NEW CONSTRUCTION

Even though we are in the winter season, there are numerous construction projects going on around both lakes. Several dock installations and this home remodel project on Cordry Lake. Mr. and Mrs. Onken did a complete make-over/addition to this residence. Looks outstanding!

TREES DOWN

Another tree down on the end of Grizzly Drive on Sweetwater Lake. Seems like the ground gets soaked with rain and then add a strong wind and we have toppled trees.

NOT MERRY

It was not a very Merry Christmas present for the owners of this home on Center Lake Road. The Thursday evening storm produced a tornado in Greenwood. Here, the high winds caused a few trees to topple over and caused the power to be out for approximately 4 hours. Warm sunny weather followed on Christmas Eve Day.

CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS

'Tis the season! Can't help but get into the spirit when driving around at night and seeing Christmas lights on various houses through the trees. At the Conservancy office Nick (appropriately named!) Judy, Stacie, and Bernie were decorating the entrance to the office.

ECOLOGY MEETING

I attended the Ecology Commission meeting last week. They are looking forward to 2016 with numerous goals to accomplish. New Sweetwater dock, possible dog part, Sweetwater dredging program, fish structures, additional beach house structure, and more.

FIRE DEPARTMENT PAVING

Church Hill got paved several weeks ago. Now the CSCD Fire Department has been making some improvements to their building and grounds. New cement aprons in front of the bays a few weeks ago and now new paving in the parking area in front of the fire department.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JERRY!

It is difficult to imagine that Jerry Cleefman turns 70 on November 17th! A few years ago, Jerry said he was retiring....well....that didn't ever take place! He's out there doing excavation work and septic inspections every day! He's also been know to donate work and materials for local community projects like our recent basketball courts located in the park behind the fire station. Jerry celebrated his birthday with a dinner party with family and friends at a restaurant in Columbus last weekend and by hunting and bringing home a prize 10 point buck deer this past weekend. Happy birthday Jerry!

FIRE STATION IMPROVEMENTS

Work has begun on one of several fire station improvements to be completed over the next year. This portion of work is to pour new extended concrete aprons and pave in front of the fire station.

WINDY!

And he blew and he blew! Windy weather today brought lots of limbs and deadwood down. Power outages on Groundhog and Gopher Drives. The calendar sign in front of the clubhouse was brought down by the high winds.

CRAFT FAIR SUCCESS

It was rewarding to see the Saturday, November 7th Craft Fair well attended. Let's see some more use of the Clubhouse for community interest activities.

HALLOWEEN FUN

The Halloween Trick or Treat at the Fire Department was a great success with plenty of trick or treat customers. Several residents and a couple of businesses set up trick or treat stations around the inside of the fire department. Pictured is agents from Sweetwater Realty.

HAUNTED FOREST

Lots of screams and fun this past weekend at the Haunted Forest. Trick or Treat for kids at the Cordry Sweetwater Fire Station this coming Saturday evening beginning at 6:00 PM.

FALL COLORS

The fall colors are at their peak! Valley from Cordry Dam.

GOLF CARTS

One of the more discussed topics at this week's Security Commission meeting was that of golf carts. Several facebook postings and social media subjects has been Golf Carts. Some residents want the Conservancy to allow golf cart traffic on the Conservancy roads. The Security Commission discussed at length both the pros and the cons of allowing such. I don't think they are ready to make a recommendation to the board just yet. There are some "petitions" out there which will show how many people are in favor.

HAUNTED TRAIL

It's that time of year again!!! Halloween is soon approaching. The annual Haunted Trail sponsored by the Cordry Sweetwater Fire Department will be held on Friday, October 23rd and Saturday October 24th. The ride usually begins at 8:00 PM and continues until the crowd dies out.

TURKEY CROSSING

Seems as though there is a lot of "foul play" going on near the fire station! Not only do the Turkey Vultures roost in the area, this gaggle of turkeys was seen crossing the road.

TURKEY VULTURES

The warm October afternoons have encouraged the local Turkey Vulture population to perch on high places to dry their wings. Tall leafless trees and the Cordry Sweetwater Water Tower are favorite places for them to gather.

DREDGING DONE!

The SRS Dredging Company loaded their equipment this evening and are going home. They finished with Cordry Lake dredging this week. They left the area beside the Cordry boat launch ramp in newly landscaped condition. The area looks 100% improved over it's previous appearance. This was the 4th year of a 5 year program to do dredging on both lakes. Next year should be the 5th and final year.

CSLOA NEWS

The Cordry Sweetwater Lot Owners Association (CSLOA) will be hosting a "craft fair" in the clubhouse on November 7th. Contact Elaina Diener @ 317-719-6218 for information and booth space. Just receive a "thank you" from the CSLOA for donating to the "silent auction" at the annual Ox Roast. It states that they raised over $6,000 from the items donated to the "silent auction."

