Fourth Annual Fire and Ice at Lake Winthrop

by Bobby Blair 2/5/12

There was fire but no ice at the Fourth Annual Lake Winthrop Watershed Association's Fire and Ice Event..

No one is known to keep records for the earliest or latest ice at Lake Winthrop. That being said, those living near the lake never remember the lake not being frozen over in February.

The only creature on the lake during the Lake Winthrop Watershed's Fire and Ice event was this lonely swan above. Several dogs didn't mind chasing a stick or two at Pleasure Point Sunday afternoon under sunny skies.

On January 28th a thin layer of ice covered the lake. Not enough to skate on, but the ice did remind us that winter had finally arrived. The lake was completley ice free on Sunday. One observant Mudville resident did sight a bald eagle flying over the water.

John and Norma Wadewitz of Pleasant Street greeted me at the Point and told me that daughter Kristin had now made them grandparents. The baby's name is Kacie, of course in honor of Casey at the Bat.

While the gathering was a social opportunity for those in Mudville to greet neighbors around a fire, of greater concern for those of the loosely knit Lake Winthrop Watershed Association was the health of the lake. While problems at Lake Winthrop were pointed out in a Diagnostic/Feasibility Study in 1985 by Whitman and Howard, a more recent study of the lake (2008) by Lycott Enviromental pointed out a massive weed problem. At least five different species of non-native weeds have now made Lake Winthrop home, choking out indigenous plants needed for food and shelter by native fish.  The weeds now cover 75% of the 150 acre lake affecting those fishing, boating and swimming.  Adding to the association's concerns are beavers who have set up households near the dam off the point road.

Yet on this winter day, neither weeds nor lack of ice seemed to bother those attending the Fire and Ice event. Above Jackie Napolitano of Pleasant Street helps her grand-daughter enjoy the swings.

Posted in Green, Local Lore.

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