A Reflection of Life in Lake Naomi & Timber Trails www.LakeNaomiClub.com
Logan Steele, the LNC Visionary End-of-Spring 2013 WHAT’S INSIDE BOG Openings ..... 2 Welcome Back Party ....................... 3 LN-TT Breast Cancer Rally 2013 ............... 4 Memorial Day Weekend Schedule of Events ..................... 5 Healthy Eating and Living Workshop .... 6 Pool Luau .............. 7 Season Kick-Off Round Robin.......... 8 50th Anniversary Pin Collection .............. 9 Swing Shop .......... 10 23rd Annual Bass Tournament ......... 11 Newspaper Service Returns ................. 12
Logan Boone Steele was born and raised in Summit, New Jersey graduating high school from Admiral Farraguat Academy. Mr. Steele attended Princeton University graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering in 1951 under the ROTC Program. While at Princeton Logan Steele was a roommate of Harry Schoettle. They were also members of Dial Lodge, an Eating Club at the University. Logan Steele served in the United States Navy during the Korean War. Upon release from the Navy, Mr. Steele incorporated the Logan Construction Company. His first project was a service station in Summit, New Jersey. Realizing that service stations were not his forte, Logan Steele visualized family second home vacation communities outside the city limits in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania Areas. Mr. Steele’s first and second developments were Scenic Lakes in Sussex County, New Jersey and Lake Panorama in Franklin County, New Jersey. These small but successful projects provided Logan Steele with the experience he needed to move on to Pennsylvania in 1963 and purchase the land that today comprises Lake Naomi and Timber Trails. From 1963 to 1971 Logan Steele commuted to Pocono Pines from Summit, New Jersey and rented a home in the area for the Summer months. In 1972 Logan moved his family to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He then commuted on a weekly basis in the Spring and Fall and rented a home in the area for the Summer months. Mr. Steele was not particularly fond of the Winters in the Northeast. Logan Steele was a visionary who literally dreamed Lake Naomi and Timber Trails into reality. He started with Club Beach and the Lake Naomi Clubhouse. Next he opened one of his signature facilities, the Lake Naomi Swimming Pool Complex, in 1971 followed by the Lake Naomi Tennis Complex in 1974. Mr. Steele then moved on to Timber Trails developing the iconic Timber Trails Gatehouse and Entrance. Mr. Steele was a unique developer in many ways. First and foremost he made his development decisions based on what would provide the Members with the most joy and best experience, rather than based on what brought the best financial rewards for him. The Timber Trails Golf Course is a prime example. Logan Steele always wanted to build a golf course and thought Lake Naomi-Timber Trails would benefit from having one. And his thinking was very progressive, setting out to build a course in the early 1970’s where families could play golf together. At a time when Developers were known for stringing their Contractors out for weeks and months, making them beg to get paid, Logan Steele insisted that his Contractors be paid within ten days so they in return could pay their workers in a timely fashion. While many Developers sold the amenities to the Property Owners at the end of the development period, Logan Steele donated all of the recreation and social facilities in Lake Naomi and Timber Trails to the Club and Associations, spending over $70,000 of his funds in engineering and legal fees to facilitate the legal conveyance of these significant assets. Mr. Steele also donated the twenty-nine acre Community Center Site to the Club in 1985, stating at the time, “I know the Club will need additional facilities in the future and I want them to have the land they will need to build those facilities”. As a part of the financial package for the Community Center financing, the twenty-nine acre site was appraised at a value exceeding two million dollars. Continue on Page Two