The Raymond Waterways Protective Association (RWPA) has changed its working name to Raymond Waterways. The organization also has a new logo, and a new website.
The website was designed by Sheila Bourque and can be found at Raymondwaterways.org. The new logo was designed by Ian Maready.
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| The Mill Street Dam in Raymond will be undergoing restoration starting June 1 and running through September 1. All work will be performed on the down water side of the bridge heading from Main Street to Route 85. SUBMITTED PHOTO |
Donations are welcome and there is a tab on the group’s website, Raymondwaterways.org, for information as well as connections that allow for Paypal or credit card donations. It will list donors on the website and for next year’s mailing unless you ask to not be included.
The Mill Street Dam project will begin early this summer and may affect water levels on Panther Pond, Crescent Lake, and Raymond Pond.
Bob Harmon, President of the Panther Pond Association relayed the following information on the Mill Street Dam project for this summer.
“As most of you have heard, the dam on Mill Street will be undergoing a restoration starting on June 1 of this year,” he said. “It will begin on June 1 and end on September 1. All of the work will be done on the down water side of the bridge on the right heading from Main Street to Route 85. Construction equipment will be stored in the area of the fish house. What you will see are sandbags incorporated with a 3-foot culvert that will be used to control the water level in Panther Pond.”
Harmon said it’s planned for the water level to be maintained at 80.5 feet per the gauge that is attached to the bridge embankment. It is possible that it may be necessary to lower the water level by an additional 6 inches. As a reference, in July 2022 for the month, the water level was at 80.5 feet.
“Mill Street will not be closed but frequently will be down to one lane, controlled by flaggers,” he said. “Access to the boat launch most likely will be difficult. Currently there are many trees blocking the ability to navigate a boat in both the Tenny River and Panther Run. We are coordinating an effort of volunteers, independent of our association, who can assist in helping clear the waterways. Boats, saws, rope, and personal power is needed. If you would like to volunteer, please contact Peter Leitner at vp@pantherpondassociation.org.”
He suggests launching watercraft and dock installations before June 1, using the boat launch at Crescent Lake once the trees have been removed, and to avoid Mill Street during construction.
“We will keep everyone updated via email on any major changes,” Harmon said. “If we do not have your email address, please send it to Pat Palmer at secretary@pantherpondassociation.org.”
Raymond Waterways also welcomed two new board members in April. They each bring valuable expertise and a willingness to work as volunteers to the organization.
Juliet Kirk, of Panther Pond and Chicago, joined the Raymond Waterways Board of Directors. Her family goes back more than a hundred years on Panther Pond, and she has spent every summer of her life on the lake as an avid swimmer and sailor. A graduate of Columbia University, where she was president of Engineers Without Borders, which built a well platform in Amanfrom, Ghana over two years, she is an engineer and Team Lead at EcoLab. She will be in charge of systems for the Raymond Waterways organization, including maintaining databases, mailing lists, and social media.
Peter Rowland of Sebago Lake joined the board in April as well. He graduated from Williams College and then was a part of the first class at the Veterinary School at Tufts University and studied pathology at the Veterinary College at Cornell. He taught at Cornell, beginning a pathology practice in 1994 that continues today. He moved to Raymond in 2014 and says that he loves living in a quiet cove off the north end of Jordan Bay. Water and wind sports are his favorites, and he spends many hours out on the water.
Rowland said he experienced the amazing transformation that occurred in Turtle Cove after the start of the Raymond Waterways control program for variable leaf milfoil. He is learning more details about invasive species through the programs run by the Lake Stewards of Maine and hopes to participate as a monitor, as well as learn where else he may fit in best with the work of the RWPA.
Susan Gallo, Executive Director of the advocacy group Maine Lakes, will be the speaker at the annual meeting of Raymond Waterways at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, June 22 at the Hawthorne House, located at
41 Hawthorne Road, at the corner of Raymond Cape Road in Raymond.
She will present information on the current and future health of our lakes and will talk about our new program, LakeSmart, a consulting program where Raymond Waterways will send trained volunteers to your lakefront property to advise you, in a non-regulatory, non-enforceable way, how to lessen erosion on your property. Erosion is one of the biggest threats to lake health, and there are many simple, affordable ways to avoid it.
Steve Craine, of the Raymond Waterways board is heading the program, which should begin this summer. There will be time for the audience to ask questions and to voice any concerns or suggestions to the Raymond Waterways board and membership.
Admission is free, everyone is welcome, and refreshments will be served. No registration is required. Raymond Waterways members can register for door prizes at the beginning of the meeting, and there will be a table for new members to join or former members to rejoin.
Raymond Waterways is looking for a new treasurer for its board to oversee payroll, bookkeeping, donations, and grant reporting. They are especially interested in someone with a finance background who can help us design new donation vehicles to help us build an endowment. You need to be a Raymond resident.
The organization is also looking for people willing to be trained in invasive species identification, water sampling techniques, and courtesy boat inspections. Their new LakeSmart erosion control program also needs volunteers to help lakeside residents identify and mitigate erosion into our lakes. And they need a volunteer or two to deliver rack cards and replenish supplies at various groceries and businesses in Raymond. This would be a once weekly job throughout the summer.
If you have other ideas about how you may help Raymond Waterways, please let them know.
For more details, visit the Volunteers page at raymondwaterways.org. <
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