Special Interest Articles: • Pollen All Over Ourselves: A Natural Lake Phenomenon • Basket Cases: The Annual Picnic • Three Sheets To The Wind: Annual Sailing Regatta • Speedo Demons: Swim Meet • Puttering Around: 2006 Golf Tournament • Message In A Bottle (and other Vial Subjects): Emergency Preparedness at the Cottage • Avoiding Nautical Naughtiness: Boating Etiquette • Rocks and Hard Places: A Message From Our Shoal-Keepers • In Our Sites: TMLCC Web Site Statistics
		Three Mile Lake Community Club Post Office Box 291, Burk’s Falls, ON P0A 1C0 Email: 3milelake@cogeco.ca
		Another Summer Season Begins…
			Welcome back for another summer! For the 4-season cottagers, it means putting away the winter toys and pulling out the summer ones. For the May-to-October visitors, it means the excitement of opening up the cottage for another year. Most things look familiar this summer, but some of our surroundings are changing. The Highway 11	four-laning has reached the Katrine area. Tree clearing is finished and work on the actual highway starts this summer. On the Lake this year we will continue to organize our annual TMLCC events. The return of the Family Picnic, Swim Meet and Sailing Regatta were huge successes last year and will be back for 2006. And	another mainstay on the Lake, the annual Golf Tournament, is back as well. Last Blackfly Season, we introduced the new TMLCC web site (3milelake.org) with our Frisbee campaign. This year, we bring you the Vials of Life, a campaign aimed at the safety of your family in case of emergency. See the full story on Page 3. From the Directorship and Executive of the Three Mile Lake Community Club, we hope you have a great year!
		Lake Stewards: Keeping An Eye on Water Quality
			Docktalk is a province-wide Lake Stewardship program organized by the Federation of Ontario Cottagers’ Associations (FOCA). Its goal is to help protect our shorelines through education and special programs. Three Mile Lake has been fortunate to have the services of our Lake Steward representative, Ken Watson, for many years..since 1970, to be exact! Ken’s knowledge and dedication have been key to our remaining active with the Lake Stewardship	program. Due to his busy schedule, Ken will be stepping aside this year. We thank him for his many hours of volunteer work in order to help us maintain our excellent lake quality. With Ken’s departure, we welcome two new volunteers from the TMLCC Directors list to this role. Steve Foster and Tim Taylor have graciously offered to take on this important activity. Most of you have likely heard of the water problems encountered at	the ‘other’ Three Mile Lake in Muskoka last summer. Diligence in testing our lake and educating Lake residents on environmental concerns is key to maintaining water quality, understanding natural and unnatural changes in patterns, and ultimately maintaining the lifestyle we look forward to enjoying at Three Mile Lake.

Are You Shore of Yourself? Take a look at your shoreline this year. Is it environmentally-friendly? Does your dock take up minimal footprint in the Lake and use materials which won’t damage the water or local habitat? Do you have structures which are in need of repair or replacement, or perhaps which should be removed? The entire Lake benefits if we maintain the natural beauty of our surroundings.
	Pollen All Over Ourselves: What’s That In The Lake?
				conditions occurred last year when we had the warmest summer in 27 years”, said Pam in an email to the TMLCC. “The trees (poplar and birch) and some plants (dandelions) have gone into overdrive reproducing”. Your decks and cars are likely covered with the same thing this Spring. The Lake Stewards at TMLCC will continue to monitor the situation.
			that pollen and dandelion seeds appear to be the culprits. According to Pam Griffiths with the Lake Partner Program at the Ministry of the Environment, the hot weather from last summer is to blame. “Trees will tend to reproduce in huge quantity when times of drastic conditions occur. Such
		Many Three Mile Lakers coming up north in late May and early June noticed something different in the Lake, initially sparking fears that something was wrong with the water. A thick yellowy-green tinge was noticeable, and the clarity of the Lake was not what it normally would be. Some inquiries by members of the TMLCC revealed

	(Picnic) Basket Cases: Annual Picnic August 5, 2006
Keep The Green Green Grass Back Home Rich, green lawns are not part of the natural landscape of the Near North. Any fertilizers or pesticides used to maintain lawns near the shore line will end up in our Lake. And geese are naturally attracted to open lawns, adding their own ‘fertilizer’ to the mix. We suggest leaving the landscape as natural as possible for the good of the Lake and the environment. Keep lawns to a minimum, and stay away from any fertilizers or pesticides.
		The re-introduction of the Three Mile Lake Family Picnic in 2005 was a huge success. We’re pleased to announce that Sharon Sheils and her army of volunteers will again organize the Picnic for the	long August weekend (Saturday, August 5, 2006). Games, races, BBQ and, of course, the traditional East Versus West Tug-O’-War will be part of the festivities. Sharon is	looking for volunteers to help out for short periods on Picnic Day. She can be reached at 705-382-2736 or 705-787-0861, or email sasm@vianet.ca. Come out and make this year another successful one!

