Otter Lake Ratepayers' Association (OLRA)

OLRA

Bulletins

OLRA’s 2022 BBQ and Lake Stewardship Raffle- Fun had by all!

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The Grand Tappattoo Resort’s lovely air conditioned facility and buffet dinner were much appreciated during a fun filled OLRA BBQ on Aug. 6th. The event raised $670 for OLRA’s lake stewardship initiatives (eDNA sampling to detect biodiversity, benthos and water quality monitoring). Thank you very much to all the generous (mostly local) vendors who donated a wide variety of raffle prizes and to those who entered!

Everyone learned something in the OLRA Lake Trivia contest with the winning team (Mario and Bev Buszynski, Barbara and Stu Beecroft, Tony and Margaret Buszynski, and Deb, Jeff and Megan Smith) receiving Otter Lake mugs as prizes. Congrats!!

As well, Christopher Whitman brought a variety of his unique wooden flag creations for sale and to seed ideas for custom orders.

Many thanks go to Susan Shackleton, Sales Manager at Stirling Hotels Canada and the team at the Grand Tappattoo Resort for hosting us. We are lucky to have such a facility on our lake!

Thanks also go to all the OLRA volunteers who made this event such a success: Gerry Doyle, Marty Chepesiuk, Denise Exler, AJ Mueller, Rob Cribbie, Brad Chittick and Kerry Mueller.

OLRA’s New eDNA Sampling Workshop

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2022-08-06-eDNA-workshop-crDownload

Sunday Aug. 6th OLRA held an eDNA sampling workshop kicking off our eDNA project. Ecologist Cameron Von Bratt of Freshwater Ecosystem Services, explained the importance of biodiversity to the survival of all life, especially species like humans and loons who are at the top of their food chains. eDNA analysis makes detecting and monitoring biodiversity much more efficient, affordable and simpler than ever before. Citizen scientists can be instrumental in gathering such data.

Nature Metrics (Guelph) supplied OLRA with 9 sampling kits, 6 of which were used to sample sites where water flows into Otter Lake and Little Otter Lake from other lakes and wetlands. This will give us biodiversity info about our lakes as well as those other water bodies in our watershed such as Salmon Lake, Rankin Lake and Sovereign Lake. (See map here.)

Species on earth are disappearing at an alarming rate. Historically it has been very expensive and time consuming to monitor biodiversity so it did not get done. However, this new eDNA technology is helping to economically identify species that were in water during in the last 24 – 72 hours by identifying their DNA shed in the water.

There is a fast growing database of DNA “fingerprints” of organism worldwide. The samples OLRA collects will be analyzed, contribute to this growing database and also kept on file at Nature Metrics so that they can be re-assessed as new species’ DNA information becomes available. For more info on eDNA analysis check out the Nature Metrics website and video here.

Thanks go to Brian Hindley and Cameron Von Bratt who took the samples and to all who participated in the workshop too (L-R in photo Mary and Richard Hood, Nicole Mailloux, Cameron Von Bratt, Brad Chittick, Brian Hindley and photographer Kerry Mueller). Thanks also go to the Chitticks for the use of their tent and property.

Look for more news on this project in our fall newsletter.

OLRA’s 2022 Photo Contest is ON!

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It is time to grab your phone or camera and click away so you can share your Otter Lake memories with
us all! There are prizes to be won too! For contest rules and to see past winners check out our Galleries here.

Otter Lake Boat Parade July 2nd 2022 – Check out all the great pics in our photo Galleries

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The Link Family receives the trophy for the Best Overall entry

What a fabulous day we had despite the blustery weather! Our second annual Otter Lake Canada Day Boat Parade was awesome with 15 incredibly decorated boats participating. A fun and festive time was had by all; from the crews on the boat entries to those watching from both water and dock. 

Thank you to Jeff and Deb Smith, owners of the Otter Lake Marina, for generously donating 2 adult sweatshirts as prizes, as well providing a space  for our judging panel on the marina docks.

A big shout out to Dianne and Dave Amy for handling the registration on their pontoon boat before the parade. Another big acknowledgement to our judges, Kim Karges, Brent Osborne and Denise Exler. Our lead boat was captained by Nicole Mailloux and Brian Hindley, while the end of the parade line was held by John Exler.

