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Members of the We Can Row team that will be part of the Head of the Charles Regatta on Oct. 18 are, from left: coach and coxswain Anne Kelly, Donna DiMartino, Silvia Mueller, Michael Kelly, Benjamin Freund, Jacolyn Brown, Shelly Whitlock-Pope, Cicely Hajek and Jean Anderson.
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What began as a frightening common experience has brought together a group of residents who have achieved an amazing feat.
In 2004, Noreen Driscoll needed to do something to remember the friends she had lost to cancer and help others facing the disease. She’d held some memorials but decided to do more. She applied for and received a $5,000 Peloton Award for $5,000 and used that money to create Women Enduring Cancer, which transitioned into the Tri-State chapter of We Can Row.
Originally eight women signed up to row every week from May to October. The activity has been embraced by dozens of women over the past 20 years.
“There are so many benefits to rowing,” said Driscoll. “And being with people who are literally in the same boat with whom you can share stories is wonderful.”
Meeting with several of the members last week, the humorous banter was contagious; sometimes even irreverent. They can now joke about their diagnoses and as Juliet Moore said, she was originally turned down when she wanted to participate, but was told she didn’t qualify. “Then I had my first bout, and someone tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘Now you qualify.’”
Over the years, the women, most of whom had never before rowed, have participated in several regattas, but on Oct. 18, they are heading to one of the most prestigious, and grueling of them all — the Head of the Charles in Boston.
The event is organized by the Survivor Rowing Network, coordinated with the Head of the Charles Regatta giving an opportunity for cancer survivors to row at the regatta in the Survivor Rowing Exhibition. This race is not restricted to women, so there are men among the eight who will be rowing the distance of 4,702 meters. Silvia Mueller contacted the network and received the information. The team applied and was accepted.
Donna DiMartino is proud of the group’s participation in regattas, saying “We have a lot of experience to give.”
Also rowing will be Ben Freund, the first male to join the group. He suggested to his cousin Jacolyn Brown that she consider becoming part of the team and she has since become an active member. “It’s been so much fun,” she said. “At first, I was scared out of my wits, but now I find it exhilarating. We don’t sit around and talk about cancer. We laugh a lot.”
When Freund was diagnosed, he was first tapped to help carry the boat from the boathouse to the water. “Now that they accept men, I broke the glass ceiling,” he said.
Everyone in the group made mention of Washinee Lake on which they row and the magical powers it seems to hold for them. Moore, who is not among those going to Boston, described the beauty of the lake when the sun is setting and an eagle is spotted flying overhead.
She became a bit teary, saying, “This is the most incredible support group. They are such an important part of my life. I think of who we are and what we’ve done. We are there for each other 24/7.
Pauline Moore, who also is not taking part, described the overwhelming feeling of coming down the path and first seeing the lake. “It’s so inviting and encouraging.”
The idol of the team is Cicily Hajek, who will be rowing at age 84. She is ranked third in the world of rowers in her age bracket. Her determination and enthusiasm are evident from the many races she’s been in.
Others who have been central to the program are Carl Jenter, who lost his wife to cancer and has been a loyal driver of the motorized launch that accompanies the boat out on the water, and Dick Curtis, who coached the women for years.
The team is deeply indebted to Salisbury School for providing use of the boathouse and shell. In a note of thanks by member Jean Anderson, she said, “This isn’t a team that any of us tried out for. We individually showed up with our scars and our fears and our dreams. And you have provided us with a few hours each week of tranquility from our lives, our jobs and from cancer. The lake is teaching us to be whole again, reminding us to take it all in. It is all too perfect — really. We are very grateful.”
Driscoll, who is on vacation, wrote a note to the team. “To say that I am proud is truly an understatement. It’s more like I am overwhelmed with what a tiny spark of memories of some of my dearly lost friends has grown into. But the loss of those special friends has generated something that was unfathomable as I was going through my grieving stage. It has become a group of friends, and family support members, who truly embody the spirit of survivorship. The strength that we all get from each other is what carries this group forward on the lake, and in our personal lives and friendships that have been formed through WCR.”
The team will be made up of DiMartino, Mueller, Michael Kelly, Freund, Brown, Shelly Whitbeck Pope, Hajek and Anderson. Anne Kelly is coach and coxswain.
