The EPA recommends testing your drinking water-about every 3 years especially when (1) Density of homes is high, with several drawing from the same aquifer, (2) Wells are less than 70" deep (3) Soil-type allows quick passage of contaminants into wells. As an individual, you can contact a lab to do the tests for you, but, the cost would be higher than what the lake association can offer. Our bulk rate is passed on to members. The cost for the test will be only $50.00 for members and $70.00 for non-members. Test kits can be picked up at the Annual Lake Association meeting held on Saturday, July 21st, or at the picnic on the same day. Payment by check or cash is needed at time of pickup.

Coliform Bacteria: These bacteria are abundant in human and animal waste and generally are found in wells located too close to septic systems or livestock areas. Elevated counts can cause a variety of recurring illnesses with symptoms such as nausea and diarrhea. Particularly susceptible are young children and older adults.

Nitrates: Elevated nitrates can be caused by improperly operating septic systems. Additionally, fertilizers contain nitrogen compounds which may break down into nitrates. Of particular concern in our area are the homes bordering agricultural areas, since fertilizers are frequently applied. This may also be true in our own lawns and gardens and is dependent upon the types and rates of chemicals used, methods of application, soil type, topography, and seasonal precipitation. Consumption of nitrates contributes to a number of illnesses and disabilities, including gastrointestinal problems leading to liver or kidney damage.

Lead: Underlying rocks and soil may contain heavy metals but rarely are found at levels that present a problem. However, activities such as construction (i.e. increased excavation) can release larger amounts into nearby groundwater. Of primary concern is lead used in pipes, solder, or fixtures, especially in homes built prior to 1988. Only homes built or replumbed before a 1988 lead-solder ban are affected. Even copper pipes soldered with lead could be a problem due to a corrosive process caused by the acidity (PH), temperature, and mineral content of your water. Some brass-plated submersible pumps can leach lead into wells. Consumption of these by-products, even at relatively low amounts, can be harmful. Possible health threats include mental disorders in all ages, premature birth problems and other health risks, including retardation. Lead is a toxin, and a suspected carcinogen.

Pickup: Sat.,July 21st, at annual meeting or picnic

DropOff: Sunday, July 22nd (noon til 2pm IN time) at Scot Billing’s house on Sunset.

Detailed written instructions are provided at the time of pickup. Further questions will be answered then. You must reserve your test kit now! Please contact Scot Billings (see phone number on back cover). You can also reserve your kit by e-mailing us at www.baldwin-lake-366@mlswa.org, or returning this form by U.S. mail.

Don Henke

A big thank you to all who spent an hour or so cleaning up the roads around Baldwin Lake. You can sure see the difference but with so many bags of trash picked up we know it will not stay that way for long. Again we thank you.

The long awaited wastewater feasibility and cost study for a collection system for Porter Township is finally a reality. Detailed estimates for construction and operation will be made available to the public at a public meeting. This meeting will take place at the Baldwin Prairie School on Thursday June 14, 2001 at 7:00 PM Indiana Time, 8:00 PM Michigan Time. We will provide future announcements to remind residents of the meeting date. All property owners should plan to attend this important meeting. It would be difficult to provide the information that this report contains in our newsletter so that is why a public meeting is planned to make the findings available. The study affects all the lake communities in Porter Township, as well as the town of Union. The month of June was chosen to allow all the summer and seasonal residents the opportunity to attend. Mark your calendars and hope to see a packed house on June 14.

The township clean-up day is scheduled for Saturday June 9. 2001 and all unwanted trash can be brought to the Union Waste facility on Mason Street between 9:00 AM and 1:00 PM (Michigan Time). Our community garage sale is scheduled for the same day and as last year if you have "stuff" that has not sold you can take advantage of the clean-up day to clean out the garage. This is a free service to Porter Township residents, though certain items do have a fee such as tires etc., Complete details can be found on the Township Web page (www.portertownship.org)or calling the Township offices.

The association has been researching historical data referring to our lake level. When long time resident and association charter member Dorothy Mills retired to Florida she provided our association with some documents on that subject. With that information and our own research we now have court recorded lake level data for the three lakes in our area. We plan to have the engineering firm of Wightman-Petrie provide us with a permanent benchmark at the culvert on Sunset Blvd. and have that information recorded so we will know exactly our lake level for years to come. The court documentation dated 1958 shows plans for water controlling devices and we will look into finding out what is involved in following up on those earlier plans.

What a wild and wacky spring this has been. Here at the end of May we have had to turn the furnace back on, and dig out my sweat pants and shirts again. Our irises are just starting to bloom, but we aren't expecting great things from them this year because we dug them up and separated them last fall and sent a good many home with Sandy for her garden. I am eagerly waiting for the first peony blossom to pop open. As usual, Jack bought and planted the annuals for Mother's day, and we have since filled in the blanks, but it will be several weeks (or longer if this weather continues) before the beds and boxes look very festive. It isn't as if we didn't need and don't appreciate the rain, but a few more degrees of warmth and a few more hours of sunshine would also be appreciated.