The judges had a very tough time choosing the winners as there were so many incredible entries. It was so amazing to see the amount of effort and imagination that went into decorating your boats. But here are the winners:

Most Creative
Boat #15
Al Hanks and Crew
Winner of an Adult Sweatshirt – courtesy of Otter Lake Marina

Most Otter Lake Spirit
Boat #16
Morris Eddy and Crew
Winner of an Adult Sweatshirt – courtesy of Otter Lake Marina

Most Patriotic
Boat #22
Kevin Westra and Crew
Winner of an Adult Sweatshirt from Otter Lake Marina – courtesy of OLRA

Best Overall
Boat #13
The Link Family
Winners of a $100 Otter Lake Marina gift certificate – courtesy of OLRA
Recipient of Otter Lake Boat Parade Trophy

Thank you to our photographers, Terry McGlade and Gerry Doyle. If you would like a picture of your boat in the parade, please let Gerry know and include the entry number in your email to gjdoyle@me.com. Many other photos of the day are in our website photo Galleries,  our FaceBook page for OLRA Otter Lake as well as will be in upcoming newsletters and email updates.

Our beautiful historic trophy awarded to Best Overall was originally used as the trophy in the Otter Lake Boat Regatta in the 1990’s. How cool is that! Many thanks to Bev Milligan and Roland Weinman for donating.

We welcome any constructive feedback on how we can improve the parade for next year.

Many thanks for being part of our wonderful day. We look forward to having a bigger and less windy event next year! 

OLRA Boat Parade Committee : Denise Exler, Nicole Mailloux, Gerry Doyle and Kerry Mueller

2022 OLRA Boat Parade on July 2nd!

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Registration on now. Read on for more info…

For those of you planning to participate in the Canada Day Parade on July 2nd (rain date July 3rd), we are asking you to register by email to speed up the process so that we can smoothly get on our way on parade day. Also it helps us to know how many boats to expect. 
In order to register, please send the following information to Denise at otterlakepix@kmueller

Boat Captain’s Name: Cell Number: Mailing Address:

Boat Colour/Make:

Are you or your family current members of OLRA: Y or N?  

Here’s more Rah Rah Rah and Details you otter know:
What better way to celebrate Canada Day than to join OLRA’s second annual boat parade on Otter Lake.Calling all boat captains….round up your crew and decorate your boat doing Canada Proud! It’s time to have fun!! 
Our goal is to bring our community together in a family fun event and there’s great prizes up for grabs for those who really go all out.
Our categories are: Most Patriotic, Most Creative and Most Otter Lake Spirit. Category Prizes are worth over $50! Big shout out to the Otter Lake Marina for donating two prizes!
The Best Overall Winner goes home with a cool Otter Lake trophy, bragging rights and $100 gift certificate for Otter Lake Marina!
We’ve attached the one hour parade route so that you can invite neighbours, friends and family to view the parade from shore, dock or boat. If any inclement weather or safety concerns occur, then the route is at the discretion of the lead boat and may change during the parade. 
Here’s the details:

  • Takes place Saturday, July 2nd  2-4 pm, Raindate: July 3rd 2-4 pm  (Registration starts at 1:30)
  • We will be assembling for registration, line-up and orientation near the Otter Lake Marina. Look for the pontoon boat with the OLRA Banner on it. 
  • Each boat, once registered, receives a number card to hold up as you cruise by the judges on the Otter Lake Marina docks.
  • To register we need the boat captain’s name, cell number and mailing address and your acknowledgement of any covid protocols at the time.
  • Winners will be announced at the parade end to the participants over megaphone and they will proceed to the judges (Otter Lake Marina) to pick up their prizes and have their pictures taken.

Rules, Rules, Rules:

  • Only parade registered OLRA members are eligible for prizes, all Otter Lake residents are welcome to join in.
  • Boats must stay in line at the travel speed of the lead boat, about 6 knots. 
  • Only motorized boats that can keep pace may participate.
  • Music must be played at a respectful level to all lake residents.
  • Decorate your boat with respect to the environment. Tissue paper floating in the lake is not a good thing.
  • Boat captains agree to adhere to all government laws and regulations pertaining to safe boating procedures.
  • You gotta have fun!

Questions? Contact me at otterlakepix@gmail.com for more info.


Looking forward to the parade:)
Denise ExlerOLRA Boat Parade Committee