our current Newsletter - Minnewaska Lake Association

Vol. 2015, No. 1
DEDICATED TO LAKE IMPROVEMENT
May 2015
The year 2015 is shaping up to be a great year for Lake Minnewaska. The ice went off the lake on April 8, 2015, which is a lot earlier than
in recent years. In 2013 it was May 11. In 2014 it was April 26th. With the earlier ice out in 2015, we are looking forward to a better opening
weekend of fishing on May 9, 2015, than the last couple of years.
We had early ice last fall in November, and the fishing was excellent. I heard reports of people catching fish all over the lake for several
weeks. We had good fishing all the way through to the first of the year.
We are very excited to announce that the new MLA website is now “LIVE”. For the MLA members that we have email addresses, you are
receiving this newsletter VIA email. The Board wants to thank you for providing us with your email address. This is a significant saving to the
Lake Association in reduced printing and postage costs. With these savings, we are able to fund more projects to benefit Lake Minnewaska.
If you have an email address and have not yet provided it to us, please consider including it with your membership information on the
last page of this news letter. We will continue to publish current information related to the lake, on our website. We will NOT release or divulge your address to ANYONE. We will only use it for sending you the MLA newsletter and other MLA information.
We had another great turnout at our banquet last July. I would like to thank everyone that was able to attend. I would also like to thank
all of the MLA Members and businesses for your support. With your continued support we will be able to continue the important projects of
the MLA. We look forward to seeing you at the 2015 MLA banquet which will be held on July 18, 2015, the Minnewaska House. See the last
page of this newsletter for more details.
Last fall the MLA released not just 50,000, but 60,000 walleye fingerlings in Lake Minnewaska. We would like to thank Doyle Fetter for his
generous donation, of a discounted price for the additional 10,000 fingerlings.
There was an article in the paper on February 11, 2015, talking about some proposed new regulations on northern pike.
The DRN is proposing a South region with a 2 northern bag limit, with a minimum of 24” in length.
The North Central region would be a bag limit of 10 fish under 22 inches, which could include 2 over 26 inches.
Based on the proposal in the article, Minnewaska would be included in the South region, which would be TOTALLY OPPOSITE of what we
need.
I talked to the Local DNR official, Dean Beck to discuss our concerns. He said that he agreed that Lake Minnewaska currently has way
too many small northerns and should be included with the proposed regulations for the North Central region. Based on our discussions,
he said that these proposed regulations are still in the planning stages and if they move forward they won’t be in effect until 2016. He also
assured me that Minnewaska would be an exception and be included in the North Central regulations. I will post more information on our
MLA Website when I receive any updates. (See mlalake.org).
We hope you have a great summer and have the opportunity for some great fishing on Lake Minnewaska.
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MLA Board:
With the increase in the projects that the MLA has taken on, we are looking for people that may
be interested in joining our Board. With each new board member, we get new ideas and perspectives
that will make the MLA a stronger organization.
Please contact one of the board members listed below, if you are interested in joining our board.
You do not need any previous experience, just a genuine interest in the preservation of the great natural resource that we have in Lake Minnewaska. Everyone is welcome to join.
Note that all of the board members are donating their time. We do not have any paid position in the MLA.
Thank you for past and future support of the Minnewaska Lake Association.
