We have had rather unusual winter weather so far this year. The beginning of winter was very mild, as if Indian Summer came in December and January. At the end of January winter, came with a vengeance. The last day, an ice storm left many without electricity for 12 hours or more. This past week, 14" of snow in 24 hours, after a week of 50°-60° temps! We are hoping for a little leveling out of the extremes.

I have been reminded that anyone making their Michigan house their permanent residence should quickly get to the Township Treasurer and have their Homestead Exemption applied for, so they can normally save money on their property taxes.

The Fourth Annual Baldwin Lake Flotilla will be on Saturday July 6^th starting at 3:00 PM Indiana time. We felt the weekend would allow more people to be able to enter rather than midweek, as it was in 2001.

This year the Annual Meeting on July 20, will again be at the Cass County Conservation Club just north of U.S. 12 at Birch Road and the Annual Picnic the same day will be at Weldon and Mary Lou Parks. They are at 70160 Hartshorn, which is that street just southwest of Treasure Island. If you are coming south on Sunset Blvd., you go just past Treasure Island and turn right at the next opportunity.

The basic survey regarding the WasteWater Collection/Treatment System for the Lake Areas has brought 109 replies from Baldwin Lake. Of that number there are 77 in favor of the system. The Township has delayed the survey until this spring because of the number of "summer only" residents on some of the lakes.

We are trying to work with the Drain Commission and DEQ to have the Commission’s planned Ditch on Hilltop, for floodwaters, made without pollution to Baldwin Lake. We will keep you informed regarding any progress on this.

This summer we are planning to set the physical "Benchmark" to show the legally recorded, normal lake level for Baldwin Lake. We plan to use a few different methods of marking this, so that when the level changes it will be easily visible, and to see to what extent it has changed, as well as allowing us to try to control those changes. We want it to be easy for everyone to know whether the Lake is above or below the recorded mark.

We will be starting the water quality and clarity tests in the next few months so that we can stay ahead of any potential problems in the future.

We are checking with the Cass County Road Commission on any plans for refurbishing the boat ramp as well as finding out if there are things we could do to stimulate that schedule.

When you receive the February 2002 issue of The Michigan Riparian magazine, please read the "Attorney Writes" article Maximum Enforcement on page 16. This explains the programs in some counties for extra Marine Patrols on the Lakes. I understand that, in years past, Baldwin Lake had used this available service but we seemed to get away from it. Last year we contracted for this service with the Sheriff’s Marine Patrol and all the reports that I have heard to date have been excellent. Apparently it was felt to be a very good "investment" (less than $250) in the "calming" effect it seemed to have on Baldwin Lake usage. I think that a repeat of the contract will be proposed for 2002 as well.

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.

H.C. Scot Billings / BLA President

SHOP WITH A COP was a new experience for the Community Policing group this year, and a very happy day for six kids and five sheriff's deputies who took three Baldwin Prairie youngsters and three Constantine students, to the Meijer Store in Three Rivers. We provided each student with $50, and Meijer gave them a gift certificate and a discount on their purchases. They bought presents for their parents and siblings, and something for themselves as well. Then they were all taken to McDonald's for lunch, before returning to the township hall where they wrote thank you notes and got help with wrapping their presents. It was a great experience for all concerned. Our thanks and appreciation to Officers Jeff Johnson, Sgt. Dan Covey and Rick Benke, Lt. Tom Jacobs and Detective Kristen Dailey.

We continued filling stockings for the women and children at the Domestic Assault Shelter and trying to provide some of the items on the wish list for the shelter as well. Susie Everet and her granddaughter Jolene baked cupcakes and packed the stockings and took them in the week before Christmas. These are the kind of things that make Christmas and keep the spirit of the season alive!

Coe’s Coos

We all knew the other shoe would drop--and it did with a vengeance, the last day of January. And February jumped up and bit us. Sixty-degree temps lulled us into believing that Spring was bouncing up and down to welcome us all. The wind was blowing the ice out, the sun was shining and we were all anxious to get seeds and plants even though we all knew better. Seems Mother Nature has become confused about her calendar. She brought us up abruptly, with that ice storm. No power--no heat--no lights--no water. Ugh. Peg chipped ice out of the driveway and melted it on the stove (which we could light with matches) so that we could flush the stools. Two nights this way and I had just packed an overnight bag so that we could spend the third night with Sandy in Bristol, who never lost her power. As I was reaching for the zipper to close the case, suddenly there was light!!! We brewed a pot of coffee, turned the thermostat up, and began putting dishes in the dishwasher and life was much, much better.

It was sad to drive around the area and see the downed trees and limbs everywhere. We lost four branches out of the soft maple down by the lake, Jon Walker has a huge limb down on his boat house roof, Komin's have limbs all over the front of their lot, and Balsch's to the south also have branches down in their yard. I was amazed however, when we drove into Bristol that all the downed limbs seemed to have been moved out of the roads.

I was startled when I looked up from the table during the height of the rain, snow, sleet downpour, to see the ice moving to the east and the water opening along this side of the lake, and our four swans swimming peacefully toward the south. The young ones have become almost pure white like their parents, but they are still not fully-grown. I wonder where they were, when the lake was completely frozen---probably on the St. Joe River. It was wonderful to see them again. They are so regal and so beautiful.

