Patrolling the Pond-May 21st

/ News from the Association / By

 

The Memorial Day Edition: NEW HOLIDAY RULES APPLY!!!

By Mike Miller, Board Member, Vice President, Lake Lotawana Association

PLEASE NOTE: NEW HOLIDAY RULES ARE IN PLACE STARTING AT 7:00PM FRIDAY, MAY 23rd.

“That Nation which respects and honors its dead, shall ever be respected and honored itself.”
– Brevet Lieut.-Col. Edmund B. Whitman, 1868 (1)

Memorial Day weekend has long been considered the beginning of summer. Interestingly, when it comes to weather in Missouri, it’s a bit of a dice roll. Sometimes it can be warm but, at least in my +20 years of experience it tends to be a bit rainy and cool. Either way, it definitely is the unofficial delineator between spring and summer. School is usually out (unless there are a lot of snow days being made up) and the longer days means more activity after work and school. While we all famously plan our parties and grilling menus for the weekend, of course the real reason we have Memorial Day was not to officially start summer or fire up the BBQ.

Originally called Decoration Day, the roots of Memorial Day come out of the post-Civil War era when a day to decorate the graves of fallen Union soldiers was established. I’ve known this for a while and at one point use to decorate a random soldier’s grave in a random cemetery to honor the service of my dad who served in WWII. The establishment of “Decoration Day,” in 1868 shadowed the tradition of placing flowers on fallen soldiers during the Civil War. Interestingly, my parents use to always refer to Memorial Day as, “Decoration Day.” I guess because for most of their lives that is what it was called. We always visited the graves of my grandparents and others and placed flowers on their graves. On the 100th year of the first “Decoration Day,” Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act to officially recognized Memorial Day as a National Holiday. In 1971 Decoration Day officially became Memorial Day and a federal holiday in the United States. Traditionally May 30th was recognized as Decoration Day. Now it always falls on the last Monday of May. Part of the original proclamation was for everyone to, “to observe Memorial Day by praying, according to their individual religious faith, for permanent peace.” (1) I think we can all get behind that even over a nice slab of ribs or BBQ chicken.

CHANGES TO MEMORIAL DAY and HOLIDAY LAKE RULES

As you know we have had Holiday Lake Use rules in place for many years. This year there has been a change. NOTE: THESE RULES NOW APPLY to EVERY DAY of the HOLIDAY WEEKEND starting with Memorial Day Weekend at 7pm, Friday May 23rd through Monday, May 26th, 12 midnight.

NEW HOLIDAY RULES:

The following special rule is a codification of rules contained in the general rules that are specifically applicable to the use of the lake on described holiday weekends.

  1. This rule applies to the Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day holiday weekends from 7p.m. Friday night before until Midnight on the Monday of the holiday. When Independence Day (July 4th) does not directly fall before or following a weekend the Lotawana Association shall determine and post the days encompassing the holiday.
  2. PWC use is restricted each day to 2:00 p.m. until 6 p.m. Reference rule III(M)(2)(m).
  3. Skiing and Tubing shall be permitted only during the hours of sunrise to 10:00am and noon to 2:00 p.m. Reference rule III(N)(3)(b)
  4. During holiday weekends no vessel shall pull more than one person at a time.
  5. Wake surfing is not permitted at any time. Reference rule III(N)(f)(6)
  6. No person shall operate a sailboat in an organized or scheduled racing competition that starts before 8:00 am or after 12 p.m.. Reference rule III(Q)(12)
  7. The Water Patrol may in their sole discretion curtail skiing during periods of heavy watercraft traffic. They may also choose to allow skiing during restricted times when traffic is unexpectedly light.

The MOST IMPORTANT CHANGE to these rules is that they apply to EVERY DAY OF THE WEEKEND starting on FRIDAY at 7pm and include EVERY DAY of the WEEKEND verses just the holiday itself. You will want to make note of this change and review it with your entire family.

As you plan your BBQs and family gatherings for the weekend, I have two challenges for you:

 

  • The new rules have been voted on by the Board and now apply starting this FRIDAY, MAY 23rd at 7pm through Monday, May 26th at midnight. PLEASE help get the word out to your neighbors and family. It takes all of us to practice water safety and this new Holiday Rule change starts soon.
  • I hope you will also take time to remember those who have passed on including our fallen soldiers. Maybe decorate the grave of an unknown veteran in an unknow cemetery. You can recognized them easily because they all have a marker next to their grave.

I plan on starting one new tradition and restarting another one this Memorial Day. Hopefully the weather will cooperate, and we will all enjoy sunshine and warm temps. Until next time…

See you on the Pond!

Safer Seven is taking the Holiday Weekend Off. And you have seen enough about rules in this edition. If you have any comments or questions, please email me at vp@lakelotawana.net