Recent Newsletter – Lakes Melissa & Sallie Improvement Association

June 2023 Membership update

06-29-2023 Newsletter

Hello Mel/Sallie Association Members,

Birch Burdick was elected as the New Mel/Sallie Association President at the Annual meeting!

Annual JULY 4th – 2023 Boat Parade

Join your neighbors in decorating your boat – and/or your home/dock –to celebrate our country’s independence.

10:30 am sharp, Counter-Clockwise in ODD years like this year.

Meet at the Shoreham channel inlet/outlet.

Traveling trophies for best decorated boats and best decorated properties.

Lake levels are high this year; parades should proceed accordingly.

RELAX — wave a lot! This is not a race. Make it a Fun and Safe Fourth of July! — Not Responsible For Accidents

All Watercraft Welcome. Decorations Not Required. Join In, Just for the Cruise

If you have a boat in the parade – send an email with a photo to your Beach Captain so they can easily identify your entrance into the parade.

Gail Tronnes, Commodore

Bears Sighted on West side of Lake Melissa:

Local DNR officials have reported a number of calls from homeowners on the west side of Lake Melissa.

Attached are a couple BearWise flyers that provide good tips for homeowners on removing attractants; the #1 reason bears visit homeowners is presence of food. This time of year – there are many 1yr old bears that have just been “kicked out of home” by momma. They are young and this is the first time they have been on their own, so they are kind of learning how to be a bear.

Also see the DNR bear webpage at Living with bears in Minnesota | Minnesota DNR (state.mn.us).

Directory Books

The New Mel/Sallie Directory Books are now available at the Mel/Sal Office.

The Mel Sallie Office is located across from the Shoreham Chapel will be open Saturdays and Sundays from 10-12 am starting June 3^rd thru September 2nd. Something new we are trying this year is also having the Office open the Third Thursday from 5-7 pm on June 15^th, July 20^th and August 17^th.

You can make a check out for $35 to: Mel/Sal Association.

If you want to pay Online: Please use the following Gomerchant website link to pay Homeowner fees and make donations to the Mel/Sal Foundation and Environmental funds. If you have participated in on-line payment in the past, you will receive an email following the payment transaction.
Please consider paying/donating on the 1st of any month to eliminate additional bank fees.

https://secure.goemerchant.com/secure/custompayment/lmsa2/6825/default.aspx?

We are looking for Volunteers to staff the office to Collect Payments, Hand out Directories, and sell Mel/Sal merchandise.

To sign up – click the link below and sign up.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040c4caea622a7fd0-melsal1#/

Lake Weed Removal Update:

As we shared several times last summer – the Pelican River Watershed District is no longer picking up weeds from the side of the road this summer.

Your options are:

Contact Miller Landscaping – and hire them to pickup your weeds from the roadside. Email (preferred): office@milleryardcareandconstruction.com

Phone: 218-849-9794.
Website: www.milleryardcareandconstruction.com

Take your Weeds to the Mill Pond Compost Site. This is where the Township would like residents from Sallie and Melissa to haul their lake weeds to. They have asked us to NOT bring any of our lake weeds to the Lake Sallie compost site. The Mill Pond Compost site is a very good site – and closer for almost all of the Lake Melissa residents.

Directions to the Mill Pond site: Head South on the West side of Lake Melissa – which is County Road 147. About ½ mile south of Lake Melissa you will intersect with Mill Pond Drive. Take a Left and head East about 2 blocks where you will see the entrance to the Mill Pond Compost site. Tree branches go on the Far West side, Grass on the North side, and Lake Weeds – on the East side. See your email for a map.

3. You can also take your weeds to the County Transfer Station – or as we refer to it as the City of Detroit Lakes Garbage Dump which is roughly 3 miles North of DL on Highway 59 on the West side of the road past the Animal Shelter.

Clean Up Week:

The LakeView township Cleanup week is now slated for 2 weekends this year. July 7-9th and July 14-16. The site will be open each day from 8-5 pm. The site is located about 2 miles EAST of the Roundabout on Highway 59 and County Road 22. Once you head east on the roundabout – take the first quick right on 130th Street – and head east until you hit the township site before the railroad tracks.

Here’s to a Great Summer at the Lakes!

Mel/Sallie Board and our new President Birch Burdick

2020 Summer Update

Friday, May 29, 20

SUBJECT: 2020 SUMMER NEWSLETTER

Dear Members,

Well it is good to be back at the lakes but who could have guessed under these circumstances, Life is known to throw curveballs but I don’t think any of us could have imagined the COVID 19 curveball. In light of this the Executive Committee has decided to postpone the Annual Meeting that was to be held at the Shoreham Chapel on Saturday 20 June to a date to be determined in August. The Office will stay closed until further notice but we do anticipate an opening in the future to have a closeout sale of clothes and other items. We will continue to monitor those things that we do normally such as the new Detroit Lakes Waste Water Treatment Plant, and AIS issues in the State and County. Gordy Knudsvig, our AIS Coordinator, will be liaising as usual with the DNR, the Pelican River Watershed District, MAISRC, and the Becker County Soil & Water Conservation District. Below is a list of other important issues:

1. The Beach Captain’s Meeting will be held on ZOOM at 10:30 AM on 13 June. Further details on how to connect will be provided by the Head Beach Captains.

