Spring 2022 Newsletter

Spring 2022 Newsletter

The snow has melted, the ice has gone out, mud season is a thing of the past, so it must be time to swing into our spring and summer mode here on Lake Monomonac. From my vantage point first to be seen on the lake in late March were the Merganser ducks followed shortly thereafter by the loon family and then Susan Kochinskas in her kayak. A few stalwarts have put in their dock or boat lift, no power boats yet but it appears that everyone is looking forward to warmer weather.

The past winter was an unusual one in that we had snow early, then a thaw and refreeze that allowed for some iceboating and then an early ice out on March 24.There must be something correct about global  warming as records my parents kept from 1965 on showed ice out in the 60’s and 70’s usually occurring around April 19th. This year was the earliest one we recorded while 1972 had the latest that occurred on April 28th. Quite a difference.

MLPOA has been gearing up for summer also. Dale Dintaman has prepared the necessary paper work and has a contract ready for treating the lake for variable milfoil. The contractor will once again be the Solitude Lake Management company and they will be using the herbicide Procellacor. The areas to be treated will have signs posted and work is anticipated to occur in June following a lake survey. We were fortunate to receive a grant from the NH Department of Environmental Services to assist in the funding of this major program.

The Lake Host Program paperwork has been submitted to NH Lakes with a planned expansion of hours of operation. Funding from the calendar sales, a grant from NH Lakes and a generous contribution from the Winchendon Springs Lake Association has made increasing the inspection hours possible. A volunteer is desperately needed to act as the field supervisor for this program. If you are interested in learning more, please contact me.

Jack Cantin has been hard at work on a new membership tracking data base to replace our current model which will make life easier for our treasurer, Doug Redfield. The new system can track membership, addresses, number of lake residents and much more. We are looking forward to implementing this in the near future.

One of MLPOA goals is to increase our membership base. Currently our members total less than 40% of the Lake Monomonac properties. It would be my hope that members could speak with their neighbors to encourage them to come to a meeting and join the association. To help facilitate this endeavor, Nancy and Bill Gunther have been creating a visual aide from the town’s tax maps. The intent is to color code which property owners are members and those who aren’t. This map will be on display at the annual meeting to be held on Saturday, July 16th. Sadly, the Lake Education Day has been put off for another year as the Covid situation prevented adequate planning time for the event. Back in January, when planning for this event is normally done there were many questions about masks, group meetings, insurance concerns and the availability of DES personnel so the decision was made to forego this year. There is hope that we can continue this project next year as it is very popular with the Rindge/Winchendon students. members could speak with their neighbors to encourage them to come to a meeting and join the association. To help facilitate this endeavor, Nancy and Bill Gunther have been creating a visual aide from the town’s tax maps. The intent is to color code which property owners are members and those who aren’t. This map will be on display at the annual meeting to be held on Saturday, July 16th. situation prevented adequate planning time for the event. Back in January, when planning for this event is normally done there were many questions about masks, group meetings, insurance concerns and the availability of DES personnel so the decision was made to forego this year. There is hope that we can continue this project next year as it is very popular with the Rindge/Winchendon students. There were several bills in this year’s legislative session which could have had a direct impact on lake communities. While too lengthy to discuss here, the good news was one bill directs NHDES to develop a comprehensive plan for dealing with cyanobacterial blooms when they occur. This leadership role is needed as there are many agencies that could be involved when a bloom occurs but up till now noone seemed to have a plan or be in charge. We will continue to monitor these bills and report on their status.

The Volunteer Lake Assessment Program (VLAP) under the leadership of Lourdes Gray has set the following dates to collect water samples: June 7th, July 5th, and Aug 2nd. Should anyone wish to volunteer to assist in the sampling and getting the samples to the NHDES lab in Concord please get in touch with me.


Long time member Kathy John has graciously donated one of her stunning fabric art works to MLPOA and MLSA as a fund raiser. Both groups will be displaying the work at their meetings and selling $5.00 raffle tickets. The winning ticket will be drawn at the MLSA closing meeting and the proceeds split between the two groups. Kathy John has won numerous awards for her Fabric Art and has shown through the US and internationally. This Lake Monomonac sailboat scene is valued at over $225. We are very grateful for Kathy’s generosity and membership in both organizations.


A reminder that MLPOA dues run from May1 to April 30. A mailing for this year’s dues will be forthcoming. I hope everyone will renew at that time or at the Annual Meeting. The MLPOA Annual Meeting is scheduled for July 16th at the Rindge Recreation building on Wellington Road. Coffee at 8:30 with a meeting start time of 9:00 am for the business meeting. I hope everyone will be able to attend.

Sincerely,
Steve Gray
President, MLPOA

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