Today (May 15, 2018) marks the official end of our Spring 2018 “Buy the Dam” fundraiser and we would like to publicly acknowledge and thank our (anonymous) matching donors and by name, those other individuals, members and non-members alike, who have helped make our campaign such an outstanding success. We have reached our fundraising goal of $125,000 and we are extremely gratified by the outpouring of support for our efforts to buy the dam and protect and preserve Clary Lake. Donations arrived not just from people in our local communities of Whitefield and Jefferson, but also from people from elsewhere around Maine, and around the Country. Donations are expected to continue to arrive over the coming weeks, and the funds will be put to good use. There will be more work to do, and ongoing recurring expenses that need to be covered so if you haven’t yet donated, it is not too late! Continue reading
Category Archives: Association News
30 April 2018: Check Your Spam Folder!
I’ve sent emails to our Membership 3-4 times in the past few months including one yesterday afternoon. Generally only about 3/4 of them get opened. Now, by unsolicited commercial email standards (a.k.a. Spam) that’s a fantastic open rate, but I’m not sending spam, I’m providing important news and updates of special interest to our Members and if possible I’d like to see ALL of the emails opened. If you are a Clary Lake Association member and you haven’t seen any emails from us in recent weeks, chances are the emails are getting dumped into your spam folder. So first, check your spam folder! You may have to train your email program that emails received from webmaster@clarylake.org are not spam (generally you just open the message and click the “not spam” button). The other possibilities are that we either don’t have your email address (19 of our current 138 members have not provided us with an email address) or we have the wrong address. None of our emails have bounced, but not all mail hosts still bounce bad addresses; some do, some don’t. Therefore, if you are a CLA Member, have an email address but haven’t received any emails from us, please email me!
26 April 2018: Fundraising Continues, New Matching Donor Found
We’ve been busy! Our original matching donor cut off at $45,000. We have actually managed to secure another matching donor (who also wishes to remain anonymous) who will match up to an additional $10,000 worth of donations! Seeing as how we’re currently at almost $107,000, an additional $10,000 in donations along with these new matching funds will push us over the top of our phase 2 fundraising goal of $125,000. This means we should be able to make permanent repairs to the Clary Lake dam this summer, rather than having to wait a year. Our fundraising success has been incredibly gratifying and shows just how much people want this water level crisis to end. If you haven’t donated to our fundraising campaign yet, please consider doing so at your earliest opportunity. Checks may be sent to:
Clary Lake Association
PO Box 127
Whitefield ME 04353
Alternatively you can visit our Donate to the Association page and donate via Paypal.
We’re making progress towards purchasing the Clary Lake dam from the Bankruptcy Court, but it’s slow going just now. We’ll provide more updates as information becomes available. Your patience is appreciated.
21 April 2018: CLA Fundraising Campaign Extended
We reached our initial Phase 1 fundraising goal of $90,000 much sooner than expected and while the Board hadn’t discussed trying to raise additional funds for permanent repairs so soon, it only makes sense that we maintain our forward fundraising momentum and move right into Phase 2 fundraising without delay! We needed the initial funds to purchase the dam in a relative hurry, however Phase 2 fundraising can proceed at a somewhat more leisurely pace. The money is to pay for engineering services and for permanent dam repairs which we won’t need to spend for a while. We have only begun working on getting prices and we won’t have a firm budget for the work yet. However, some preliminary estimates we’ve received indicate we’ll need at least $30,000 for this second and final phase of effort, possibly more, hence a new fundraising goal of $125,000. We may need to revise that figure upward but for now it seems like both a realistic goal and an achievable one. I haven’t felt the need to reset our donation thermometer and have instead just added $35,000 to the original $90,000 goal giving a new goal of $125,000. The money all goes into the same pot, so to speak. Any money left over after permanent repairs are completed will be use to fund ongoing dam maintenance and repairs. Owning the Clary Lake dam is a big commitment and we’re taking it seriously. Continue reading
19 April 2018: We Have Reached Our Phase 1 Fundraising Goal!
In only two short weeks of fundraising we have met our phase 1 goal of $90,000!!!! Many, many thanks to everyone who contributed, and special thanks to our patron who has matched donations dollar for dollar. I’m truly grateful for the outpouring of support, financial and otherwise, shown by our members, other lake shore owners, and friends of Clary Lake in the surrounding community.
However, our fundraising efforts haven’t ended with this early victory, in fact we’ve really just begun so please, if you have intended to make a donation but just haven’t gotten a round to it yet, please do so at your earliest opportunity! We plan to make temporary repairs to the dam as soon as we own it, but some unanticipated expenses and the need to make permanent dam repairs not too far down the road means we’re going to need more money before long. The more money we can raise now, the sooner we can move on to that next phase.
