After a successful dinner show and fishing derby, LMPOA put on a third and final fun event for 2012.  It was a 4th of July boat parade.

22 boat were judged for creativity and presentation.  Winners were: 
1st.  Banana Plantation, Tim & Olie Miller
2nd. Hawaiian Theme, Tracy Harper, Loni Krafft, and Terri Rowland
3rd. Magic Kingdom, Jan Hunt and Cindy Herron. 
All winners, including three from a random drawing, received gift certificates from Wimmpys.

About 50 boats participated in one lap around the lake.  Many more people enjoyed the parade from shore and helped cheer on the parade participants.

Thanks to Doug Dodge for organizing the entire event.  We all can enjoy the great photography of Len Bingert.  Judge Alton Davis, with the help of his team, was able to select the winners.  THANKS TO ALL!

Over 100 members and friends of Lake Margrethe enjoyed dinner and wonderful musical show put on by the Michiagan Opera Theater Ensemble.  The program took place at the Camp Grayling Officers' Club overlooking South Bay and Little Bear Point.  RJ Hannan, LMPOA membership chairman, organized the event for the second year;  he received much praise from the participants for a fine dinner, wonderful show, and for keeping ticket prices at $25 and $30 for members and non-members, respectively.  The musical event was partially funded by a grant from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and the Michigan Humanities Council.

Did you notice some yellow buoys on the lake?   The buoys marked areas where there was an overabundance of Eurasian Milfoil.  Eurasian Milfoil is a non-native invasive plant species that can grow so fast and thick that boats can not navigate through it.

On June 5, a team of LMPOA members (Len and Diane Bingert, Gary McConnell, & Ken and Sandra Michalik) helped the team of Professional Lake & Land Management personnel treat the milfoil with a granular product (2,4-D ester).  This is considered the best, most effective treatment at this time.  We will be monitoring the effects over the next few months.  Come to the next LMPOA meeting.  July 14, 9 a.m. at the Grayling Township Hall to hear more details and provide feedback.

Fire breaks out at Camp Grayling west of Lake Margrethe on May 20, 2012.  Fast action by our National Guard troops keep the fire under control and put it out before it spreads to our tinders dry forests.  Pictures by Len Bingert capture the action.

Twenty – six young angler’s ages 2-16 participated in the second annual Fishing Derby, sponsored by the Lake Margrethe Property Owner’s Association (LMPOA), on Saturday, June 9th.  RJ Hannan and Harry Wojcik, organizers of the event, wanted to encourage families and youngsters to spend the day experiencing the joys of fishing.  “LMPOA does a great job of taking care of the lake, doing all the lake quality monitoring tests, mapping aquatic plants, treating for Eurasian Milfoil and controlling lake levels.  I wanted to focus on a social event for kids and families,”  stated RJ. 

By all accounts, the event was a success.   The guard camp beach was filled with families.  Roger Wilcox served up hot dogs with all the fixings, chips and pop, using Pete the Greek Kocefas’ hot dog cart.  Marshall Roe weighed in each fish while Len Bingert performed magic with his camera.  Grandparents, aunts, uncles, moms, dads, toddlers and teenagers watched as Sandra Michalik announced the winners.  Diane Bingert, Todd Wilcox and Doug Dodge handed out Skip’s gift certificates for first place prizes and ribbons for the rest.   In the youngest age division, Grant Corlew, age 2 ½, won two first place prizes for his bass and sunfish.  Gavin Frederick, age 5, won first place for his perch and Hunter Frederick won first place for his blue gill.  All other youngsters received ribbons for honorable mention. 

In the age bracket for 8-12 yr. olds, Karson Ulatowski, age 11, caught a 3 lb. 5 oz. bass, the largest fish of the day, and qualified for a first place prize.  Ethan Karpinski, also 11 yrs. old, received a second place ribbon for a 1 lb. 6 oz. bass.

The teenagers did their share of catching as well.  Elysia Petrie, age 16, caught the first place bass, weighing in at 2 lbs. 4 oz.  Drake Shipman, age 14, placed second with a 1 lb. 9 oz. bass and Nick Petrie, age 14, placed third with his 1 lb. 6 oz. bass.  Austin Sheppard, age 15, placed first with a 5 oz. blue gill and Drake had the first place perch of the day, weighing in at 6 oz.  John Petrie placed second in the perch category and first in the sunfish category.  

Brian Shipman expressed his thanks to the LMPOA for sponsoring the event and was pleased to see the joy on all of the young angler’s faces.  “This is such a great idea.  I hope it continues.” 

Ken Michalik, a LMPOA member and another organizer of the event stated that the association does plan to hold the fishing derby as a yearly event on the DNR’s free fishing weekend in June.  The LMPOA website is lakemargrethe.weebly.com and is the source for information regarding the lake and events. 

Members of LMPOA in the Danish Landing area have recongnized and are beginning to deal with Oak Wilt.  For more information on this concern please refer to the Envirnomental section of our web site.  You also may wish to download a brief brochure http://michigansaf.org/forestinfo/Health/E2764-OakWilt.pdf or refer to the file shown below.
SOME BULLET POINTS AND COMMENTS BY BILL & MARY Branch who have removed 13 infected trees so far :
Some bullet points I took from the MSU document that need to be emphasized, (my added comments in parenthesis):    
    > Avoid pruning and other activities that are likely to wound oaks from April through July. (Storm damage wounds in this time frame should be treated with a tree wound paint asap)   
    > Be certain that oak wilt is the cause of dying oaks before considering any treatment. (Should be confirmed by a lab test, we used MSU)   
    > Infected areas should be marked and delineated by experienced individuals. (I can help anybody with marking their perimeter if they have lab confirmed oak wilt, the perimeter location is critical)   
    > Symptomatic trees require special disposal care.   
    > Treatment choice will depend on a number of factors, such as cost, availability of equipment, environmental conditions, and human infrastructure.      > Removal of affected red oaks should be done in the dormant season following marking, delineation, and trenching.   
    > Monitor the site for at least three years, re-treatment may be necessary.   
    > Consider reforestation options. (I will be investigating recommended trees to plant and keep you informed)