was espe-
cially busy during the week days this sum-
mer as well. I suspect that with fewer “quiet
days” on the lake this past summer, the sedi-
ment in the lake didn’t have a chance to set-
tle, causing the clarity readings to be slightly
lower than 2008 and 2009. On more than
one occasion this past summer, I had diffi-
culty taking readings during the week due to
severe wave action caused by heavy boat
traffic. The most recent readings taken October
23rd are as follows: Green Lake – 16 ft,
Middle Lake – 15.5 ft and Mill Lake – 12.0
ft. Clearly (no pun intended), the water clar-
ity in all three lakes has rebounded back to
the readings we saw in spring suggesting
that the lakes are in very good shape. Bog, bubbles and more bubbles! While the hot summer made for a busy boat-
ing season this past summer, it also caused
some interesting phenomenon. Over the past
summer, we’ve seen more than a few sec-
tions of bog come loose from the bottom of
the lake. In August, a couple of bog sec-
tions made a jailbreak from Bubbling
Springs and floated their way into the open
waters in Middle Lake. Fortunately, the
folks at the Lake District were able to scoop
up the bog sections and safely relocate them
on the edge of the reeds in Bubbling Springs
where they seem to be staying put. I was
fishing in Bubbling Springs a few weeks
ago and came upon a large section of bog
that was nearly blocking the entire channel.
Earlier this summer, another section of bog
came loose and blocked the channel in the
exact same spot. Another related phenomenon you may have
noticed this past summer involves large
amounts of bubbles escaping from a large
area of the lake floor all at once - kind of
like a giant lake burp. A neighbor described
this to me in late July and I wasn’t quite
sure what they were talking about. A few
weeks later, I was fishing off my pier on a
rare quiet late afternoon. Suddenly, thou-
sands of bubbles erupted like a Jacuzzi
across a large area (50 ft X 50 ft). If you’ve
not seen this, it only lasts a few seconds, but
it really takes you by surprise. I couldn’t help but bounce this off of some
of my contacts at the DNR. Initially, I
thought they’d have little or no explanation,
but as usual, they had an explanation. Ap-
parently, the warm summer made for warm
water in our lakes, especially in the shallow
areas. These warm temperatures enhanced
the rate of decomposition of the dead plants,
leaves, muck, etc. at the bottom of the lakes.
As this material decomposes on the bottom
of the lake, gasses are formed – primarily
carbon dioxide and methane. The muck on
the bottom of the lakes does a good job of
trapping these gasses until enough gas forms
and it escapes to the surface. The natural
water currents in our lakes, along with the
water being pushed around by boat traffic,
causes both warm and cool layers of water
to glide above the lake bottom in the shal-
low areas. When warm water is involved,
the sudden change in temperature causes the
gasses to expand and ultimately escape from
the muck. The combination of a large area
of warm water sweeping over an area with a
lot of gas accumulated in the muck causes
lots of bubbles to escape all at once. When I mentioned the bog chunks coming
loose, they attributed that to the same phe-
nomenon. The accelerated rate of decompo-
sition can rot the root system that holds the
bog to the bottom of the lake. The resulting
gasses accumulate under the bog and even-
tually launch it upwards.
I hope you had a great summer! Bring on the
ice!
(Continued on page 6) 5
(Continued from page 5)
KETTLE MORAINE LAND
TRUST
By Jerry Petersen
Herb Sharpless has discussed our new Is-
land Woods trail extension elsewhere in
this issue of Shorelines, so I’ll just mention
a couple other activities of the Trust.
1. We continue to partner with the
Lake District to protect the native
plants on their Don Jean Bay wetland.
At the same time, we fully support the
municipal uses (including the ski
shows) on the property. We are work-
ing with the District on a five year na-
tive plant restoration plan. This plan
calls for boardwalks to protect the
plants. Boardwalks are the interna-
tionally accepted “best management
practice” for public access to wet-
lands. A 48 inch wide boardwalk
from highway 12/67 to the shore
(shown above) was completed this
summer. We plan to continue work-
ing with the District to get County ap-
proval for this boardwalk, as well as
for the repair/replacement of the sec-
ond boardwalk used by the water
safety patrol and weed harvester
teams. This repair/replacement is des-
perately needed.