This has been a great year for asparagus and we are still taking advantage of that. Many evenings creamed asparagus on toast has been our entire menu. It is the taste of spring. The women at the Cory Lake Farms stand, tells me that they expect the first strawberries by next weekend, and that will be the last of the season's fresh asparagus. Rhubarb is also in the stands right now.

The absence of ducks on the lake seems to mean that they are sitting on the eggs, probably for the second time this season. The first ones were probably lost to late frosts. This week however, we watched two goslings in the Balsch's yard next door, so it probably won't be long before we see some new ducklings as well. The ducks are having more and more problems finding safe nesting spots --too many people, dogs and raccoons.

We now have a pair of wrens nesting in the box that was home to chickadees last year. It's hard to believe that something as small as that wren can make so much beautiful music. It is a joy to have him out there on the deck each morning and evening. We had such fun watching the orioles on the feeder, and now the humming birds are back also. We have been hanging the feeders on a wooden post attached to the front of the deck railing because its so much easier to get to the feeders and keep them full and clean. I put a new one up on Wednesday of this last week, and was horrified the next morning when I looked out the windows and there were no feeders there. A closer look revealed that the new one was scattered all over the deck, and the oriole feeder was in the box below the deck. All the little flowers were chewed, the bee screens were smashed and the cores of the feeding flowers were pulled out and smashed as well. Now we are trying to figure out whether this was a coon, a squirrel, or a feral cat, and how we can avoid a recurrence of this. Meanwhile, the hummers are seeking other sources of nectar.

The loons and other migrating water fowl have moved on north, but our summer visitors are here again now--the king fisher, the great blue herons, the cat birds, the king birds, and others. The crazy robin was back again this spring, but he finally committed suicide against our windows. He hit it so hard he knocked himself out. Jack checked on him every hour or so until it became obvious that he had not survived.

The PWCs are out again and we have had a couple of " pontoon parades" on the few warm evenings we've had so far, but I'm sure we are all getting anxious for those hot sunny days that will allow the lake to warm enough so that swimming and boating are more fun.

Once again, Baldwin Lake had the 1st call to the Marine Division. One afternoon last week I looked out our front windows and saw a fishing boat running in circles in the middle of the lake. There was no one in the boat, and it was running full speed. I watched for a while and listened to the scanner. Finally I called the Sheriff's department. An officer had been dispatched. Meanwhile several pontoons and a pwc approached the boat. One group tossed ropes at the boat hoping to make a conneftion and stop it. (Probably not the safest/wisest thing to do.) The officer was instructed to keep people clear of the boat until the Marine division arrived. Once they did arrive, they managed to stop the boat and tow it to shore. Apparently a resident was trying out a new boat, turned too sharply and was thrown out. He swam to shore, but the boat kept going. It was fortunate that no one was injured, but when the boat was empty, the fear was that some one was in trouble in the water. The lesson here is that boats are dangerous, especially when unfamiliar with that particular boat. This could have been a real tragedy. Once more, let us all become safety conscious and teach our children to be as well.

Let us all remember the rules of safe boating and swimming, and let us have a totally safe, sane and satisfying summer season!

What a wild and wacky spring this has been. Here at the end of May we have had to turn the furnace back on, and dig out my sweat pants and shirts again. Our irises are just starting to bloom, but we aren't expecting great things from them this year because we dug them up and separated them last fall and sent a good many home with Sandy for her garden. I am eagerly waiting for the first peony blossom to pop open. As usual, Jack bought and planted the annuals for Mother's day, and we have since filled in the blanks, but it will be several weeks (or longer if this weather continues) before the beds and boxes look very festive. It isn't as if we didn't need and don't appreciate the rain, but a few more degrees of warmth and a few more hours of sunshine would also be appreciated.

This has been a great year for asparagus and we are still taking advantage of that. Many evenings creamed asparagus on toast has been our entire menu. It is the taste of spring. The women at the Cory Lake Farms stand, tells me that they expect the first strawberries by next weekend, and that will be the last of the season's fresh asparagus. Rhubarb is also in the stands right now.

The absence of ducks on the lake seems to mean that they are sitting on the eggs, probably for the second time this season. The first ones were probably lost to late frosts. This week however, we watched two goslings in the Balsch's yard next door, so it probably won't be long before we see some new ducklings as well. The ducks are having more and more problems finding safe nesting spots --too many people, dogs and raccoons.

