Category Archives: News

News from around the lake.

June 2022 Water Level Chart Archived

6 Clary-Lake-Water-Level-June-2022

June 2022

I have archived the June 2022 Water Level Chart (at left). The lake level in June looks a lot like the lake level in May only about 3″ lower than in the previous month. We did receive a more rain in June than we did in May, but most of it fell in the first half of the month which was enough to largely offset the water loss leading to more or less stable water level, up until the 17th of June. Rainfall for the rest of the month was almost nonexistent and by month’s end the lake had fallen a quarter of a foot, ending the month about 3 inches lower than it started. The 3.11 inches or rain we did receive fell about 0.6 inches short of the June monthly average of 3.71 inches. Because we received so much “extra” rain in the first 4 months of 2022, we’re still 0.8 inches above normal for this date. However, as I’ve explained before, simply looking at total precipitation gives you an unrealistic picture of actual ground water conditions and like last month, almost the entire coast of Maine (including Clary Lake) is considered to be “Abnormally Dry” by the USDA Drought Monitor program. Continue reading →

CLA Summer 2022 Raffle Ahead!

Mark & Tara Doe are CLA members and own a house and property on Hornpout Lane. They’re also owners of Louis Doe Home Center in Newcastle. I was talking with them a few weeks ago about how we’re going to have to start raising money for dam repairs before long, and out of the blue they graciously offered to donate a Weber Spirit E-310 gas grill (pictured at left) to us to raffle off this summer to start raising some money. We’ve been scrambling to get all our ducks in a row and get everything ready, and we’re about to launch the first ever Clary Lake Association Summer Raffle! We’re still in the process of lining up some runner up prizes and hope to be able to start selling tickets as early as next week. We expect this will become an annual event. Continue reading →

The Loons Are Nesting!

The loons are finally nesting again on Clary Lake for the first time since June 2019. They didn’t use the floating nest we launched this spring, but they are nesting nearby in the same cove where the floating nest is located, over on the north shore of the lake. Mary Gingrow-Shaw has been monitoring the floating loon nest and late last week noticed nest building behavior. She finally spotted a loon sitting on the nest yesterday and today she kayaked over snapped the photograph at left. She didn’t want to get too close and all she had was a cell phone. I’ll head over later with my camera and telephoto lens and try to get some better pictures.

There are very likely already eggs in the nest. We can expect the eggs to hatch in 26 to 30 days. Keep your fingers crossed!

PLEASE give the area a WIDE BERTH!

Browntail Moth Update #7- June 10, 2022

The Maine Department of Agriculture Conservation & Forestry has issued a Status Update on the Browntail Moth infestation currently impacting the State, and it’s GOOD NEWS! Numbers are way down at their monitoring sites: “This week we are pleased to report we observed at least some fungus-caused mortality at all of our monitoring sites. At a few sites, it wasn’t easy to find live caterpillars to take measurements from, although we did find some after looking on trees a short walk down the road.” While this is generally good news, I know some of you on or around Clary Lake are still in Browntail Moth Hell, and I sympathize. Be patient, this pest is on the way out.

Here’s the bulletin, there’s other interesting information in it besides Browntail Moth news:

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 →

May 2022 Water Level Chart Archived

5 Clary-Lake-Water-Level-May-2022

May 2022

I have archived the May 2022 Water Level Chart (at left). From the beginning of the month on we saw an abrupt change from the above-average precipitation which has been the norm for the first 4 months of the year, almost as though someone had turned off the spigot! Total rainfall for the month was only 1.34 inches, well short of the normal 3.71 inches. Because we were 3.78 inches above normal at the end of April, we’re still 1.41 inches ahead of where we’d be in a “normal” year. However, simply looking at total precipitation gives you an unrealistic picture of actual ground water conditions: the fact of the matter is, the entire coast of Maine including Clary Lake is considered to be “Abnormally Dry” by the USDA Drought Monitor program. Continue reading →