2. The Boat Parade will take place this year on the Fourth of July, and starts at the Channel on both lakes at 10:30 AM. This year it will go clockwise given it is an even year. So put your thinking caps on for an innovative design for shore or boat. Look for posters announcing the Parade.

3. The 2020 – 2022 Melissa and Sallie Directory will soon be ready for distribution. Our plan is to distribute them on Saturday, 20 June, from 10 AM to 12 PM. For Lake Sallie members you can pick them up at a table in front of the Office, and for Melissa members at the table under the new Gazebo in front of the Shoreham Chapel. In order to get a new Directory you must have paid your $35.00 dues, or you can pay at the time of pick up. Please have exact dollars or a prewritten check to help us save time. We also ask you to be considerate of our volunteers manning the tables and our members in line and wear a mask and practice social distancing.

4. Lakeview Township and the Pelican River Watershed District have put out guidance recently on the pick up of aquatic vegetation around the lakes. Bottomline they will not pick up aquatic vegetation mixed with garbage, plastics, metal, glass, paper, garden waste, leaves, branches, grass clippings, lumber. Aquatic vegetation must be placed on your property and not placed on the road. If your pile is non compliant you will receive a stake with a sign on it telling the same.

5. The Lakeview Township “Clean Up Weekends” will be June 12 – 14 and June 19 – 21, back to back weekends. The flyers should be in the mail late next week.

6. The Home Tour has been postponed until next year. I want to thank Judy Hatlie and her volunteers for lining up homes for this year, this can sometimes be a real challenge.

7. Finally, I would like to mention our own Marsha Johansen’s Mother, Beverly Woodward Thompson, a longtime Lake Melissa resident who recently passed away and who asked that any Memorials consider contributions to the Lakes Melissa & Sallie Association. We truly appreciate Mrs. Thompson’s and her family’s thoughtfulness.

Well that’s it for now. I hope you all have a safe, healthy and happy Summer here in our beautiful lake country. These are strange and trying times but together we will get through them. I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible on 20 June as you pick up your new 2020 – 2022 Directory. Be well and stay safe!

Warm Regards,

Mike Becraft

President,

Lakes Melissa & Sallie Improvement Association

July news

BOAT PARADE RESULTS – 2018
At 10:15 our lakes were windy, cool with rain threatening. Most were nervous about yet another challenging day of parade weather. Fifteen minutes later the sun was bright, winds calm, and no rain. One of the best parade days in a decade or more! Melissa started with three boats but quickly grew to 25. And there were problems with the sound system, but everything else worked.

Melissa had competition for the parade with seasoned participants that are hard to beat. Once again the Swenson family on Dakotah Beach won best decorated pontoon with “‘Rockin’ the prehistoric 4th “ with a couple Wilma’s, Pebbles, BamBam, Dino and the gang.

The Hawaii Theme Pontoon was 2nd and The adorable Bubbles and Rubber Duckie certainly deserves honorable mention.

The ever coordinated Feder clan won the judges over for first for shore decorating and enthusiasm.

The Tupa family and an unidentified family tied for 2nd.

Sallie’s competition was spirited as always. The Okeson crew came in first in the boat parade with a MASH hospital theme.

Tied for second were the Michaelson crew with their ice cream truck and the Hatle crew with Queen Sallie beauty pageant float.

The Tool/Ferguson family on Fairhaven Beach won the shore decoration trophy with the Leverson family on Pebble Beach coming in second.

We want to give a special thanks to the judges who work hard to make the parade a success. We deeply appreciate your input and continue to ask for volunteers to help in future years. And to all the participants on and off the water – GREAT JOB, LOTS OF FUN!!

FOUND – BLUE KAYAK, McDonough Beach, Lake Sallie
A blue kayak washed up on our shore and is one our beach. Kathy Score NOTE: this happened several days ago, so it may already have been claimed. We normally do not send emails specifically for lost watercraft. MelSal assumes the owners will logically search the beaches nearby, taking into account the wind directions when watercraft were lost. With proposed new system for emails, it may be possible to more easily post such notices in a timely manner.

ASSOCIATION FEES DUE NOW
Attached are the forms to pay your fees and update Contact Information. These 2018 fees are past due!

PHOTOS OF BOAT PARADE AWARD WINNERS
If the winners of the trophies the this year’s boat parade would like to have a photo of their boat/beach included in upcoming newsletters, please email a computer file to me, with your name. Only computer (jpg or pdf) files will be accepted.

Melissa/Sallie Office Schedule: 10 AM – 1 PM

*Office will be open when volunteers are available to staff

Office Duties: