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The Official Newsletter of the Queechy Lake Club
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The Queechy Lake Club’s primary objective is to preserve and protect the beauty and purity of Queechy Lake.
Happy Summer!
 
This year the Queechy Lake Club would like to start collecting copies of old (and even some new) photos from our members that show lake life through the years. We'll share them in the Queechy Times and on our QLC Facebook page. To kick us off, here are pictures from the 1978 & 1979 Boat Parades, courtesy of Patsy McDonald. Recognize anyone? Please email any photos you'd like to share to QueechyLakeClub@gmail.com.
Now you can pay your 2018 dues online via PayPal!
Click here.
Berkshire Farm Update 
by Caitlin Schwager

At the May QLC Board Meeting, Jim Dennis, the CEO of Berkshire Farm came to give us an update about the changes and growth at Berkshire Farm over the past year. Good news! Berkshire Farm is in good financial shape and remains an essential child welfare agency in the state of New York. 

While most of us on the lake are probably most familiar with their residential school, the not-for-profit Berkshire Farm Center & Services for Youth also has thriving community-based programming, foster care services, and has recently added 4-6 month substance abuse and dual-diagnosis programs, run by a team of psychiatrists and other mental health professionals. 

Berkshire Farm operates on a treatment and recovery model, and strives to keep kids in their community and with their families during treatment whenever possible. It's important to note that as best practices for treatment models have evolved, New York State residential youth placements are at all-time low across the state. Typically, treatment outcomes are better when kids remain in their communities. This is a shift for the Berkshire Farm campus - which once housed up to 250 kids several decades ago - but Berkshire Farm is making adjustments to balance the cost of maintaining the campus with the tremendous growth in community-based programming. Berkshire Farm remains committed to preserving its many acres of land, lakefront and keeping Queechy Lake healthy and clean.


At a Glance
  • Berkshire Farm works with adolescents ages 12-17.
  • The staffing ratio has improved to 3-1 kids/staff from 4-1, and hiring standards have increased.
  • Berkshire Farm serves 462 foster kids, runs 6 group homes, and facilitates 50 prevention programs with the goal of keeping families together and safe. 
  • The residential program is budgeted for 54 kids, and will never exceed 60. 
  • As of May 19th, there are 42 kids in residence & up to 16 day students enrolled at the school.
  • On weekends, kids in residence can and are encouraged to go to stay with their families. 
  • Berkshire Farm works to make arrangements for students who have nowhere to go to stay with therapeutic foster families for the weekends.
To learn more about Berkshire Farm and all of the services they provide, please visit www.berkshirefarm.org.
To join the Queechy Lake Club as a full or associate member, please visit our website www.queechylake.org
IMPORTANT DATES

Boat Parade:
Saturday, July 7th

QLC Annual Meeting: Saturday, August 4th
QLC 100th Anniversary
Logo Contest


The Queechy Lake Club will be celebrating it's 100th Anniversary in 2019! 

To help us celebrate, we'd like a special emblem or logo to mark the event...and we need your help! Submit your original artwork (a picture of your drawing/painting, etc.) to QueechyLakeClub@gmail.com by July 23rd. Submissions will be on display at the QLC Annual Meeting on Saturday, August 4th and members can vote for their favorite! The logo may appear on 100th Anniversary merchandise, Boat Parade awards, and of course, in the Queechy Times. We are also  seeking volunteers to lead party planning efforts! If you are interested, please contact us at QueechyLakeClub@gmail.com
Get Involved! 
We are seeking members for nomination to the QLC Board. Our club has existed for 99 years because of the generosity of volunteers. Send a note to QueechyLakeClub@gmail.com if you or someone you know is interested in helping us sustain our work.
REMINDER: Solar/Electric Motor Grant Available to QLC Members!
By Gary Grill, Treasurer

The Queechy Lake Club is pleased to announce the implementation of a program to reduce air
and water pollution on the lake. Using the $5,000 donation from the Weeden Foundation, any Queechy Lake Club member who retires a 2-stroke outboard watercraft engine and replaces it with an electric or solar motor will receive $1000. A member who replaces a 2-stroke outboard with a 4-stroke gas or propane motor will receive $500.This program will continue until the grant funds are depleted. Details will be published on the Queechy Lake Club website and disseminated via email. So far, only one grant has been issued, so opportunities remain!
Volunteers Wanted for Leisurely Paddles Around the Lake

We are seeking volunteers to help us with our shoreline survey project, a part of our CSLAP (Citizen's Statewide Lake Assessment Program) project. Every two weeks, volunteers paddle or row along a section of the shoreline looking for any usual algae, and taking a photo of anything unusual. Volunteers will be supplied with guides and pictures of what to look out for. Sallie LaValle and Susan Newman have been doing the lion's share of this work (along with Charlie Long and Patsy McDonald) and they need a well-deserved break. Please contact Patsy at pmcdo@verizon.net to sign up/learn more.
Copyright © 2018 Queechy Lake Club, All rights reserved.


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