Hello Cottagers

The biggest week of the summer is upon us. We have been richly blessed with excellent cottage weather and are looking forward to our regatta and fireworks show this Saturday August 2^nd. The weather forecast is calling for sun, sun and more sun so wear your sunscreen. Here’s a quick rundown on what’s happening over the next few weeks. Note: We still need volunteers and canoes for the regatta next weekend. See below for details!

75^th Annual SMLCA Regatta on Saturday August 2nd 

This is an important investment in the treasured cottage memories of our children and a great chance to meet your lake neighbours. The regatta takes place at Regatta Bay, in the southeast end of the lake. It starts at 10 am and features (in order), races for Pre-Tadpoles, Tadpoles (7-8), Juniors (9-10), Youth (11-12), Juveniles (13-14), Intermediates (15-16), Seniors (17-30) and Over 30’s. Races include swimming, canoes, and the infamous Hurry Scurry race. Note that If anyone has an old canoe that they can loan us for the canoe races, please let us know at info@sixmilelake.net.

In addition to races, there are hot dogs and drinks, face tattoos, the vaunted snake and reptile exhibition, the ever-popular fishing pond, book/DVD sale, and a raffle for great prizes. Pull your boats up along the shore and walk to the regatta for a great day of fun! Come and renew your membership, donate to next year’s fireworks and meet the directors. This year we are excited to host a table with Stephanie Clare, Chief Executive Officer of Georgian Bay Public Library. She will be presenting information on the many services the library offers to the public and specifically, activities for families.

20^th Annual Fireworks Display on August 2nd 

Later that same day after the regatta, we will all gather in our boats around Fire Island in the south end of the lake at sunset to view our 20^th Fireworks Show. Remember to stay at a safe distance and do not enter the no-boat zone (we will publish the restriction zone on our website.) As usual, we are looking for volunteers to help Pyro Mario move his equipment and fireworks to the Island on Friday, and help pack up and clean the site on Sunday morning. If you can pitch in, please contact us at volunteer@sixmilelake.net . Volunteers meet at 10 am at the Crooked Bay public dock, on Friday August 1st.

The fireworks are supported separately from the SMLCA budget; donations for the show can made at our membership portal: https://smlca.wildapricot.org . While we have met our quota for this year’s show you can continue to donate towards next year’s show so that we are not scrambling to raise funds at the last minute.

URGENT: LAKE REGATTA IN 1 WEEK — AND WE’RE STILL SHORT ON VOLUNTEERS

We’re just over 1 week out from Regatta Day — Saturday, August 2^nd at 10 a.m.— and unless more people step up, some parts of the event may not be able to run.

This event depends entirely on volunteers. If you’re able to help from 10am–1pm that day — or with setup or cleanup — now’s the time to speak up.

Here’s where we’re still short:

• Book Sales – 4 people
• Swag Sales – 3 people
• Ticket Sales – 1 person
• Canoe Wranglers – 4 people
• Canoe Corral – 8 people  (no one yet)
• Face Painting – 5 people
• Kids’ Tattoos – 2 people
• Food Runners – 4 people  (no one yet)
• Friday Afternoon Barge Loading – 3 people
• Saturday Morning Barge Loading – 3 people  (no one yet)
• Cleanup Crew Thursday July 31st – 4 people  (no one yet)
• Canoe & Paddle Loans Table – 7 people

Without volunteers, we may need to scale back or cancel parts of the day. Please consider pitching in — even if it’s not your usual thing. It’s a fun, meaningful way to be part of something special. If you wish to volunteer but don’t think you can cover a position for the whole time, please let us know and we will accommodate your needs.

Message our Volunteer Coordinator Kim at: volunteer@sixmilelake.net or sign up here: Thank you to everyone who has already stepped up. Let’s rally and make this Regatta happen!

Please sign up for 2025 SML Regatta activities on SignUp.com today!

Click on the SMLCA Seagull logo below to Sign UP!

Also, if you have a prize you wish to donate to our Raffle please contact pat.mitchell@sixmilelake.net .

