The details for the Baldwin Lake Christmas Dinner/Dance at Memories Restaurant in Elkhart (Dunlap) are in this newsletter and we hope to see a lot of people attending. Details for reservations will be within that notice.

We are still looking for alternate locations around the lake for the Annual Picnic in July. We would appreciate hearing from anyone who thinks that they would be willing to "Host" the picnic. A few things to keep in mind are that the "Host" is not expected to provide anything extra other than the space for the picnic and parking. The Association rents sanitary facilities and the committee does the setup (chairs, tables, tents). Apparently there have normally been somewhere in the area of 50 people, or so. We would appreciate hearing prior to January so plans could be made, including location, during the winter.

Porter Township board requested that each Lake Association take a basic survey of all landowners to determine the interest in a Waste Water Collection/Treatment System for the Lake Areas in the Township. We have received quite a few replies and the "count" seems to stay in the area of 2/3 to 3/4 are saying YES indicating a desire for a system around the Lake.

We are still working on setting the physical "Benchmark" to show the legally recorded normal lake level for Baldwin Lake. We are considering a few different methods of marking this and may end up using more than one method. This will help us know when, and if, the level changes and to what extent, as well as allowing us to try to control those changes. The other thing is that we want it to be easy for everyone to know whether the Lake is above or below the recorded mark.

We also continued to keep track of water quality and clarity up to the beginning of October and will resume that effort in the spring so that we can stay ahead of any potential problems.

We are also discussing the benefits or disadvantages of continuing the Advisor meetings on the third Wednesday of the month. We are asking people what other days would be better so that more people could easily attend more often. There are some that feel that Mondays would be better while others prefer Thursdays. Although those meetings are considered Advisor meetings we would appreciate seeing other members to get a more diverse group of ideas.

We want everyone to know that the officers and advisors always welcome your suggestions and comments. Those can be given by E-mail to baldwin-lake-366@mlswa.org or by phone.

By Don Henke

A lot of important information concerning Baldwin Lake has been provided to the BLA. First the Porter Township Board of Appeals, after a lengthy hearing, has denied the request of the owners of Hollywood Shores Campground. They sought to have a reversal of the Zoning Board’s denial of a special land-use permit to use R1 zoned property for Campground/Marina boat and vehicle storage. We all hope this will be the end of this matter so the community can return to normalcy.

The second decision having a serious impact on Baldwin Lake is one in which Judge Dodge of the Circuit Court, in a written decision, has granted the motion requested by the State Attorney General. The judge has in fact agreed with the State of Michigan that Willow Shores Campground is in fact operating a marina and must apply for proper licensing from the DEQ. As long time residents know, this situation has been ongoing since 1994. We do not know when this decision will be completely resolved but we do know that a formal request for a Marina permit must be submitted and local municipalities can request a public hearing on the request. Any applicant must comply with all local zoning ordinances and our association will keep our community informed of the progress.

For the first time since our association was formed and we decided to become involved in the road clean-up program we failed to clean our assigned roads. A lot of reasons can be mentioned for not doing it, it rained, was too cold, Notre Dame home game, school activities, things to do, etc, but the basic reason is we do not have enough interested people. We think the board will have to look at this great project that takes an hour or so on a Saturday, and decide if we want to continue doing it. We receive many comments from people after the roads are clean but with a dwindling few interested and dedicated people is will be hard to continue. We average over 40 bags of trash each year cleaning these roads and you can imagine how they will look if the program is discontinued. We are a volunteer organization so to make this project work people need to come forward and help. We have the winter months to decide so give us your input and just remember that 10 people on each road, could complete the job in less than 45 minutes and the Baldwin Lake community will look much cleaner.

This year, along with Mason Township, we will again be collecting canned goods and food staples. The food will be used to fill baskets for needy families during the holidays. Beside canned goods, some suggestions might be peanut butter, jello or even Christmas candy. Cash donations for turkeys, hams and perishable foods would be appreciated. Please see the web site for locations of drop off points. Cash donations can be brought to Coe Strain’s house. Make checks out to Community Policing, noting "Christmas fund" in the space on the bottom of the check. Many thanks!

I would like to report and say thank you to all the folks in the area who made our September blood drive so successful. We had 141 people come through the lines, and we collected 113 pints of blood. Even with 9 beds this time and 6 nurses, most donors had to wait longer than we would have liked. The most remarkable part of that was that we had 51 first time donors. Now if we can just make people realize that the need for blood is constant. The state of Michigan uses 2000 pints of blood a day, for accident victims, cancer and surgery patients, children with leukemia. One of our most devoted Community Policing members is absolutely dependant on getting blood transfusions every month. Any way, I just want to say thank you, and please come back next time which will be in March. Let's all pray we don't have another such tragedy to bring folks out. There are individual tragedies and great needs every day in this, and in all areas of our country. Coe Strain

By Coe Strain

Today the sun is shining and it's late enough in the day that the far side of the lake is bathed in it. It enhances the colors in those trees and is a great joy to see. I was afraid for a while that all the leaves would be blown off before they had time to dress for the fall. Many of them were, but there are still enough to spread a beautiful pallet of color all along the edges of our lake. This is one of the many

reasons we all love our homes here. Usually we would still have our pontoon in to take a fall ride, but it needed to have some work done before it goes into storage, so it came out last week. Today would have been a great one, and I am jealous of those I see on the lake today.

