WLPOA Spring 2021 Newsletter Update

It was a long 2020, but the White Lake Property Owners Association carries on!  See below for some updates and plans for 2021.

Lake conditions - Tom Kielich has continued his excellent work of gathering important lake data to share with the state and help us track the health of our lake. Last year, the recorded high lake level was 97.87! Through the fantastic efforts of the WLMD, the lake is at 95.8. See the WLMD reports for more details on lake levels and boating regulations. Secchi disk readings (Lake Clarity) last year were excellent with a high of 36ft and a low of 12ft. Readings this year so far have been 17ft and 11ft.

Membership news - Sadly, we lost three long time property owners who died in 2020:  Mike Coursey, the WLPOA's longtime grillmeister, Fred Blackbourn, the lake's biggest Notre Dame fan, and Adam Pientka, who served on the WLPOA and WLMD Boards for many years. They will be missed. 

As you all know, due to the COVID pandemic, we had to cancel our 2020 annual meeting in July. It would have been our 46th meeting of record.  We plan to meet this year Saturday July 3rd at our normal time of 10:30 am (same location WLMD property as previous years.)  However, due to the continued risks related to COVID, we will not be serving food or beverages.  For those who are comfortable, feel free to bring your own snacks and beverage of choice. 

We did not collect dues last year, but plan to reinstate this year. With your $50 dues, we will continue to support the goals of the White Lake Property Owners Association. Over the years we have supported many lake improvements such as fish cribs, minnow habitat, equipment for lake monitoring and clean-up, as well as fish stocking.    

Thanks to Lesa Vich, a woman who gets things done!  She coordinated with the White Lake Management District (which funds the muskrat trapping) and our favorite Muskrat trapper, and we have fewer pests already.  

Fall Clean-up - We hope to be able to resume this activity in the fall and will update you accordingly. 

Board updates-After many years of service to the WLPOA, Fred Forest has resigned his position from the board. Fred has contributed in many ways and we will miss his leadership on the board. He has assured us; he will continue to “educate” any boaters who do not follow our lake regulations. He has helped make the lake safer for everyone. This leaves the board with 2 open positions and in need of someone who can take over the important job of cooking the brats next year we plan to resume our full picnic activities. If anyone is interested in learning more and helping out, please contact us at whitelakepoa@gmail.com. 

2020 Peacock Triathlon

At 9AM on the 4th of July, the 2020 Peacock Triathlon went on this year.  Featuring a  a 275 yard swim, 9.3mile bike and 2 mile run, it also allows for participants to form relay teams or complete the entire course individually.  Great weather and a fun, safe time was had by all.  Thanks to Ken Pientka for getting everything organized and keeping us moving!

2020 White Lake Property Owners Association Meeting and Picnic Postponed

Hello Everyone,

2020 has been a strange year across the board, and accordingly, our annual 4th of July traditions at White Lake will be a little different as well.

The White Lake Property Owners Association is sad to announce that after 44 years of hosting our annual meeting and picnic, we are going to have to take a year off because of the Coronavirus.  Between the Safer-at-Home order impacting the planning and the uncertainty that is still out there, we don’t feel right asking a big group to gather just yet.  

The White Lake Management District is exploring online/phone meeting options so we can keep up on the goings on at White Lake this year.  And we at the WLPOA hope to be back in business next year with our always friendly, always informative and sometimes spirited meeting followed by a brat picnic with our lake neighbors.

We are still planning on our annual boat parade on Saturday July 4 at 4PM.  Decorate your boat if you like and come on out for a socially distanced cruise around White Lake to celebrate our country.

Also, Ken Pientka is still planning to host the 11th annual Peacock Triathlon for those who are comfortable participating.  If you've not done this before, the distances  are very reasonable with a 275 yard swim, 9.3mile bike and 2 mile run.  Participants can form relay teams or complete the entire course individually.  The event will be held on Saturday July 4th at 9 AM.  Meet at Ken's house, W1904 White Lake Court.

On a sadder note, longtime WLPOA Board Member Mike Coursey passed away last week.  If you don't know him, he rallied his family to take charge of the grills for the WLPOA picnic for many years.  His obituary is here and does a nice job of capturing his spirit.

https://www.crawfordfh.com/obituary/Michael-Coursey

We all hope to see you on and around the lake.  It is a strange summer, but everything looks better when you are at White Lake!

