Hi All,

Unfortunately, as some of you were aware, the web connection at Edge Lake Farm was not strong enough to allow us to do a virtual meeting and as such, we did not get a recording of the meeting. 

However, as usual, the annual meeting minutes, the presentation by Nisa Marks of NH DES, the auditors report and the resources for homeowners that includes a link to a list of native plants are now on the PLA website.  You can access the minutes, Nisa’s presentation and the auditor report at this link ….  PLA Annual Meeting Minutes | Province Lake Association

You can access the Resources for homeowners including native plants list at this link …  Important Info | Province Lake Association

Enjoy the read.

The PLA

PLA Members,

One of our long-time Board members (and loon aficionado!), Thom Townsend, has put together the attached PDF – “Loon-ing on Province Lake” for your reading enjoyment.

The PDF includes history of the loons on Province Lake, along with data that has been tracked over the years.

Thank you Thom for putting this together!

Kind regards,

Ryan Ruel (PLA VP)

https://provincelake.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Loon-ing-On-Province-Lake.pdf

Hello PLA Community,

The Wakefield Chamber of Commerce asked us to share this link with our membership. This year is the 250th birthday of Wakefield, NH and there will be many events throughout the year to commemorate this milestone.

Jim Aiken
President – Province Lake Association

Wakefield NH 250 Year Celebration Link

https://wakefield250.com/

Hello Province Lake Community,
Paul Everberg has graciously shared this sad story about the loss of his father with the PLA and has agreed that it should be shared with our distribution.  While it tells the story of tragic loss, it is also a rich historical story of something that happened on Province Lake.
Thanks so much for sharing this with us Paul,

Jim Aiken
Province Lake Association

Dear Association Chairman,
My name is Paul David Everberg  –  I believe I’m still a member in good standing  –  I appreciate your newsy & informative emails  –  most everything I receive from you is pleasant reading  –  unfortunately the lake has experienced some tragedy in the past  –  my family is one that experienced some of that.
  My family has owned property on Pocket Mountain – Effingham, overlooking Province Lake since the late 1920’s  –  on property settled by Timothy Young back in 1797.My Dad, Paul Gustave Everberg and my Mother’s Dad, Carl Alfred Hakanson, were best fishing buddies and Province Lake was their favorite place to fish  –  they also liked trout fishing in the many area streams. The unfortunate part of my story is that my Dad drowned in Province Lake on Nov. 5th, 1939 while fishing with my Grandfather. I will attach a 3 part Newsclip from the Boston Globe Newspaper reporting on the drowning. 
I was only 19 months old at the time and my Mother was pregnant with my brother Carl. After this tragedy, my family stayed away from Province Lake for a few years, but eventually the Family came back to enjoy the Lake. My brother and I became my Grandfather’s fishing buddies and we spent many early morning excursions trying to catch Pickerel and Bass  –  usually with great success. 
When I was fifteen years old, I developed an interest in building a Racing Boat during the summer while working in my Grandfather’s Greenhouses. By mid August I had finished building the boat and needed a Motor  –  a 10 HP Mercury with Quicksilver Lower Unit was the Motor of choice  –  but I had not earned enough money to afford one. So  –  I settled for an affordable 7.5 HP Scott Atwater. The Home Built Boat and the Scott Atwater Motor provided plenty of pleasure cruising around the Lake. 
I’ve attached a few photos taken at Province Lake  –  one circa 1945 showing my brother and me in an old row boat and another few showing my home built boat. Also a photo up on Pocket Mountain showing some proud fishermen and their “Catch of the Day”  
I hope that my email is not totally out of place  –  I just thought that you might find my story just a little bit interesting  –  thanks for reading  –  Paul Everberg 

This is a sequel to the 4 part series written by Thom Townsend about the 2 loon chicks we had on the lake in 2015. Thom wrote this in the spring of 2023 as a way of closing out the series, but also updating what has occurred since 2015. We hope you have enjoyed these. Thanks to Thom for documenting this. Also, thanks to Thom & Jan Townsend and Steve & Mary Craig for all their efforts in being our Loon advocates on the lake. Steve has for years been the keeper of the floating nest, making sure it is repaired each year and put back in in time for the mating season. Let’s hope we have a successful 2023!

Enjoy,
The PLA

https://provincelake.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/28-Days-on-a-Nest-Sequel.pdf

This is the last of the original documentation that Thom Townsend wrote about the 2 loon chicks we had on Province Lake back in 2015. Thom did write up a final summary as well and we will publish that soon. We hope you enjoy this short section.

The PLA

https://provincelake.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/28-Days-on-a-Nest-section-4.pdf

The third part of the loon chick story can be read at this link ……

https://provincelake.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/28-Days-on-a-Nest-section-3.pdf

As promised here is part two of the Thom Townsend loon story. Enjoy!

https://provincelake.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/28-Days-on-a-Nest-section-2.pdf

This is part 1 of a 4 part story of the 2 loon chicks that successfully hatched and fledged here on Province Lake. This was documented by one of our PLA Board members and co-Loon watcher Thom Townsend.

https://provincelake.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/28-Days-on-a-Nest-section-1.pdf

A question was raised at the annual meeting about all the Canadian Geese on the lake and if anything can be done or is being done by the PLA or Province Lake Golf to help minimize them.  Unfortunately, like ducks, the Canadian Goose is a protected migratory bird and can only be hunted with a hunting license and stamp during the normal hunting season or with a Fedreal permit.  So, the short answer is that the PLA or golf course isn’t actively doing anything.

There are several things that we can do without a license or permit such as ….

DON’T FEED THEM!

Scare them off with loud noises.

Block their view of lawns

As part of the PLA’s mission we are to educate and communicate with our members and community information for the well being of the lake and the habitat of the lake.  As such, attached are a couple of documents for your reading pleasure that explains these majestic birds and things that can be done.  One is from NH DES and one from NH Lakes.  Note that most of this applies to ducks as well as they can cause water quality issues.

Enjoy!

The PLA

Canadian Geese NH DES Fact Sheet

Canadian Geese NH Lakes