2. The Trust has recently moved into
our new permanent office in the Lake
District’s Community Center on Ster-
lingworth Drive. This is the building,
near the 8th tee of the golf course,
which was originally the caretaker’s
home. As shown at the right, our of-
fice will be in the eastern portion of
this building. We will share the build-
ing with the Water Safety Patrol, Dis-
trict Chairman, and the Lake Improve-
ment Association. We greatly appre-
ciate Lutherdale’s willingness to house
us temporarily this summer until this
space became available. This new
office provides both more space, and
greater community access. We ex-
pect to have our new sign on the
building by mid-November. Drop in
when you see activity there to examine
the space and to greet Maggie Zoell-
ner, our Program Manager, who will
be there when she isn’t out in the field.
Maggie and I both have desks there.
Our mission is “To preserve the
natural heritage of the southern
Kettle Moraine lakes area and
nearby lands through partnerships
in land conservancy and resource
management.” We continue to need
your support. As you make your year-
end donation decisions, please keep us
in mind. Our regular donor card is
printed below.
WATER SAFETY PATROL
By Nestor Dyhdalo
As many lake homeowners are storing their
boats for the winter, so is the water patrol.
We are also in the process of moving our
office to the district-owned LakeView
property. This will provide more office
space, access to high-speed internet and
sleeping facilities for officers that work
patrol shifts into the early morning hours.
It has been a busy year for the patrol from
both a training and activity standpoint.
This years marks the 10-year anniversary
of the Lake District’s start-up of a water
patrol. Here is a recap of some of the
highlights of this past year:
• The joint oversight and funding of the
patrol by the Town of La Grange and
the Lake District continues to work
well
• On June 3, we participated in a mass
casualty tornado training drill with the
LaGrange Rescue Squad at Lutherdale
• Taught three DNR-sanctioned boating
safety classes
• Sent two officers (max allowed) to the
DNR boating regulations training
• Participated in Operation Dry Water, a
program organized and endorsed by
the National Association of State
Boating Law Administrators
(NASBLA) and the DNR for OBWI
(Operating Boat While Intoxicated)
awareness and enforcement
• Were able to dispatch five boats on
(Continued on page 7)
KETTLE MORAINE LAND TRUST (KMLT) Yes, I’d like to contribute to the KMLT effort to protect our lakes. All contributions are tax
deductible.
Name _________________________________ ________________________ ( Permanent Phone ) Permanent Address Street ____________________________________________ City, State, Zip __________________________________________________ Lake Address Street _________________________________________________ City, State, Zip _________________________________________________________
Pier # (e.g. LL#) ________ E-Mail _________________________
Matching funds requested Amount of contribution
$________
Please make check payable to:
Kettle Moraine Land Trust
Mail with this form to:
KMLT
P.O. Box 176
Contribution Category:
Environmental Leader ($1000 and above) __
Environmentalist ($500 to $999) __
Guardian ($250 to $499) __
Park Ranger ($100 to $249) __
Naturalist ($50 to $99) __
Conservationist ($25 to $49) __
6
(Continued from page 6)
Lauderdale Lakes during the evening
of the annual fireworks display: two
from our lakes, one from Pleasant
Lake, the fire and rescue boat plus a
boar from the DNR; we hope to re-
peat this next year but will be tweak-
ing the positioning of these vessels
differently at the conclusion of the
fireworks display
• Experimented with stationing at offi-
cer at the public launches on one of
the holiday weekends, the cost of
which was underwritten by the Town
from the boat launch fees; we plan to
expand this program next year
• Added series of stairs from the lake to
the road on our property near Ster-
lingworth bay; previously this had
been just a dirt path going up to the
road, and a very treacherous one at
that especially when wet
• Sent an officer to an U.S. Coast
Guard accident investigation training
class in Milwaukee, paid for by U.S.
Coast Guard, NASBLA, and the
DNR.
• Sent the above officer to a U.S. Coast
Guard boat accident reconstruction
class held in Virginia; class was
funded by Town of Delavan Police
Dept, U.S. Coast Guard and our pa-
trol
• On the good news/bad news front, we
did not make the DNR metric in terms
of the number of citations per total
patrol hours; we were short by about
8%; the good news in that it under-
scores the focus of the patrol officers
on safety, education and service but it
also means that we will not receive
the level of reimbursement that we
were expecting from the DNR.
As we finish packing, we are also prepar-
ing for the DNR audit in February and
after that, spring is right around the corner
and we get to do this all over again.