Summer 2022 Browntail Moth Forecast

The State of Maine has released a new map using the ArcGis mapping platform to show the state of the Browntail Moth infestation in Maine this year. Last year’s outbreak of the pest was the worst every seen in Maine, and it looks like this year will be very bad again. However, it looks to me like some of the areas that were hardest hit last year (including my property!) may experience less of a problem this year. My property on Clary Lake is surrounded by large red oak trees, and last year ALL of them were completely defoliated for the second year in a row. I feared a third year as bad as the previous two would doom many of my trees. I’m happy to report however that this year I’ve only spotted 1 caterpillar on my screen door and no evidence at all of caterpillars eating the emerging oak leaves. My fingers are crossed, it looks like we won’t suffer a repeat of the last two years this summer. 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 →

29 March 2022: ICE OUT! We have a Winner!

Ice-Out-3-29-2022-LargeIt’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!

27 March 2022: Still Got Ice!

20220327_123502-MediumI went over to the boat launch today and took the picture at left. After consulting with Google Earth, I estimate there are at least 50 acres of ice left down at the east end of the lake, and 3-4 acres of ice left on the south shore in Jefferson. I think the reason the ice is going out so slowly this year is because it really wasn’t ready to melt off; we got some warm weather and a good rain storm a week ago Saturday and some open water appeared on the north shore. Then 2 days of 35+ mph winds knocked a Big Hole in the ice cover, but much of what remained was still quite solid. Unusual conditions this year, for sure.

23 March 2022: Ice Out Update: Close but No Cigar!

Clary_cam-1

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!

21 March 2022: Ice Out Update

20220321_092112-1Last Friday, only 4 days ago, there were people out on Clary Lake ice fishing. Today there is a sizable portion of open water on the north side of the lake, easily visible in this picture taken this morning. You can just barely make it out on Clary_cam-1 as a thin dark line in the distance. High northwest winds forecast for today will push that open water further towards the south shore. We’re still quite a few days, away from open water. 

Here are the 2022 Ice Out Contest guesses. Good Luck Contestants! Continue reading →

13 March 2022: Early Spring Dam Management

20220309_110621-MediumWe’ve begun our Spring management activities with the aim of getting Clary Lake filled up for another boating, fishing, and swimming season, about week earlier than usual because of all the snow and rain we’ve been blessed with this year. Our spring management includes adding stop logs to the weir to start raising the lake level to it’s spring high while opening the gate to increase outflows to maintain minimum flows, and also to keep the lake from rising too quickly. It’s a balancing act made more difficult with having to second guess the weather. Because of drought conditions the previous 3 years, it has been a challenge raising the lake level in the spring while at the same time maintaining outflows. We pretty much have the opposite problem this year! After the first two months of 2022 we’re 2.5 inches of precipitation above normal for this date. The picture shows Steve Cowles on March 9th cranking open the gate the other day, with Dave Knight standing by with the folding ruler. There are 4 threads to the inch on the screw, so opening the gate 12″ means turning the gate wheel 48 turns. That’s a workout. Today, we installed the last two stop logs in the weir. You can track all the action on the 2022 Dam Operation Log.

06 March 2022: Clary Lake Ice Out Contest Closed to New Entries

I have closed the 2022 Clary Lake Ice Out Contest to new entries. 36 people have made their guesses (below). Now, we wait… for ice out. I have no idea what the No U-Turn sign has to do with anything.

Good Luck Contestants!

