The Latest News

A crowded hall was the location of last night’s meeting called by the Manchaug Pond Association to discuss the sale of the dam at Manchaug Pond and explore the option of establishing a watershed district. MPA members and other residents along the lake’s shore listened to the COLAP speaker and District Clerk of Cedar Meadow Lake Watershed District tell of the sale of his lake’s dam, and the 7 years of low water levels held by the new owner to try to get $$ out of the residents. The MPA President led the meeting explaining the vote of the Board to Directors to point the MPA to the best option for the members and other residents: formation of a watershed district. The MPA has been talking with the mill and their law firm for a few months monitoring the situation and keeping communication open.

What a storm came up moments after this red sky showed itself!! Mega wind, hail, rain, thunder, lightning. Whew! Glad our house is one row back as half the back yard, cabanas, etc, blew east into the trees as it is! (This picture is what you see when you are not waterfront…. before you run down to the lake!)

The dam is going up for sale. Hmmm… That is a big one! I’ve been on the MPA Board of Directors over 20 years and short of the issue which brought our MPA Founding Father together, the proposed remake of Camp Blanchard to a campground, I have to say that this is just as big an issue to tackle – possibly bigger! What makes this issue one of the most important? Let’s look at past MPA action and results: * Certainly, the current DEP Storm Drain grant (and watershed survey and water quality testing) we submitted this month is a big one as it will address some weed problems for the long term, and the few high nutrient levels we have seen here and there which concern public health. * Also, the town management of the Public Boat Ramp was a big feather in our cap as we secured the portable toilets to eliminate the use of Blueberry Island and the other islands as bathrooms. Remember the complains of what used to float in to resident’s beaches!! * That effort also got us the Gatekeeper who closes the ramp when the parking lot is full, eliminating the parking up and …

These photos were taken about two weeks ago in Area 7 along the roadside. Do you know the names of these wildflowers? Jack-in-the-Pulpit, Pink Lady Slipper,Canada Mayflower

Sure felt good to be out on the water! Enough with the rain! The lake is full and we are ready for summer. Bring on the sunshine!

A great photo of a sunset taken from Area 2 by our Vice President. I won’t say when – let’s just say it is from the archives!

Our dam is scheduled to be sold. As of Friday it was not yet on the market, but it will go as well as the Guilford mill and the other to dams: Guilboa and Whitin. MPA President Dave Schmidt and the Board of Directors have been monitoring the situation; speaking directly with Guilford, their law firm, and leading residents of Whtin Reservoir; as well as exploring the options which would best benefit us- the people who live on and near the lake. Thursday, June 22nd at 7pm at St Anne’s Church hall, the MPA is calling a meeting of all members and interested parties to decide what action we need to take. A guest speaker, the District Clerk of the Cedar Meadows Watershed District, will tell you how the dam on his lake was sold to a private party who proceeded to let the water level down and tried to get $$ from the residents before he would raise the level. This went on for 7 years until they united to form an association and take control of the water rights and the dam through the subsequent formation of a watershed district. We have an association- the MPA. We have …

Here’s a photo of the main gate and spillway of our dam – the water is raging out at full force! When we are over full, Fuddy will check more than once a day to make sure he has it open enough to have an effect. The past few weeks he has had to take out boards as the lake continues to rise.

Thursday evening a thunderstorm rolled in and brought rain, hail and the destructive lightning we all dread. The Sutton Girls Softball teams playing at Camp Blanchard canceled the 6 p.m. game with the rain starting about 5:50. A large white pine tree was hit by lightning on Manchaug Road and another strike on Irma Jones Rd started a home on fire with the Manchaug/Sutton Fire Dept. responding within minutes. Our power went out at 6 p.m. and was restored Friday afternoon around 1:00. My cable was just restored this evening … Thurs.-Sunday. Is that good service? When I called Saturday I was on hold for 1 hour before I got to talk to someone. When I called today I found out I was scheduled for appointment on the 7th ?! Four neighbors called me to compare notes…. we learned that the Cable Company won’t send the truck out until 3 homes have called reporting an outage- SIX called but not all were registered as an outage. Ugh! And the lake… Fuddy reported Saturday morning that the lake was 4 inches OVER full and he is measuring twice a day and watching homes for flooding after having opened the dam a …

This morning at 7:00 a.m. my husband noticed a little visitor on our porch: a red tail fox kit! Our visitor is very small, with our cat being taller and longer. We have seen the kit, it’s sibling and a parent often crossing the roads in area 4. We heard they were born in a den the parents made under a deck at a home on Torrey Road. A third kit was found hit by a car on the side of the road. I apologize for the poorer quality of the photo as it is taken through two glass doors and facing the rising sun! Tell us about your visitors!