Presidents Letter
by Larry Nokes
As spring arrives and we begin to get excited about the lake it is good to know that lots of good things are happening on and around the lake. First, and I think a very exciting thing, is that on April 16th the lake started to overflow and at writing was still flowing out nicely. This is a good thing since it means the lake is full for the first time in several years. It also means that the water is freshening. With new water coming in the water quality improves which aids in the health of the flora and fauna in the lake.
With spring also comes the annual roadside clean-up and chili feed. It's a great time to get out in the fresh air, do something good for the area, and a chance to meet your neighbors at the lake. Put May 20th on your calendar to help, it only takes a couple hours, and I know you'll feel good about helping.
Something that we are starting in the Newsletter is a "Letters to the Editor" section. In this section of the newsletter will be comments from anyone who wants to voice their opinion, good or bad, about issues concerning the lake. With the elections coming in November this will be a good place to voice opinions about the candidates. With the growth management plan nearing completion, this will be a place to express one's feelings about it. Please feel free to use this as a voice to discuss any issue that you have and to hopefully get feedback from fellow lake homeowners about things of concern. We, as board members, are supposed to stay neutral on issues of concern, but this will provide us a place to express ourselves as homeowners rather than board members.
I hope you are looking forward to a great season at the lake, I know I certainly am after the seemingly endless wet winter. Things are fresh and turning green and with some sunshine the water will be warming for us all to enjoy. One more thing for you to put on your calendar is the annual meeting and potluck which will be on June 10th at 10:30 at the fire station. If you don't come to see what is going on and voice your opinions and vote on issues you won't really be able to say much about what is going on. Please plan on attending.
See you on the Lake and have a great summer!!!!
ROADSIDE CLEANUP
As usual, our roadsides are littered with all kinds of debris. It's that time of year again to clean up other inconsiderate peoples' mess. After the great help we get, our roadsides look like we care about Deer Lake and its surroundings. The date for doing the job is Saturday morning, May 20th. You may clean up prior to that date in any area you wish. If you are new to this cleanup, and want more information, call Mike Phillips (233-2510) for the west side of the lake or John Gregerson (233-8419) for the east side. Phone numbers are in the newsletter. There will be litterbags at the fire station and Deer Lake Resort that morning. There will be a chili feed and social time after the cleanup, usually around 10:30 a.m. until people stop coming. Please come help us.
DLPOA Property
by Larry Nokes
We are putting together a plan to present to the general membership at the annual meeting on June 10th. Again, I would ask anyone that has any ideas about what this building should include or any suggestions about what it might look like to contact me at 233-2088 with those ideas. Something else we are putting together is a proposal for redoing the DLPOA/Deer Lake signs. We would like to relocate the west side sign to the Y at N. Deer Lake Rd. and Westbay Rd. It would be nice to move the east sign nearer to the lake also but we don't know about a location. We will continue to research that possibility. This will also be presented at the annual meeting. These and other important issues will be discussed at the annual meeting so please try to allocate a couple hours on June 10th to attend this important meeting.
Fisheries Report
by Jim Santora
My winter batch of Rainbows will be released around the middle of May. At our April 13th meeting we had Jason McClellan and Kurt Vail give a report on the fish survey they took last fall. It was a very good report. The report showed that we have a large number of predator type fish in the lake. This means small mouth bass and lake trout. They will be looking into different solutions to this problem. They also plan to release 500,000 Silver fry to the lake in either June or July. These would be released in the middle of the lake for a greater survival rate. Hope you have a great fishing year and see you at the annual meeting. Thank you
Editor's Note - for the unsoFishticated readers, a "lake trout" is known around here as a Mackinaw. The Fish&Game people encouraged us to keep all the legal Macks and bass that we catch, and not throw them back.
Fourth of July Celebration
by Larry Nokes
The Fourth of July events are shaping up for this year and should be another fun time for all. The dates for various things will be a little different but we feel it should work out fine. The fireworks display will be on July 3rd starting around 10:00PM. It was decided that this would be a better time since many have to be back to work on July 5th. The children's parade will still be on July 4th starting at 10:00AM with the flag salute and hot dog feeding frenzy at Westbay Resort following. This year we would like to put an emphasis on our troops, both those that have served and those presently serving to protect all the rights we so much enjoy. The Boat parade will also be on the 4th starting at 7:30 at the Deer Lake Resort. I hope you will all plan on being at the Lake and participation in these fun events.
For more 2004 boat parade pictures, go to
http://www.dlpoa.com/thumbnails/.
Click on any picture to expand it.
