Category Archives: Association News
Website Changes Ahead
I’ve been running a website for the Clary Lake Association since I was elected President of the organization back in 2007. The first website ran on and old 486 computer in my office with the host name clary.gwi.net. Since then I’ve changed servers several times, each time moving to newer and faster equipment. For the past few years the site has been running on a rented VPS (Virtual Private Server) and honestly, the work involved in administering a unix server has become a drag. I’m now looking to simplify my life in a big way. To that end, we’re getting ready to make one final move, to a Commercial Hosting Provider. System administration will become a SEP (Somebody Else’s Problem, my favorite kind of problem!) and I’ll be able to devote my time to the site and other fun stuff rather than spending time keeping the underlying system running smoothly. This move is slated to take place somewhere around the last week of November. Continue reading
Larry E. Prescott January 9, 1950 – October 23, 2022
Larry E. Prescott January
9, 1950 – October 23, 2022
November 2, 2022
Larry was a genuinely nice man, a simple man, a man without pretenses, and generous. I liked Larry, and he loved Clary Lake. He has been a loyal Clary Lake Association member for as long as I can remember, and likely long before that too. He never just paid his dues, he always paid his dues AND added a substantial donation too. He was only 72, and his passing came as a great surprise. He will be missed. Here is his obituary. You’ll find this post over on the Members No Longer With Us page. George Fergusson
Larry E. Prescott, 72 of Kings Road, passed away unexpectedly at home on Sunday, October 23, 2022.
He was born January 9, 1950 in York, Maine son of the late Eugene and Madge (Ames) Prescott. He graduated from York High School and had served in the United States Army.
He had worked as a Mechanic for 36 years at Exeter Events & Tents. He later worked for Spinney Shellfish Co. in Eliot, Maine.
He will be remembered as a loving husband, father and brother, a Workaholic and a teacher of Automotive. He loved spending time at his camp on Clary Lake in North Whitefield, ME and recently winters in Leesburg, FL.
He leaves his wife of 49 years, Sandra G. (Jennings) Prescott; a son Christopher R. Prescott and his wife Meredith of Bethlehem, PA; 2 sisters Sylvia E. Cutting of Eliot, ME and Marie Hardy of Rochester, NH; several nieces and nephews.
Funeral services will be private. Memorial contributions may be made to the York Village Fire Dept. or York Ambulance Assoc. Lucas & Eaton Funeral Home, York, Maine is assisting with arrangements. Visit www.lucaseatonfuneralhome.com for online condolences.
Upcoming Ice Cream Social and Meet & Greet Event!
Mark Your Calendars! The Clary Lake Association is hosting an Ice Cream Social and “Meet & Greet” event on Saturday, July 16th from 1:00 PM to whenever, at the Clary Lake dam on the Mills Road (Route 218) in Whitefield. In the unlikely event that this event has to be called on account of inclement weather, the rain date is the next day, Sunday July 17th, same time, same ice cream. The last time we had an ice cream social was in 2019. This will be a great opportunity to meet some of the many new CLA members and people on and around Clary Lake, hence the “Meet & Greet” part. This event is open to all, Clary Lake Association members as well as our Community friends and neighbors. If you’re not currently a Member, consider becoming one! The ice cream is free but donations will be gratefully accepted. Continue reading
Spring/Summer 2022 Newsletter Is Out
The Spring/Summer 2022 Clary Lake Association Newsletter went in the mail about on schedule a little over a week ago and is now available for download from our Newsletters page. Feel free to grab a copy and share it with your family and friends. Dues envelopes were included in the mailing, and dues have already started arriving. How gratifying is that! I’ll be updating the “Next Year’s 2022/2023 Membership List” as more checks arrive. At the time of this writing we’re up to 47 members. This year we totally met our Membership goal of 165 Members. Our Membership goal for the coming year includes a modest increase to 175 Members. Totally doable. You can help us reach (or exceed!) that goal by becoming a member today! Visit our Benefits of Membership page for more information about why you should join the Association, and how to do it. Continue reading
Lake Water Quality Monitoring Resumes for 2022
Clary Transparency
Kelsie French and I resumed our water quality monitoring efforts for 2022 on Saturday May 14th, a little later than originally planned due to circumstances which all seemingly conspired to keep us off the lake. We’re back in the saddle now however and plan to visit Clary’s deepest spot to collect data every couple of weeks this season. Continue reading
17 April 2022: The Special Membership Meeting Happened
Happy Easter!
