I would say the Pond had a GREAT July between the 4th of July & Lotawana Day. Where else can a community boast of such entertainment and enjoyed by all.
Overall, the weather hasn’t been bad, only one week of high temps and the rest was great, Let’s see what August brings us.
Lotawana Day was a success all around. THANK YOU…….Kim, Jenny & Maddison! The day started with Buddy Bass, great participation however, the “big” bass were on vacation somewhere else but still a wonderful time with our dedicated fishermen. 1st Place – Dave Wagner/Brad Barnhart, 2nd– Cody Carl/Jason Estes, 3rd – Scott & Charlie Ferber, 4th– Jeff Needles/Nate Flynn, 5th – Logan & Lyle Burditt, 6th – Cole & Duane Sheriff, 7th – Tie Pat & Stu May and Scott Johnson/ Pat Harlan, Big Bass – Zach Miller and Fred Graham Big Bass of the Year – Cole Sheriff. The Carboard Boat Races were fantastic and was a highlight with the young and old. One could tell that a lot of time and effort went into the design of the floating watercrafts. Bet you wish you had stock in “duck tape” for this event. I heard some people say they used more than 10 rolls. RACE RESULTS: Fastest Boat was Stacey Schimmer & Dawn Brown, Fastest to Sink- Carly Dwyer & Raef Campbell, Best Decorated- The Unicorn – Kate & Carly Kounkel. Best Costume Ben & Zoe Bakerin. Next in line was the Boat Parade. Our lake rats are great designers, saw some imagination went into the creations. Parade Winners: 1st – Ron Travolta – Grease – Schilmmer/Davis…..personal note here…….where did you come up with that name and that picture on the side of the pontoon is in question…..to make this situation rememberable, we were ready to start the parade and the Travolta Boat was bouncing along the rocks by the dam stalled…….could have been “karma” , but you made into the parade, 2nd Caimen Catchers – Owens/Hawkins/Needles/ Kelleys. 3rd Love Boat – Hahns/ Burzinkskis/Weedens, 4th Poker Run – Owens/Ewing/Hawkins/Terry, 5th Diving Thru the Decades- Prideaux/Cooley/Machado/Martin/Clagget/Meents, 6th Diving Divas – Passantino, 7th – Bandit Baywatch – Frashier/Hill, 8th Lot-A-Noodles – Howes/VanHooks/Martins, 9th – Hippie Chicks – Chuck/Zyza/Lexie/Lo/Davis/Lane/Clariece/Cage/Kennedy/Friends. Dock Decorating: 1st C-36 Charles & Margaret Owen, 2nd – L-33 Rosalie McGregor, 3rd – M 40 Christopher & Lisa Gunderson. Scavenger Hunt Winners: 1st – Geri Brackman…….Geri should stick to this event not carboard racing…….. Her Boat sank! 2nd – The Boehnleins, 3rd – The Kounkels. The last big event was the Lotawana Ski Club Show…….this was great as usual. There are 118 kids with the club this season and many of them are very young, what a future lies ahead. Big Thanks to the following adults for directing this years show: Chloe Huxol, Craig Davis, Sarah Frashier, Tim & Missy Chamblin, Kyle Twenter, Travis & Amber O’Hara, Dino, Jim & James Aholt, Tommy Needles, Amie Williams, Tim & Melinda Harber, Mark & Jaine Nato, DJ Steve, & Shawn Stevenson. And to wrap up the day, the Troubadour Retrievers band played for us on top of Scott & Pat Poynter boathouse into the evening.
Labor Day is fast approaching and the winding down of summer. I see that several new families have move to Lotawana in July. If you have new neighbors go out and introduce yourself and take them for a boat ride showing them our community and boating regulations…..good PR for you, the Association, and make the lake safer. New homeowners to Lotawana, from observation this summer, many of you need to take a boating safety course and I will be glad to do that for free. Many can’t moor a watercraft correctly, I’ve encountered several that do not know or understand their controls on the boat……simple things of running lights/flood lights…..almost every weekend 2-5 pontons go down the lake with their floods on. When you stop them and ask them to turn the beams off, it takes almost a minute or two for them to find the correct switch. I’ve run across too many that plow and have no idea what a trim tab it. And the number 1………guess………..people do not know or understand the Rules & Regulations of the Lake. Many say and even some locals, “You have too many rules.” Rules are there to apply when unusual situations occur. In a Cliff Notes Version…….do not speed into a cove past the cove markers, move counter clock-wise, no tubes pulled into a cove, no wake inside a cove, 10 mph at night, do not plow close the 100 ft markers, do not follow a skier less than 300 ft, do not get any closer to another moving watercraft than 50 ft, AND when swimming, you must not be more than 75 ft from a dock or watercraft……THIS INCLUIDES COVES, only pull no more than 2 skiers/tubers, bow and stern lights on a night, and last, a homeowner/immediate family must be with all guest be it on a dock or in a watercraft. I don’t think that is too hard to learn.
Please remember, it is a privilege to be on the water at Lotawana, and that right is given to you by the Association. Because you own land here does not give anyone the right to do as they please and ignore our Rules & Regulations. AMEN
See ya!