GREAT SEPTEMBER WEATHER

Couldn't ask for better September weather this past 2 weeks. The water temperature is still in the 70's and the air temperature is near 80 degrees in the afternoons with no humidity. Pictured is Sweetwater resident Tony Elmes enjoying his vacation week at the lake.

STORM DAMAGE PILE GONE!

The pile of trees, limbs, and leaves from the July storm has been burned and the area across from the beach cleaned up.

9-11

Dislplay by the Cordry Sweetwater Fire Department on 9-11-15 at the entrance in front of the clubhouse. Hard to believe that 14 years have passed.

OX ROAST FUN

The 56th Annual Ox Roast is now history. It was hot but the food was great and the Cordry Sweetwater Lot Owners (CSLOA) took in oodles of memberships. Pictured is the Bird Man who put on several shows during the day. Summer may be coming to a close but beautiful fall weather and scenery is looked forward to.

NEW CORDRY PATROL BOAT

A new pontoon-style patrol boat has been purchased and launched for Cordry Lake. The previous I-O runabout style patrol boat was suffering from old age, many hours, and major engine issues. The new boat has vinyl flooring which should last for years of service and a 4-stroke outboard which should be easier to service.

BASKETBALL COURTS READY FOR PLAY!

The new Basketball Courts near the fire station were "professionally" lined today. I have seen several groups playing on the courts recently as I drove by. There are a great addition to the park area.

COATS FOR KIDS

The Church of the Lakes and the Nineveh Christian Church along with some local residents are promoting a "Coats for Kids" project for Brown County elementary school-age children. The Sprunica Elementary Principal tells us that many youngsters did not have proper coats last winter. For $25 per child, a Martinsville business will provide proper sized coats. Contact Sam Alford @ 317-430-6778 for your donation.

OX ROAST TIME!

It's Ox Roast time again. Looking forward to the annual Ox Roast to be held on Saturday, September 5th beginning at 11:00 AM. Good food, entertainment, and time to re-join the Cordry Sweetwater Lot Owners Association.

PLAY BALL!

Finally! The basketball goals for the new basketball courts were installed today. They still need nets and the court itself is scheduled for line painting at a later date but......basketball can be played. Several advantages to this court include being more visible for security reasons, new flat surface, night lights nearby for late evening playing, etc. Thank you Conservancy Workers, Jerry Cleefman, Sweetwater Realty owner Aaron Parris for all of your contributions and volunteer work.

SAM EGGERS

Sam Eggers, one of the original lot owners and residents of Cordry Lake, passed on Thursday, July 30th at age 96. We're all familiar with seeing Sam digging in the dirt at "Sam Eggers Corner" just in the past few weeks. Sam was a retired pharmacist and had a passion for fishing, gardening, and love of the lakes area. Just last year he participated in one of the "Honor Flights" to Washington D.C. to see the WW11 monument. He was a decades long member of the ecology commission and frequent card player at the library.

BASKETBALL COURTS POURED

Finally! With all the destruction and electricity out and clean-up going on today......the new basketball courts were poured and finished off today. Next step is to get goals installed and lines painted.

HIGH WATER-TREES DOWN

Monday night/Tuesday morning wreaked havoc on Cordry and Sweetwater Lakes. Straight line winds from took down trees and power lines all over. No electricity for probably a few days. Heavy rains also make the lakes rise above docks. The lakes are closed to boating activities until water levels recede.

PARTY CENTRAL

Timing is everything! The threat of rain all week had us worried but Saturday blossomed into a perfect fireworks day. The triathlon clocked off early in the morning, the beach filled up with people, the band began playing at 7:00 PM, and the fireworks exploded around 10:00 PM. Not to be outdone, Mother Nature provided her own fireworks show at about 3:00 AM with thunder and lightening and flood like rain which resulted in closing both lakes on Sunday to fast boating until water levels dropped.

TRIATHLON, FIREWORKS, BAND, BREAKFAST

THIS is THE weekend! Annual fireworks scheduled for Saturday night, Triathlon Saturday morning. Breakfast at the clubhouse on Sunday morning, and now....there will be a band playing on Saturday evening at the Sweetwater beach house from 7:00 PM until the fireworks. Enjoy!

BASKETBALL COURT CONSTRUCTION

Finally! Construction has begun on the new basketball court in the park area behind the fire station. Local resident Jerry Cleefman is donating his time, equipment, and expertise for this project. The official "pour" date is July 13th, 2015.

CORDRY BOAT PARADE

The 4th of July weather made way for fun family activities everywhere around the state. The annual Cordry Lake Boat Parade organized by local resident Natalie Beavers had a record number of participants.

HOLIDAY FUN!