$1,000 Boating Safety/Enforcement
Scholarship Available to College Students
The Northern Association of Boating Ad-
ministrators (NABA) scholarship applica-
tions are due November 30, 2010 for the
spring 2011 semester. NABA annually
awards one or more $1,000 scholarships
to outstanding student(s) from colleges
and universities across the northern states.
To qualify for the scholarship, students
must be full-time college or university stu-
dents majoring in a recreational boating
safety-related field such as, law enforce-
ment/criminal justice, natural resources/
environmental science, education, public
relations/marketing or journalism.
To find out more about this scholarship
opportunity and how to apply, visit the
NABA Scholarship brochure at: http://dnr.
wi.gov/org/es/enforcement/DOCS/
NABAscholarship20102011.pdf
For more information, contact Roy
Zellmer at 608-264-8970.
Information supplied by: Wisconsin
Department of Natural Resources (mailto:
LAUDERDALE LAKES LAKE
MANAGEMENT
DISTRICT TOPICS
By Peter Van Kampen &
Scott Mason
Leak in the Lake
The same engineering firm that did the
work for the new culverts has
been engaged to help with a
permanent solution to the
potential of the lake washing
out. The shore that holds
some of the Sterlingworth
Condos is of poor soil quality
which resulted in a serious
threat of washout last year.
We will be working with the
engineering firm as well as
the Town, and Sterlingworth
Assoc. to come up with a
permanent fix to this situa-
tion. It will take some time
however since permits may have to be is-
sued by the DNR, County etc. We’ll keep
you posted.
Legal News
The same party living on Plantation Road
that caused the Lake District and the Lau-
derdale Aqua Skiers to go to court has
gone to the county with a new complaint
on the Lake District. This complaint has
resulted in at least two citations from the
County, a court appearance in October
and a trial date in December. The com-
plaints are for the bleachers used by the
Aqua Skiiers and the repair of a board-
walk to access the Water Patrol Boat and
the Weed Harvesting equipment. These
people continue to pressure the County to
act on their behalf because they don’t
want skiers and they don’t want the patrol
boat or weed harvesting equipment across
from their property. All of these activities
were present before this party purchased
property on the Lake. It’s like moving
next to an airport then complaining about
the noise. Since we have no alternative to
using this property for the patrol and the
weed harvesting we will continue to have
these court costs.
More Info on the Floating Bogs
This season we saw several large bogs
floating in Middle Lake near the Land-
ings. These bogs are made up of plant
roots that have accumulated for hundreds
of years. This area of the Lake was 3-4
feet shallower before the dam was in-
stalled and grew marsh grasses like you
see at the west end of Don Jean Bay, the
area that was never dredged. The flooding
of the area when the dam was installed
changed the type of plants that now grow
in this area but the roots of the former
flora remain. The reasons that they come
the surface after all this time is that the
water warms up in the late summer and as
the bogs are slowly decaying tiny gas bub-
bles are accumulating in them. These gas
bubbles expand in the warmer water and
begin lifting the bog. Once loosened from
the bottom the boat wake contributes to
the breaking loose of the bog. The District
has devised a plan for dealing with the
bogs which involves you. If you see one
contact the water patrol, 742-4300. They
are now carrying flags on the patrol
(Continued on page 8) 7
(Continued from page 7)
boats to mark the bogs. The Water Patrol
will notify the weed harvesting crew who
will move the bogs to a area away from
boat traffic. The bogs will breakdown
over the winter. It is important to mark
these bogs since they can be very large,
(one this season was 4 feet thick and over
20 feet long) and weigh many tons. A boat
going fast is likely to skim over the top,
hook the motor shaft to the bog and come
to a very quick stop. This could throw the
occupants about like a head on car crash.
So do your part and immediately call the
water patrol if you see one.
Lauderdale Lakes Golf Course winter
concerns
The Lake District is requesting that no one
drives on the golf course or the Don Jean
Bay wetlands with snowmobiles or any
other motor vehicles this winter. We just
did a major restoration on some of the
Don Jean Bay shoreline and snowmobiles
will kill the new plants and damage the
shoreline buffer.
Last winter, the golf course sustained
damage by snowmobiles spinning their
track and using the sides of greens as a
jump. Not only do the tracks of these high
performance machines quickly burn
through the snow cover and tear out turf,
but the compaction of snow on greens and
tees kills the delicate bent grass beneath.
