Volume LI | Issue 3
2
CONTENTS
02
New Board President Letter
03
Our Annual Report
04 05
What a Year! A look back at a few highlights of 2021
07
By Michael Hatch
By Josephine Roberts
The Walloon Outdoor Club: Fun at the Foot in the 1960’s By Lauren Macintyre
Two Families, 200 Years on Walloon: The Legacy of the Gedge and Morsches/Call Families By Lauren Macintyre
10
TOMMBA Trails & Connections Made
11
Protecting Walloon Lake Heritage One Plant at a Time
12
Shoreline Alterations: What You Need to Know
14 15 15 16
Our Summer Stewards
By Jac Talcott
By Jennifer DeMoss
By Connor Dennis
By Jac Talcott
Renew Your Membership Walloon Forever What Walloon Means to Us And Why We Support the Annual Guardian Fund By Patti and Ralph Miesel
by 16 Walloon The Numbers 17 Junior Member’s Corner By Emily McAteer
18
New WLAC President & Trustees
19 Recipes 20 In Memoriam
By Chef Eric Latcham
Cover Photo by: Louise Mooradian
A Letter from Our
NEW BOARD PRESIDENT, MICHAEL HATCH DEAR FRIENDS AND FELLOW WALLOONERS, As newly elected President of the Walloon Lake Association and Conservancy (WLAC), I wanted to share some thoughts with you about where we’ve been and where we’re headed as an organization. During this global pandemic over the past 20 months, we all recognize many things have changed and that more and more families are enjoying Walloon. Yet at the same time, these changes have been occurring over decades. When we first arrived on Walloon, the stretch of Indian Garden Road that ran straight in front of our cottage was a dirt road and there were only a handful of homes anywhere near ours. Now there doesn’t seem to be an empty lot in sight, in fact 89% of the entire lakefront is developed. Much of the undeveloped portion being state forest, private camps and the WLAC property. There were also not as many boat launches, little thought to renting a high-powered speed boat and with few apparent stress factors on our land and lake, the clear water seemed assured forever. We have heard from many of you about the quality-of-life topics from noise pollution to unsafe water activities to development issues - we are listening and share many of your concerns. Tackling these issues is our collective cause and this is why so many of us volunteer our time and resources to maintain and improve this place we all love. We cannot do it alone and we need to recognize in the words of the Little Traverse Conservancy Director, “there is no perfect conservation,” and there is no universal tranquility or residence for everyone. We need to keep learning, acting and being respectful of others. They say the enemy of learning is knowing. So, while I have spent nearly 50 years on this lake, I recently had conservations with the Charlevoix and Emmet County sheriffs primarily responsible for patrolling our lake and here are a few of the things I discovered during these conversations:
• While more can be done to educate boat renters and visitors of Walloon Lake, the 60+ boat rentals and few dozen or less day users pale in comparison to the approximately 2,000 boats among 1,200 homeowners and their guests on the lake. Charlevoix County Sheriff Lt. Don Richards has patrolled and served Walloon for decades and says that incidents arise with every constituent on the lake. He sees issues arising mostly from boaters who are “just in the moment” with their friends and not attentive to their boating responsibilities. He feels many problems come down to a lack of understanding of boating rules and etiquette. For example, all boaters are supposed to stay 100 feet out from ALL watercrafts, but Lt. Richards says most people greatly underestimate how far that is. So start by staying 150+ feet away, and you’ll probably be closer to the right distance. And keep a sharp lookout! We encourage you to refresh your own knowledge and your guests’ by visiting: www.michigan.gov/dnr or www. boat-ed.com/michigan. We will also be looking into additional ways to educate boaters and improve the quality of everyone’s boating experience on Walloon and appreciate your ideas. If you would like to be involved with a committee, please let us know! • Noise pollution and light pollution are two extremely subjective topics. Some consider lights on the shoreline a safety feature, while others find them annoying. And according to Charlevoix County Sheriff Charles Vondra, he receives nuisance calls for loud music and noise that vary dramatically, but boaters are generally responsive when asked to turn their music down. With the financial assistance of the WLAC, marine patrol hours have been increased. Please remind your guests that sound carries over the water a great distance - so if it’s starting to get dark outside, it’s probably time to turn