2022 Ice Out Guestimates

These are the guesses for ice out. The timestamp column will be used to decide on who was first in the event of a tie. Hint: you can sort on any of the columns by clicking on the header:

Timestamp Your name: Ice Out Guess:
02/27/22 09:43 AM Sophie Seba 03/23/22
02/27/22 10:45 AM Jack Holland 03/24/22
02/27/22 11:01 AM Vicky Grimaldi 03/25/22
02/27/22 11:30 AM Dan Burns 03/30/22
02/28/22 10:13 AM Steve Relyea 03/30/22
02/28/22 08:35 PM Hillary Relyea 03/31/22
02/27/22 01:03 PM Ronnie Spann 04/01/22
02/27/22 03:13 PM Linda S Gallion 04/01/22
02/27/22 02:41 PM Rob Rowland 04/02/22
02/27/22 08:45 PM Tim chase 04/02/22
03/01/22 09:27 AM Cathy johnson 04/02/22
03/04/22 11:51 AM carolyn curtis 04/02/22
02/27/22 05:00 PM Malcolm Burson 04/03/22
02/27/22 09:36 AM Karen Stutzer 04/04/22
02/28/22 05:47 AM Geoff McCullen 04/04/22
02/28/22 08:06 AM Thurlow Crummett 04/04/22
02/27/22 01:41 PM June m Lordi 04/05/22
02/27/22 09:31 AM Bill Hall 04/06/22
03/01/22 09:26 AM Bambi Jones 04/06/22
03/03/22 03:55 PM Mary Gingrow-Shaw 04/06/22
02/27/22 12:23 PM Gayle Knight 04/07/22
02/27/22 06:52 PM Steve Cowles 04/08/22
03/03/22 03:49 PM Amanda Knight 04/08/22
02/27/22 12:19 PM Kate Seba 04/09/22
02/27/22 08:27 PM Donald Hogg 04/09/22
03/01/22 10:32 PM Ben Gerdts 04/10/22
03/02/22 09:12 AM David Knight 04/10/22
03/04/22 10:10 AM Stephen Viti 04/11/22
02/27/22 11:42 AM Arlene Wing 04/12/22
02/27/22 09:54 AM Beverley Bowen 04/13/22
02/28/22 05:24 AM Cary McCullen 04/15/22
02/28/22 05:26 AM Geoff McCullen 04/16/22
02/27/22 09:21 AM Sara Roy 04/17/22
03/03/22 01:11 PM Gareth Bowen 04/18/22
03/01/22 11:23 AM Cheryl Smith 04/20/22
02/27/22 08:16 PM Thomas vigue 04/21/22

2022 Ice Out Contest Guestimates

Still contemplating your 2022 Ice Out Contest Guestimate? Well, you can agonize over it for only a few more days! I’m planning on closing the contest to new guesses in two days, at the end of the day on Saturday March 5th. Below is the list of ice out guesses received so far, who guessed, and the date guessed sorted by guessed date. Not confusing at all! Here’s a link to the original post with the contest rules and prizes. I’ll keep this page updated. Good Luck!

2022 Ice Out Guestimates

These are the guesses for ice out. The timestamp column will be used to decide on who was first in the event of a tie. Hint: you can sort on any of the columns by clicking on the header:

Timestamp Your name: Ice Out Guess:
02/27/22 09:43 AM Sophie Seba 03/23/22
02/27/22 10:45 AM Jack Holland 03/24/22
02/27/22 11:01 AM Vicky Grimaldi 03/25/22
02/27/22 11:30 AM Dan Burns 03/30/22
02/28/22 10:13 AM Steve Relyea 03/30/22
02/28/22 08:35 PM Hillary Relyea 03/31/22
02/27/22 01:03 PM Ronnie Spann 04/01/22
02/27/22 03:13 PM Linda S Gallion 04/01/22
02/27/22 02:41 PM Rob Rowland 04/02/22
02/27/22 08:45 PM Tim chase 04/02/22
03/01/22 09:27 AM Cathy johnson 04/02/22
03/04/22 11:51 AM carolyn curtis 04/02/22
02/27/22 05:00 PM Malcolm Burson 04/03/22
02/27/22 09:36 AM Karen Stutzer 04/04/22
02/28/22 05:47 AM Geoff McCullen 04/04/22
02/28/22 08:06 AM Thurlow Crummett 04/04/22
02/27/22 01:41 PM June m Lordi 04/05/22
02/27/22 09:31 AM Bill Hall 04/06/22
03/01/22 09:26 AM Bambi Jones 04/06/22
03/03/22 03:55 PM Mary Gingrow-Shaw 04/06/22
02/27/22 12:23 PM Gayle Knight 04/07/22
02/27/22 06:52 PM Steve Cowles 04/08/22
03/03/22 03:49 PM Amanda Knight 04/08/22
02/27/22 12:19 PM Kate Seba 04/09/22
02/27/22 08:27 PM Donald Hogg 04/09/22
03/01/22 10:32 PM Ben Gerdts 04/10/22
03/02/22 09:12 AM David Knight 04/10/22
03/04/22 10:10 AM Stephen Viti 04/11/22
02/27/22 11:42 AM Arlene Wing 04/12/22
02/27/22 09:54 AM Beverley Bowen 04/13/22
02/28/22 05:24 AM Cary McCullen 04/15/22
02/28/22 05:26 AM Geoff McCullen 04/16/22
02/27/22 09:21 AM Sara Roy 04/17/22
03/03/22 01:11 PM Gareth Bowen 04/18/22
03/01/22 11:23 AM Cheryl Smith 04/20/22
02/27/22 08:16 PM Thomas vigue 04/21/22