Our rapid fundraising success has actually caught us a little flat-footed as we still have a lot to do as we move forward with purchasing the Clary Lake dam. The Board is working diligently on multiple fronts. Stay tuned for developments!
11 April 2018 Lincoln County News: Clary Lake Group Raising Funds to Purchase Dam
There is an article in this week’s Lincoln County News by staff writer Greg Foster about our plan to purchase the Clary Lake dam. It is for the most part factually accurate which is particularly impressive given the both complexity of this story and Mr. Foster’s being relatively new to it. The part about the CLA making an offer on the little red building sitting on the dam was really just me daydreaming out loud, something one probably shouldn’t do when being interviewed for a newspaper story! For the record, the Association currently has no plans to make an offer on the red building:
Can’t beat the publicity: I was at the check out at Sheepscot General this evening when someone came up to me and gave me a $10 bill saying it was to help purchase the Clary Lake dam 🙂
I’ve archived a PDF copy of the article should you have trouble getting it off the Lincoln County News site:
07 April 2018 Centralmaine.com: Fundraising starts to buy Clary Lake dam in Whitefield
There is an article in this morning’s Centralmaine.com newspapers (Kennebec Journal, Morning Sentinel) by Staff writer Jessica Lowell. There are a couple of minor inaccuracies but all in all it’s a good article, and GREAT publicity. It’s also nice to see they finally got some new pictures to go with their Clary Lake articles:
I thought I was smiling 🙂
Here’s an archived copy in case at some point in the future you can’t get to the on line version:
05 April 2018: And We’re Off!
More than 30 people showed up for the April 4th Special Membership Meeting to vote on purchasing the Clary Lake dam. The vote passed with overwhelming support. We also had over 100 proxy ballots on hand. Photograph by George Fergusson 04 April 2018
At a Special Clary Lake Association Membership Meeting held last night (picture at left) the Membership overwhelmingly voted to approve the purchase of the Clary Lake dam from the dam owner’s bankruptcy estate for $80,000 and has further authorized the Board to raise and spend the money necessary to make it happen. To that end, we have begun fund raising in earnest. Our current goal is to raise at least $90,000 by May 15th and hopefully much sooner. That figure includes funds for settlement costs and temporary dam repairs so we can start managing the water level to comply with the DEP Water Level Order. If for some reason the sale does not receive Bankruptcy Court approval, all donated funds will be returned, but the chances of that happening are slim. Let’s think positive and get to work! Continue reading
Upcoming Special Membership Meeting Reminder
A quick reminder for our Clary Lake Association Members: we’re holding a Special Membership Meeting this coming Wednesday April 4th at 5:00 PM at Sheepscot General Store on Townhouse Road in Whitefield. The purpose of the meeting is to vote on two Articles pertaining to the Clary Lake dam. If you’ve already sent in your proxy ballot, why not come by the meeting anyways! It will be a great opportunity to ask questions and find out how you can help. If you’re not a Clary Lake Association member, please consider joining! In any case, you’re welcome to come by and see what all the flap is about.
Hope to see you there!
05 February 2018 Reminder: WLO Appeal Hearing for Oral Arguments Tomorrow, February 6th
A quick reminder that a hearing for oral arguments in the Clary Lake Water Level Order Appeal is scheduled for tomorrow, Tuesday February 6th at 1:30 PM at the Lincoln County Courthouse in Wiscasset. The hearing is expected to last about 1 hour. I wrote about this in a Water Level Order Appeal Update post back on January 11th. The hearing will be in the Superior Court Room on the second floor of the Lincoln County Courthouse building. If you’re going to attend, plan to show up at least 30 minutes early; on court days, parking can be hard to find and there is a metal detector to pass through which slows down people entering the building. You’ll want to be on your best behavior and should leave your attitudes at the door: there will be no opportunity to speak, and disruptions of any sort will likely not be tolerated by the Judge. So no clapping, hooting, booing, or general mayhem; this is an opportunity to listen; pay attention and you’ll probably learn something. Make a scene and the lot of us will probably be thrown out of the court room 🙂
Assistant Attorney General Scott Boak will be there representing the Department of Environmental Protection. Attorney Anthony Buxton and likely several other lawyers from PretiFlaherty will be there representing Aquafortis Associates LLC.