Many folks are taking advantage of the day to deal with the fall chores like gathering the fallen leaves, putting up winter bird feeders, and storing the deck and patio furniture for the winter. It's difficult to realize that summer is over. I expect we will all look back and wonder where it went. It was a strange kind of summer in many ways. For us, it has been chaos with one maintenance project on top of another, and we are still not done. Two more things have yet to be completed.

The week after I wrote the above, we lucked out when all the violence went on either side of us. We did get some pretty hefty winds and some heavy rain, but I have not heard of anyone in this immediate area that sustained heavy damage. For this we should all be thankful. That weather did, however, do heavy damage to the fall color by taking the leaves off the trees. I just hope that it doesn't mean that winter will be as fierce and unpredictable as this summer and fall have been so far.

The storms did interfere with the annual community and Sheriff's department Haunted Woods. The damage at Dr. Lawless Park was monumental. One pavilion was heavily damaged, but the worst was the loss of trees in the wooded areas. While crews did get the road to the park opened, there were too many other places and people who needed those crews more than the park and fittingly, they were sent to other areas. Even if they had stayed there, it was doubtful that the damage could be cleared and the trails set up for the occasion in time. And many of the folks involved with the project, had problems of their own on their property. I guess the sunny side of all this is that we'll be ahead of ourselves next year. And rest assured we will be doing it next year again.

I really wanted to call Luella Hein last week to see if she was seeing the swans on the lake. Generally she calls me about that, but this time, we saw them first. Alice Ann Troy told me about watching them circle and land in the water. There were two fully-grown "parents" and two immature, still slightly grey, swans. I doubt that there is a more regal sight in all of nature, with the possible exception of the eagle in full flight. A word of caution here, just to remind you all that swans must have open water in order to survive the winter. If and when the lake freezes, if they are still here, we need to get them to move on. Just a year or so ago, we lost one, who slept on the ice and froze to death. I would discourage any efforts to feed the swans. It might keep them here past the time they need to be moving to where the water will stay open. Most of us have learned lessons about feeding ducks and geese (except of course, for little ones who visit for a day). While the swans will not adapt to people as the ducks and geese do, it is still not a good idea to feed them.

We would like to extend our condolences to two families on the lake who lost loved ones in the past coupe of weeks. The first loss was of Fred Stroobrandt, who lived on Sunset, and has been Mike Feldes’ co-worker for Secchi disk testing on the lake for the past couple of years. The other was Berdine Weaver, who, with her husband Harold, lived in the farmhouse across the street from Mike Miller on Hilltop. The thing I will always connect with the Weavers are the dozens of blue bird houses they maintained on their property-in the trees and on the fence posts. I think they deserve credit for helping to re-populate our area with blue birds.

EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT DIRECTOR BERNIE WILLIAMSON, spoke to the community policing committee at our October meeting about the county's concerns with emergency preparations. Soon there will be a county-wide effort to identify people with skills who want to help, and equipment that might be useful in emergencies that folks might be willing and able to use or to share in case of an emergency in the area.

Last week’s storm was a good example of what we are more likely to experience rather than the kind of attacks that have occurred in New York. While that is not on the same scale, it is still an emergency situation, and there are and will be people who need help. Those of us who have been without power even for 24 hours have some idea of the problems that you can have.

We are on the brink of winter, and some of us have pretty clear memories of those two winters, the first of which buried the whole area in snow so deep that it took almost an entire week to dig us out, and the second when every week-end of the winter we had glass-iced roads. There are folks who need to get to hospitals for dialysis, or other illness. There are people who can't get out and need medication, babies and small children who need milk, and many on special diets who suffer greatly in such a situation.

You will be hearing more about this in the coming weeks as we develop the methods by which we can recruit and organize. If you want to help with this, contact Coe Strain at 641-5931.

Baldwin Prairie Elementary School is collecting empty printer cartridges. You can help our kids by dropping off your empty containers at the school. Drop them off in the office, or look for the container near the front door!

Our kids need you!

Results have been "trickling" in. We have received over 100 surveys concerning the need for a wastewater sewer system. So far, about 70% of lake residents are in favor of the sewer system. If you did not receive a survey and would like to give us your opinion, please call Scot Billings at 641-5336. You can also email him at www.rokadane@greatdane.com

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