Joint Associations Baseball Tournament

Shawn Hilditch, president of the Gibson Lake Cottager Association writes:

In an effort to continue to mix the different associations Gibson Lake is going to host a baseball and volleyball tournament on Sunday, August 17^th at the ball diamond on Muskoka Road 33. Our website has a place to register for the event, no cost, just let us know which sport and how many players. Once we have the list of registrants we’ll figure out the best format, it may be to mix teams or share some players. The beach volleyball court is right beside the ball diamond so hopefully it will be a fun day.

9^th Annual Artists Tour on Saturday August 9^th and Sunday August 10^th from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm

In a few weeks we will be having the Six Mile Lake Artist Tour. Brochures are available at both marinas, and you can also visit www.sixmilelake.art to find out details about this year’s artists, view/download a digital brochure, or see the interactive Google map!

Can’t wait to see everyone out enjoying and supporting our incredible lake talent!

SMLCA Special Members’ Meeting to Ratify New Constitution

On Saturday August 23^rd 10 a.m. we will be hosting a special general members’ meeting at Wawautosa Marina to ratify our new constitution (by-law) according to the requirements of ONCA (Ontario Not for profit Corporations Act). We need at least 50 members to satisfy quorum requirements so please plan to attend. Refreshments will be served.  To learn more about the meeting, please visit our membership portal here: https://smlca.wildapricot.org/event-6195453.  Note: You must be a current member to register for the event.

Garbage Bin Removal at Wawautosa Marina

Almost 100 concerned cottagers showed up to a meeting hosted by Wawautosa Marina in mid-July regarding Muskoka District’s plans to remove all unsupervised garbage bins, such as the ones located at Wawautosa Marina. The SMLCA was in attendance and offered to post contact information in this eblast, in order to allow you to write to officials and express your concerns.

Councillor Brian Bochek sent the following instructions and contact information:

• The commissioner of Engineering and Public Works who is in charge of solid waste management is James Steele james.steele@muskoka.on.ca
• Our Township of Georgian Bay district councillor who sits on the EPW committee is Peter Cooper petercooper@muskokacouncil.ca
• For all written submissions, it is best to copy Chair Jeff Lehman jeff.leham@muskoka.on.ca and Mayor Peter Koetsier peter.koetsier@districtcouncil.ca
• And while you’re at it, include Ward 3 Councillor Kristian Graziano kgraziano@gbtownship.ca as well as me, brian.bochek@districtcouncil.ca

Help Wanted!

At the risk of being repetitive, the SMLCA board is still looking for help in the following areas:

• Bookkeeper: Working with Rick Jocsak, this involves basic bookkeeping such as writing cheques, billing, bank deposits and preparation of materials for the independent statement reviewer. We don’t have a lot of transactions, so this would only take a few hours per month.
• Communications Officer: We’re looking for someone to create, coordinate and implement strategies for our communications activities which include ECHOES, eblasts and social media.
• Promotional Products Coordinator: We’re looking for someone to manage our current promotional products and to source new ones.
• Environment Committee: We want to form a committee to focus on our environmental efforts and to coordinate articles, promotional materials and other information on subjects and services pertinent to Six Mile Lake.  This is very important in maintaining the quality of our lake and in addition to volunteers sitting on this committee, we are looking for someone to chair this committee.
• Kid’s Connect and Teen Connect: We are reaching out to the community to see if someone is willing to restart the Connect programs to bring kids and teens together.
• Closer Ties with Road Associations: We hope to establish a closer link with the road associations on the lake so that together we can more effectively support each other and serve the lake community. If you are on a road association, please reach out to us at info@sixmilelake.net so that we can get contact info on the secretary or president.
• Website Rebuild Committee: We have been talking about rebuilding the website for several years and now that we have Wild Apricot up and running, we would like to rebuild and modernize our website. Anyone with an aptitude for website creation would be welcome to join our new committee.

Come join us. Together we can have fun building and supporting our lake community! Send inquiries to info@sixmilelake.net .

See you on the lake and please be safe and courteous of others including the wildlife!