Like all employees, the CSCD Workers were looking forward to starting their July 4th holiday at quitting time on Thursday, July 2nd. Think again! At 3:59 the call came in....."water leak on Sunset Drive." Drag out the equipment and draft some help. Still working in the mud at 7:00 PM. Finally got the leak stopped but the issue needs more work in the future. Let us not take for granted the hard dirty work that Josh Hawley and our CSCD employees get stuck

with.

EMERALD ASH BORER

Indiana and in particular, our area is affected by the Emerald Ash Borer that is killing all the Ash trees. Ran into Joe Rainwater today who works for Designscape. They are treating Ash trees for the pest. Treatment can only be done in certain weather related conditions. If interested, call them at 812-988-8900.

CONSERVANCY OFFICE DECORATORS!

The office employee ladies (Stacie, Mary, and Judy) have taken a special interest in the guest lobby at the Conservancy Office. They've found some decorative items to help make the office more inviting. Next time you're in the office, tell them how much you appreciate their going the "extra mile" for all of us here in the Conservancy. And by the way....they are looking for several used oars or paddles. The Conservancy Office is closed July 3rd and July 4th.

WET WEATHER

Wet weather has been on everyone's conversation list of late. Here at Cordry and Sweetwater Lakes we've been fortunate to avoid high water levels and have no limits on boating during the weekends. Other reservoirs and rivers around the state have not been so lucky. If you're into mushrooms, the wet weather is providing a bumper crop!

CONCERT AT THE BEACH

A healthy crowd enjoyed the Concert at the Sweetwater Beach on Saturday evening. Cool weather required sweaters and sweatshirts but the music provided by the Brown County Community Band heated up the evening. Thanks to the Cordry Sweetwater Lot Owners for organizing this event.

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL

Some tents and large groups of youngsters at the beach in the evenings this week is a sure sign of Vacation Bible School taking place. The Church of the Lakes is the sponsoring church for the activities this week. What a great place to do this worthwhile project.

CORDRY PATROL BOAT

The Cordry Patrol/Safety Boat has given up the ghost! It comes as no surprise as the Safety Commission has been discussing what type of replacement was needed at several past meetings. The boat may not have been winterized correctly resulting in a cracked engine block. Discussions and gossip indicate that the safety commission may be recommending a pontoon style patrol boat with outboard motor for the Cordry Patrol boat. The Sweetwater Patrol/Safety Boat is probably not far behind being about the same age and same

general condition.

CONCERT TIME

The annual free Concert at the Beach is to be held on Saturday, June 17th @ 7:30 PM. The Brown County Community Band will begin playing at 7:30 PM. Bring a lawn chair....picnics and drinks welcome.

CORDRY LAKE BOAT PARADE

Plan ahead...join the fun....enter and participate in the annual 4th of July Cordry Boat Parade. The 4th of July occurs on a Saturday this year.....perfect! The parade begins at 8:00 PM and circles the lake. Don't miss the fun! Contact Natalie Beavers....317-735-5550 - beavers.natalie.f@gmail.com

FISH FRY TIME!

It's too hot to cook! Come visit the Fish Fry this Saturday, June 20th, at the Cordry Sweetwater Lot Owner's Clubhouse! Kitchen opens at 11:00 and closes at 7:00 PM. Sponsored by the Cordry Sweetwater Volunteer Fire Department.

DAM MOWING!

Seems like were shoveling snow just a short time ago. Now it's mowing time! This spring has been very "fruitfull" and I swear I can HEAR the grass growing! Pictured is a mowing crew mowing Cordry Dam. The two dams are usually mown 2 times during the summer. The Cordry Dam is more difficult than the Sweetwater Dam due to a steeper grade.

CSCD MEETING HIGHLIGHTS

There were a few fireworks at the May 20th CSCD meeting over the subject of a "resident." This probably came about due to the recent resignation of Kathy Byers from the CSCD Board of Directors and her potential replacement. Bottom line.....Pat Sherman of Hummingbird Drive was voted to fill the remaining months of Kathy's term until elections are held next January. Congratulations to Pat who is an experienced business person out of Greenwood. In other agenda items, the "idle time lights" have been set to 8:00 PM for the rest of the summer and we are waiting for one more quote for concrete work to start work on the basketball court.

PANCAKE BREAKFAST TIME!

Got a house full of company over Memorial Day Weekend? Take 'em to the Pancake Breakfast on Sunday morning at the CSCLOA Clubhouse for the best breakfast within 40 miles! Pancakes, sausage, bacon, sausage gravy and more!

AND THE WINNER IS

Congratulations to Merrily and Larry Nilles of 6701 Eagle Drive. They are the winners of the Sweetwater Realty "give away" of a new I-pad. Have fun surfing the internet Merrily and Larry.

TREE REMOVAL - HARD WAY

Cordry Lake property owners on the end of Honey Locust have a deck built around a tree. The tree died and now needed to be removed. Pictured is the project......removing a tree the hard way!