Those interested in learning more about We Can Row can go to rowstrong.org.
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Russ Conklin, vice president of lake management for the Twin Lakes Association gave an update on hydrilla during an Oct. 8 meeting of coalition members at O’Hara’s Landing Marina. Looking on, from far right: Bill Barton, TLA vice president, Kitty Kiefer, Salisbury selectwoman, Andrew Cahill of the Mudge Pond Association and Josh Burnside (standing), field technical resource for SePRO.
Debra A. Aleksinas
“Forevermore we are going to have to be hyper-vigilant. It came in once and it could come in again.”
—Grant Bogle, president of Twin Lakes Association
SALISBURY — An aggressive and costly three-year battle to rid East Twin Lake of a genetically unique strain of hydrilla that chokes lakes and obliterates native plants appears to have finally paid off.
“The good news is, the hydrilla is pretty much gone. We have not found anything,” George Knoecklein of Northeast Aquatic Research (NEAR), the Twin Lakes Association’s limnologist, reported during its fall coalition meeting of local, state and federal scientists, environmentalists and stakeholders on Tuesday, Oct. 8, at O’Hara’s Landing Marina.
The meeting’s location — several yards from where the first strand of the pernicious plant was discovered at the marina in May of 2022 and where a large sign now warns boaters of the threat — was a fitting backdrop for the 90-minute coalition meeting focused on managing the aquatic invader.
It is believed that the invasive weed, known as the Connecticut River Hydrilla, was introduced by hitching a ride with an unsuspecting boater.
Coalition partners included scientists and officials from the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, local lake associations, town and state officials and other stakeholders.
Three years ago East Twin became the first lake to discover the novel Connecticut River strain of hydrilla in its waters. Since then, it has been identified in 10 additional state lakes.
Coalition member Gregory Bugbee, associate scientist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station’s Office of Aquatic Invasive Species (CAES/OAIS), reported that an effort to inspect all 84 boat ramps in Connecticut this year yielded only one site where hydrilla was found.
The threat nonetheless has lake associations rattled. Several groups from around the Northwest Corner have turned to the TLA and its coalition for guidance, as hydrilla — once established — is notoriously difficult to eradicate.
Herbicide’s impact
The meeting centered on this past summer’s success as well as collateral damage to a native plant, water marigold, following the TLA’s whole-lake treatment with the herbicide fluoridone.
Domenic Meringolo, environmental engineer and project manager with SOLitude Lake Management, said this summer’s treatment with Sonar, SePRO’s flagship aquatic solution, was more successful than prior spot treatments using the systemic herbicide ProcellaCOR.
While the ProcellaCOR failed to kill hydrilla, it was “beautifully effective” on ridding the lake of Eurasian watermilfoil, said Knoecklein. “It became pretty clear that the whack-a-mole strategy wasn’t going to work” on hydrilla.
The SOLitude project manager noted that the two-to-five parts per billion (ppb) concentration of fluoridone used throughout this summer at East Twin was to selectively control hydrilla while minimally affecting native aquatic plants at low concentration.
While the Sonar destroyed the hydrilla, it had an unintended ecological impact on one of the lake’s native aquatic species, Bidens beckii, commonly known as water marigold. The Bidens is a state protected plant that had been growing profusely in East Twin.
“This year, we couldn’t find it,” reported NEAR’S Knoecklein.
Of the 54 species of aquatic plants documented in East Twin Lake, the Bidens beckii was the only one adversely affected by the treatment, he explained. “We have more of it in Middle Twin, and there’s a very good indication that nothing else was impacted here.”
Knoecklein said he has been in contact with DEEP’s Natural Diversity Database (NDDB) regarding the loss of Bidens beckii.
“It was not completely unexpected, but we’ll be watching very closely next year,” he said. “I am hoping for some recovery.”
A diver is expected to re-inspect the lake this week.
“The hydrilla game has really become both surface visualization and looking for hydrilla in deeper waters,” said Knoecklein. “You can’t combat hydrilla in a lake without using these strategies.”
The TLA limnologist noted that prior dives found both young hydrilla plants and larger established ones.
“My suspicion is that this has been in the lake for four years and turned into a fort during that time, with massive plants six feet tall and lots of shoots. We had to move water lilies to find hydrilla growing under those plants.”