Our feeders have been getting a lot a business recently. I've seen as many as eight cardinals at one time. There are at least four males and four females, and I suspect there are more. One of the boys has a mutant feather, which sticks up at a weird angle from his left side wing. The jays of course are here, gold finches, house finches, sparrows, titmice, nuthatches, chickadees, pine siskins, a red bellied woodpecker, are all regulars. I was hoping that the blue birds who came to the water dish would be back this year, but, so far, no luck.

Had a call from Avis Tassin last week, because the white and Egyptian geese were tapping at her sliding door, and she didn't know what that funny looking bird was. She said the pair was in her yard a lot these days, leaving detritus on her walk, but she didn't care because she enjoyed watching them. They frequently were right outside her patio door.

Bev also frequently has this pair in her yard, or in the lake just in front of their home on Terrie Shores. She calls this goose Whitey, but had no name for the female Egyptian. But they were always together---until this fall when the Canada geese began to appear. Whitey swam out to them and joined the crowd. (I have named the Egyptian Goose, Cleo--short for Cleopatra--and I think you will see why at the end of the story.) Cleo remained on shore and between Henke's and Peterson's, cried and gave up eating, and was obviously in mourning. I'm told that these sounds are things of your nightmares. This lasted about three days. Then she took off to where he was swimming with the geese, and went after him. It took a while, but she succeeded in bringing him back with her. But a few days later, he swam away again. This time she didn't wait. She went after him again, and once again, her arguments were successful, and this time he seems to have learned his lesson well. Whitey and Cleo are once more inseparable. Moral: Beware the fury of a woman scorned. Way to go Cleo!

With all the spring-like weather, there is more open water. I felt sorry for Jesse, next door, who is addicted to ice fishing. I don't think he got to do any this un-winter. I don't think there is much chance that the water will freeze again this year. Today I watched a small batch of buffleheads land in the open water and swim away to the south, and on the far side of the lake we could see two swans. In fact, we have seen two on several occasions, but we have not seen the second pair since the storm. Has anyone else seen them? They are almost all white, and definitely smaller.

Just so you don't think I haven't had enough of winter, which is not the reason that Sandy and I are heading to Salt Lake. We have tickets for the women's skating finals, and for the exhibition skating. We have good friends there and a place to stay (for free), and I have two former students there as well. We're going out a little early to spend time with them, as well as to avoid getting stuck somewhere and be unable to get there in time for the finals. Keep your fingers crossed for us, and keep your eyes open for migrating ducks and other signs of spring. I'd love to come home to crocuses blooming in my yard.

Except for the ice storm that caused serious power outages, the New Year has been relatively quiet. We have nothing to report about the status of our two campgrounds but the upcoming camping season should see some changes. The only occurrence of any importance in the future is a public meeting being held by the Porter Township Planning Commission.

We are printing a copy of the news release that will be in the Township Newsletter you should be receiving about March 1^st. Hope to see you all at that meeting.

Make your calendars for Saturday April 27, as the next Road Clean-up Day. The roads sure look cluttered after the snow has melted.

A public hearing will be held on Wednesday, March 20, to present an amended Master Plan to the citizens of Porter Township. The meeting will be held at the Baldwin Prairie School located on US 12, just west of Baldwin Prairie road, and will begin at 7:00 PM. The hearing, conducted by the Porter Township Planning Commission, will provide property owners the opportunity to review the Plan. This is the same basic Master Plan that was presented by the Zoning/Planning board at a public forum on August 14, 2000. Some minor language and grammar corrections have been made to that plan, but the biggest change concerns the County Road 17 Extension from the state line to US 12. The amended Plan provides specific plans and criteria for any development along the new highway.

It has been brought to our attention that a few people around the lake have been burning "garbage" on their lots. It was mentioned that Michigan law, apparently allows only 2 things to be intentionally burned without a permit. Those 2 substances are wood and paper. No other items can be burned without a permit. Even wood and/or paper fires can be extinguished by the Fire Department if they are found to be objectionable.

The extension is set to have groundbreaking ceremonies on March 13, 2002 to begin construction on the Michigan section of the highway, and should be completed this year.

IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN...not quite spring yet, but two days after the official first day of spring, it's time to remember all the cancer patients, accident victims and surgery patients who need blood in order to survive. Please mark MARCH 23 on your calendars now and set aside an hour of that Saturday, to come up to the fire station, just north of US-12 on Baldwin Prairie Road to give the gift of life by giving the gift of your blood.

Last fall we had 150 people come to do that just after the towers went down. But blood has an expiration date, and it is vital that we continue to collect it.

DO YOU KNOW THAT IN MICHIGAN ALONE, almost 2,000 pints of blood are needed every day? Thank you in advance.

A GREAT BIG THANK YOU to all of you who contributed food and/or money to the Christmas Food drive. Between Mason and Porter Townships, and our emergency people, we packed and delivered food baskets, complete with turkeys and a gift for the children, to 48 families who needed help to make it a good Christmas. Boxes were packed on Friday and delivered on Saturday. Big hand to the Shriner's for the use of their building to sort and pack.

Michigan ranks 7th in maple syrup production in the United States, averaging 80,000 gallons per year (behind Vermont, NY, Maine, Wisconsin, New Hampshire and Ohio). Maple season starts in February in the southern part of the state. A tree must be at least 40 years old before it will be large enough to tap for syrup production. Each taphole will produce about 10 gallons of sap, enough for about a quart of pure Michigan maple syrup. It takes about 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup. 40 calories per tablespoon and fat-free. Enjoy!