From the CLA

ASSOCIATION CANADIAN LAKES

Photography by Kim Flanagan, Creative Occasions

Good day my fellow Canadian Lakers!

I sincerely hope you have been able to enjoy another summer living the “GOOD Life” here in wonderful Canadian Lakes. Maybe this was your first summer with us, and how exciting that must have been. Marsha and I moved up here full-time five years ago and even though we had been Canadian Lakes members for decades before, you just can’t fully appreciate the magnitude or meaning of the GOOD life until you actually live here. Marsha and I have owned a lot in Canadian Lakes since 1999, and our residence is three miles south of Canadian Lakes on our 60 acres parcel of land. But we have become “fully engaged” in the community since we relocated, and it is wonderful!

Have you ever really thought about what makes Canadian Lakes so very special? Is it our lakes, after all “Lakes” are in our name. Is it our golf courses offering three very different experiences, all beautiful, affordable and well maintained? Is it our tennis, pickleball and basketball courts, all situated around Canadian Lakes just waiting for you to enjoy? Is it the walking, biking, and hiking in a very scenic environment, and now enjoying our new Trail? Is it our softball complex, or dog park, or disc golf course (our son and grandson just enjoyed that disc course this past weekend)? Or maybe it’s our restaurants and shopping center. Or our three very diverse buildings where we can hold all of our meetings, concerts, plays, and CLA Events… the Castle, the Highland Haus, and the Alpine Haus. Is it the live music all summer long at the Reuther Music Pavilion, or is it the tubing tow and ice-skating rink in the winter? Hopefully you’re getting my point. If you can’t find something that brings you joy in Canadian Lakes, you just haven’t looked hard enough!

But with all of that said, and I’m sure I’ve missed some things, I don’t think any of this is what truly makes Canadian Lakes the hidden gem that it is. I believe it’s the people who are the heartbeat of Canadian Lakes, with their volunteerism spirit! When you look around at all of our beautiful flowers around our signs, the fact that you don’t see litter laying around, that we feel safe in our homes year-round, this is all because of our many volunteers from Flower Power, our Pickup Artists, and Mobile Watch just to name three volunteer groups, and there are so many more!

COME JOIN THE FUN

Harold Wolf

President haroldwolf63@gmail.com

Not to mention our CLPOC Board Members and everything they do for us. In our Lite Lines newsletter, you can read the Thank You’ s sent out each month to our many volunteers. We appreciate you all! Countless volunteers, who donate hours upon hours of service each day in our community.

Speaking of the Lite Lines, did you know if you are a member of the Canadian Lakes Association, you will receive this monthly newsletter to stay informed of all of the activities happening each month in our Canadian Lakes community? It is 16 pages filled with fun activities the CLA offers each month, along with other local area events. AND it will let you know about our CLA MEMBERS ONLY contests and monthly prize giveaways. For example, our Shopping Spree Contest for CLA Members Only recently gave away amazing prizes valued at $1,600.

Now that brings me to the backbone of volunteerism in Canadian Lakes, and that is the Canadian Lakes Association. For over 40 years, and a total of 182 CLA Board Members, we have been serving our community. We currently have 12 special CLA Board Members: Peggy Brohl, Sharon Schmidt, Alice Brandt, Jo Alex, Robin Bielby, Mike Burke, Lori Gorecki, Pat Kreple, Tracey Bowen, Beth Bloedel, Marsha Wolf, and myself. Canadian Lakes has over 4,000 members currently yet just 952 of you are CLA Members. I think at just $30 a year for your entire household, and with what your CLA Membership provides you, it must be that over ¾ of our community just isn’t aware of what the CLA is, or what we provide annually. Along with all of the events you see on the next page, the CLA also sanctions over 30 clubs for your enjoyment. Our clubs offer a wide variety of interests including Arts & Crafts, Cards & Games, Music, Health & Fitness, Special Interests, Sports and Study Groups.

I had two goals when I became President of the CLA. Number one was to get our CLA Membership back up over 1,000 members. I need just 48 of you to join the CLA before January 1, 2023, to reach that goal. Join now and you not only will receive your CLA Membership benefits for the remainder of 2022, but also ALL of 2023 for just $30 for a family membership. My second goal was to always keep our CLA Board at a 12-member capacity. Due to term limits (no more than two 3-year terms) we are losing three amazing board members at the end of this year. Robin Bielby, Sharon Schmidt and Jo Alex have each served for two 3-year terms. I’m sure most of you would agree with me if you ask yourself “what would Canadian Lakes be like if not for those 182 plus selfless volunteers who have kept the CLA thriving for over 40 years?” Just look at the list of events on the next page that the CLA organizes or sponsors each year. My hat is off to all of our past CLA Board Members for helping to create and maintain the GOOD life! Now it’s time for the rest of you to give back to our Canadian Lakes community. I promise you won’t regret it. Call, text, or email me if you have any questions, and please help keep our volunteer backbone strong! Stay Healthy, Safe, and Strong! Photography by Kim Flanagan, Creative Occasions

HERE ARE MANY OF THE EVENTS THE CLA ORGANIZES OR SPONSORS EVERY YEAR Winter Carnival in February Potluck Dinner in March Easter Egg Hunt in April Kite Day in May Memorial Day Program in May Summer Craft Show in June Ferris Community Band Concert in June Summer Picnic in July A Community Information Day in August Ice Cream Social in August Voices of Freedom Concert in September Flu Shot Clinic in October Halloween Costume Dance in October Trick or Treat for the Kids at the Castle in October Annual Chili/Soup Cook-Off in November Veteran’s Day Program in November Gal’s Night Out in November Christmas Craft Show in November Christmas Concert in December Home Decorating Contest in December New Year’s Eve Party

Here when you need us

Big Rapids Walk-In Clinic hours: Mon. - Fri., 7 a.m to 7 p.m. Lakeview Walk-In Clinic hours: Mon. - Fri., 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sat. & Sun., 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.