Yesterday’s Special Membership Meeting happened. It was, interestingly, both well attended and poorly attended. I was there along with my wife Margaret, Gareth and Beverly Bowen were there (it was after all at their house) and Board members Steven Cowles, and Mary Gingrow-Shaw attended. Also present were Greg & Karren Briggs (they have recently moved to Hodsdon Lane) and Pam and David Heath (they bought Tim & Brenda Robbin’s place on 215 last year). Also present via were nearly 100 Clary Lake Association members whose votes were to be counted.
Gareth and I perfected a great Zoom setup involving 2 laptops and a large screen TV. However, nobody attended the meeting by Zoom! I was quite surprised! This arrangement will work fine for future *indoor* meetings and may, perhaps with slight modifications, work for outdoor venues as well, assuming we can have internet access. We’ll see.
The purpose of the meeting was to count the returned proxy ballots (along with any votes cast in person) and certify the election results. The ballots, sent out in late January, included the following 3 Articles:
Article 1: To see if the Membership will approve changing the quorum as defined
in our Bylaws in Article 3, Section 6 “Quorum and Attendance” from one-third (1/3)
of the voting members to 15% of the voting members;
Article 2: To see if the Membership will approve changing Article 3, Section 6
“Quorum and Attendance” of our Bylaws from: “Anyone may attend any meeting of
the Members provided that only Members shall have a vote at such meeting.” to
“Anyone may attend any meeting of the Members either in person or virtually (if
it is an available option) provided that only Members shall have a vote at such
meeting;
Article 3: To see if the Membership will approve changing Article 3 Section 3 of our
Bylaws from “The Annual Meeting of the Members of the Corporation shall be held
on the first (1st) Saturday in August or at the call of the President.” to “The Annual
Meeting of the Members of the Corporation shall be held on a Saturday in
August to be announced, or at the call of the President.”
I’m happy to announce that all three Articles passed. I’ve updated the website with the latest Clary Lake Association Bylaws.
Respectfully,
George Fergusson, Secretary
Clary Lake Association
Special Membership Meeting Ahead!
This is a reminder that we have a Special Membership Meeting scheduled for this coming Saturday April 16th at 3:00 PM at the home of Gareth & Beverley Bowen at 739 Gardiner Road, Jefferson Maine.
Proxy ballots were mailed to all CLA members back in late January along with a cover letter and a self addressed stamped envelope to return the completed ballots. The main question on the ballot involved a change to the wording of our bylaws pertaining to the definition of a quorum; currently a quorum is 1/3 of our voting membership, a hard number to muster! We’re looking to change that to 15% of our voting members. The purpose of this meeting is to officially count the proxy ballots that were returned and any raised-hands at the meeting, and announce the results of the vote. Continue reading
01 April 2022: Unidentified Animal Sighted on Clary Lake
I spotted this Clary Lake critter this morning when I was out checking my rain gauge. At first I thought it was a goose but the sound it made wasn’t goose-like at all. Sounded more like… I dunno. It was weird. It didn’t stick around. Fortunately I was able to find a picture of it in the webcam archive. Anyone have any idea what this is?
29 March 2022: ICE OUT! We have a Winner!
It’s Official: the sheet of ice that extended from shore to shore down by the boat launch yesterday and which blocked access to the lake was ground up by the high wind this morning and driven into the cove at the east end of the lake. I just consulted with David Hodsdon and we agree that the official Ice Out date is today: 29 March 2022.
Vicki Grimaldi with her guess of March 25th was the closest to ice out without going over, making her the Winner of this year’s ice out contest! Congratulations Vicki! She’ll be receiving the framed loon photograph by David Hodsdon (see image below). Vicki bought Dennis Morgan’s place on Hodsdon Lane back in the summer of 2021. For runners up we have Jack Holland with his guess of March 24th, 
winner of the “What do you mean 
it’s not ice out yet?” award, and Dan Burns and Steve Relyea with their March 30th guesses are both winners of the “Missed it by >< that much” award. All 3 runners up will receive a laminated copy of the Clary Lake Depth Map (image at left).
And so concludes our 2022 Ice Out Contest! A month ago I wouldn’t have bet dollars to donuts that the ice would be out before the end of the first week in April, based on how thick the ice was this winter and how cold it’s been this spring, which I suppose just goes to show you what I know. If you’re forgotten your guess, you’ll find it in this post. It’s also unusual for it to take so long (9 days) to go out once open water first showed up on the north shore (like it always does). The reason it took so long I think it because it really wasn’t ready! Usually ice-out occurs much faster. Even more interesting: this year’s ice out date is the same as last year’s ice out date. I didn’t see that coming!
