Tomorrow! Social & Volunteer Open House

Start the season on Manchaug Pond with the Social & Volunteer Open House! Catch up with lake neighbors and friends over a cup of coffee and pastry. Families, new friends, neighbors and lake users are welcome. As usual, we’ll come together in the Dining Hall of the YMCA Camp Blanchard facility on Manchaug Pond from 9:30 to about 11:00 a.m. or so on Saturday, June 17th. Over coffee and pastry catch up with lake friends and neighbors. Learn more about our lastest efforts for Manchaug Pond and the watershed. Our Vice President and s.319 Non-point Source Pollution Grant Coordinator will have an detail display of our roadside and ramp work. Bring the family as activities for children will be offered including Facepainting with Christine Z from 10-11. Check out MPF Logo Gear on sale which includes a wide variety of apparel and Manchaug Pond themed items from cribbage boards to baseball hats, tee shirts to fleece … lake photos,  wood Lake Art to order, playing cards, mugs, and more! Purchase your flares for the Lighting of the Shoreline, July 3rd at 9:00 p.m. or as Safe Boating equipment for your vessel. Register, sponsor, and volunteer for this year’s The DAM …

Manchaug Pond Foundation History

Manchaug Pond Indigenous People and Arrowheads in Tonight’s Sutton Historical Society Presentation

Posted April 4, 2023 Sharing this Sutton Historical Society event notice received this morning by a member of the Manchaug Pond Foundation.  At the event, the Society will display a collection of arrowheads from Harry Anderson, a longtime Manchaug Pond resident, historian, and member of our organization. Information about Manchaug Pond history, maps, and an article from Mr. Anderson are also featured on our About the Lake page. Here’s the Sutton Historical Society email notice: Tonight, Tuesday, April 4, 2023, at 7 pm, the Sutton Historical Society will host a presentation entitled Lithic Studies – Native Americans in Southern New England with speaker Joe Iamartino, President, Thompson Historical Society. The presentation will be held in the Sanctuary of the First Congregational Church, 307 Boston Road, Sutton, MA. Mr. Iamartino has been suddenly called out of town.  The powerpoint will be shown in the Sanctuary with Mr. Iamartino calling in to present his powerpoint.  There is not a ZOOM component to this presentation, and it will not be recorded. Additionally, the Society will have on display a collection of Native American arrowheads found by Harry Anderson over many years along the Manchaug Pond Shores, and past newsletters containing articles about the indigenous peoples …

Watershed-wide Spring Clean-up

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Let’s do it! The Manchaug Pond Foundation invites you to the annual spring cleanup of Manchaug Pond and its watershed for Saturday, April 22, 2023 from 9 AM to Noon with a rain date the following day.  Volunteers are needed to canvas the lake shoreline, public boat ramp, and watershed to remove litter and other potential threats to water quality: in boats to cover the lake’s coves and shoreline, walking the watershed roadsides, at the public access boat ramp, in pickup trucks to shuttle volunteers and pick up bags of trash. Go it alone or meet anytime from 9 AM to 12:00 Noon at the Public Access Boat Ramp at 22 Torrey Road in Sutton to team up with others, get gloves and trash bags, and grab some refreshment and conversation. Community service completion sheets will be available for youth, scout, community and church groups and any others needing documentation of time donated to a great cause! All are invited to join Manchaug Pond! If you plan to go it alone or with your own team, please contact us! with the neighborhood or roadside(s) you will be addressing so that we can maximize the area covered and so we can …

Lighting of the Shoreline – Sunday, September 3

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Join us in lighting the Manchaug Pond shoreline at 8:30 PM for Labor Day weekend on Sunday evening September 4th! This remains the last big weekend on the lake as children go back to school and the summer vacation season comes to an end. With flares, tiki torches, and campfires, light your waterfront, campsite and home showing solidarity with the Manchaug Pond Foundation…

On the lookout for cyanobacteria

Posted January 20, 2022 Join us this evening at 6:30 p.m. for a virtual water quality event presented by the Worcester Cyanobacteria Monitoring Collaborative.  Manchaug Pond Foundation joined the collaborative last year for the 2021 monitoring season. Our volunteers took monthly samples with the goal of learning more about Manchaug Pond and about the algae found naturally in the lake. Tonight program data on Worcester and participating area lakes will be highlighted.  Manchaug Pond’s results were superb! What contributes to algae blooms and cyanobacteria occurrences in lakes and ponds?  Negative impacts to our water quality occur when nutrients and sediment flow into our water resources either directly or through watershed streams and runoff. Nutrient-rich lawn and landscape fertilizer,  pet and other animal waste, and malfunctioning septic systems can all be major threats to our blue spaces.  Excessive nutrients promote aquatic plant growth and increase algae which can cause widespread algae blooms. Special thanks to our volunteers and to the City of Worcester Parks & Recreation Department Blue Spaces team for this effort.  Watch for more information on our efforts to protect Manchaug Pond’s water!