A sign warning boaters of the hydrilla threat at O’Hara’s Landing Marina stands in the location where the invasive weed was discovered at East Twin Lake in May of 2022. Debra A. Aleksinas
Lessons learned, lessons shared
The forum touched on the soaring costs of lake management, a concern to the TLA as well as smaller lake groups with limited funds and resources.
TLA’s annual lake management expenditures have increased tenfold — from about $50,000 per year to as much as $500,000 for the foreseeable future — as the association continues its intensive monitoring, testing, and prevention efforts.
Despite those costs, officials emphasized that East Twin’s experience offers valuable lessons for other lakes confronting hydrilla for the first time or preparing for an invasion.
Representatives from the Lake Wononscopomuc Association and Mt. Riga Inc., in Salisbury, attended the fall coalition meeting, along with officials from Mudge Pond Association in Sharon and Doolittle and Benedict Pond in northeastern Norfolk.
Christina Astrove, lake board president representing Doolittle and Benedict, was a first-time attendee. She was hoping to learn about how the TLA has been dealing with hydrilla and what steps are being taken to control and eradicate the worrisome weed.
While her lake community is private and prohibits motorboats, she is “very concerned” about the looming threat.
“I attended a Connecticut Federation of Lakes meeting this spring and have taken several webinars” on the topic, noted Astrove. “It’s scary.”
Mudge Pond representative Andrew Cahill said his group is bracing for hydrilla’s arrival due to high boat traffic.
“We have everything but hydrilla at this point, but I’m sure we will have it at some point.”
TLA President Grant Bogle said he is pleased to share information from lessons learned. “The goal is not only to support Twin Lakes, but to spread the word. It takes a village, literally, to address this threat.”
TLA officials said they have been fielding calls from lake associations throughout the United States seeking advice and guidance, and they are happy to share.
CAES’ Bugbee praised the Twin Lakes group’s aggressive response to the hydrilla threat, swift creation of its coalition of advisors and for sharing their collective knowledge. “This organization is second to none. It’s almost like a poster child for how things should be done.”
Knoecklein said despite vigilant surveillance of boat ramps and closing lakes off to the public, the hydrilla threat persists.
“In my opinion all possible vectors are on the table,” including recreational fishing and birds flying overhead dropping plant fragments.
Grant Bogle, TLA association president, agreed that “surveillance is key.”
“While we have good news to report in terms of hydrilla, this isn’t over. Forevermore we are going to have to be hyper-vigilant, no matter what happens down the road. It came in once and it could come in again.”
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CORNWALL — Connecticut Department of Transportation cannot sign off on a new sidewalk and crosswalk in Cornwall Bridge until the parking lot used by Cornwall Market is reconfigured.
The plan to improve walkability on Route 7 received grant approval from the Transportation Rural Improvement Program more than a year ago but remains but to date little progress has been made. The project aims to build a sidewalk from the firehouse to Cornwall Market and a crosswalk to the other side of the road with accessible landings on both sides.
Despite TRIP approval, DOT has yet to approve the work. Cornwall was informed that changes must be made to the market’s lot before moving forward.
The Board of Selectmen reviewed the situation at a regular meeting Tuesday, Oct. 7. First Selectman Gordon Ridgway was hopeful the added work can be covered by the grant, which awarded about $800,000 toward the project.
“DOT did not like the 70-foot aprons there,” Ridgway said of the entrance to the parking lot.
By changing the entrance and reworking the parking configuration, he explained, “It controls traffic a lot more” and removes the “Wild West” style approach of the current layout.
At present, employees of the market utilize the firehouse parking lot. The proposed reconfiguration would pave the grassy plot off to the side and would add more spaces for staff and the public.
“This is a significant municipal enhancement that hopefully can be incorporated into that grant,” said Ridgway.
The draft plan was sent to the state for review.
Town Meeting Nov. 8
Cornwall will hold a town meeting at Cornwall Consolidated School Friday, Nov. 8, at 7:30 p.m.
The meeting will be to review and approve the annual town report and the new 5-year plan.
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A strong show of solidarity is seen at Project Sage’s annual Community Vigil on Thursday, Oct. 9, at Community Park in Lakeville. The event is aimed at bringing attention to the issue of domestic violence.
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