Click photo for more parade images

From the June 2011 newsletter:

Start planning for our annual July 4th boat parade on Monday, July 4. Be a part of the fun! Show your creativity! Gather your family and friends and join the parade.

The parade will start at 1 pm, at Centennial Grove and proceed around the entire lake, passing the judging area, and ending back at the Grove for awards. Impress Judge Judy!

A prize will be given to each boat entry, and special awards will be given for most patriotic, best in show and most original. Last year each entry received a gift certificate to either The Weathervane or The Farm!

If you’re planning a July 4th cookout, make the boat parade part of your fun!

In this issue:

• Are you planning for the July 4th Boat Parade!? See parade details.

• The Essex Music Festival will be held August 27 at Centennial Grove.

• President Sue McLaughlin traces the rise and decline of the cabomba weed in the lake, noting mitigation steps residents can take.

• Robyn Kanter’s Designing with Nature column discusses the tree problem caused by winter moth catapillars.

• The Eastern Railroad was an amazing driver of the local economy a century ago. Loaded with photos, Keith Symmes’ history appears in the Yesteryear section.

• Also: Water level monitoring goes hi-tech. Another disappointing alewife season. Fresh water mussels keep the water clean. And more.

After much technological hullabaloo, I’ve managed to make a set of screen captures of the movie emphasizing two aspects: scenes on or about the lake and scenes that include local extras (the big July 4th basketball game at the end of the movie).

If you have other photos you’d like added to our PhotoGallery, please send them along.

– submitted by Dave Lash

Once again this spring, the Association participated in the annual alewife count coordinated by Peter Phippen of Eight Towns and the Bay. We sent observers to the Apple Street bridge on the weekends in April and May looking for alewife coming upstream to spawn in Chebacco Lake. Sadly, despite over 30 sessions, no alewife were spotted, suggesting that this year’s alewife population is probably down again.

Locally, we strive to keep Alewife Brook clear of any obstructions preventing the alewife run. Last summer, for example, Association volunteers worked with the Department of Marine Fisheries cutting back vegetation and removing debris. Nevertheless, it may be that the declining alewife population is a product of over-fishing in the Atlantic fisheries. Association Board Member Chuck Bencal, who works in the industry, reports that colossal fishing ships have been netting mackerel and herring for over a decade. Marine Fisheries has recently documented that lake herring schools (alewife) have been netted right alongside ocean herring. Fortunately, Marine Fisheries and NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) have dramatically cut the allowable quota for this year. Hopefully, we’ll see the alewife population rebound in the years ahead.

Is the lake too high? Too low? How much rain produces flooding? Are beavers and vegetation choking Alewife Brook? Despite how critical water level management has become, until now, lake level monitoring has been more anecdotal than empirical. This year though, we’re taking a giant leap into the modern age: the Association has purchased and installed a water level data logger that will record the lake’s water level every hour to the nearest quarter-inch. Downloaded to a PC and matched up with public precipitation data, we’ll be able to record fluctuations during the year and changes over time.

You can view the photos and reach Todd at http://theflyinglyon.com/

If you know of other aerial photos that might be available, please leave a comment below.

Here’s Jim’s summary: http://www.chebaccolake.org/boating-safety/

We have created pdfs of both reports (a shoutout to Joe Brain!) which you can download here:

Lycott (1985): Chebacco Lake Diagnostic/ Feasibility Study

• Lycott_1985_report_without_appendices.pdf — 4.7MB

• Lycott_1985_Appendix_A_References.pdf — small file

• Lycott_1985_Appendix_B_Field_Results.pf — small file

• Lycott_1985_Appendix_C_Public_Education_Pamplets.pdf — 2.0MB

• Lycott_1985_Appendix_C-Partial_Forming_a_Lake_Association.pdf — small file

• Lycott_1985_Appendix_C-Partial_Lawn_Fertilizer.pdf — small file

• Lycott_1985_Appendix_C-Partial_Detergents.pdf — small file

• Lycott_1985_Appendix_C-Partial_Septic_Systems.pdf — small file

• Lycott_1985_Appendix_D_Watershed_Protection_Guidelines.pdf — 2.0MB

Salem State College (1998): Chebacco Lake Diagnostic Report

• Salem_State_1998_report_without_appendices.pdf — 4.0MB

• Salem_State_1998_Appendices.pdf — 1.9MB

According to the Science Corner in Hamilton:

o Bats are the only mammals capable of true flight.

o Bats clean themselves many times a day.

o Bats are nocturnal and shy.

o Bats sleep upside-down during the day.

o Bats have good vision.

o Bats use “Echo-Location” to find nocturnal insects.

o Bats in the United States are insect-eaters.

o Bats eat one-third of their weight each night.

o Bats eat 600-1000 mosquito-sized insects/bat/night.

o Bats are an important part of nature’s scheme for controlling the insect population.

Interested in building a bat house?  One possible resource (dated?) is the Massachusetts Audubon Shop at Drumlin Farm, Lincoln (617-259-9661) for a selection of bat houses, bat kits, and related books.

As shoreline or adjacent property owners, maintaining your septic system requires more care and responsibility than it would elsewhere.  Nutrients from septic systems play a major role in causing excessive plant and algae growth in lakes.  Wastewater from your septic system that reaches adjacent surface waters also increases the chance of swimmers contracting a variety of infectious diseases that are associated with septic wastes.

You can do many things to help prevent the problems associatied with septic systems near shoreline areas.

1.  Regularly pump and maintain your septic system.  We urge you to have your tank pumped on a yearly basis.  Many lakeside systems remain old, poorly designed, and undersized due to conversion of a seasonal residence to year-round use.

2.  Conserve water in your home.

3.  Redirect surface water flow away from your leaching facility.  Water from driveways, roof downspouts or lawns travels toward the leaching facility, putting an extra load on the system.

4.  Plant a greenbelt away from your leaching facility and the shoreline.  Plant areas of small shrubs and trees to help intercept and absorb some of the nutrients before they reach the shoreline.

5.  Replace your septic system.  Although this is costly, it is sometimes the best alternative.

6.  Use white toilet paper — not colored.  It is more biodegradable.

7.  Do not use a garbage disposal.  This is a major source of clogging a septic system.

8.  Do not put solids or sanitary napkins, paper towels, grease, hair, oil, or coffee grounds down the drain.

9.  Do not put additives into your system.  Medicines, paint, paint thinner, disinfectants, pesticides and acids will only kill the bacteria which is needed to decompose the organic matter.

10. Do not use enzymes or acid for treating your septic tank.

11. Do not plant shrubs or trees with deep roots near your leaching area.

12. Do not allow heavy equipment to drive over the leachng area.