The Walworth County Sheriffs department
understands that snowmobiles are not per-
mitted on any nearby golf courses includ-
ing Lauderdale and will enforce trespass-
ing and vandalism violations if observed.
On the other hand the Lake District en-
courages our residents to enjoy the golf
course during the winter. The community
is welcome to hike, sled, cross country ski
and snow shoe. Bear in mind that no staff
is on site and these activities are at your
own risk.
LAUDERDALE LAKES
SAILING CLUB
By Peter Van Kampen
We had another great sailing season this
past summer. Lots of boats turning out,
lots of nice comments from specta-
tor boats on how nice it is to see all
those sailboats on the Lake on Sun-
day mornings.
Des Johnson was named Sailor of the
Year for his consistent high performance,
never missed a race this year and has been
sailing with the Club for over 35 years.
Des is 85 this year proving that sailing is a
sport that you can enjoy for a lifetime. We
have a saying in the Club, “when I grow
up I wanna be like Des”
Results of the 2010 Sailing season are as
follows:
• Yacht Club Regatta Series: Peter Van
Kampen, Skip Cartland, Mike Jaeger,
Joe Kavarik
• Season Series: Peter Van Kampen,
Mike Jaeger, Jack Sorenson, (tie) Jim
Johnson & Rob Paddor
Thanks all to a wonderful season.
LAUDERDALE LAKES
YACHT CLUB
By Commodore Barry Lutz
We had beautiful weather for our golf out-
ing at Lauderdale Lake Country Club on
Saturday August 21st. There were forty
four golfers, they could only use four
clubs in a scramble which made the game
interesting. Eighty four were there for din-
ner served by the Lake County Food Pan-
try and it was outstanding. A fun day for
all while raising money for the Elkhorn
Food Pantry. After dinner we held the an-
nual meeting and elected the officers for
2011. Commodore, Barry Lutz, Vice
Commodore, Nancy Thelen, Secretary,
Audrey Keller, Safety and Education, Jean
Henderson, and Treasure, Loretta
Auchinleck.
Our final event for the summer was a din-
ner dance held at Geneva National. We
had 82 fun loving people attend. After an
hour of mingling and cocktails we had
dinner while listening to the Just Friends
Band. After dinner the dance floor was
full all night since the band played the
type of music everyone loved to dance
too.
Our plans for the winter event have been
finalized. We are going to shake the win-
ter blues by having a bowling party at
Two Seasons Bowl in Elkhorn, Sunday
January 16, 2011, at 6:30 PM. Non mem-
bers and non bowlers are welcome, so
bring your friends and join us, we will
have a blast. Call Barry Lutz or Jeri Lutz
at 262-742-4676 by January 10, 2011.
I want to thank everyone for all their help
this year. Without a lot of hard work from
so many people behind the scenes, the
Yacht Club events would never happen.
Thanks again, we are looking forward to
the 2011 season .
LAUDERDALE LAKES
COUNTRY CLUB'S
WATER TOWER
TO BE RESTORED.
By Lawrence A. Myers
The Lawrence A. Myers' family, long time
residents of Lauderdale Lakes, have set up
a corporation (L.L.C.C. Water Tower Res-
toration Corp.) to restore the water tower
that sits midway on the 8th fairway of the
Lauderdale Lakes Country Club. Mr.
Myers stated "I want to restore the water
tower in memory of my Grandfather, Ed-
ward H. Ravenscroft, who owned the golf
course from the mid 1930's until just after
the Second World War." When Mr.
Ravenscroft bought the course that was
owned by a group who also owned the
Sterlingworth Hotel. The group was about
to default on notes held by State Bank of
Elkhorn so he stepped in to prevent the
golf course from going into bankruptcy.
He is also responsible for designing of the
current layout of the course.
Other projects contemplated by the Myers'
family are the construction of a park next
to the water tower which can be used as a
place of relaxation and for small events.
They plan to restore the shelter behind the
2nd tee plus update the tee boxes and peri-
scopes located at the 1st and 9th tees. As
for the water tower itself, it is projected
that the tank will be replaced and the cat-
walk around the tower restored. Lighting
will illuminate the tower at night. There
are plans to have a weather warning sys-
tem at the top of the tower to warn boaters
when a storm is approaching. Larry stated
that since he has retired, golf has become
a more important part of his life. Along
with plenty of happy memories playing at
L.L.C.C. as a child and the family rela-
(Continued on page 9) 8
(Continued from page 8)
tionship to the history of the course, all
make this an attractive project to under-
take. Work has already started, and they
hope to finish before the golf season starts
next year.