15 January 2018: Bruce J. Relyea Has Passed Away
It is with sadness that I inform you of the passing of Bruce Relyea. Bruce was a friend of mine, a faithful steward of Clary Lake, and a long time member of the Clary Lake Association. Bruce and his wife Audrey bought their property on the south shore of Clary Lake in Jefferson from Francis Ward in 1967 and it remains in the family today. Bruce was an early supporter of the Association which was formed not too long before Bruce arrived, in 1960. Bruce served as Association President from 2002 through 2004 and has been a generous benefactor of the Association over the years. He will be missed. Here’s his obituary from the Fort Worth Texas Star-Telegram:
Bruce J. Relyea 1928 – 2018
Bruce J. Relyea FORT WORTH — Bruce J. Relyea, 90, of Fort Worth, passed away on January 9, 2018. Bruce was born in Cleveland, Ohio to Mildred and Bruce Relyea. He enlisted into the United States Army Air Force at age 18, serving in Japan as a control tower operator, and upon discharge he attended Miami University of Ohio, earning a degree in Business Administration. In 1950, he began his career as an auditor for General Electric Co. in Cleveland. Four years later, he married his wife of 64 years, Audrey Jennison. Bruce was later employed at Penn Central Co., Ebasco Industries, and as Comptroller with Union Pacific. He ended his career as Vice President of Finance at Champlin Petroleum Company in Fort Worth. Not one to sit idly, after retirement, Bruce took up ranching in Grandview before returning to Fort Worth to spend time with his children and grandchildren. Bruce was an avid reader, a talented bridge player, an enthusiastic golfer, and a loving husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. He enjoyed spending summers with Audrey and family at his wild blueberry farm, North Forty, in Jefferson, Maine. Bruce was preceded in death by his infant son, Douglas Edward. SURVIVORS: His wife of 63 years, Audrey Jennison Relyea; children, Robert Bruce Relyea (Jeraldine), Susan Relyea Pardee (Tom), Steven Jennison Relyea (Adrienne), Gregory John Relyea (June); . his sister, Lynda Metzler. 11 grandchildren; and five great grandchildren.
On behalf of the Clary Lake Association Board I wish offer our condolences to his wife Audrey and the family.
Season’s Greetings from the Clary Lake Association
Everything you ever wanted to know about Sea Lamprey!
Unfortunately I have another engagement Monday night or I’d be going to this presentation. It sounds fascinating:
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Come learn about Sea Lamprey
with expert Lee Margolin
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Sea Lamprey expert Lee Margolin will be presenting about Sea Lamprey and taking questions at a public meeting on Monday, December 4 from 6-8pm at the Sheepscot Lake Fish & Game Club in Palermo. This is the first of what will be several opportunities to learn about Maine’s native sea-run fish species.
Lee has a PhD in Biology with research focused specifically on Sea Lamprey and over 25 years of experience with the species. Anyone curious to learn more about Sea Lamprey or their impact on other fish species and ecosystems is encouraged to attend.
The Fish & Game Club is located at 19 Leeman Arm Rd, Palermo, just off of Route 3 next to the boat launch. Please direct any questions to Garrison Beck, Midcoast Conservancy Director of Water Conservation, 207-389-5157 or garrison@midcoastconservancy.
We hope to see you there!
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Happy Thanksgiving from the Clary Lake Association
On behalf of the Clary Lake Association Board I’d like to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy family and friends, don’t overeat, don’t drink and drive, and most important, DON’T TALK POLITICS 🙂
03 November 2017: Anyone Lose A Canoe?
Lost canoe, washed up on David Hodsdon’s shoreline.
David Hodsdon emailed me a photograph of a canoe this morning that washed up on his shoreline. The lake has risen about 15″ as a result of heavy rains and this canoe floated off. If it’s your boat, come get it.
There was considerable damage to several properties around the lake as a result of the intense wind storm that blew through early last Monday morning. Of particular note, Gordon Frizzell’s house was virtually cut in half by a large pine tree that landed on it’s roof. I’ll post photographs when I get a chance.
07 September 2017 Lincoln County News: Commissioners Hear about Clary Lake Dam
Last Tuesday September 5th CLA Board member Jane Chase and I and my wife Margaret attended the Lincoln County Commissioners meeting in Wiscasset to update them on the current status of the Clary Lake water level crisis. The meeting which lasted about 30 minutes came about as the result of a chance meeting between CLA President Malcolm Burson and County Administrator Carrie Kipfer at a Midcoast Conservancy function where they discussed the Clary Lake situation. Ms. Kipfer offered to put us on the agenda for the next County Commissioners meeting. Charlotte Boynton, staff reporter for the Lincoln County News attended the meeting and wrote up a short report of the meeting in this week’s Lincoln County News. The article didn’t make it into the online news site, so I’ve scanned a copy of it for our archive:
This is the first time we have met with the Lincoln County Commissioners though likely not the last; the purpose of this first meeting was to bring the Commissioners up to speed with where things stand with Clary Lake and answer any questions they had. They had a lot, and we covered a lot of ground in 30 minutes. While the Commissioners were generally aware of our water level crisis, they were not particularly familiar with many details surrounding the controversy. I found them genuinely interested and concerned, and fully expect they will be keeping a much closer eye on the situation going forward. We did not ask them to take any action at this time.