Letters to the Editor
Editor's note - We are restarting this feature of our newsletter to provide any of our members a forum for topics concerning our lake. Send any letters either to your newsletter editor demattia(at)acm.org) or to any of the officers. Try to keep them to a page or less. DLPOA cannot take a stand as an organization on any political issues on the lake, but we encourage members of all points of view, especially with Stevens County elections coming up, to provide their thoughts.
I had an opportunity to listen to and visit with Tim Rasmussen who is running for Stevens Co. Prosecuting attorney. It was really exciting to talk to a person who would actually like to do something in that office. All the experiences I have had with the current people at that office has been bad, bad, bad. I have never experienced an office so apathetic about so many things. The issues I have dealt with them over have been blatant zoning violations at the lake and, to date, I don't think they have prosecuted any of these violations. Mr. Rasmussen has stated that he plans to fully address these issues. He also had some great ideas as to how to economically handle penalties for some of the lesser crimes. I think it would be well worth the time to meet and listen to this man. The Stevens Co. Prosecuting Attorneys office certainly needs a shake up and I feel this is the man that will do just that.
Larry Nokes
Stevens Co. Resident
Property Reassessment Going On at our Lake
Al Taylor, the Stevens County Assessor, would like to inform the public that the Loon Lake, Swenson Road corridor and the Lake Spokane area will be reassessed during the next eight months. The county is divided into four areas and each area is assessed every four years. Stevens County assessor personnel will be in the area in marked vehicles and will carry identification. The Stevens County Assessor's Office has been working on mapping the entire county and has completed Deer Lake, Loon Lake, areas west of Deer Park, and the Lake Spokane area all the way to Tum Tum. This information can be accessed at www.co.stevens.wa.us. (Click on the Assessor under department index and then click Real Property Search).
KiKi Welfel is the appraiser assigned to the area bordering Deer Lake. If you have information about your property that would help her to value your property more accurately, please call her at (509) 685-0658. (If she is out of the office, please give your name and parcel number and leave a message for her.) You may also e-mail her at cwelfel@co.stevens.wa.us or write to her, c/o the Stevens County Assessor's Office, at 215 South Oak Street, Colville, WA 99114
DEER LAKE DEMO DOCK DAYS
by Bill Bajadali
Date: June 3rd
Location: Sunrise Point
Please bring any derelict / abandon docks to be demolished to Sunrise Point Saturday June 3rd
8:00 am to 1:00 pm. Please do not bring any docks prior to Saturday. Sunrise Point is adjacent to the Pinelow Nazarene camp.
If help is needed to tow a dock, please call Bill at 999-7487 or Larry at 220-5963 to make arrangements.
In the past we have removed over 70 derelict / abandon Docks from Deer Lake. This is a great way to keep our shoreline clear of debris.
VOLUNTEERS ARE WELCOME: call Bill or Larry for tools that you will need. Refreshment and Hot Dogs will be served.
Annual Pancake Feed - July 9th
by Lee Bayley
Deer Lake Property Owners Association Annual Pancake Feed is on July 9th.
Please note this is a change from previous newsletter announcements that listed July 2nd. Please correct your calenders as we look forward to seeing you at this large annual event.
Hours of operation are 7:00AM to 12:00 noon on July 9th.
There will be pancake and ham and more along with our raffle, face painting for the children, and as an added treat a Blue Grass Band will be performing from 9:00 to 11:30.
We need volunteer workers. If you have volunteered in the past and can help again please volunteer again this year. We have roughly received confirmation from twenty volunteers but can use 20 more. If you can HELP Please call
Lee Bayley @ 326-0954 or dbayley55@msn.com
Broadband on Deer Lake
If you can't enjoy your Deer Lake holidays without being online, there is now a Broadband option. For more details, contact the Pinelow Lodge people. This is a high speed wireless solution.
EMERGENCY SERVICES
By Gerry Block
Dear readers, by the time this article arrives for you to read, I sure hope that we have some sunshine. I know, April showers bring on May flowers, but this year we may see a bumper crop of mosquitoes. I sure hope that this is not true! When I left Minnesota, I thought that I had seen the last of the" MN state bird." We need to be aware of mosquito breeding places and protect ourselves and our pets. Any place of standing water provides a perfect spot for an increase in the mosquito population. During our yard spring clean-up, check for areas that harbor possible breeding sites. Encourage your neighbors to do the same. To protect ourselves and pets, there are several products available. What is safe for us is not necessarily safe for our pets. Check the labels and call your vet, if you are uncomfortable with a specific product. In our Deer Lake area, we also need to check for ticks. One of our past dogs had "tick neuralgia". The tick burrowed in our pet's spinal area and caused his back legs to collapse. This was very frightening! Our vet removed the tick and the change was amazing.
