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WATER SAFETY COMMITTEE REPORTS:
by Don Harris, Chair, Water Safety Committee
SAFETY NOTES
 | BUOY-OH-BUOY!: Enclosed with this newsletter is a new sticker from the DNR giving information on types of buoys and the functions they serve. The sticker has a pressure sensitive backing and should be placed in your boat for reference. Buoys are placed and monitored by the Safety Committee. If you have any questions, please call a member of the committee. |
| WATERCRAFT TRAINING: The Watercraft Operators Permit training session was held on June 27. The committee would like to thank the Hackensack Lions for sponsoring the program and providing snacks and lunch, and Tim Berglund, Cass County Sheriff's Boat and Water Safety Coordinator, for teaching the course. This is a free program for kids from 12 years of age and older in the greater Hackensack area. Plans are for this to be an annual program. |
| PATROL BOAT IS HERE!: The Sheriff's safety patrol boat is on the lake, located at the west end of Forseman Point Drive. Thanks go to Burton Woock for providing lake space, to the Putney family for providing the dock and to Northwoods Dock and Service for donating the boat lift. Please read the article in this Newsletter providing information on the history of this boat on the lake. |
| THE RULES: Copies of the Minnesota Boating Guide, 2003 will be available at the annual meeting. The Lake Safety Committee reminds boat owners and users: BE CURRENT WITH ALL BOATING LAWS AND RULES. |
| REMINDER -- Check to see if your boat license and trailer license are current. |
| REMINDER -- Effective August 1, 2002, operating a boat under the influence of alcohol (BWI) is a felony. CONVICTION CARRIES A MANDATORY SENTENCE OF 3 TO 7 YEARS IN PRISON. |
CASS COUNTY SHERIFF'S SAFETY PATROL BOAT
The Cass County Sheriff's Water Safety Department has begun a program of putting safety patrol boats on Cass County lakes. The purpose of these boats it to provide a presence on each lake with the hope of preventing improper boating practices and thus preventing accidents. Gull, Leech, Woman, and Pleasant Lakes are already involved in this program. The boats used for this program are boats that have been confiscated by the Cass County Water Safety Department for various offenses, mainly BWI.
As of this spring, TML is a participant and has a Sheriff's Patrol Boat on the lake. The boat provided to Ten Mile Lake, a 17 foot Larson with a 150 horsepower motor, is docked at the west end of Forseman Point Drive, off Lower Ten Mile Lake Road. The boat will be on the lake on weekends, manned by volunteers. The volunteers will have no police powers; they will simply be a presence on the lake. We expect to have a minimum of two volunteers on the boat whenever it goes out (couples are welcome).
The Cass County Sheriff's Office provides the boat, fuel, and maintenance, and also provides training for the volunteers. The first training session for 2003 will be scheduled for a date in July, 2003 at the Hackensack Community Building. If you are willing to volunteer, please call Don Harris at 675-6285 to learn the date and time.
2ND ANNUAL WATERCRAFT OPERATOR PERMIT TRAINING A GREAT SUCCESS
The second annual Watercraft Operator's Permit Training, held July 27 at the Hackensack Community Center and Birch Lake Waterfront, trained 27 youth from the Hackensack area in the safe handling of, driving in, and riding on boats and personal watercraft. Seventeen of the attendees were girls. Fifteen of the attendees were from TML families; other lakes represented included Birch, Pleasant, and Poquet. Some of the the students came from Texas, Louisiana, and Iowa to attend the session.
The training session was staffed by Sheriff's Deputies Tim Berglund, Bob Landreville, and Steve Abrahamson, and DNR Conservation Officer Gary Sommers. TML'ers Don Harris, John McManus, Jerry Mills, Bob Moe, and Mary Ann Schmidt were on hand to help out. Many thanks are also due to the Hackensack Lions Club which provided snacks, lunch, and course materials for the attendees, so that the course could be made available to attendees free of charge. Lions attending included Jay Cline, Ollie DeGray, Bob Hornsby, Red Kahloff, Jim McCormick, Bernie Miller, Don Patterson, Forrest Watson, and Fritz Zieffler.
