I’ve always thought that Colorado and Montana are God’s country; however, these past two weeks, I think we are living the dream right here on the Pond! 80’s during the day, 60’s at night……can’t get any better than that for August.
Probably the highlight on the lake since the last publication would be the Carnival on the Lake put on by the Optimist Club. Through the years, the Optimist has been a main stay with our community always supporting it. Back in the stone age when I was scout master of Troop 251, they were always there to assist us with donations being it for equipment or funding a boy to go to scout camp at Osceola and through the years they have put on this great event of Carnival on the Lake. I heard there were about 200 kids that participated this summer. Great job Optimist and the 25 volunteers that supported the program along with 5 volunteer Taxis Boat Drivers and it was the first year without rain!
What’s going on around the Pond? The weekends have been rather cool and calm, not to complain, many have taken advantage of the low attendance on the water and enjoyed the lake on the weekends skiing, tubing, and just plain cruising or mooring at Goat Hill. Another high point was the Bob Jovi concert at the Yacht Club & celebration of Jeremy Baker’s birthday. There were a lot of 40-something year olds that were really enjoying themselves, won’t mention names of the ones dancing on the docks or doing flips on the lawn. It was kinda funny, I think this was one reason not much was going on Saturday after the Friday concert…..I wonder why?
Flood lights on pontoons are still a problem. These lights can only be used when docking your watercraft, not going down the middle of the lake. AND when asked to turn these little fixtures off……it still takes one to two minutes to find the switch. Another bad habit are boaters pulling tubes with kids on them into and down coves. Thank you, the homeowners for calling in to report the individuals. Of course, we can’t write a citation unless we witness the infraction, but when I contact them, their response is usually, “I didn’t know that.” My response, “Sorry, but if the patrol does see you doing this infraction, it will by 6 points.” Their response, “Oh.” Just for an FYI, new residents are required to take a written open book test over the Rules & Regulations, but I’m asking the Association to also require them to take a 30-minute Boating/Safety Class also. They will ride in one of the patrol boats with me being shown examples of entering/leaving coves, plowing, what is no wake speed, counterclockwise, right away, how to cross the lake correctly at 90 degrees, requirements for skiing, and what to do when they approach sailboats. It’s a shame the kids out here are safer drivers than the adults…….way to go kids!
A safety tip I would like to bring up for homeowners pulling a child or young adult skiing, tubing, or wakeboarding. In the Lotawana Ski Club, when a skier falls, they are required to raise their hands above their head and wave. This signals to the pull boat driver or the safety boat that you are okay. It also gives more attention to the dropped skier to be seen in the water with following traffic. A tiny one-foot head sticking up isn’t too much of a visual and I’ve noticed some spotters in the pull boat are not very fast in reporting the skier down with the ski boat is still heading down the lake away from the skier. On a busy weekend this can be dangerous.
Next big events will be Labor Day Weekend, the Wooden Boat Classic & the C Boat Regatta. Safe boating to all.
See ya