Association’s Boat Parade Honors Scottie Baker, Otsego Lake

By WRILEY NELSON
OTSEGO LAKE

The Otsego Lake Association held its 11th Annual Boat Parade on the southern end of the lake on Saturday, July 6. The two dozen brightly decorated boats progressed from Brookwood Point to Lakefront Park in the traditional event to celebrate and protect the region’s greatest natural asset. This year, OLA and the community also honored OLA Vice President Scottie Baker, a beloved leader who passed away in April.

“Scottie joined OLA as a director representing the Town of Otsego in 2003, just a year after the organization was formed,” recalled Secretary Wayne Bunn. “She was co-president for a few years and then vice president, and always was incredibly passionate about the lake.”

Baker collected vintage boats, oars, and other equipment, and ran a furniture store in Fly Creek. She also edited the annual OLA “Our Glimmerglass” newsletter, which took first place in the New York State Federation of Lake Associations’ design contest three years in a row. Her children, Todd Baker and Tina Claiborne, along with their spouses, Cristin and Andy, led the parade from the SUNY Oneonta Biological Field Station research barge Anodontoides.

The parade’s atmosphere was festive, but ongoing ecological threats to Otsego Lake lurked in the background. A bloom of toxic Microcystis cyanobacteria was confirmed near Sunken Island on the morning of Wednesday, July 10. Lake users should exercise caution and avoid cloudy or discolored water and foam accumulations. Suspicious conditions may be reported using the New York State Harmful Algae Bloom tool at https://dec.ny.gov/environmental-protection/water/water-quality/harmful-algal-blooms/notifications#Report.

HABs are merely a symptom of large underlying ecological imbalances caused by invasive species and pollution, largely from sewerage and agricultural runoff. These factors are exacerbated by soil and coastline erosion, which can be worsened by boaters violating shoreline no-wake zones and by increasingly heavy rainstorms due to climate change. It can take decades for a water body’s ecosystem to return to full health even after these problems are brought under control. Communities across Otsego County and New York State will continue to face HABs for many years to come.

The Otsego Lake Watershed Supervisory Committee recently received multiple state and regional grants to complete New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Nine Element Plan testing.

“It was my hope for the Otsego Lake community to pioneer its way into the statewide queue for a 9EP while many new clean water-related funding opportunities are becoming available after the New York State Environmental Bond Act was enacted,” said BFS Biology Professor Kiyoko Yokota.

“Otsego Lake indeed was the first upstate waterbody outside of the Finger Lakes Region to receive the green light to start its 9EP processes,” Yokota said. “Being in the pipeline for a 9EP is opening new doors for the Otsego Lake community, as it increases the success rate for grant applications for related projects and the visibility in the statewide lake conservation community. For example, OLA has been approached by DEC in Albany regarding a new voluntary nutrient management program for the lakeside properties.”

To learn more about the Otsego Lake Association, or to get involved, visit otsegolakeassociation.org.