Link to full Spring 2012 Newsletter

Toddy Pond Association
Newsletter
Spring 2012
Issue 28
Our Mission
We believe that we have a responsibility to protect Toddy Pond and its watershed so that we and future
generations may enjoy its beauty and the recreational opportunities it provides. Our objective is to protect the
air, water, soil, plant and animal life of the watershed and to preserve its economic, ecological and aesthetic
value by encouraging responsible land and water use.
President's Message
Donna Foster
Dear Members and Friends,
Welcome to friends and neighbors as you make your way
back to summer on Toddy Pond. It's been a quiet winter
here. Warm temperatures, very little snow, and thinner ice
than usual cut into the winter pond enthusiasts' recreational
activities. Slim's Fishing Derby, planned for February, had
to be cancelled due to open water in the narrows and other
ice safety issues. Slim's Fishing Derby is an annual benefit
hosted by the Deer Isle Fire Department to create scholarship monies for students planning to attend trade schools.
Ice out on Middle Toddy was on March 19.
In cooperation with the Hancock County Soil and
Water Conservation District, a watershed survey is being
conducted this spring to help protect the water quality of
Toddy Pond. You can read all about this and more in this
newsletter.
We will be holding our second annual Hail to Summer
BBQ on Saturday, June 30. Once again, Michelle Letts of
Balsam Cove Campground will offer the pavilion for the
event. All TPA members and pond dwellers are welcome.
We'll have the the grillers cooking up chicken and dogs,
and an assortment of potluck dishes to round out the feast.
Please feel free to bring a dish to share. Everyone enjoyed
this event last year, and we are sure to have a repeat! Rain or
shine. New Toddy Pond merchandise will be available! To
help us plan, please send an email to contact@toddypond.
org with how many people you'll be bringing.
The Toddy Pond Association is looking to fill two board
vacancies. We are looking for an interested person to join
the board as a representative for Middle Toddy and another
to serve as TPA secretary. The TPA board works on projects
that help with protecting the lake, and holds five monthly
meeting, from May to September. Anyone who is interested or wants additional information or has questions, please
contact me at 667-1319, or Bob Jones at 812-8644. If you
prefer, you can email [email protected].
June 30 — TPA Hail to Summer BBQ
Balsam Cove Campground pavilion, 12:30–3:30 pm.
July 21 — Toddy Pond Loon Count
July 24 — TPA Annual Potluck and Business Meeting
Blue Hill Consolidated School, 6:00 pm.
August 15 — Presentation by Jean Adamson on turtles
Blue Hill Consolidated School, 7:00 pm.
This year's annual meeting will be held on Tuesday, July
24 in the cafeteria of the Blue Hill Consolidated School.
Please join pond friends and neighbors at 6:00 for a potluck
dinner, followed by the business meeting and an environmental presentation at 7:00. Details will be forthcoming
via announcement on our website, www.toddypond.org
and by email announcement.
Do we have your email address? If not and you'd like to
be on our list, please drop a note to toddymail@toddypond.
org, or send the address with your dues.
On Wednesday, August 15, the Toddy Pond Association
will sponsor a presentation on turtles. We will be pleased
to have Jean Adamson, a turtle enthusiast, present an informational evening event on turtles. Jean will be bringing
some friendly critters along. This presentation will be held
at the Blue Hill Consolidated School at 7:00 pm. Donations
will be accepted.
Volunteer! We have many volunteer opportunities on
our committees, as well as intermittent activities and events
that can use a few extra helping hands. Meet friendly people, and make new friends. Send us an email, at contact@
toddypond.org or give me a phone call at 667-1319. We'll
hook you up!
Boat Inspections
Phil Tardif
The warming spring sun has nudged Toddy’s ice away, the
hauntingly beautiful call of the loon echoes throughout
the pond, and fishermen once again troll its placid, misty
The Toddy Pond Association Newsletter is printed on recycled paper using non-toxic, vegetable inks.
waters. Our beloved Toddy Pond shares itself, offering
beauty, abundant wildlife, and clear waters. As it has for
centuries, Toddy Pond is entrusting its health and well-being to us, its caretakers. As long as we fulfill our part of the
bargain, the pond will repeat its annual invitation for future
generations.