The WLPOA Board

Update from Dec 7, 2019 White Lake Management District Meeting

I attended the White Lake Management District Board of Commissioners meeting on December 7, 2019.  It was a bit of a redo of the September meeting because they had to re-pass the No Wake Ordinance with proper notice, but a few other things came up as well.

Here is an update of what I took away from the meeting:

• Mike Johnson resigned as a Lake Management District Commissioner in Sept but they didn’t accept it until today.  Bob Wunderlich ran the meeting and thanked Mike for all his service to the Board and the lake.
• Karen Luecke was appointed to the open spot on the Board of Commissioners.  My understanding is that an election will be held at the WLMD annual meeting in August.
• The No Wake ordinance was passed.  It is the exact same text as was reviewed and passed in Sept.  The gist of it is that when the lake goes above ordinary high water mark of 95.8', the No Wake rule goes into effect.  When it drops below 95.8', the No Wake hours go back to what they've always been.

2019 No Wake Above Ordinary High Water Mark Ordinance

2006 Latest Boating Ordinance

We also discussed potential solutions to the high water situation the board and others on the lake have been looking into.

• East end pumping project to the golf course is no longer feasible.  Karen and Bob met with Greg Sondale to discuss any parameters around the pumping project.  According to them, the golf course wants to control the pumping schedules and only take our water when the reservoirs need them.  This is understandable, but we would want to pump until we get the lake down to the ordinary high water mark.
• Mike Johnson says he’ll continue working on the long term outflow project on the West End of the lake.
• The board is also exploring about a shorter-term, temporary pumping project from the west end with an agriculture pump and a temp pipe/hose all the way to the Fox.

I tried to stick to the facts above, but I am going to inject some opinion below from me (Eric Elfner) for what it's worth.  First, it was a beautiful day on Saturday at White Lake.  The shoreline was packed with piers and boatlifts with not enough shoreline to store them on, but it is still pretty.

More opinion from me.  The temporary pumping project sounds like a great idea for the board to pursue.  They are hoping they can do it by Memorial Day, but I gather there is more work to be done including DNR permits, road crossings and whatnot.  I will not be surprised if it takes longer than that.  But if it works, it can move 3,000 gallons an hour.  That would be significant.  It might have an immediate effect, and it would prove the concept that we could move lake water that direction for the long term plan.

But it may not work, and I am resigned that we may be stuck with high water levels for some years.  Lake Michigan is at record highs as well.  Ken Pientka took me to task for suggesting Lake Michigan affects White Lake (Our elevation is 200'+ higher), but there is a strong correlation going back to the 80s.  Both are affected by the same rain, snowmelt and general groundwater conditions of Eastern Wisconsin.

I hope everyone has a safe, healthy, enjoyable winter.  I'll see you around the lake next year even if we have to wave at each other from slow moving boats!

Early 1900s - Main Street in Princeton

I found this photo in a facebook group for people from Princeton, WI.  If you spend any time in town, this street scene is pretty familiar.  Except for the horse-drawn wagons and muddy streets, most of those buildings are still there and look pretty much the same.

The poster, Roger Bartel, notes that if you look closely you will see an automobile on the left.

History Mystery

Found on e-bay from a seller in Germany, a postcard labelled "The Beach at White Lake Beach, Montello, WI".  The picture on e-bay was low-res, but can you tell where it is?  I think I have it.

It was only $2, so I picked it up.  It won't be here for a month or so, but I will get a better scan then and we'll confirm.

Back to the 80s - High Water in Spring 1988

Many thanks to Mike Forest for sending me some pictures from the Forest photo albums to remind us that this isn't the first time we've seen high water on White Lake.  See this link for how it looked in the Spring of 1988.  If you don't see my comments on the right side, click the little 'i' in the upper right corner.  This is about the same water level that we are seeing today.

High Water in Spring 1988

This problem was discussed extensively at the White Lake Property Owners Association meeting on July 6th.  Mike Johnson of the White Lake Management District summarized the progress on trying to restore the natural outflow that used to exist.  Some pumping options have been considered as well.  If you'd like to learn more about it, plan to attend the August 3rd White Lake Management District Meeting in Montello.  They will send a notice to all Lake Property Owners, but I believe it will be at the bank in Montello across from the Holiday convenience store.  They typically start at 8:30 or so.  I'll update this page when I have the details.

My family calls this part of the lake, 'Buck's Point', because until 1966, there was a resort called Al Buck's Cottages in the Pines that operated here.  It's directly across from the main point where the Duck Blind was.  Want to read more about this history of White Lake? I wrote a story about it here.

Al Buck's Cottages in the Pines