Mike Stai, MLA President
Mike Stai, President.................................320-424-0384
Mary Krueger, Secretary.........................320-424-1958
Fred Anderson, Membership...............320-334-1710
Jerry Melby, Banquet Assistant...........320-239-2974
Dave Jensen...............................................320-239-2169
Terry Duhn, Thrivent Coord. ................320-292-1668
Bill Kyvig......................................................320-239-4151
Don Sack......................................................320-634-5960
Jerry Matison.............................................320-634-3549
Karen Warren..............................................612-670-7316
Jim Vonfelden............................................320-630-7353
Dave Gross..................................................507-227-3776
Mark Klimstra.............................................763-843-4365
Chris Johnson, VP.....................................320-219-1147
Jan Jensen, Treasurer..............................320-329-2169
Tony Carlson, Banquet............................320-634-4000
Sheldon Minnick.......................................320-870-6079
Bill Anderson..............................................320-634-4489
Larry Jensen ..............................................320-239-2239
Dean Paulsen.............................................320-424-0752
Jim Babel.....................................................320-634-4407
Jeramie Swanson......................................320-214-0649
Gary Swenson............................................320-239-2196
Mike Nemmers..........................................320-424-0368
Steve Pike....................................................952-239-9865
Dean Beck (DNR).......................................320-634-4573
DEDICATED TO LAKE IMPROVEMENT
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MEMBERSHIP:
The MLA has over 300 current members in our Association. If you added the spouses
as members that number would be close to 450 to 500. The MLA goals, objectives and
projects extend beyond just stocking walleyes. We believe that the public is showing
their strong support because of MLA’s strong commitment to educating the young kids
and the public about the important factors that impact our lake. We have also taken on
new projects such as the Milfoil project which are critical to the future of Minnewaska.
The Ice Fishing Challenge is another project to encourage families and others to enjoy
a day on the lake with the kids. There were several kids that were fishing in our event, for
their first time ever. We hope to be able to provide this experience for generations in the
future. We also support the “Take a kid Fishing” day in the spring each year.
It is important to realize that some of the Associations projects do not happen over-
night. But with the common goal of protecting our resources we can and will make a
difference.
Our fiscal year runs from July 1 – June 30, each year, so if you paid your membership last fall,
or last winter, you paid for July 1 – June 30, each year.
RAFFLE TICKETS:
Last fall the MLA started a new fund raiser, by selling raffle tickets. We printed 250 raffle tickets and gave away a Propane Gas Auger, Underwater Camera, Portable fish house
and 10 other prizes. All of the tickets were sold. We had the drawing on the same day as
the Ice Fishing Challenge after all of the Fishing prizes were given out. If you didn’t get
your ticket and a chance for these great prizes in 2015, watch our website for announcement of the 2015 Raffle this fall and get your tickets early before they are all gone.
THRIVENT ENDORSEMENT:
We would like to thank all of the members that have used this avenue to help support
the MLA. This support is greatly appreciated. This partnership has proven to be very
successful and provides a good method to allocate and send your Choice Dollars, for the
Thrivent Financial members.
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BANQUET IN 2015:
The Minnewaska Lake Association banquet will be held on July 18, 2015. It will be
at the Minnewaska House in Glenwood, MN. If you are interested in tickets, you can
contact any of the board members listed in this newsletter for tickets. Tickets are also
available at Minnewaska Bait, Keop’s Bait, Bobbers Marine and Minnewaska Marine.
You can also send in your Membership and banquet ticket money with the form on
the last page of this newsletter.
Thank you for your past and continued support.
“A lake is a landscape’s most beautiful and expressive feature.
It is Earth’s eye; looking into which the beholder
measures the depth of his own nature.”
-Henry David Thoreau
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ICE FISHING CHALLENGE:
The MLA sponsored our 1st Minnewaska Ice Fishing Challenge. The event was held
on January 24, 2015. We had a beautiful day and had a great turnout for this event. This
event was designed to encourage families to enjoy a day together on the lake. We were
promoting taking kids fishing. The adult’s registration fee was $20. With each adult 2
kids could register to fish for free.
To avoid weather related issues, we allowed everyone to fish out of their own fish
houses anywhere on Lake Minnewaska. They had to pre-register and they received a
numbered registration ticket. We allowed them to take a picture with their numbered
ticket so they could release the fish if they wanted.
Each participant was allowed to register ONE fish in each of the following categories:
One Walleye over 15”, one northern, one large-mouth bass, one sunfish and a crappie.
For each qualified fish, the participant got their name in random drawing. The size of the
fish did not matter, with the only exception that the walleye had to be 15 inches or larger.
We had 139 adults and 122 kids participate and they registered a total of 224 fish.
We had separate categories for the prizes for the adults and the kids. Each kid got to
register for a drawing for prizes for just participating. There was also a separate drawing
for the kids that registered fish. We also had a drawing for prizes for the adults that registered fish.
