PATTERSON LAKE
NEWSLETTER
September
2003
The Patterson Lake Association exists! After
years of talking about the need, several
concerns gave the final push for a Lake
Association to be formed. The proposal grew
out of an open meeting for the Lake on
August 9, 2003 at the Robertson Lake
Snowmobile Club. It didn’t take long to
realize that there were six different road
associations or areas on the Lake, and it took
even less time for a representative from each
of the areas to be identified. Those
representatives met at 151 Lakeside Road on
August 30. They reviewed a proposed
constitution, sorted out the jobs that needed
doing for the Lake, and formed an executive.
The areas and the representatives are:
Joe’s Crescent/Nelson Way – Rhodena
Bell- Porcupine Way – Bill Brooks
- White Pine Lane/Lakeside Road –
Lorne Bowerman - Hardwood Ridge Road – Dave
MacCrimmon - Parsons Way/Parsons Lane – Martyn
Howard - Fair’s Lane – Terry Wilkie
The aims and objectives of the new
Association are:
- To provide a means of conveying
information, making decisions, and
taking action on matters that affect the
entire lake area; and, - To provide a central contact for
communications internally between
association members, and externally to
persons or organizations that deal with
the association.
Insofar as forming an executive, we decided to
have one president and five vice-presidents,
which is in keeping with the equal status of all
of our areas. Lorne will take the first shift as
President, but the plan is to rotate the job.
What we will not rotate are the various tasks
we identified as our main areas of concern for
the Lake. Each representative will be prime
for the following tasks:
- Water Quality – Lorne
- Lake Level – Dave
- Commercial Development – Rhodena
- Hazard Marking Buoys – Martyn
- History of Patterson Lake – Bill and
Rhodena - f. Mineral Rights – Terry
Note that the concentration is on the Lake.
Each of the road associations or areas will still
look after their own roads. Each road
association will still collect their own dues for
the things done by each respective road
association. Nothing will change in how your
road association operates. What will change is
that we now have a constituted body that can
speak for matters that affect the whole Lake
such a lake level or development. We speak
now with a more powerful united voice.
A list of the representatives and contact
information is at the bottom of this newsletter.
(It wasn’t planned but we ended up with three
who live all year at the Lake and three who are
seasonal).
Funds
We had a good discussion on money. Our
plan is to have the flow of communications to
those on the Lake through the respective
representatives. That means that when we
have something to say, we will produce six
copies and each of the representatives will
produce enough copies to distribute to the
dwellings in his or her area. We don’t need
much money but there is a cost associated of
copying and mailing. So were are asking for
initial funding of $5 per dwelling. This is not
an annual fee. We will only collect it when it
is needed. And note that the funds will remain
within each area and be administered by each
representative. We will have a totaling at least
once a year so we can keep proper track of of
funds received and expended.
I didn’t know
that!
One of the things that was most obvious at the
meeting was that we know very little about
each other. And most of us know even less
about Patterson Lake. Yes we swim in it. Yes
we use our boats on it. Yes we watch it with
loving eyes hour after hour.
But did you know that the first inhabitant lived
on Mary’s Island? Do you know which of our
seven islands is Mary’s Island? Did you know
that the small shack on the eastern side of the
big bay was a hunting camp for John
MacCrimmon, Dave’s uncle? Did you know
that some of our bottom silt problems at the
eastern shallow end were caused by a sawmill
dumping its sawdust into the Lake? Did you
know that Fair’s Lane does not have phones
yet?
With Bill Brooks and Rhodena Bell steeped in
the history of the area sitting together at the
meeting, the rest listened attentively as Bill
and Rhodena told the story of why some
features of the Lake are that way today. There
were a number of “I didn’t know that”! So if
you look at the task list, you will see that we
have asked Bill and Rhodena to produce a
history of Patterson Lake. It should be great
reading. We will publish it at least on the
Internet for a beginning as that is the least
expensive way of doing it.
Water Level
One of the things that drew us together was
concern about the water level of the Lake.
