President's Message

CHRIS SEMENCHUK

What a year it has been! At the time of writing this, the gold, orange, and red leaf colours are beautiful amongst the pine, cedar, and spruce trees throughout the region. It’s a fitting end to the 2021 cottage season that started with some uncertainty with a second year of the pandemic. I hope you and your family enjoyed some quality lake time.

Once the LakeSmart team were able to get out into the community, it was full steam ahead for Cassidy and the team of four including Abbi, Brie, Quinn, and Seanna. They covered a lot of ground with seedling planting, shoreline cleanups, children’s programming, connecting with the community at the Matiowski Market, removing invasive plant material (purple loosestrife), storm drain stencils, dock visits both in the LakeSmart boat and on-land, distribution of the zebra mussel settlement sampler, and meeting the public at local boat launches with the first ever mobile boat wash station in the northwest Ontario region. We are applying for funding and hiring an Environment Program Coordinator Intern in the new year to build on the success of enhanced programming.

We couldn’t have done any of this without our sponsors so thank you all very much for your ongoing support. And thank you to all the LOWDSA staff, directors, and committee members who work so hard behind the scenes throughout the year to enable the LOWDSA summer programming to occur. The LOWDSA Board of Directors is very active as many participate both in LOWDSA committees as well as support for other organizations in the region focusing on environmental, forestry and other economic and community issues.

Winter is the time where we prepare for the year's end and are looking to new beginnings. We’re now wrapping up and summarizing our 2021 programming and preparing for 2022, which includes the milestone of LOWDSA’s 60th anniversary. Throughout the year, Area News will feature articles chronicling our rich history and how far we’ve come since our inception. We look forward to hearing your comments. On top of planning for the Area News, we’re also doing some final filming for our 60th anniversary video in the late fall and winter and will be ready to share it with all of our members.

Another initiative we look forward to completing is our strategic plan. Thanks to all of you who responded to our survey as we work through the strategic planning process. Member input is essential to ensure we’re representing you. We will keep you apprised of our next steps and directions.

We are starting to prepare for the LOWDSA 2021 AGM to be held in April 2022. The Board is considering whether to hold an in-person lake show in conjunction with the AGM as we’ve done historically. We will keep you informed of our plans as they progress.

Many of you have memberships expiring in Q4 2021, so watch for information on our upcoming Membership campaign. And with year-end approaching, don’t forget to consider gifting a membership to a friend or family member. In the spirit of the holiday season, we encourage you to share your passion for the lake. For those that refer a friend, when they join LOWDSA, both you and your friend will be entered for a chance to win a LOWDSA paddle! Check out the Membership section at lowdsa.com or email membership@lowdsa.com for details.

Many prefer to receive the paper edition of Area News, but don’t forget there is a virtual version that can be read on a computer or iPad/phone. And when you renew, please consider a donation to our Environmental Initiatives & Special Projects (EISP) fund to help fund and sustain the programming similar to what we delivered this year such as a mobile boat wash station for LOWDSA to use in the 2022 year.

As you receive this edition of Area News, we’re starting to see some signs of winter approaching. The Farmer’s Almanac is predicting cold, stormy weather with lots of snow and advises us to “grab your fleece and stock up on firewood”! So please get out and enjoy the upcoming winter season and all the best as we end 2021 and look forward to 2022.

Chris Semenchuk