I have an article from the Internet called "Your Family Disaster Plan". If you have Internet access, go to http://spokaneprepares.org. The print out is very concise, easy to read and understand. There have been several TV promotions for stockpiling the pantry. A minimum of a three day supply of staples for ourselves and pets is recommended. I have added this bit of information to my article as we live in very uncertain times! I don't see a hurricane hitting our shores, but a disaster may hit in any form. The three day guideline is a suggestion to follow for our safety. In actuality, we might consider stockpiling for longer periods. Remember to rotate your supplies, back storage to front! Check the dates on any medicine refills. If possible, order a three month supply of any life sustaining medication or medical requirements. We have seen how a disaster may deprive residents of the necessities for everyday living.
Have a safe spring and summer!
PS
Dear readers, I have witnessed a very dangerous situation today and I pray that this does not happen again! A very large female moose was within the Haney neighborhood, and was pleasantly chewing on vegetation. This was OK. My problem with witnessing this situation was the fact that mothers were taking their kids very close to witnessing this beautiful creature. I shouted "back off" instructions to everyone that was close/near to this situation! I warned that a moose is nearly blind sighted and do not make any false movements. One family moved towards the female, and I held my breath! I had my cell phone ready to call 911! I know that some of these family members know the habitats, warning signs, and possible dangers of encountering a female moose. My question, what if there was a young moose, hiding behind the neighbor's house? Mamma Moose would have gone bonkers to protect her young one! Please use binoculars to visualize the natural habitat/animals, within our neighborhood! I question the parents' safety measures and possible consequences, for future wild life sightings. Please address this or more unsafe situations with your family members!
Membership
by Jason Johnson
My name is Jason Johnson. I have taken over the Membership Committee for DLPOA as Dean Crump has retired. If you are NOT a Member of DLPOA (Deer Lake Property Owners Association) please consider becoming a member if for no other reason than that DLPOA monitors the water quality in the lake. It's your Lake too. Membership Fees are used for a number of issues and items directly involving the lake and a few activities, listed below are a few of them:
Demolition and removal of old Docks
cleans up shoreline and removes Foam logs from lake.
Clean-up Days twice a year
Volunteer crews pick -up garbage along the roads around the lake.
We test the water quality of lake
Helps to Prevent algae and weed problems, fertilizer issues, fish population and safe water to swim and play in.
Four of JULY Fireworks
An activity that the kids love and adults enjoy along with the Parades.
There are many more that I have not listed. First I want to say Thank you to all the people that have paid their Dues this year already and for the ones that are still coming in, Thanks. We also have many issues pending that we need your support and input on. Membership is down and the more of us there is, the louder our voice we will be to protect Deer Lake.
All you have to do is provide us with your Name, Address and a $15.00 check at the address below to become a member. (Must be a Property owner at Deer Lake, Stevens County, WA)
Our board meetings are open, so anyone can attend.
DLPOA
PO BOX 250
Loon lake WA 99148-0250
Editor's note - The board meetings are really interesting, and often animated. You would be surprised at how much effort your board members have to put in to make this organization what it is. If you cannot make it to one of our board meetings (and no, we don't have a water cooler there, I got real beat up about that reference last newsletter) all of the minutes of the board meetings are on our web. Go to http://www.dlpoa.com/boardnotes.htm to see the headlines of the last meeting, and the actual minutes for previous to that meetings. Also, the minutes from all the annual meetings since 2000 are on our web site at http://www.dlpoa.com/newsletters.htm.
We would love to email you these minutes right after they are posted, and also announcements of upcoming activities. If you would like to be on our email list, please send an email to demattia@ipeg.com.
For a list of DLPOA officers, please go to http://www.dlpoa.com/officers.htm.
Coming Events - Mark your Calendars!
Sat May 20 Spring Road Cleanup
Sat June 3 Loonsday Fun Walk
Old School House, 7AM
Sat June 3 Dock Demolition
Call Bill Bajadali for Details - 921-1819
Sat June 10 Annual Membership Meeting
Deer lake Fire Station #5, 10:30AM
Pot Luck to Follow Meeting
Mon July 3 Fireworks - in the evening
Tuesday July 4 Deer Lake Celebration
Kids Parade - Starts at Deer Lake Resort, 10:30 AM
Boat Parade - Starts at Deer Lake Resort, 7PM
Fireworks - in the evening
Sun July 9 Annual Pancake Feed
Deer Lake Firestation #5 7:30 - Noon
Sat Sept 16 Fall Road Cleanup