Dexter Lakes Association Annual Report Tuesday, September 28, 2004 The Dexter Lakes Association (Lake Wassookeag and Puffers Pond a.k.a. Echo Lake) was formed in August 2001 at the Abbott Memorial Library. Over 60 residents from the Dexter Community attended. This year we held our fourth annual meeting at the K of C Hall on July 14, 2004. At the present time we have 106 members. Membership is made up from landowners and residents of Dexter who have paid the annual dues. Board of Directors are the following: Bob Crawford, Robert Tillson, Neil Crane, Lois Richmond, Dennis Bodwell, and George Sampson. Officers for 2004-2005 are: Ed Graham - President, Jack Brown - Vice President, Steve Wintle - Secretary, Peg Kaufman Treasurer. Two of our directors and some members have been attending, for the past several years, the annual joint conference of the Congress of Maine Lakes and the Maine Volunteer Monitors Association in order to be informed regarding lake issues around the State and to share experiences with other Maine lake associations. The main speaker at our annual meeting this year was Christine Smith, Educational Director of the Department of Environmental Protection. Along with her interesting presentation about the program "LakeSmart " , she had time to visit, upon invitation, several lake properties to assess land management practices and to provide helpful suggestions to insure that no undesirable run-off was getting into the lake. During Wild West Weekend, the DLA manned a booth in Wayside Park. Over 100 pamphlets regarding lake issues (loons, boating, fishing, soil erosion, water quality, etc.) were handed out. We also rewarded youngsters with candy for answering questions about the lake. During WWWeekend, the DLA sponsored a research boat from the Maine Lakes Conservancy Institute that was able to take thirty-two Dexter school students in three separate trips onto Lake Wassookeag to learn about lake ecology in a hands-on way. The boat was a 30 foot pontoon boat equipped with scientific instruments which were used for this purpose. The DLA is also planning to have a DEP educator visit Dexter schools to give instruction about the lakes and their watershed. We hope to involve Dexter residents in the need to be aware of the importance of the watershed and good quality drinking water. The DLA believes in clean water practices to maintain the good quality of our water as well as the importance of the use of the lakes for safe recreational activity. The DLA maintains a website http://www.dexteriakesassociation.org and also a yearly newsletter. Anyone may submit an article for the newsletter to any board member or officer. Also we appreciate and would like to acknowledge the generous gift the Wells family (longtime residents of Waldheim) gave to the Dexter Lakes Association. Respectfully submitted by Steve Wintle President