From numerous sources we know that it is
higher than it was thirty years ago, for some
reason. For some that is a good thing; for
others it is a real problem. Our aim is to find
a level that will keep everyone happy, and that
is a real challenge.
At the meeting at the Snowmobile Club, Ted
Manning from the Hardwood Ridge Road
proposed that 3″ showing of the rock off the
western island in the middle of the Lake might
be a happy compromise for a mid-season level.
That was how much of the rock was showing
on July 1st of this year. Lorne Bowerman and
Trevor Dee of Lakeside Road did a number of
measurements on September 1st using a 4′ level
and a ruler and found an average reading of
215 mm or about 8.5 inches of rock showing.
Arnie Stanzell and Terry Wilkie of Fair’s Lane
did the measurement as well in rougher water
and thought it was about 8 inches. Arnie is
probably the one most affected by higher
waters levels on the Lake.
If you are concerned that higher or lower lake
levels will cause problems for your property,
measure the rock and then go back to your
property and see how a compromise of 3″
would affect you. Dave MacCrimmon is the
one to contact with your concerns.
Finding Where Someone Lives on the
Lake
This is sort of like – I don’t know your name or
face, but your dock is familiar.
When we were trying to deliver some mail or
set a meeting place, we really had to get down
to describing our docks, boats, or waterfronts,
and relating that to the north or south side or
to the eastern or western end.
Because our roads do not connect, it becomes
difficult to reach all the six areas by road. The
shortest and most direct route is by boat. And
that is where the fun begins. Descriptions
come into play such as “I have a grey deck and
a Fendock dock”, or “I am on the point in a
red and white cottage”, or “I have a set of
concrete steps”.
When we were talking about it at a Wine &
Cheese for the White Pine Lane/Lakeside
Road area, Kay Blakely of 195 Lakeside Road
(north central close-to-shore dock and power
and paddle boat) suggested the obvious
solution. We can simply make a sign with our
property identification numbers (PIN) and put
it on our dock. That is a good suggestion.
It has the added advantage of identifying all
our roads as they are not that familiar to us.
We know our own, but very few know the
names of the other roads.
So nothing fancy is needed. Just a simple
weatherproof sign with your PIN such as “151
Lakeside Rd”. Of course those with talent will
outshine the rest of us, but that is life.
Loons
We have a pair of loon chicks for the first time
in four years. It is great to see them. Wendell
& Susan Crosbie of Lakeside Road (north
central with power boat, small dock, and sand
beach) reported a downy young walking on
their beach with the parents just offshore the
first week of June. That is unusual as the
incubation period is 29 days. With the ice
breaking up the third week of April, that
doesn’t leave much time. But it explains our
two mated pairs and one extra for most of the
summer. We are really a one-pair size lake.
Did you know that loons use their wings while
diving as steering controls and that their
forward motion comes from their large web
feet. This trivia comes from a book called
“Loon Magic” written by Tom Kein and
published by NorthWood Press Inc. of
Minocqua, WI.
Lake Association
Representatives
In the listing below, “(H)” means “home” and
“(L)” means “Lake”.
Rhodena Bell
Box 32
MacDonalds Corners, ON K0G 1M0
(H)267-5291 (L)278-2562
purdonbell@perth.igs.net
Bill Brooks
484 Porcupine Way
Box 61,
McDonalds Corner, ON K0G 3G0
278-2705
Lorne Bowerman
(L) 151 Lakeside Road
(H) 6 Lipstan Ave
Nepean, ON K2E 5Z3
(H)225-7904 (L)278-2813
bowerman@magma.ca
Dave MacCrimmon
399 Hardwood Ridge Road
RR3
Lanark, ON K0G 1K0
278-0184
Martyn Howard
521 Parsons Lane
RR3
Lanark, ON K0G 1K0
278-2015
Terry Wilkie
(L)636 Fair’s Lane
54 Helena St
Ottawa, ON K1Y 3N1
(H)729-1253
This Newsletter was produced by Lorne
Bowerman. Comments, suggestions, or
articles are welcome.
A copy to draft constitution is also available in the “pattersonlake” sub-directory.
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