From the SLA: What and who is the SLA?

By Fran Rotunno Fish

The Skaneateles Lake Association is a 501(c) (3) organization. That means we are a not for profit charitable organization.

If you have watched the fascinating program on television entitled “How We Got to Where We Are,” you will find the answer regarding the SLA in the following paragraph.

The SLA evolved from the Skaneateles Lake Pure Water Association, Inc. (SLPWA), founded 1n 1969. In the early 1990s the Tri-County Skaneateles Lake Pure Water Association (TCSLPWA) was formed to continue the work of the SLPWA.  In January 2007 the Skaneateles Lake Milfoil Eradication Corporation (SLMEC) was formed with the focus of dealing with the milfoil infestation of Skaneateles Lake. In June 2008, the Skaneateles Lake Milfoil Eradication Corporation merged with the TCSLPWA.  In January 2011, the board of directors of the TCSLPWA voted to change its name to the Skaneateles Lake Association, Inc. So, there you are, 50 years of an organization that while evolving always through those 50 years only had one purpose, protecting the waters of Skaneateles Lake and protecting the lake’s watershed.

The vast majority of the funding for all the activities of the organizations that evolved into the SLA has come from volunteer donations. In the early years, significant charitable donations from a relatively small group of people and some governmental funding were the financial engine for all the efforts taken to protect the lake and its watershed. In 2011, the newly named SLA initiated an annual membership program that over nine years has grown from a few hundred households to 1,000 households and businesses representing close to 2,000 individuals committing with their annual memberships to fund the work of the Skaneateles Lake Association.

The SLA’s mission is to promote protection of the water quality of Skaneateles Lake and environmentally sound regional management of its watershed. For eight years the work of the SLA in reflection of its mission was most notably continuing and expanding the efforts to control the growth of milfoil and initiating and continually expanding the efforts to protect he lake from the introduction of additional invasive species through its Invasive Species Monitoring Steward Program.  Additionally, via its newsletter, columns in this paper and distribution of community educational materials, the SLA worked to educate the entire watershed community as to each person’s responsibility for protecting the Skaneateles Lake Water and its watershed. In 2017, with the advent of the extensive harmful algal bloom, the SLA board went into overdrive to develop a plan that focused on the prevention of future harmful algal blooms.

The SLA is comprised of members who join annually who share one common value, the importance of protecting the lake and its watershed.  Its members may share that value because they drink the water; because they swim, paddle, kayak, fish, canoe, ski, sail, row or motor boat in the lake; because they live on the lakefront full time, seasonally or just a few weeks a year; because they own businesses that they know are supported by those who come to enjoy the lake; or because they just love the lake.  SLA members reside in all five towns and three counties of the lake’s watershed.  Some members are new to the areas and some are third and even fourth generation lake community families. They reside in the lake community full time, seasonal and even just a few weeks a year. They join for one reason, to protect the lake water and its watershed.

The SLA Board of Directors is a reflection of its membership. Some of our board members are long-time residents and some are new to the community (by small “town” standards). They reside in the village, in the Towns of Skaneateles, Spafford and Niles. Some reside in the area full time and some are here seasonally. Some of our board members are still in the work force and some are retired. Our board members, like our members, are single, married, parents and grandparents.  Our board members are scientists, technology experts, doctors, lawyers, education professionals, nurses, librarians, businessmen and farmers.

The Skaneateles Lake Association is its membership.  A membership of people who choose to join for a variety of reasons. No invitation or sponsorship is needed to join. No requirement for permanent residence or any specific property ownership is necessary for membership. All that is required is the desire to be a part of a group of people committed to supporting a variety of efforts to promote the health of the Skaneateles Lake water and its watershed.

The SLA invites everyone to jump in and join today. You can join the SLA for 2019 online at SkaneatelesLake.org via the “membership/support” tab or call 315-685-9106 for an annual member registration form to be mailed.

We thank the following for sponsoring the Milfoil Boat for a day:  Maggie & Ed Dienst, Christine Larsen & Vincent Dupolis, Candace & John Marsellus, Jennifer Sutherland, Carrie Lazarus & Dave Birchenough, Beecher Graham & Jonathan Brodock, Barbara 7 William Dean, Anne Marie & Carl Gerst,  Deborah & Gary Hind, Lorraine Rapp & Jeffrey Kirshner, Kimball & James Kraus, Kris Tech Wire, Skaneateles Sailing Club, Mary Marshall, Elizabeth & John McKinnell, Julie & Jim Moore, Sara Collins & Robert Parsons, Linda & Dan Roche, Virginia & Gerald Shanley.