Protecting our precious pond, however, is becoming more
difficult and expensive. Invasive aquatic plants are devastating ponds and lakes in our neighboring states; within the
past few years, these plants have managed to hitch a ride on
boats and trailers to Sebago Lake, Damariscotta Lake, Saco
River, Messalonskee Lake and many others. Some of these
lakes are only two hours away from Toddy. The Maine
Department of Environmental Protection, Department
of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Lakes Environmental
Association, and a variety of lake associations are expending time and money to contain the infestation. In order
to appreciate and see the effects of invasive plants upon
Maine lakes, please visit the LEA website: http://www.
mainelakes.org. Click the Invasives button and from the
dropdown menu, click on Facing the Turning Point. This is
a fifteen-minute video showing the devastating impact of an
infestation. This is a powerful video, designed to educate us
on the ravaging effects of invasive plants. Currently, about
30 bodies of water in Maine have infestations; fortunately,
most of our waters are still free of these plants.
One. Thanks to a grant from DEP and funding from the
Toddy Pond Association, an inspector will be on duty every day of the week during the months of July and August
between the hours of 9:30 and 3:30. With cooperation from
boat owners, the inspector and the boat owner will check
for any plant material on boat, motor, trailer, and fishing
equipment. Non-paid volunteers from the pond will provide inspections on Monday and Tuesday.
As always, volunteers are needed. If you choose to volunteer for boat inspection, you will receive a brief training
session and you can choose to work either a three or six
hour shift just once a summer. Your volunteering is one
way to uphold our end of the bargain which is protecting
our pond. Please consider helping us by becoming a member of the Toddy Pond Association and by volunteering.
We currently have about 20 volunteer boat inspectors from
around the pond, but certainly could use more. Please call
me (Phil Tardif) at 469-0784 for more information or contact any member of the Toddy Pond Association.
We all love our pond for so many personal reasons.
Unfortunately, the long-term health of the pond is in peril
unless we collectively work on prevention. Let’s commit
ourselves to education and involvement. Toddy Pond is
generous to us; let’s thank her by returning the favor.
Interesting facts:
Maine has more than 5,000 bodies of water,
120,000 registered boats, but only 116 boat
inspection sites.
Invasive plants are carried from pond to pond
by latching onto boats and trailers.
Only 20% of boaters self-inspect before
launching their boats.
Aquatic hitchhikers can survive out of water for
days, reviving when rehydrated.
Toddy Pond Watershed Survey
Keeping this information in mind, protecting our ponds
becomes a daunting task. The vast majority of our ponds remain unprotected; consequently, all boaters must eventually
assume personal responsibility for maintaining weed-free
boats and equipment. We have a collective responsibility to
maintain and preserve what we love. Otherwise, infestation
of Toddy may be inevitable. Our long-standing tradition of
boating and fishing would be endangered. This summer,
our organizations and volunteers will be emphasizing the
importance of self-inspection before placing any type of
boat in our waters. Handouts on self-inspection will be
available. Ultimately, self-inspection will become our most
reliable method of protection. Until most boaters routinely
conduct a self-inspection, we must rely on education and
our Courtesy Boat Inspection program.
Toddy Pond Association has good news regarding boat
inspections this summer. Our Courtesy Boat Inspection
(CBI) will expand its coverage at the boat landing off Rt.
2
As reported in the fall newsletter, the Hancock County Soil
and Water Conservation District is conducting a survey of
the entire Toddy Pond watershed, which encompasses 17
miles in the towns of Orland, Surry, Penobscot, and Blue
Hill. The survey, which is supported by the Toddy Pond
Watershed Survey 319 Grant from the Maine DEP, will
identify sources of soil erosion, a major source of phosphorus, which can cause excessive plant growth, algal blooms,
and murky water. Phosphorus and other pollutants reach
the lake through runoff from anywhere in the watershed.
On May 5, nineteen volunteers, many of them TPA members, participated in a training session conducted by Megan
Facciolo, district manager of the Hancock County SWCD,
on survey methods and documentation. The watershed was
divided into nine sectors (A though I) and the volunteers
were assigned in teams to each sector.
