Annual Letter August 2024
Dear Fellow CLAPA members,
As you may have heard, at the recent CLAPA Annual Meeting I was approved to take over the role of CLAPA president. I’d like to take this opportunity to briefly introduce myself and share a few thoughts about CLAPA.
But before I do that, on behalf of all of us I want to thank Frank Battaglia for his 5 years of exemplary service as our group’s president. When Frank decided to step down and he and the CLAPA Board asked me if I would take his place, my biggest concern was whether I’d be able to live up to the high bar of dedication and leadership that Frank had established. Fortunately, Frank plans to continue to be an active member of the CLAPA board, most notably continuing to spearhead CLAPA’s important work to control the spread of the invasive species milfoil in our lake.
As for me, my wife Jane and I moved to our waterfront home on the lake a little over two years ago, fulfilling a long-time dream to spend our retirement years on the water. We feel like we hit it out of the park when we selected Contoocook to fulfill that dream. We are year-round residents and enjoy snowy days and walks on the ice-covered lake almost (but not quite) as much as we enjoy the summertime here.
As a bit of a loon groupie, I was especially happy to see Contoocook blessed with a loon chick this summer for the first time in current memory. I trust many of you have enjoyed watching and listening to this handsome family as well. It’s a reminder of how important CLAPA’s mission of preserving the health of our lake is, so all can continue to soak in nature’s beauty like this for many years to come.
As you know, with your support CLAPA engages in many initiatives to further that mission, including:
We are blessed with a very dedicated group of 13 members currently on our board, but there is always room for more help. Please consider whether you might like to volunteer in some capacity, large or small. Perhaps you’d like to join in to help with one of the efforts listed above, or perhaps you have some new idea for preserving and protecting our lake that you’d like to pursue. Either way, we’d welcome your involvement.
For those of you who will be leaving the lake in the coming months for your winter retreats, enjoy the warmth. And for the rest of you, perhaps I’ll run into you wandering around in the middle of the icy lake this winter.
Please feel free to contact me at [email protected] with any questions or comments, or if you would like to learn more about how you can become involved in our group’s efforts
Best regards to all,
Mike Golibersuch
President CLAPA
As you may have heard, at the recent CLAPA Annual Meeting I was approved to take over the role of CLAPA president. I’d like to take this opportunity to briefly introduce myself and share a few thoughts about CLAPA.
But before I do that, on behalf of all of us I want to thank Frank Battaglia for his 5 years of exemplary service as our group’s president. When Frank decided to step down and he and the CLAPA Board asked me if I would take his place, my biggest concern was whether I’d be able to live up to the high bar of dedication and leadership that Frank had established. Fortunately, Frank plans to continue to be an active member of the CLAPA board, most notably continuing to spearhead CLAPA’s important work to control the spread of the invasive species milfoil in our lake.
As for me, my wife Jane and I moved to our waterfront home on the lake a little over two years ago, fulfilling a long-time dream to spend our retirement years on the water. We feel like we hit it out of the park when we selected Contoocook to fulfill that dream. We are year-round residents and enjoy snowy days and walks on the ice-covered lake almost (but not quite) as much as we enjoy the summertime here.
As a bit of a loon groupie, I was especially happy to see Contoocook blessed with a loon chick this summer for the first time in current memory. I trust many of you have enjoyed watching and listening to this handsome family as well. It’s a reminder of how important CLAPA’s mission of preserving the health of our lake is, so all can continue to soak in nature’s beauty like this for many years to come.
As you know, with your support CLAPA engages in many initiatives to further that mission, including:
- Milfoil Control. Working in cooperation with the state, we hire divers several times each summer to remove milfoil from the lake.
- Water Quality Monitoring and Advocacy. We periodically measure the presence of various undesirable elements in the lake, try to work with local and state agencies in efforts to improve water quality, and look to educate local residents on best practices to preserve and promote lake health.
- Collaboration with other lake conservation organizations. We cooperate with two important state-wide conservation groups, the Loon Preservation Committee and New Hampshire Lakes, including placing a nesting platform and signage to protect our loons, and supporting efforts to advocate for our state representatives to pass lake friendly legislation.
- Lake Host Program. We are currently looking into the feasibility of initiating a Lake Host program next summer in cooperation with NH Lakes. This is a program that conducts voluntary inspections as boats enter the lake at the boat launch, looking for and removing any invasive species they may be inadvertently carrying.
- Administration. Many of our board members devote their time to the many administrative tasks of running an organization like ours, including financial management, communication, record keeping, membership, and fund-raising activities.
We are blessed with a very dedicated group of 13 members currently on our board, but there is always room for more help. Please consider whether you might like to volunteer in some capacity, large or small. Perhaps you’d like to join in to help with one of the efforts listed above, or perhaps you have some new idea for preserving and protecting our lake that you’d like to pursue. Either way, we’d welcome your involvement.
For those of you who will be leaving the lake in the coming months for your winter retreats, enjoy the warmth. And for the rest of you, perhaps I’ll run into you wandering around in the middle of the icy lake this winter.
Please feel free to contact me at [email protected] with any questions or comments, or if you would like to learn more about how you can become involved in our group’s efforts
Best regards to all,
Mike Golibersuch
President CLAPA