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       The BERLIN LAKE ASSOCIATON  

Editor Lynne Duchon                       

 

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Hello 2011!!! Welcome to a brand new year at the lake!!!

Your directors have been discussing and planning the Berlin Lake Association’s agenda for 2011. Included in this newsletter, you will find a schedule of events (events are also always included our directories), your 2011 dues statement and a directory advertising

form. Please return your dues as soon as possible so that we may avoid the added cost of sending out reminder statements.  When your dues have been paid you should expect to receive your directory and 2011 membership card by the 3^rd or 4^th week of May.

 

We hope you enjoyed the BLA’s 2010 events and activities.  We are looking forward to this year’s agenda and hope that all of you can find the time to come out and enjoy our activities and participate in our meetings and events. If you are interested in the possibility of an event that is not on our calendar please contact one of your officers or directors so that we may consider those options.

 

Our lake cleanups for 2010 once again focused on the collection of trash around the Rt. 14 and Rt. 224 bridges. As you may know, the Subway Restaurants sponsorship for this event was originally secured by Subway employee and BLA member, Jim Stoneman and has been hosted by Martha Cobb.

It is with great sadness that we must report that our longtime member and friend, Jim

Stoneman passed away in November 2010.  In his declining health, he continued to think of the BLA and was gracious enough to secure Subway’s continued sponsorship for the BLA for this event. We will miss Jim and his support of our association over the years.

 

The Ulster Project Boat Rides  

Thank you, thank you, thank you to those of you who donated your time and boats for the Ulster Project boat rides!  This is always a fun event for everyone and a day on the lake is a special treat for the Irish teens, their U.S. host teens and chaperones. The teens enjoyed touring the lake, going for a swim and challenging each other with water gun battles!

If you are interested in helping with this project in 2011 please contact Tim Taylor at 330-584-3844.

 

Deerfield Apple Butter Festival

The Berlin Lake Association booth at the Apple Butter festival is a great way to help the community and showcase the Berlin Lake Association. This event allows us to sell our

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raffle tickets and merchandise and discuss the goals of our association with other area clubs and organizations, as well as community and county leaders. The Civic Association, who runs this event, looks forward to our continued support. They can always use your help in peeling apples and are also always in need of canning jars. If you have jars to donate or are willing to helping in any capacity please contact Bill Westover at 330-654-2199.

 

June and August Brunches on the Beach – Unfortunately, the weather in June prevented us from having the brunch at the Les’s Bait location hosted by Martha Cobb.  Our August brunch this went off without a hitch as many came out to enjoy the lake, delicious food and the sunshine on the beach. We hope that this year the weather will allow us to enjoy both of these scheduled events.

 

Directory

Please update your information for our directory.  If there have been changes to your address, phone number or email address please call or email Lynne Duchon.  lynned@neo.rr.com  or phone: 330-584-3844 by April 20th.

Those who are interested in advertising in our 2011 directory may do so by completing and returning the form enclosed in this newsletter or downloading the form from our website at www.berlinlakeassociation.com Advertising in the directory continues to be a great value at $100.00 for a full page and $50.00 for a half page.  When choosing an ad, your membership dues of $25.00 are included; meaning your membership for the year is free!

 

Elections

Elections for BLA directors will be held at our April 20, 2011 meeting.

Please consider becoming involved in your association!  You may nominate candidates for director positions by completing the nominations form enclosed in this newsletter or by contacting Tim Taylor by phone @ 330-584-3844 or email @ tntaylor2@fedex.com by April 15, 2011.  You must be a paid member to nominate and vote in this election so please return your dues as soon as possible.

 

Calendar

The 2011 Berlin Lake Association activities calendar is included in this newsletter.  Please look over all of the events that have been planned for the season and plan your schedule early to be a part of these events.

 

President’s Message   

by Tim Taylor

The ice is now gone and the high water levels are subsiding. Hopefully this summer season will bring warm sun and normal water levels to Berlin Lake 

 

The Corps of Engineers are halfway through the process of repairing the Crest Gates on Berlin Dam. This task was started in the fall of 2009 when 2 of the 4 crest gates were removed and repaired. Those 2 gates were reinstalled last fall and the remaining 2 gates were removed for repair. These last 2 gates will be reinstalled this fall and the refurbishing

process will then be complete. The hope is that the gates will then be good for another 65 years.  The USACE area management assures me that the crest gate program will have no effect on the Berlin Lake water level, assuming we have normal precipitation this spring and summer.   For information on the Berlin Lake water level or for a copy of the Berlin Lake shoreline management plan, please go to the Corps office on Bedel Road or go on-line to the USACE web site.    http://www.lrp.usace.army.mil    

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Please keep the BLA officers and directors informed as to your interactions with the Corps on shoreline management issues so that we may monitor how individual issues are being dealt with and insure that each issue is given proper consideration and treated in a uniform manner.