Bangor Savings: Community Matters More!

Here’s a great opportunity to make a difference in your community: The Bangor Savings Bank Foundation will give more than $155,000 to 45 local nonprofit organizations in Maine and New Hampshire. In celebration of their 15th year of Community Matters More, the one nonprofit that receives the most overall votes will be awarded a $15,000 grant! You can vote for 5 nonprofits:

https://www.bangor.com/community/community-matters-more

Far be it for me to tell you how to vote because there are a number of worthy nonprofit organizations doing good work in this area that could use some financial help including the Clary Lake Association! Other notable local nonprofits doing good work are the Whitefield Library, the Jefferson Area Community Food Pantry, the Whitefield Food Pantry, and the Whitefield Historical Society.

Cast your vote today for your favorite nonprofits!

Maine Lakes Fall 2021 Newsletter Is Out

Maine Lakes (formerly the Maine Lakes Society) has posted their Fall 2021 Newsletter and as usual, they’ve done a fantastic job of highlighting Maine Lakes and the issues they face. As usual, they cover a lot of ground. I found section 3 Recovering Loon Years Lost: Maine’s New Loon Stewardship Project to be a particularly compelling read, seeing as how loons are a prominent aspect of summers on Clary Lake. Our loons haven’t successful raised a family in quite a few years; the last time they actually managed to hatch any chicks was in the summer of 2018 (see: 27 June 2018: Loon Family Pictures) and sadly, both babies unaccountably disappeared by the 4th of July (see: 04 July 2018: Loon Chicks Missing). They nested again in 2019 but failed to hatch any chicks and we have not seen our loons attempting to nest since, a situation which is both highly unusual and quite disturbing.

A preliminary screening has identified 99 Maine lakes to be included in the Loon Stewardship Project. Clary Lake is not on that list, but ultimately, ALL Maine lakes will be considered and we look forward to participating in this program in whatever ways are deemed appropriate. Stay tuned for more about this interesting and important initiative.

floating_loon_nestThe CLA has a history of trying to foster loon nesting on Clary Lake. Back in the spring of 1999, the Clary Lake Association built and launched a floating loon nest. It disappeared after a while and it isn’t clear if the nest was ever actually used by anything besides turtles. The nest, which we thought was lost, turned up again a couple of summers ago (see: 03 June 2020: Floating Loon Nest Found After 21 Years).

There is loads more of interest in Maine Lake’s latest newsletter including an excellent write up about the LakeSmart program, something which should be of interest to all of Clary’s lake shore owners. I hope you take some time to read this newsletter! Here’s a link to the Fall 2021 Newsletter in HTML format:

If you prefer you can view a printable PDF version

The Clary Lake Association has been a supporter of Maine Lakes for a long, long time and continues to offer our financial support to this important organization.