I’d like to thank everyone for playing and encourage you to try again next year. I’ll be picking up the framed loon photograph and delivering it to Vicki later this week. The runners up will get their prizes the next time I see them, which might be the next time they stop by my house if I don’t stop by their house first!
23 March 2022: Still Got Ice
23 March 2022: Ice Out Update: Close but No Cigar!
I have never seen the ice disappear from Clary Lake as fast as it has this year! Last Friday there were people ice fishing. Rain on Saturday and with winds on Monday and Tuesday with gusts of 35-40 mph really hammered the ice into submission. As of this morning, winds have let up considerably but are still blowing 8 mph or so. There is a considerable amount of ice left on the south shore both in Whitefield and Jefferson. We’re not calling ice out yet, but it won’t be long now. Tomorrow we’re expecting rain during the day with moderate winds from the south which change to the east and pick up in intensity come night fall. It’s hard to imagine the remaining ice hanging around to the weekend.
You can keep an eye on things with our Clary_cams (which President Dave Knight insists on calling Spy_cams) and if you haven’t tried yet, livestream them!
2022 Clary Lake Ice Out Contest! [UPDATE]
This is our third year running a Clary Lake Ice-Out contest. This year’s prize for first place is a beautiful 12″ H x 15″ W framed loon photograph taken by David Hodsdon. If you guess the correct ice-out date or come closest without going past it, you’re the winner. In the event there are two (or more) people who guessed the same winning date, the person guessing first (based on the recorded timestamp) will be the winner and the other less-lucky (but still lucky!) person (or persons!) will win a laminated 8.5″ x 11″ Clary Lake Depth Map as a runner up prize (see below). FYI, the earliest the lake has been deemed completely free of ice was on March 13, 2016; the latest the ice has gone out was on April 24, 2001. Last year’s “official” ice out date was March 29th which was correctly guessed by Bambi Jones. She won a blue “We Give A Dam” tee shirt. We also awarded second places (also tee shirts) to Kelley Doore and Alan Nicholas Decker who correctly guessed the “What Do You Mean It’s Not Ice Out Yet?” date of March 28th. Visit our Ice In and Ice Out page to see all our historical data back to 2001. Reviewing historical ice-in and ice-out data is NOT CHEATING!
[UPDATE]: I’ve posted the current guesses at the bottom of this message and I’ll update the list at least daily. We’ll close the contest some time before the ice actually goes out. And yes, you can submit more than one guess, but only your last guess will count 🙂
04 February 2022: Busted Links: I hate em!
I HATE busted links, everywhere, but especially on our own website. It’s come to my attention that a lot of links to documents & stuff that are stored on Google Drive have recently become inaccessible due to a more stringent security procedures. Security is a good thing, busted links are not. I’ve fixed quite a few already but more undoubtedly are hiding, waiting to not show you what you want to see. If you try to view something and get “You need access” instead (picture, at left) PLEASE click the “Request Access” button. This will send me an email and let me know you found a busted link. Thanks in advance!
Stanley M. Whittier January 10, 1931 – January 24, 2022
Stanley Whittier built his camp on Clary Lake back in 1955 and he has been a Clary Lake Association member since we formed back in the summer of 1960. Due to failing health, it’s been a few years since he was last a CLA member but his many years of support are not forgotten. Here is his Obituary in the Central Maine Papers:
WATERVILLE – Stanley M. Whittier, 91, formerly a long time resident of Augusta, died Monday, Jan. 24, 2022, at the Alfond Center for Health in Augusta following a long illness. He was born in Bath on Jan. 10, 1931, a son of the late Stanley A. and Frances (Martin) Whittier.
Mr. Whittier attended Augusta schools and was a communicant of St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church. He was a US Army veteran, serving during the Korean War.
Mr. Whittier had been self-employed barber for many years in Augusta, where he also enjoyed organizing the Chamber of Commerce Whatever Week Races and you could always spot him in the bleachers at Cony basketball games. In 1955 he built his camp on Clary Lake in Jefferson which was his favorite place to spend time with family.
He was predeceased by his wife, Irene J. (Valliere) Whittier; two brothers, Keith and Leonard Whittier and his sister, Joyce Chick.
