President's Thanksgiving Message
If you're like my family, you'll know Fall is perhaps the best season to be on the lake. And I'm reminded when Thanksgiving Weekend comes around of how lucky and thankful we are to be able to share this wonderful paradise with such a caring and concerned community.
As your new SLCO president I want to take this opportunity to introduce myself and to say thanks to Scott May for his time and dedication over the last three years as our president and for being a champion in the fight to protect our lake. I'm also thankful that Scott won't be going very far and will be my wingman, serving as Vice President. We have a lot to do over the coming 24 months.
This past August we elected a slate of 15 directors to the SLCO Board of Directors; many veterans and some new faces. I'm very proud of the skills we have on our Board and the determination of them all to protect our lake. You can find our Board members at Board of Directors.
Your SLCO Board meets many times during the year to review programs and progress and we just wrapped up our last formal meeting for 2019 yesterday. The Board members chair many committees which will also meet several times per year and rely heavily on the involvement of other volunteers around the lake. You can find information about our committees here Committees.
This coming year will be a watershed year for us. We have a major battle looming on the horizon that will test our collective strengths. But we also have to 'mind the shop' and keep all our other activities aimed at protecting our lake and fostering community ticking along. At the conclusion of our meeting yesterday we prioritized our objectives over the coming year as follows -
- Defeat the proposed Lippa Pit & Quarry
- Build a strong Membership
- Fundraising
- Focus on Stewardship
How will we know when we've accomplished these objectives? When our membership is over 300, when we reach $200,000 in donations and when we successfully shut down the proposed Pit & Quarry that threatens all that we consider sacred about our lake.
Our focus on Stewardship is our raison d'être. While we are being challenged by commercial development, we have to keep striving to roll out the actions and stewardship programs identified in the Skeleton Lake Plan & Stewardship Program.
What can you do to help? First and foremost renew or enrol for your 2019 membership if you haven't already done so. You can do that online at {Member_Profile_URL}
Second, you can make a donation by visiting Donate.
Third, volunteer. We are looking for all kinds of skills from running events, to running websites and creating content. If you're interested, send us a note at volunteer@skeletonlake.ca
You'll be hearing quite a bit from us over the coming weeks and months. The provincial LPAT (formerly OMB) will be holding a Case Management Conference (CMC) on the 28th of November to discuss how to proceed with the multiple appeals launched by the Lippas. The meeting will again be held at the Town of Muskoka Lakes municipal chambers in Port Ccarling starting at 11:00 a.m. and we will need a strong turnout to ensure the Township and the adjudicators know we won't be bullied into submission. The SLCO Board will be hard at work preparing for that next confrontation.
In the meantime, our very best wishes for a joyous and relaxing Thanksgiving Weekend with your loved ones.
Jeff Crocker
SLCO President
jeff@skeletonlake.ca