Mr. Myers is asking for anyone who has
pictures or articles regarding the golf
course or water tower from the 1920's,
30'S or 40's to please contact him at
847-757-2099.
INVASIVE SPECIES ARE A
GLOBAL ISSUE
By Audrey Green
Thanks to lake protection groups and con-
cerned municipalities, there were Clean
Boats, Clean Waters (CB,CW), watercraft
inspector teams working at boat launches
on Lauderdale Lakes, Pleasant Lake, Pot-
ters Lake and Delavan Lake throughout
the summer. As the County Lake Special-
ist, I worked at 11 different launches
around the County. In addition, we had
help from the DNR Water guard staff. All
totaled, Walworth CB,CW watercraft in-
spectors were able to spend 775 hours at
boat launches and talked to over 6,000
people about aquatic invasive species
(AIS) prevention.
Every watercraft inspector worked hard to
educate the public about AIS and help
boaters and anglers understand the new
laws that will help protect our lakes and
streams from introductions of new aquatic
invasive species (AIS). We all answered
lots of questions too. People were very
interested in which AIS are in Wisconsin
and Walworth County and which species
we are most concerned about that are not
here.
One question that people often ask about
AIS is; “where do they came from?” In
fact, many invasive species we see in Wis-
consin do originate in Asia or Europe.
However, some invasive species in Wis-
consin are native to a different part of the
United States. This surprises some peo-
ple, but it happens more often then you
would think. Another fact that many
people find interesting is that other coun-
ties are experiencing invasive species
that have been introduced from the
United States.
Large mouth bass is an excellent exam-
ple. As one of our highly valued native
sport fish it may be hard to imagine that
they could be anything but good. Ac-
cording to the Global Invasive Species
Database, countries world wide felt that
our Large-mouth Bass would be an excel-
lent addition to their own fisheries and
they decided to stock them. While many
anglers have no doubt enjoyed the excite-
ment of landing these tasty fish, they have
also caused some big problems by out
competing native fish which in some cases
resulted in large population declines.
Other fish native to the U.S. that are con-
sidered invasive species in Europe are
Brook trout and Red Shiners. Another sur-
prise is that some of our local native fish
like Bluegill, Pumpkinseed, Northern
Pike, and Bass are causing issues in other
States. While they may not be as big of a
problem as some AIS, according to the
2001 Oregon Aquatic Nuisance Species
Management Plan, they can compete with
native species for food and space. They
can also hybridize and prey on
natives and may introduce
pathogens.
Several of our native aquatic
plants that have been used in
aquariums and ponds have also
been introduced to other coun-
ties where they are now consid-
ered AIS. Coontail and Elodea
are two examples. Both are na-
tive to Wisconsin lakes and while
they can be a valuable part of the
lake community, they can also grow to
nuisance levels here. When they are intro-
duced to a new area they can become an
even bigger issue.
As I have mentioned before, there are a lot
of different AIS to be concerned about,
over 185 in the Great Lakes and others
moving towards Wisconsin from other
states. These numbers only reflect the
aquatic species of course. If terrestrial spe-
cies are counted the number climbs much
higher. Here in Wisconsin, we definitely
have our share of problems with invasive
species and it can be over whelming at
times. But it may help to realize that every
state in the U.S and most counties
throughout the world are also dealing with
the problems associated with invasive spe-
cies.
Here is Wisconsin, we will continue to
protect against new invasive species.
When we lose a battle, and a new lake is
found to have zebra mussels or some other
exotic species is discovered, we will feel
that loss. But, when you consider the huge
number of invasive species in the world,
compared to the number present in Wis-
consin, I think that we are making a posi-
tive difference.
9
Bud Vance, Shorelines Publisher / Editor 847-459-8127
Lauderdale Lakes Improvement Association Officers
Don Henderson, President, 262-742-4970
Ron Mueller, Vice President 847-635-5668
Herb Sharpless, Treasurer, 630-497-5152
Patricia Cady, Secretary, 262-742-4190
Floyd Pochowski, Executive Board, 262-742-3568
Dave DeAngelis, Executive Board , 847-223-6268
PRESORTED
STANDARD
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
SKOKIE, IL.
PERMIT NO. 245
Lauderdale Lakes Improvement Association
P.O. Box 542
Elkhorn, WI 53121
Shorelines
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