Issue 28•May 2007 Keeping you informed about the land and water we care about.
You can reach us by phone: 540-674-0166; or mail: Friends of Claytor Lake, PO Box 815, Pulaski, VA 24301
We meet the 2nd Tuesday of every month at 6pm in the Council Chamber of the Dublin Town Hall.
In this issue:
1. Lake Clean Up Operation
2. FOCL Committees
3. USCGA Boat Inspections
4. New River Symposium
5. Boat Parade in Honor of Independence Day
6. Reminders: Claytor Lake Happenings
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1. Lake Clean Up Operation
The Friends of Claytor Lake Clean Up Operation begins this month. We’re very
excited about some changes we are instituting that we think could take the Clean Up
Operation to a new level. We’ve always been proud of the operation--the amount of
debris removed from the lake, the cost efficiency--but it has not been without some
shortcomings: namely our ability to operate in a timely, scheduled manner.
Our Clean Up Team, headed up by the extremely capable Team Captain Gary Roseberry,
has always utilized 2 to 3 trustees from the NRV Jail for the labor to remove the debris.
Utilizing trustees requires an off-duty sheriff’s deputy to be a part of the team as a
guard. With this mode of operation comes an inherent problem: FOCL competes with
the rest of Pulaski County’s needs for trustees to do other work in the County. In
addition, The New River Valley Regional Jail serves the counties of Bland, Carroll, Floyd,
Giles, Grayson, Pulaski, Wythe and the city of Radford and they reach into the same
pool of trustees for work in their Counties. Therefore trustees are not always available
and it becomes difficult to abide by the clean-up schedule we establish.
So here’s the big change: as of the 2007 clean-up season, The Friends of Claytor
Lake will no longer utilize trustees to do the work. Instead, 2 to 3 employees are
being hired by Pulaski County for this work. Currently the positions will be part-time,
but they will work full-time during the clean up season (May 15th-October 15th). Of
course, there will be an extra cost associated with hired help, but this cost will be
significantly offset because there will be no need to hire an off-duty sheriff’s deputy.
{QUICK NOTE--HELP WANTED:
If you are interested in the clean up positions, apply through the Virginia Employment
Service located in Radford. A complete job description and pay can be found at
the employment agency.}
Of course, this approach is new and there’s bound to be a few kinks to work out, so
we appreciate your patience as we launch in this new direction--but overall, we’re
excited about this new approach. We’re not confident enough to publish a schedule
yet, but perhaps with a little experience under the new system, we might be able to
publish a clean-up schedule. We’ll keep you posted.
2. FOCL Committees
In an effort to make the Friends of Claytor Lake the best it can be, we’ve been
working on our organization’s committee structure. Here’s how it sits right now:
Financial Resource
Chair: Bill Cunningham
Committee Members: Ronnie Powers, Darla Jennings, Charles Warren
Organizational Development
Chair: Dean Jackson
Committee Members: Carol Jackson, Laura Walters, Jeff Arnold, Laura Bullard,
Ronnie Powers, Dana & Mike Spraker, Dave Stevenson, Darla Jennings, Alan Stratton
Communications, Education and Public Relations
Chair: Laura Walters, Co-Chair: Robert Blankenship
Committee Members: Dave Collett, Jeff Arnold, Laura Bullard, Dave Stevenson,
Ronnie Powers, Darla Jennings
Environmental Resources Enhancement
Chair: Mary Rhoades
Committee Members: Robert Blankenship, Larry Moore, Dave Collett, Mike McLeod
These committees currently are manned primarily by members of the FOCL Board.
We are very interested in getting more of the Claytor Lake Community involved with
these committees. We’d like to ask you to think about your interests and to consider
being a member of one of these committees to help in our mission of caring for
Claytor Lake. Feel free to contact anyone of us for more information.
Email us at: info@focl.org
3. USCGA Boat Inspections
Our local US Coast Guard Auxiliary has established a schedule for volunteer boat
inspections this year. There’s no better way to know if your boat is ship-shape than
going through one of these inspections. It only takes about 10 minutes and it’s free!
