Official News

WISCONSIN LAKES PARTNERSHIP BULLETIN

6/1/2021

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR LAKE ORGANIZATIONS
JUNE 2021

We send these emails about once per month to keep people posted and share important news. We hope you find this information beneficial.

Thursday Afternoon Webinars Recordings Available
Working in partnership with Wisconsin Lakes and the Wisconsin DNR, Extension Lakes offered a series of webinars this spring addressing a range of topics relevant to lake district and lake association board members. All of these webinars were recorded and are available for you to watch here.

Wisconsin DNR Grant Webinars
The Wisconsin DNR makes available millions of dollars every year for lake districts and lake associations. If you have a planning or implementation project in mind, NOW is the time to get ready to apply, as deadlines are approaching this fall. DNR staff will be holding two live webinars next month to explain the process and field your questions. NOTE: These two webinars cover the same material – you only need to attend one. Click on the date/time that works best for you to register:
July 28, 10–11 a.m.
July 29, 2–3 p.m.

Collaborative Capacity: How Can We Work Together?
"The conditions needed for coalitions to promote effective collaboration and build sustainable community change."
As we continue to focus our efforts on increasing lake organization capacity, we want to invite you to take advantage of these opportunities:

Office hours: We'd love to talk to you one-on-one so we can understand your needs and develop ways we can support you. Find a date on this Doodle that will work for you and reserve your one-hour timeslot: Doodle | Capacity Planning - You're welcome to invite others from your Board to join you.
Board documents: One thing we're looking for is for lake organizations to share their board documents with us; these documents may include board position descriptions, board service agreements, your board's skills gap analysis (i.e. board matrix), and your board member evaluation strategy/process. We will not share your documents with anyone; this is purely for our education and to help us develop better ways to help you and the other organizations across Wisconsin. Please send your documents to uwexlakes@uwsp.edu with the Subject: Board Docs.
Advisory committee: We would like to pull together a small group of people who have the time and interest to review tools and provide feedback on ways to grow organizational capacity. This group will meet virtually via Zoom for one hour periodically (maybe quarterly; maybe monthly) to discuss ideas and provide guidance. We'd like to have an initial meeting in July. Please email swindjue@uwsp.edu if you’re interested.

Boat Registration and Aquatic Invasive Species Donations
Please spread the word that anyone registering their boats in Wisconsin have an opportunity to make a donation to Aquatic Invasive Species research. These donations, about $64,000 per year, fund important research on AIS prevention and management strategies. Please "check the box" at the end of the boat registration form and help keep our lakes healthy!

My Lakeshore Field Journal - Order a case for your organization and/or event
If you are part of an organization that provides educational experiences for children related to water, or if you have the ability to get these Journals into the hands of children this summer, we invite you to order a case (or more) to be distributed. We are only asking you to pay for shipping. If interested, visit the Extension Lakes Bookstore and click on My Lakeshore Field Journal.

Subscribe to Lake Tides: The FREE newsletter for people interested in Wisconsin Lakes. Receive this free quarterly publication via email or have it delivered to your mailbox. Subscribe here.

Other Upcoming Events
Extension Lakes maintains a robust calendar of all water-related trainings and meetings; if you look at the calendar in "agenda view" you can see the full list of what's coming in July and beyond.

Have a happy and safe 4th of July!

Extension Lakes Team

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PICNIC & LAKE BOARD ANNUAL MEETING UPDATE

8/24/2020

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Greetings members!

Thank you to everyone who has sent in your dues for the year. Our treasurer informs us that we're significantly down versus other years, but that there have been some folks contributing. Thank you.
Are you wondering what we'll do for our annual meeting? We've waited as long as we could to make this decision, and the time is upon us.

The only thing we can do right now is to change the format and fare. We're not going to ask the camp to prepare our usual spread. In response to a range of valid personal POV on the Covid issue, and individual tolerances for risk, this will be a beverage-only happy hour chat on the deck at the camp. We won't be inside together and we won't have the complications of buffet-style lines and close quarters.

This plan allows us to stay on track and in compliance. We'll share a few quick updates and knock out a couple procedural points that are needed for setting up 2021.

It's still going to be at 5:00 next Saturday, August 29
You are encouraged to attend even if you did not submit dues or picnic fees
Lori and I will bring a cooler or two full of beverages but you're welcome to bring what you like also
There will not be food
It will be at the camp and on the deck
There will not be an auction or giveaway
We will have Lake 26 hats, t-shirts & can koozies for sale.

Notes will be circulated after the event.

Thanks,
The Board

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2020 EVENTS CALENDAR

3/1/2020

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Annual Fourth of July Boat Parade
4:00pm, Saturday, July 4th, 2020
Same lineup as previously done. Boaters gather in Hideaway Bay at 4:00pm.

We're sticking with our new afternoon parade time! This gives family and friends time to spend the day preparing and decorating their boat for the parade during this super busy weekend of the summer.