Mr. Whittier is survived by his two daughters, Gail J. Champine of Waterville and Jane F. Roy of Biddeford; five grandchildren, Stacy Grondin, Jessica Grondin, Carly Champine, Morgan Burnette, and Dylane Farrington, nine great-grandchildren; three great-great- grandchildren; and several nieces, nephews and cousins.
Relatives and friends may visit on Tuesday, Feb. 1 from 10 – 11 a.m. at Plummer Funeral Home, 16 Pleasant St., Augusta where a funeral service will follow at 11 a.m. Burial will be in the spring in Sand Hill Cemetery, Somerville.
Condolences, stories and photos may be shared at http://www.plummerfh.com.
The family requests that donations in Stan’s memory be made to:
Travis Mills Foundation
89 Water St.
Hallowell, ME 04347
Merry 2021 Christmas from the Clary Lake Association!
We’ve had quite a year together and perhaps more than ever have come to realize that it ‘takes a village’. It takes all of us working together in common cause to realize our community dreams and aspirations. It takes a village to keep going when times are difficult and with many different ways of thinking and operating at play. This time of year our social customs lead us to a place of gathering in our own unique and traditional ways. We hope and trust that your holidays can be filled with what you love most and that you and all that you hold dear remain safe, healthy and ready to take on a new year of friendship, kindness and compassion.
Merry Christmas…Happy Holidays…Happy New Year!
Happy Thanksgiving from the Clary Lake Association!
Usually I post a more or less traditional picture with traditional Thanksgiving sentiments, perhaps a Turkey or maybe a cartoon of a Turkey or even once I posted a picture of a turkey made of hotdogs (sorry!). This year I thought this picture from Clary_cam2 of a Thanksgiving Daybreak Muskrat was an appropriate thing to post.
Happy Thanksgiving from the Clary Lake Association!
19 November 2021: Live Stream the Clary Cams!
You’ve always been able to live stream the Clary cams IF you were technically savvy enough to install the right plugin in your browser or conversant with a program like VLC. It certainly wasn’t easy and I suspect most people have been content to simply look at the pictures that are updated every 2 minutes rather than deal with trying to get a live feed working. I’ve recently added all 3 Clary Cams to the IP Cam Live website which takes the H.264 compressed video stream from a camera and converts it to MPEG format which most modern browsers can display without special plugins. Yay!!
The pictures that are displayed on the website are beautiful 1920 x 1080 pixel images (like the one above). The live video feed uses a HD stream with a resolution of 720p and a bit rate of 512K. Not the highest resolution and not as nice as the still pictures, but certainly pleasant to look at. One reason for choosing this live stream format is the bandwidth requirement is lower. Two of these cameras (1 & 3) feed through my internet connection and I don’t want it to bog down. You may still see “buffering” message from time to time, depending on how many people are viewing the stream.
You’ll now find “Live stream in your browser” links for each camera on the Webcam page. Here are the links:
Clary_cam1: Live Stream in your browser
Clary_cam2: Live stream in your browser
Clary_cam3: Live stream in your browser
I’m interested in your feedback! Send me an email (or use our Contact Form) and let me know what you think of the streams, and if you’re having any issues.
01 November 2021: High Outflows at the Clary Lake Dam [VIDEO]
There is a lot of water going downstream of the Clary Lake dam this morning. Not record outflows by any means, but certainly impressive as this short (and pretty shakey!) video shows.
A Harvest Message
Hello to all who take an interest in Clary Lake – those who live on its shores, members and non-members alike, friends and family who come to visit lakeshore owners, those who make use of the State boat launch and those of you who are catching this message by way of just checking in on the website.
Over this last Spring/Summer season we have all been delivered a bit from the intrusions and curtailments that a climate of pandemic has generated. What a blessing it was to be out in Nature and partake of the many activities in and around the lake with friends and loved ones. We were able to safely congregate for an Ice Cream Social and to hold our Annual Meeting, seemingly without detriment to anyone’s health. We hope, as we move further and further away from precaution-minded operating in the world, that we can add to these gatherings, other events on a regular basis; events you can always count on annually, such as an annual Marsh Tour, Coffee Clutch/’Dock Hopping’ events out on the lake; 4th of July CLA float; Community Cookout; Harvest Pot Luck; Winter Ice Frolic* and February Doldrums Hors d’oeuvres Party, to name a few! Continue reading