Taking it to the Lake planned for Sept. 9
What is a flash paddle?
According to Carol Stokes-Cawley of Sustainable Skaneateles, it is something akin to the idea of a flash mob.
“It is like a flash mob but with more planning,” she told the Skaneateles village board a few weeks ago when Sustainable Skaneateles proposed the idea.
The idea is to get as many paddle powered craft, from row boats to paddle board and everything inbetween on the water at the same time to raise awareness about the vital importance of preserving the quality of the lake.
“It is fun and educaitonal,” Sennett said.
Sustainable Skaneateles and partnering organizations including the Skaneateles Lake Association (SLA), EarthWorks, Climate Change Awareness and Action and North End Outdoors are “Taking it to the Lake” on Sept. 9 at 9 a.m. for the First Annual “Skaneateles Lake Flash Paddle”.
Anyone with a paddle or oar powered watercraft is encouraged to participate – there’s no charge.
This event is being organized by local organizations to raise awareness about protecting the lake.
The lake is not only an important resource for fun activities like boating and swimming, it is also a vital resource that provides drinking water to hundreds of thousands of people.
Skaneateles Lake is an unfiltered drinking water source for about 220,000 households, including much of Syracuse and the surrounding communities of Skaneateles, Elbridge and Jordan and serves as a recreational resource for swimming, fishing and boating. Invasive species, silt, nutrients and pesticides, as well as blue-green algae threaten the quality of our water.
Awareness is the first step to ensuring we all work towards taking actions to protect this critical resource as both a drinking water source and a recreational gem.
Details on Lake access points and watercraft drop-off will be posted on the Sustainable Skaneateles Website and Facebook page.
Lake protection educational material will be available by our partnering organizations, as well as Cornell Cooperative Extension in Clift Park from 9 a.m. until noon that day.
Sustainable Skaneateles is an ad-hoc citizens group seeking to foster education and collaboration within the community on the many inter-woven issues affecting the future integrity of our climate, our lake, our lands, and the health of our children. Further information is available for Sustainable Skaneateles at the website: sustainableskaneateles.wordpress.com.