The Fourth of July Boat parade contest is a fun time for families/friends to get together and be creative with their watercraft! Go big or go minimal. It’s just fun to join in and be a part of this event. There are 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners with prizes. The 1st place winners get to be the next year’s judges! So fun! Let’s keep the tradition going and get your themes planned out now! Last years winners, The Knisely Family, will be judging the parade this year. They’ll be passing on the Lake 26 traveling trophy on to this year’s lucky winners! Get your thinking caps on for your boat theme! Always a great time by all!

Annual Chinese Mystery Snail Contest
(lake association members only)
Once again, the Lake 26 Association is offering $100 to the person or family that collects and removes the most snails over the summer. Snail collectors can report their haul (number of pails) at this summer’s annual dinner and the $100 cash prize will be awarded to the snail collector with the most snails! Congrats to last year’s winner, Dave Luka!
Currently the only invasive species in our lake is the Chinese mystery snail. They’re the same snails that are used in aquariums. Never release the contents of an aquarium into the lake!

Member Association Annual Picnic at Luther Park Camp
(lake association members only)
5:00 - 7:00 p.m., Saturday, August 29, 2020
Please join us for our annual dinner at Luther Park Camp. Our organization’s bylaws call for an annual meeting, but it’s also just fun to get together for great food with lake neighbors. Beer, wine, and soft drinks will be provided.

Adults are $12; children are $6.
Pre-register or pay at the door; Saturday, August 29, Luther Park Camp

We had such a success with the silent auction the past few years that we are bringing it back! We raised about $588 for our association through great auction items all donated by lake members. If you have a special skill with crafts, cooking, woodworking, etc. and would like to donate items, please give us a shout and we’ll make sure you can add your goodies to the auction. Last year we had homemade bird houses, blueberries, photographs, pies, Lake 26 hats & can koozies, artwork, candles, etc. Please email Lori Knisely to donate your silent auction item(s); marketing_director@lake26.org

Download the Member Association Annual Membership/Picnic Form and send to our Treasurer. Instructions included.

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BOAT CLEANING & DECONTAMINATION STATION

6/23/2019

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Greetings everyone.

Quick update here to the blog to make visitors and residents aware that Lake26 has taken advantage of the BCLRA cleaning station program. The sign you see below, and the first set of wash materials has been provided by the BCLRA.

Dave Luka provided major expertise in attaching the sign to lumber, attaching equipment to the sign, and sinking it in the ground for us. Tony Bauer worked out the particulars of the sign placement with local authorities and was on-hand this morning to dig holes with Dave.

BACKGROUND

Information about the program was provided in the spring Lakelines of 2018.

The visibility of the sign and availability of cleaning tools and solution is another bold awareness tool...this time with a clear function.

OUR RESPONSIBILITIES

The lake has had to pay for the lumber to install the station, but is also committed in perpetuity to replace all the tools, safety eyewear, sprayer and solution. It's a financial commitment, and a participation commitment.

Ultimately, we MUST keep the station in good working order or we will be forced to remove this very important deterrent to the spread of Aquatic Invasive Species..

WHAT YOU CAN DO

We need all of us members to be aware of the lake's responsibility here. If you or your family or guests are at the landing, please check in on the condition of all the materials and solution. Please communicate.

Please consider whether you can participate more financially or as a volunteer for the lake to keep this station in good working order and full of supplies. We do need someone EVERY DAY of the summer to check on this station. While we already have a couple folks raising their hand, it's fair to share the burden more widely. Please contact the board if you think you can help.

RESOURCES

If you have any questions about the program, the board will likely be able to help, though additional context can always be obtained directly from county resources:

Tom Boisvert
Burnett County Aquatic Invasive Species Coordinator at Burnett County
tboisvert@burnettcounty.org
(715) – 349-2109 Ext. 1382

Thank you for continuing to support YOUR beautiful lake.

Spencer Knisely | President
TWENTY-SIX LAKE PROPERTY OWNERS' ASSOCIATION INC. (952) 818-4548 www.lake26.org

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IS THERE AN ACCOUNTANT IN THE HOUSE?

3/4/2019

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Greetings everybody.

As a part of our fiduciary responsibility to you, our members, we're taking a step forward to enhance our tools for managing the expenses and resources of the organization. This work will make it easier for us to stay on top of our various tax filings as well, and will ensure that we keep our 501c3 status in good standing.

Part of setting up these new tools and workflows involves the implementation of a comprehensive and straightforward chart of accounts that takes into consideration the present and future needs of our charitable organization.

We're setting it all up in our Quickbooks Online account, and could use the insights of a skilled bookkeeper or CPA to review our simple plan and give it a thumbs up. If you are someone (or know someone) who could help us out with this insight, it would be greatly appreciated.

Contact any of us on the board to raise your hand.

Thanks!

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CURRENT LAKE ASSOCIATION BYLAWS

3/18/2018

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Contributed by: S.Knisely

The most recently updated copy of the Twenty-Six Lake Property
Owner's Association's bylaws appears to be from 2005.

The 2018-2019 board is reviewing whether changes will be needed
or desired in order to keep the association's mission clear and
consistent with its filings, and with the bylaws of other lake associations.

Attached below is the current document.