After the Ice fishing prizes were announced, Nancy Keop provided a Fishing seminar
for all of the kids. She had a separate drawing for the kids for more prizes.
We would like to thank the Minnewaska Jaycees for allowing us to use their tent for
registration, Kruger Farms for the use of their sound stage, Mattheisen Disposal for garbage, Lakes Area Pumping for restroom facilities, Captains Bar & Grill for food and beverages, Glacial Docks for Yeti Display, Nancy Koep for Kids fishing seminar and the Pope
County Tribune for press releases and event coverage.
The MLA purchased ALL of the prizes from the local businesses that have sponsored
and supported our Association.
Overall this turned out to be a great event and we are looking forward to our 2nd
Annual Ice Fishing Challenge in 2016.
Watch our website for more information regarding this event. (mlalake.org).
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ZEBRA MUSSLES:
Unfortunately the zebra mussels have been spreading and were more abundant,
last fall. Based on our discussions with the DNR there is not anything currently that we can
do related to this issue. They did have some success in Christmas Lake on a small confined
area, but there is currently nothing for a lake the size of Minnewaska. It is my understanding that the Christmas Lake project cost about $9,000 per acre.
Please be aware that if you leave your boat motor or a water pump in the water,
there is a chance that zebra mussels can plug the water pump. This could cause your boat
motor to overheat.
We will continue to work with the DNR to look for any possible options that may
develop in the future.
MILFOIL PROJECT (Invasive Species):
We are happy to report that through all of the generous donations we received last year
we are able to once again spray 33.2 acres, in the 8 areas in Minnewaska, that are infested
with Milfoil. We had a very successful kill rate on the application in 2013 & 2014. Through
these ongoing efforts we hope to reduce the number of acres and try to help control the
spread of this invasive weed.
We have the funding for the application in 2015. However, we are in need of donations
in 2015 to be able to continue this important project for 2016. If you have donated in the
past, we want to thank you and encourage you to consider donating again. If you have not
donated in the past, please consider helping use with this project. The MLA has established
a separate bank account, specifically for this project and all funds received designated for
the Milfoil project will only be used for invasive species.
It costs $400 per acre to have the chemicals applied, so our goal is $14,000 per year to
continue this effort. We have applied for grants the last couple of years and have been fortunate to receive some assistance.
If you want to contribute to the Invasive species program, please send your contributions to the Minnewaska Lake Association at P.O. Box 14, Glenwood, MN 56334. Please put
a note on the check designating to the “Milfoil Project”. The MLA would like to say “ThankYou”, for your consideration in continuing to support this great project.
Please note you can include this donation with your membership and banquet tickets.
See the last page of this newsletter for more details.
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MILFOIL PROJECT (Invasive Species) PHOTOS
Photos by Tim Douglass
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MINNEWASKA LAKE ASSOC., INC.
P.O. BOX 14
GLENWOOD, MN 56334
PLEASE RENEW YOUR MINNEWASKA LAKE ASSOCIATION (MLA) MEMBERSHIP DUES
NOW. Use the form below to send your payment for your dues and/or banquet tickets to the treasurer. You can also include a
donation, specifically for the Milfoil Project. You do not have to be an MLA member to donate to this fund. However, we encourage
you to consider becoming a member. All of the donation and money that the MLA receives is put back into the lake.
Help us recruit new members by asking your friends and neighbors to show their support by becoming a member. Membership
dues are only $30.00 per year.
Please check below
____ Annual Membership ONLY = $30.00
____ Annual Membership + Banquet = $50.00
____ Each spouse or child of member under 18 yrs of age $20.00 ___ Number to attend banquet = ____
____ Special Donation to Milfoil Project (Invasive Species) Fund $_____
GRAND total contributed $_____________
Mail To:
Minnewaska Lake Association, Inc.
P.O. Box 14
Glenwood, MN 56334
MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION / RENEWAL FORM (please print)
NAME
ADDRESS
CITY E-MAIL
STATE
ZIP