		Three Sheets to the Wind: Annual Sailing Regatta
			For those who’s version of ‘looking for something On Sail’ is a bit different, Gord Isbister will again be holding a Sailing Regatta
	Speedo Demons: Annual Three Mile Lake Swim Meet
Would you like ice with that? “Our Community Works” is a fundraising campaign to raise money for the arena in Burk’s Falls. The campaign is looking for enough money to improve the current arena and add year-round ice. A Three Mile Lake summer hockey team to challenge other local lakes, perhaps?! See the ‘Cottage Links’ page on the www.3milelake.org web site for more info.
					enter by giving Jay a call at 705-382-5344.
			Saturday, August 5, 2006 will be a busy day. Prior to the Picnic, Jay Kyle will again organize a Three Mile Lake Swim Challenge. All ages can
	Puttering Around: 2006 Three Mile Golf Tournament
	After swimming, picnicking and sailing on Saturday, August 5, join us for the 2006 Golf Tournament held at the Katrine Golf Club. Tee-off time is 8:30am on Sunday, August					Lori or Wendy @ 705-382-5344. Come out and show us how much drive you really have.
				6, 2006. This event has been a huge success, and will once again be organized by Lori Kyle and Wendy Teufel. Those interested should contact

Message In A Bottle: Preparing For An Emergency

Ramping Up… For those who are tired of getting ‘hitched’ at the boat launch, some improvements were made to the ramp in early June…				donation to the Miles of Coins 2006 fundraising campaign. The Health Centre’s goal this year is to raise $7,800 to purchase new equipment, including a portable blood pressure machine, a Zoll rhythm generator and portable I.V. poles. Last year’s fundraising campaign collected $12,000 for critical equipment. Donations can be sent any time to the Burk’s Falls & District Health Centre, P.O. Box 553, Burk’s Falls, ON, P0A 1C0.
Hit Us With Your Best Shot… Did you know that for the one year period between June 1, 2005 and May 31, 2006, the Three Mile Lake web site had over 9,000 ‘hits’? Let us know what we can add to keep you coming back …
	Avoiding Nautical Naughtiness: Boating Etiquette
	A summer day at the cottage offers many opportunities to enjoy many different types of watersports. And because the types of boating vary from canoes and kayaks up to speedboats and Sea-Doos, we’d like to remind everyone who uses Three Mile Lake to use some common-sense etiquette.	There are no hard and fast rules here, just some simple guidelines. Wherever possible, we suggest that the ‘tamer’ boat users such as canoes, fishermen who are trolling, and paddleboats should have priority in the morning and the late evening. Tubing and Sea-Doo’ing should be reserved			for the afternoon hours (lunch time till dinner time or early evening). This allows everyone to have a chance to enjoy the Lake the way they like, and also provides an increased sense of safety for everyone.
A Taxing Situation… Local residents will have noticed a huge increase in MPAC property assessments with their last MPAC notice. The deadline for disputing your own assessment has been extended to June 30, 2006. Visit www.mpac.ca for more information.
Don’t forget… TMLCC Annual Meeting: Sunday, July 2 @ 10:00am at the Katrine Community Centre…
	In Our Sites: Update From The Three Mile Web Site
	The Three Mile Lake Community Club web site (www.3milelake.org) has been up and running since October of 2004. The site has been very successful in its goal of keeping TMLCC members up to date with happenings in and around the Lake. The average ‘hit’ rate to the site has been roughly 25-30 per day		consistently throughout the year. Stories on the site are added or updated on a weekly or bi-weekly basis (as time permits). This past winter, we added a new ‘Marketplace’ link to allow people local to the Lake an opportunity to list items they have for sale (or giveaway) to other TMLCC members. Local weather forecasts,		traffic and construction updates, and power outages are available, along with local interest stories and links to other web sites of interest. The site has also generated a lot of traffic from individuals interested in learning about Three Mile Lake or purchasing property in the area.

	For any questions or suggestions for either the www.3milelake.org web site or the Three Mile Lake Barnacle Newsletter, please contact Rod Ward at Rod.Ward@cogeco.ca or 705-382-1440.