One minor correction to the article: the caption for the photograph lists the people left to right, and it should be right to left 🙂
Clary Lake water level story will run Thursday on “Maine Things Considered”
Most of you have heard that Susan Sharon of Maine Public Radio is doing a story on Clary Lake, I posted about it last week. I had expected a little more notice about when the story was going to run but I only found out this evening that it will probably air tomorrow (Thursday, 8/31) at 5:30 pm on “Maine Things Considered.” If for some reason it doesn’t air Thursday, then it should be on Friday either on “Morning Edition” (6 am to 9 am daily) or “Maine Things Considered” at 5:30 pm.
If you happen to miss the on-air presentation, don’t worry! The story will be available on the Maine Public Radio website at some point, and I’ll post a link here when I get it.
Keep an eye out here for updates on this story!
23 August 2017: Maine Public Radio is doing a Story on Clary Lake
Maine Public Radio Deputy News Director and General Assignment Reporter Susan Sharon is going to be doing a story on Clary Lake. She came out to Whitefield last Monday to interview me and Malcolm Burson. Her visit included a boat ride to see first hand the impact of our water level crisis on the life and times of Clary Lake. Our tour included a stop on the north shore to meet and interview Kelsie French, long time Clary Lake shore owner with a camp over on Duncan Road in Jefferson. Ms. Sharon’s visit concluded with a stop to see the Clary Lake dam and Clary Mill.
Her story will likely appear sometime within the next week. When I find out the particulars I’ll post them here.
22 August 2017: CLA Petition to DEP Submitted
I want to thank EVERYONE who signed our petition to DEP and to let everyone know that the Petition which the Board introduced at the Clary Lake Association Annual meeting on August 12th, along with over 350 signatures collected both at the meeting and over the course of the week following the meeting, was hand-delivered to the office of the Commissioner of the DEP yesterday, Monday August 21st, as planned. Looking over the signature sheets I believe ALL Clary Lake Association members managed to sign the petition even if they weren’t at the meeting; quite a few people who are currently out of state printed out the signature sheet, signed it, and mailed or emailed it back to me. A lot of people collected signatures for us, but I’d particularly like to thank Debbie Duncan, Ellis Percy, Malcolm Burson, and Jack and Ann Holland for their efforts to collect signatures. It seems like more often than not, when I asked someone to sign they’d say “Already signed it!” 🙂
It remains to be seen how the Department will respond to the petition and what if anything action they will take towards enforcement of the Clary Lake water level order. They have a variety of enforcement options and while I don’t expect miracles, I am cautiously optimistic they will take this matter as seriously as we do. I do expect to hear from them and will keep everyone apprised of any developments.
The petition was also sent to the Lincoln County News, Central Maine Papers, and the Portland Press Herald, and I do expect articles to appear later this week in most if not all those papers.
15 August 2017: Membership Update
At our Annual Meeting just concluded, we added 22 people to our membership rolls, less than usual only because so many people joined or renewed their membership before the meeting. This brings our current member total to 104, by far the most members we’ve ever had right after the Annual Meeting. Typically dues continue to come in for several months after the Annual meeting so I am confident we’ll reach this year’s membership goal of 140. Eight of our new members have never been members before. I find it particularly heartening that we continue to attract new people! Now more than ever, Membership Matters.
For those of you who are a little confused about our membership year, it is not based on the calendar year but instead straddles it, running from Annual meeting to Annual meeting which is usually on the 1st Saturday in August (this year it was changed to the second Saturday to accommodate our meeting hosts). It’s been this way since the the Association was first formed back in 1960 and while there has been talk over the years of changing our membership year to correspond to the calendar year, it’s never happened and probably won’t anytime soon.
I posted these membership numbers last spring in a previous “membership update” and they bear repeating here:
Clary Lake Association Membership History
| Membership Year | Number of Members |
|---|---|
| 2011/2012 | 28 |
| 2012/2013 | 41 |
| 2013/2014 | 50 |
| 2014/2015 | 70 |
| 2015/2016 | 81 |
| 2016/2017 | 120 |
| 2017/2018 | 140 |
| 2018/2019 | 150 |
| 2019/2020 | 154 |
| 2020/2021 | 164 |
| 2021/2022 | 168 |
| 2022/2023 | 177 |
| 2023/2024 | ?? |
While the change in our bylaws a few years ago allowing 1) multiple members per family and 2) not requiring that members own property on Clary Lake or have deeded (legal) access to it explains some of the increase in recent years, it doesn’t begin to fully account for it by any means. Clearly, there is increased concern over the health and wellbeing of Clary Lake and a burgeoning of interest in and appreciation of the important role the Clary Lake Association is playing in current events. The value of the work we’re doing to represent the interests of lake shore owners and community members alike and keeping everyone informed and engaged is extremely important. While we haven’t succeeded in resolving the current water level crisis yet, we are helping guide it to a satisfactory conclusion. And progress IS being made.
Again, I would like to thank everyone for their ongoing commitment to Clary Lake, and the Clary Lake Association.