August 6, 2002 - Another Forest Lake Association (FLA) Annual Meeting has come and gone.  Even though the rain tried to shut us down and may have scared some away, we all persevered thanks to several tents and Mark and Rita Bawden's garage where the food was sheltered from the rain.   The financial health of the FLA is in good shape and, thanks to the work of the Forest Lake Preservation Foundation, they hope to encourage all lake homeowners to donate to the worthy cause in the fight to control the spread of Eurasian Water Milfoil (EWM) in the lake.  If you would like to donate to the foundation, just go to their website:  forestlakepreservationfoundation.org and click on the "Support Us" tab to make a tax deductible donation. 

The election of three new board members was accomplished with Larry Heindl, David Pushka and Linda Bogdala now on the Board.   Many thanks to outgoing members Tom Gage, Donna Murry and Janine Smith for their tireless work on behalf of everyone on Forest Lake.

As many of you know, the Lake Champion Award was started in 2019 to recognize those individual homeowners that have worked selflessly for the lake over the years.  The criteria is simple, it is individuals who have done some of the “dirty work” or as we commonly say the “unsung heroes”.  They do this work through selfless actions that preserve the lake and our community for future generations to enjoy what our founding Lake Association homeowners not only experienced but laid the groundwork to ensure that we continue to enjoy today.   Today, we are very pleased to announce this year's Lake Champion Award winner is:   Tom Macak!!

Tom's diligent surveillance, scuba diving, hand pulling, water sampling, report writing, communication with local, county and state environmental/DNR groups as well as homeowners has affected not only the lake homeowners locally but also visitors using the lake via the public landing.  These visitors come from Vilas County, all over Wisconsin and surrounding states to enjoy the superior water quality, fishing and recreational water activities.  Since 2001 when EWM was first found in the lake, Tom has championed the fight against this invasive species.  With his wealth of knowledge regarding the subject, he has educated lake homeowners at annual meetings and through other communications since 2004.  He is also part of the Loon Watch and since 1996 has been a part of the DNR's Citizen Monitoring Network.  Thank you, Tom.  And as we like to call him "Dr. Milfoil".