Letter from the Lake Manager

Hello Sherwood Lake Club members. I hope you had a wonderful fall and winter. However, summer and the warm weather is here. Local pools and other warm weather public facilities have already opened or will be opened soon. Sherwood lake and beach are open and ready for business.

Furthermore, as the boating season begins, always pay attention and watch for swimmers and downed skiers. Give notice to the no wake buoys and obey the rules that they represent. Also keep in mind, sound waves travel four times faster over water than land, so keep the music on your boat at a reasonable volume, especially at night. It is a good idea for new and old members alike to review the rules of our lake on the SLC website. Just go to the “Sherwood Lake Club” website, click on “Prospective Members,” scroll down and click on “Rules of Sherwood Lake Club.” Boating and swimming rules are found under index E & I. This information helps make our lake fun and safe.

The boater safety course was offered twice in May, on the 3rd and 24th. It was taught by Zoom, so participants could relax at home while taking the class. The class was about an hour in length followed by a short quiz that was emailed to the participants. If you and your family missed the opportunity in May and need to take the class, then contact me at (785) 221-3248 or Joe Anderson at office@ sherwoodlakeclub.org. We prerecorded the May 24th class, and it will be available online in the future.

Thank you to the Lake Quality and Environment Committee (LQEC) who has over the winter spent many hours working diligently on several issues concerning the care of the lake. The LQEC members have embraced the lake club’s guiding principle: “The Sherwood Lake Club will provide great, safe recreation for our members, and outstanding beauty and quality in our facilities for our members and our neighborhood. We will seek improved property and membership values in everything we do.” On that note, I would like to say farewell to Warren Schmidgall and his wife who have contributed immensely to LQEC. They are moving to the Pacific Northwest to be closer to their family. They will be missed.

Travis Hirt will be head of the Lake Safety/Courtesy Patrol in 2023. Most of you know, Travis is a B member and grew up at Lake Sherwood on Wattling Court. He is an employed civilian of the Department of Homeland Security in the US Coast Guard. You will usually see Travis with his wife, Tracy, who is a social studies teacher at French Middle School. They spend many hours working together at the beach. Dirk Moss and Brad Hopper will also be returning this year. Brad will work on an “on-call” basis only Monday through Friday on the AM shift. Kyler Gronewaller was just hired this spring. Kyler is a WRHS graduate and a student at Washburn University. He is majoring in business and conveniently lives just a few doors down from the beach. The Safety/Courtesy Patrol is in place to help keep our lake free from zebra mussels and maintain safety on the lake.

New hours of the Lake Safety/Courtesy-Patrol:

A. Monday-Friday: 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Staff are ON CALL only. If you need to launch your boat at this time or need assistance of some other kind, call (785) 221-2628 and someone will meet you at the ramp.

B. Monday-Friday: 2:30 to 9:30 p.m. The patrol will be at the beach ready to serve you.

C. Saturday-Sunday: 7 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. The patrol will be at the beach all day ready to be of service.

Launching your vessel: When you want to launch your boat, please call first (785) 221-2628. That way the patrol, if absent from the beach, can return to help you. Before launching your boat, the Lake Safety/Courtesy-Patrol will do an annual safety inspection. Please be sure to have USCG-approved fire extinguisher along with an appropriate number of life preservers. If you are a skier, be sure to have a Skier Down Flag.

Rule reminders as printed in the last Scene: Now that spring/summer is here, please review the boating rules and regulations as you begin the 2023 season. Some highlights are as follows.

All boats and PWC must be registered with proper SLC numbers displayed on the hull.

• Wake Surfing: Please review the wake surfing rules

& regulations located under Section I, number #4 of the SLC Boating Rules.

• The entire lake is a “No Wake Zone” from dusk to dawn. The RED light on the east end of the dam will indicate the beginning of the No Wake Zone at the end of the day.

• Please use the lake in a counterclockwise direction. Speed limit is 35 mph.

• All boaters, skiers and passengers must have a CGA personal floatation device.

• When a skier or tuber is down, please display the skier down RED FLAG while they remain in the water. Once the skier or tuber is back up, the flag should be put away.

• Remember that guest boats of any kind are not allowed on Lake Sherwood. This includes kayaks, canoes, paddle boards, towables and inflatable islands. The purpose of the rule is to avoid the zebra mussel pandemic that has plagued northeast Kansas. Our lake is one of the few that does not have a zebra mussel infestation. It will be to the profit of all Sherwood members to make this priority number one.

• No Wake Zones: Please note that the tall white cylinder buoys and the red ball shaped buoys indicate the “No Wake Zones” of our lake. Homeowners on the lake get extremely frustrated when these NO Wake Zones are not observed by all boaters. Their shoreline can be damaged, and most importantly swimmers may be in the water behind these buoys, so please slow down.

• SWIMMING: Is only allowed behind the No Wake Buoys.

• Please be aware: The tennis courts and sand volleyball courts are Sherwood Lake Club Property. Please help to maintain them by picking up trash, shutting the gates and leaving the area in good condition. Also, remember that the courts are closed at dusk/dark. It will also be very much appreciated that no foul language be used while participating in activities on the courts. Please consider and be courteous to the neighbors that live nearby.

• FYI: If you are in need of a new beach access card, contact Joe Anderson or myself. manger@ sherwoodlake.org or offic@sherwoodlakeclub.org. New cards are $15 each.

In conclusion, the SLC staff and I are excited to serve the Sherwood community. So, have fun, be safe, and happy summer.

Respectfully, Jeff Handley