 

We are still monitoring the preliminary application for hydroelectric generation at Berlin Dam. At this time, Hydro Energy Technologies is still doing analysis and seem to have determined that their first project will be at the Lake Milton dam. Our concern remains as to how this will affect our lake water level. We have initial assurance that any hydroelectric generation at Lake Milton, Berlin or both will have no effect on the flow or lake water level. 

 

Concerning our potential area Improvement projects, the Berlin Lake Association is in the final approval process to create the hiking & biking trail we have been working on for the past 5 years.  This trail will be on the abandoned railroad right of way that crosses Berlin Lake. Information as to our progress on this endeavor is described by Christine Craycroft, Executive Director of the Portage Parks District in her Berlin Lake Trail update.  I want to thank Christine for all of her assistance with this project and thank all of you for supporting our fundraising events. We will be asking for volunteers to assist in the building of the trail this summer and plan to have it open for use by the end of October.   Special thanks to Betty Van Such, Karen Durrett and Lynne Duchon and Martha Cobb for all of their hard work and dedication in chairing our fundraising efforts. 

I would also like to thank Kevin and Lisa McDermott for so generously hosting our Poker Run.  It is always a wonderful place to hold an event and their hospitality is outstanding!  We look forward to holding our 2011 Poker Run at McDermott’s Lakefront Campground on Saturday, July 23^rd.  Please save the date for this fun event.

 

Finally, I would like to thank you all for your membership in the Berlin Lake Association and urge you to continue your involvement in 2011.  We are in need of volunteers to get involved with the operation of the Berlin Lake Association. As we have discussed before, we have a few members doing most of the work.  At the April meeting we will have an election for 2 of the director positions.  I would ask anyone that would be interested in getting involved to please contact me. We do need more involvement in order to ensure that this organization will remain strong and continue on for many years to come. 

Thank you.  

 

Membership Report

by Lynne Duchon, Chairperson

Included with this newsletter is your membership dues invoice for 2011.

Please return your $25.00 yearly membership dues payment by April 20, 2011. 

Your dues enable the BLA to fund our mailings, directories, social events and general overhead involved with the operation of this non-profit organization. Please help us keep our

association strong by renewing your membership and encouraging your friends and neighbors to join or renew their memberships in the BLA.  You may download copies of our

membership application forms from our website or pick up a form at any of our meetings or functions.  If you are interested in helping the membership committee please contact Lynne Duchon phone 330-584-3844 email lynned@neo.rr.com   

 

Spring Meeting

Mark your calendars now to attend our spring meeting on April 20^th. . We are scheduled to have Col. William Graham, the new commander of the USACE Pittsburgh District, as our speaker. We will also be voting on 2 director positions.  Please contact Tim Taylor with your

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nominations at 330-584-7900, 330-283-6728 or email at tntaylor2@fedex.com.  You may also contact any director with this information.

      

12^th Annual Portage County Environmental Conservation Awards Dinner

Join us at this year’s Environmental Awards Dinner and Auction, April 9^th @ 6:00 pm

at the American Legion Hall in Kent and will honor those individuals and organizations who contribute to Portage County’s conservation. The event is also a fundraiser for the Portage Park District’s Trails program including the Berlin Lake Trail Project.

Dinner tickets are $30.00 and include beer, wine and soft drinks (cash bar available). appetizers and dinner.  Reservations are due by April 1st.  For more information contact the Park District at (330) 297-7728 or committee member Tim Taylor at (330) 584-3844. Please support the Portage Parks by planning to attend this event.