The teams are currently in the process of surveying their
sectors, and will submit their documentation to Megan
by June 15. Megan will the review all sites to check for
Treasurer's Report
Summer is just around the corner and soon Toddy Pond
will be buzzing with activity. Camps are being opened,
docks put in, and boats in the water. Some things never change. Others must. For eleven
years, TPA dues remained at $20.00, but at the annual
meeting last August it was unanimously decided to increase
membership dues to $30.00. This was largely in response
to our taking on the significant and recurring expense of a
paid boat inspector for the public landing on Lower Toddy,
part of our effort to ensure that invasive plants do not get
into our beautiful lake. Membership dues also help us meet
the cost of printing and mailing our newsletter, and all other expenses incurred throughout the year. Our membership
year is the calendar year, so for many of us, 2012 dues are
now, well, due. You can use the form enclosed with this
newsletter to send in payment update your contact information, register your opinion about our organizational priorities, and take the first step in getting involved. Along with
dues, we gratefully accept any additional donations that
members may feel able to make. We look forward to seeing you at our annual BBQ in
June, our annual meeting in July, our turtle talk in August,
or just out and about. Have a wonderful summer!
A likely source of pollution to Toddy Pond from soil erosion,
documented photographically by a survey team.
accuracy. Then, beginning around mid-August, she will
prepare a preliminary report that recaps of what was found.
The survey's Steering Committee will meet to talk about
preliminary results sometime in August/September, and a
final report will be completed in early spring of 2013.
Toddy Skies
Linda Jellison
Toddy Fashion
Nancy Lord
This year we will have a few Toddy Pond hats, tee shirts,
and sweatshirts for sale at the Hail to Summer barbecue on
June 30. Not the right size or color? We can quickly order
any size or color you want!
At present we are looking into adding towels and/or bags
featuring the Toddy Pond logo.
We hope to see you at the barbecue, but in the meantime
if you have any ideas for merchandise, please let me know,
at 469–2188.
Linda Penkalski and Bob Jones
It was a very mild winter on Toddy Pond. There were 49
inches of snow vs. 70 in an average winter, and 124 inches in 2010-2011. The deepest snowfall was 11 inches on
November 30. The typical pattern was a periodic light snowfall and then it got warm and melted. The most unpleasant
month was February with lots of ice on the ground.
It was a dry winter with less rain and snow than usual,
but rain in April and May have brought the total precipitation for the year up to average.
Temperatures were above average from December
through February with only two days below zero in January,
which was unusual. And there were bizarre record-breaking temperatures in March, with March 21 and 22 at 82
and 84.
Ice went out on Middle Toddy on March 19, which was
very early. Ice was thin for much of the winter and therefore often unsafe for driving on it for ice fishing.
Let's Hear From You!
If you have an opinion, a suggestion, a story about our
beloved ponds and their denizens, a poem, recipe, photo,
or whatnot that you'd like to share, send it to toddymail@
toddypond.org, or to TPA, PO Box 645, Blue Hill, ME
04614. We'll publish some in the newsletter and more at
www.toddypond.org.
3
Toddy Pond Association
President
Donna Foster ☎ 667-1319
Vice President:
Bob Jones ☎ 664-6190
Secretary:
position vacant
Treasurer
Linda Jellison ☎ 469-3775
Board of Directors
First Toddy
Nancy Lord ☎ 469-2188
Jeff Smith ☎ 469-3557
Phil Tardif ☎ 469-0784
Second Toddy
Chris Dadian ☎ 469-0234
Sarah LeVine ☎ 667-1293
Bob LeVine ☎ 667-1293
Third Toddy
Ernie Gelinas ☎ 667-3738
Linda Jellison ☎ 469-3775
Dick Salminen ☎ 667-1279
Project Coordinators
Boat Inspections ...................... Phil Tardif ☎ 469-0784
Jeff Smith ☎ 469-3557
Boat Landing ........................... Dick Salminen ☎ 667-1279
Email List ................................ Chris Dadian ☎ 469-0234
Fishing ..................................... Bruce Brown ☎ 667-6190
Fish Testing ............................. John Manfred ☎ 667-9545
History ..................................... Sarah LeVine ☎ 667-1293
Loon Count . ............................ Ginger Doyle ☎ 326-8351
Membership and Mailings . ..... Nancy Lord ☎ 469-2188
Newsletter Editor . ................... Chris Dadian ☎ 469-0234
Pesticides ................................. Bob Jones ☎ 664-6190
Bob LeVine ☎ 667-1293
Plant Patrol .............................. Bob LeVine ☎ 667-1293
Water Rights ............................ Bob Jones ☎ 664-6190
Chris Dadian ☎ 469-0234
Water Testing ........................... Dick Salminen ☎ 667-1279
Website Managers ................... Donna Foster ☎ 667-1319
Ian Foster
Toddy Pond Association
P.O. Box 645
Blue Hill, ME 04614
OFFICErs