We now have a pair of wrens nesting in the box that was home to chickadees last year. It's hard to believe that something as small as that wren can make so much beautiful music. It is a joy to have him out there on the deck each morning and evening. We had such fun watching the orioles on the feeder, and now the humming birds are back also. We have been hanging the feeders on a wooden post attached to the front of the deck railing because its so much easier to get to the feeders and keep them full and clean. I put a new one up on Wednesday of this last week, and was horrified the next morning when I looked out the windows and there were no feeders there. A closer look revealed that the new one was scattered all over the deck, and the oriole feeder was in the box below the deck. All the little flowers were chewed, the bee screens were smashed and the cores of the feeding flowers were pulled out and smashed as well. Now we are trying to figure out whether this was a coon, a squirrel, or a feral cat, and how we can avoid a recurrence of this. Meanwhile, the hummers are seeking other sources of nectar.

The loons and other migrating water fowl have moved on north, but our summer visitors are here again now--the king fisher, the great blue herons, the cat birds, the king birds, and others. The crazy robin was back again this spring, but he finally committed suicide against our windows. He hit it so hard he knocked himself out. Jack checked on him every hour or so until it became obvious that he had not survived.

The PWCs are out again and we have had a couple of " pontoon parades" on the few warm evenings we've had so far, but I'm sure we are all getting anxious for those hot sunny days that will allow the lake to warm enough so that swimming and boating are more fun.

Once again, Baldwin Lake had the 1st call to the Marine Division. One afternoon last week I looked out our front windows and saw a fishing boat running in circles in the middle of the lake. There was no one in the boat, and it was running full speed. I watched for a while and listened to the scanner. Finally I called the Sheriff's department. An officer had been dispatched. Meanwhile several pontoons and a pwc approached the boat. One group tossed ropes at the boat hoping to make a conneftion and stop it. (Probably not the safest/wisest thing to do.) The officer was instructed to keep people clear of the boat until the Marine division arrived. Once they did arrive, they managed to stop the boat and tow it to shore. Apparently a resident was trying out a new boat, turned too sharply and was thrown out. He swam to shore, but the boat kept going. It was fortunate that no one was injured, but when the boat was empty, the fear was that some one was in trouble in the water. The lesson here is that boats are dangerous, especially when unfamiliar with that particular boat. This could have been a real tragedy. Once more, let us all become safety conscious and teach our children to be as well.

Let us all remember the rules of safe boating and swimming, and let us have a totally safe, sane and satisfying summer season!

DISTRICT SEVEN is the east side of the north end neck of our lake. All the homes here are on the west (lake) side of Oak Street and at the end of Lake Street which is an unpaved path coming in at the very north end of the lake from Sunset at the edge of the church camp there.

Because this area is so close to US12, it has some of the oldest houses on the lake, some built as in the early 1920s. Tom and Martha Hilfman, Larry and Judy Denton, Mary and Barb Kowalski are the South Bend summer residents. The oldest permanent resident at that end is Dick Nusbaum who has been here since 1969.

Oak Street dead ends at the top of the hill, just beyond the Crofoot home, and begins at the "T" at the end of Pleasant Drive. The last four houses on the north end are the "old ones" whose original owners had to come in from the Garman Trail, off Sunset beside the north end of the new Mills grocery.

Sherman and Dorothy Jensen and Dave Scott are summer people from Chicago at this end of Oak Street. Butch and Deb Erbe are the newest permanent residents who purchased the old Walt and Ardell Mason house. Masons had spent over 40 years in the area. The Erbe family has been doing major rebuilding of their "old" house and it is really starting to look good. And Yes, Butch is Van Erbe's brother who also grew up on the south end of the lake when his family owned and operated Hollywood Shores Campground.

Mike and Janice Crofoot live in the "old" Garman house. They have been there since 1974 and are the District 7 advisors. The Crofoot "estate" is quite noticeable in the summer especially with Janice's flower and landscaping hobby. The steep stairs and hill coming down from their garage on the road to the house and "garden house" is beautifully landscaped to avoid the need to mow and weed, and fits well into the natural look and feel of the lake community. Mike is also known as the "proclaimed" mayor of the sandbar. Mike, Jan and Duke (the dog), probably cruise the lake on their pontoon as much or more than anyone else. Mike also still skis and keeps up with their two boys in the athletics department. (Mike and his folks and brother grew up in what had been our house on Michigan Ave. in Elkhart. Ask Mike some time about the adventure in the sewer pipe.)

The "old road", or the Garman Trail, runs through the woods and present property of Vince and Lois Anderson. Vince has also been an advisor for the association, and Lois originally structured our news letter. At the Pleasant Drive, Oak Street Tee, are a couple of permanent residents: Brian George and Larry and Patty Shupert. The south end of Oak Street ends at the point by the sandbar. The Donald Munro family from Chicago has one of the best views of the lake during their summer stays at this location. (They also get excellent views of what comes in and goes out through the narrow entrance into this north end channel.)

Mike and Jan work together to get the newsletters delivered and to get to know all the folks in their district. They also have offered their double piers for our boating safety checks over the past several years. They represent the best of those who improve and care about our community and all the folks who live here.