 

From the Fundraising Corner

by Betty Van Such

The start of 2010 for the Berlin Lake Association came very quickly.  The January 20^th meeting contained an itinerary of social and fund raising events from President, Tim Taylor.  At that point, it was time to start planning for the largest fundraiser of the year, that being the Poker Run on July 24.  The committee, headed by Karen Durrett and Lynne Duchon and assisted by Betty Van Such decided that minor changes needed to be made and the quest for donations would be a challenge.  We were off and running for the next several months.  The state of the economy had a large impact from major supporters that we’ve had in the past, but we kept on trying to make new contacts.  When all was said and done, all came together especially with the support of BLA members and their generosity.  The day started out questionable weather wise but it wasn’t long, before the sun came out and so did the people.  Another successful Poker Run with profits close to $7,000.00 towards the Berlin Lake Trail Fund. 

 

The Lottery Raffle fundraiser, which has been offered for the last 3 years, included purchasing a $5.00 ticket good for an entire month and was based on the Ohio Lottery.  In 2010 there were 364 tickets sold which brought in $1820.00 and included payouts of $650.00 that left us with a net profit of $1170.00 towards our Berlin Trail Fund.  The

intent of this fundraiser was to have all 1000 tickets sold @ $5.00 each and with payouts still have a net profit of over $3200.00. We have always noted that if each member would buy 2 tickets, or take some to sell, we would easily be able to meet or exceed our goal.  Unfortunately, only a very few members have stepped up to do that and most of the 364 tickets were sold by only a handful of members.   Thank you to those who purchased or sold tickets, however, because of the lack of interest, this fundraiser, it will be discontinued.

 

We are open to any fundraising suggestions that anyone may have.  We have received our Clean Ohio Trail Grant for our walking trail, but it doesn’t stop there.  We need to add our portion of funds to make this work.  All help is needed and any suggestion will

be considered.  Contact any officer with ideas.  Please attend the meetings, social events, and fundraisers, and bring a friend, but most of all, get involved.

 

The Wood Carving Raffle fundraiser was again orchestrated and run by Martha Cobb who donated two woodcarvings for the raffle. The winner of the Pelican was Robert French and the winner of the Bear was Vicki Uhl.  Thank you, Martha!

 

Thank you to all who sold and/or purchased tickets for our fundraisers!!!

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Berlin Lake Trail Project

Christine Craycroft, Portage Park District

 

The Berlin Lake Trail project is proving to be a true collaboration, with a variety of individuals and organizations coming together to finally make this a reality!  It is on-track to be completed in 2011 with an opening celebration expected this fall.  Partners are involved at every level, from boy scouts to the federal government. 

 

The Portage Park District is subleasing the trail corridor from the Ohio Division of Wildlife, who holds a lease on the majority of land around Berlin Lake, which is owned by the US Army Corps of Engineers. The Deerfield Township Trustees have generously offered to donate the Township’s services for trail clearing and grading. Deerfield resident Terry Hohnhorst, a Professional Engineer, is generously volunteering his time and expertise to engineer the construction plans, as well as assist with inspection of the project once it’s underway. Eagle Scout candidate Alex Landgraf has taken on the task of creating and improving the foot trails that will connect the main trail to the shoreline in a few places, as well as installing trail marker posts.  The Park District will use its allocation from the Ohio Department of Transportation to create parking lots at the north and south ends.  The State of Ohio has awarded a Clean Ohio Trails grant to the Park

District in the amount of $348,280, for which the County Commissioners are providing a cash-flow loan.  And of course, the Berlin Lake Association has been the primary instigator of the project, providing the critical local cash match for the grant (thanks to several fundraisers) and participating in planning the trail at all stages. 

 

Work is expected to begin on the trail at the end of March, with construction bids opened in April, and construction continuing through the summer and early fall, with a ribbon-cutting in late October. The main parts of the project include:

 

• clearing vegetation
• grading the trail
• repairing eroded slopes at the bridge abutments
• adding a four-foot fence to the bridge parapets and repairing concrete
• grading and surfacing the trail with crushed limestone
• installing parking lots, signage and information kiosks at each end

 

Volunteers could be used to assist in clearing the trail, and especially after the trail is built by using it and helping with day-to-day maintenance and reporting any problems observed.  While there has been a long history of recreational bridge jumping and fishing, the Division of Wildlife and Corps of Engineers are prohibiting that, and would appreciate the support of the community in discouraging it.  If you’d like to volunteer, contact Christine Craycroft at the Portage Park District, 330-297-7728 or ccraycroft@portageparkdistrict.org.