Note also these inspections are really for you; that is, the USCGA Boat Inspectors are
not there to write citations and are not authorized to do so. But they might help you
avoid one by helping you keep your boat legal and safe. Also, going through a boat
inspection is a great opportunity for you to bone up on the Safe Boating Practices
that keep you and your loved ones and the Claytor Lake community safe on the lake.
Mike Whitmore is in charge of the inspections this year. You can contact him through
our local USCGA Flotilla 83 or go to the locations below to have your boat inspected:
Where:
1. Claytor Lake State Park Boat Launch
2. Harry DeHaven Park Boat Launch
3. Dublin Public Boat Launch
When:
May 5th & May 19th
June 2nd, June 16th, and June 30th
Later dates for July & August forthcoming.
4. New River Symposium
The Friends of the New River, The National Committee for the New River, the National
Park Service, The New River Watershed Roundtable, The Radford University College
of Arts and Sciences, and The Recreation and Management Program at Appalachian
State University present the return of:
The New River Symposium, May 31 – June 2, 2007
@ Radford University, Radford, VA (Rivermile 146)
The New River Symposium will once again celebrate the ecological and social value
of the New River, bringing together the river’s diverse constituents and providing a
forum for partnership, research, and policy development. It will focus on the current
state of the New River and on the integration of science, policy, and communities in
addressing the problems facing the New River Watershed.
Presentations (15-20 minutes) will include:
•Sustainable economic development on the New
•Threats to human or biological health
•Cultural and archaeological histories of the New
•Controlling erosion and maintaining riparian buffers
•Native and non-native species distribution
•Studies of flora or fauna
•Recreational and “blueway” plans
•Dam impacts and relicensing
•River and stream water quality
•Wild and scenic designation
Who should attend: teachers, researchers, community leaders, government officials,
stewards, river keepers, planners, boaters, birders, anglers and friends from up and
down the old New. Traditionally, the New River Symposium has been a multi-disciplinary
conference, open to all those with either a professional or amateur interest in the
New. Presentations should address a non-specialized audience, working to share
information across disciplinary lines. Selected papers will be published in conference
proceedings.
Send inquiries to Rick Roth, rroth@radford.edu or Rick Van Noy, rvannoy@radford.edu
The Friends of Claytor Lake is a sponsor of the symposium and 5 of us will be attending:
Darla Jennings, Ron Powers, Mary Rhoads, Dave Stevenson and Laura Walters.
5. Boat Parade in Honor of Independence Day
It’ll be here before you know it...Show your patriotic and creative side to the rest of
the Claytor Lake Community! Have a lot of fun! Win great prizes!
2006’s Most Patriotic and Team Spirit winners
Herman & Theresa Hearn Boy Scouts Claytor Lake Aquatics Base
Prize Categories:
Most Creative
Best Decorated
Judges Choice
Tackiest
Most Patriotic
Best Sports Team Spirit-new!
Jamestown Celebration-new!
When: Sunday, July 1, 2007 @ 2:00pm
Where: Near the State Park Launch Ramp
Route: State Park to the Dam and back to the Beach for judging
Registration: Email (info@focl.org) or phone 320-5674 by June 27 at 5:00pm
or on the day of the parade from 10am to 1pm at the State Park. Registration is
free, but donations to the Friends of Claytor Lake are always welcome & appreciated.
6. Reminders: Claytor Lake Happenings
Claytor Lake Festival
Don’t forget the Claytor Lake Festival! It all takes place on one day this year:
Saturday, June 9th, 2007 at the State Park. Food, Fun, Fireworks and Music!
From 10am to 10pm.
Claytor Hydro Relicensing Public Meetings
And don’t forget the public meetings regarding Appalachian Power’s Relicensing of
the Claytor Hydro Project on May 16 and 17, 2007, at Appalachian Power’s Pulaski
Service Center in Pulaski, Virginia. For more information on these meetings, go to:
http://www.claytorhydro.com
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clean up boating safety community environmental stewardship
Lake clean up, boating safety, water quality monitoring, promoting community, environmental stewardship.
We do it for Claytor Lake—the land, the water, the community.
As a part of the Claytor Lake Community, we need and appreciate your support!
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Thanks for your support of FOCL and Claytor Lake. http://www.focl.org
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