2007 TOP MILFOIL SCOUT AWARDS
Top Scout Dana Mennerich	Top Scout Rich Oakley
In 2006 the Board of Directors thought it would be a good thing to acknowledge the effort put forth by people that have reported milfoil around the lake- our 'Scouts'. There have been many, many reports of milfoil phoned in to my house or reported in person, we appreciate them all and cannot possibly say "Thank you" in this space to all who have participated. So the Board decided to institute a 'Top Scout' award. On the basis of the number of reports, the amount of milfoil found, effort expended and overall diligence a person that has been most helpful during the year is awarded 'Top Scout' honors. Granted this is a subjective judgement, there are no 'judges and points for style' but we do have a few that go above and beyond every year. As a small token of our appreciation we award each Top Scout a plaque and a gift certificate to a local restaurant.
In 2006 Dana Mennerich found, and pulled, a lot of milfoil in and around the public beach and the area up to the 'No Wake' buoy- Thanks Dana. Dana participated by swimming only; a lot of swimming.
In 2007 Rich Oakley found two very large, previously unknown, beds of milfoil; one off of the north tip of Blythewood Island and one along the Rt. 9 shore, almost opposite the first one he found. We have been successful in control measures in both of these areas, because of Rich's reports. Rich went on to find numerous smaller areas and single plants around the lake- Thanks Rich. Rich is a fisherman and was trained in milfoil recognition by yours truly.
We have a couple of likely candidates for the 2008 award, but there is always room for a late charge to the front of the field. There is always a need for more scouts, as we cannot get to the whole lake every year and the milfoil can always appear- even where we have previously searched and found no plants. Even if the area a scout can survey is just the area in front of their property, that is a big help. If anyone would like help in learning to identify milfoil please do not hesitate to call and arrange a training session. This usually involves taking the pontoon boat around and going to places we know we can find plants. (Happy hour has just about the right lighting!) Once you know how to find the plants they are really not hard to spot. Swimming, fishing, boating, kayaking, canoeing or just putting around are all good ways to scout. Remember- we love false alarms and not finding milfoil in an area is just as valuable a piece of information as finding milfoil (and a lot better)!
Finally, Thanks again to all our scouts and keep up the good work!
Rob Freligh, LLPDA President