Lake Appreciation; What It Means To Me

July is Lake Appreciation Month according to the North American Lake Management Society. That has me really thinking about what it means to appreciate a lake. From growing up on a small lake with a Jon boat and a 5hp motor, to traveling lakes for a living now. It's been a wild ride and my appreciation for lakes has evolved.

Lake Appreciation - The Early Days

My early days started on Eliza Lake in Michigan. It was a small lake and infested with aquatic plants. My dad always said it was fertilizer run off from the nearby golf course. It really wasn't a lake for watersports or fishing for that matter. I was young and it was fun to cruise around but I didn't have the appreciation for the lake like I should have. I appreciated a way sneak away and smoke a few cigarettes the most.

Fast forward 30 some years and I get a wild hair to buy a boat. Something about being on the water was calling my name. I found an amazing little Bayliner Bowrider and started weekly trips to the local lake. That Lake was Lake Blackshear in Cordele, GA. I kept my boat there for years, and while I didn't quite have the appreciation for lakes as I do now, I caught the fever those years. I started to appreciate nature more, sunsets, and soaking up the sun. There was a very nice resort that we pretty much became weekend regulars at. I kept my boat at their marina and spend countless hours listening to live music at their outdoor restaurant. I appreciated Lake Weekends, floating the day away at the sand bar was the way to soothe my soul.

Lake Appreciation - Sunsets and Floating

My real appreciation for a lake was when I moved my boat up to Lake Tobesofkee in Macon, GA. That's where I found my island. It's a small island, most call it duck poop island. It's the only place on the Lake that has a sand bar and lines up perfectly with the sunset. That island is where I found my appreciation for lakes. Life changes in crazy ways, but that little island helped me through a few rough patches in my life. The sunsets, the geese that would take up residency to hatch their eggs. Every 2 years, when they would lower the lake, I would kayak on out there and spend hours cleaning up trash that others left during the season. My appreciation for that little island on Lake Tobo will always have a place in my heart.

Lake Tobesofkee, the lake that started it all. During Covid, one of our businesses was pretty much shut down. However, we had an idea to market a new product. Metal Lake Maps, we had previously made one for the little lakeside restaurant on Tobo and actually received a few orders. People were flocking to lakes in the Southeast, lakes were not shut down, restaurants were not shut down, realtors were not shut down. In fact, all three of those were booming!

Can I Market to Lakes?

We decided to market lakes, one by one, feet on the street. I found that realtors loved our maps as closing gifts, therefore I found every lake related realtor (while visiting said lake) that I could and showed them our maps and left my wholesale info. We also found that restaurants do not use wall space to make money. In fact, wall decor costs them money. I would walk in, grab a beer at the bar ask for the owner and offer to give them one of our maps for free, with the handshake agreement that they would pass out a business card when a patron asks. Best dang marking money spend EVER! If you are a Lakeside Restaurant in need of free Wall Decor, or a Realtor looking for the best closing gift ever, reach out to us!!

As I traveled various lakes my appreciation for them really grew. The various reasons they were constructed, their history, their lake ecosystems, parks, trails, sights and sounds.... I was traveling to a new lake each week and my job was to drive around and give away free stuff?

Lake Appreciation - The True Heros

While I still appreciate every lake I visit, what I’ve come to realize is my appreciation organizations like The Coosa River Keepers Association, Lake Murray Association, Lake Blue Ridge Civic Association and Friends of Lake Keowee Society. These community-based groups that watch for the wellbeing of their lake and the people who enjoy the resources. From shoreline management, clean-up days, water quality, safe and sound legislation, these Lake Based groups are the ones who really deserve my appreciation. Just check out a small sampling of what F.O.L.K.S. has done for lake Keowee:

• 30 Years of Lake Sweeps, Island Cleanups, and Boat Ramp Cleanups
• Habitat Enhancement Programs
• Installation of 6 Osprey Nests Constructed
• Placed 180 Fish Attractors
• Lead the effort to add riprap to specific areas of shoreline at heron nesting islands
• Assembled and installed 20 fishing tackle disposal containers
• Purchased and installed 75 Eastern Bluebird nesting boxes
• Planted over 8,000 native aquatic plants for fish habitat enhancement
• Performed decades of water quality monitoring
• Provide Adopt-a-Stream stream monitoring in several streams in the watershed
• Provided technical support in development of the 2020 Lake Keowee Watershed Basin Plan
• FOLKS was recognized by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or efforts to improve water quality in the Cane and Little Cane Creek Watershed The South Carolina Environmental Foundation.
• FOLKS received the Honor Roll Award from the Izaac Walton League for promoting good conservation and stewardship.

If you can’t appreciate what F.O.L.K.S. does for Keowee, then you really can’t say you “Live Lake Love!”

So while July is Lake Appreciation month, take a few minutes and look up your lake's local conservation group and spend a few hours volunteering, I know they will appreciate it!