McHenry County Blog

It was between 5 and 6 last Wednesday afternoon.

My wife and two of her girl friends were discussing chick books, ones about the stories quilts tell, which one's cousin had just gotten published, murder solving clubs, stuff like that.

I joked that they should write a book about women getting together on a pontoon boat to solve murders.

Now that I think about it, maybe it would be my murder they would solve.

Maybe they would commit it (after all, I was misbehaving).

Anyway, I'm looking at the late afternoon sun reflecting off Crystal Lake, taking photos of and past the women.

That's when I looked down beneath the neighboring dock at CCAPOA's Gate 7 Beach dock.

Above, you see what I saw.

I think it's the bungee cord that was found wrapped around my neck...in the forthcoming book, of course.

Think I will get a photo credit if they use this picture on the cover?

Labels: CCAPOA, Crystal Lake, Gate 7, Message of the Day, Reflection, Reflections

Take a look at the muck on the shore near the CCAPOA boat dock at Gate 9.

I don’t know whether the storms washed it up or what.

You can get a better look at the dead vegetation, by clicking on the photograph.

Labels: CCAPOA, Crystal Lake, Gate 9, Lakewood, Muck, Shoreline

Before we left on vacation, my son found what appeared to be Zebra mussels at Gate 7 Beach in Lakewood on the south side of Crystal Lake.

A naturalist friend was over for dinner and I gave her samples to verify his identification.

The day after my son’s 11th birthday, we went to the beach and I found this shovel handle (no shovel, just the handle).

I called Crystal Lake Park District Director Kirk Reimer to ask if they had been found before.

He told me that Dick Vogelman had found them on his Shore Station two years ago. Vogelman lives at Gate 7 right next to the Country Club Property Owners boat launching ramp.

So, a plausible hypothesis might be that some CCAPOA boater was in Lake Michigan and didn’t clean the mussels off his boat before launching it in Crystal Lake.

As usual, the photo can be enlarged by clicking on it.

Labels: CCAPOA, Crystal Lake, Gate 7, Lakewood, Zebra Mussels

Through a hard fought court suit, the Crystal Lake Park District established that it owns most of the bottom of Crystal Lake.

It seems that one of my photos of just installed boat piers may have stimulated discussion concerning park district liability, not to mention other questions about piers, rafts and buoys that rest on that park district property.

Not that the Gate 9 pier you see above is new, but the park district doesn't have an inventory of what rests on its lake bottom.

When folks noticed that more boats were at the Gate 3 pier, they thought it was new this year. Some research revealed that the Country Club Property Owners Association expanded to the east of the old pier last year.

I talked to park district Executive Director Kirk Reimer. He was concerned about liability. That seems like a reasonable concern. I doubt owners of piers, rafts and buoys have park district taxpayers protected by their insurance policies.

The park board began discussion of the subject at its last meeting and it seems likely to be on the May 15th agenda as well.

“It seems that every year there are more boats moored on the lake,” Reimer observed. “The board is looking at who's doing what.

“Right now someone could pop a marina in there.”

I'm not sure that is the case, since a commercial establishment would require zoning from Lakewood or Crystal Lake. The chance is zero that Lakewood would allow a business on a lake lot and I think the last commercial establishment on the North Shore was a bar that is now a home site.

There was a bar on the North Shore when we moved here in 1958. I came back from some early morning West End fishing and found a dead guy washed up at the Main Beach boat ramp. He apparently fell out of a row boat owned by the guy with the park district concession on the way back from the bar where the two were drinking. The concessionaire didn't realized his buddy was missing. I believe the lot now has a home on it.

In any event, regulation of the use of the lake bottom is now in play.

Reimer mentioned one of the topics could be length and size of piers.

“There needs to be some kind of a permitting process,” he told me.

This spring the park board has been publicly chaffing at its lack of vote on the Lake Management Committee. Park Board President Mike Zellman made the pitch to the Crystal Lake Council.

For a decade of so, regulation of use of the lake has been governed by an intergovernmental agreement between the Village of Lakewood and the City of Crystal Lake.

Most on the Crystal Lake City Council saw no problem with adding the park board, but the Lakewood Village Board apparently thought there was no reason to give up the power it now has to protect its South Shore constituents' rights to use their five beaches and the lake surface, where police power is exerted by the two municipalities.

Most of Crystal Lake is actually located within the boundaries Village of Lakewood, as you can see from the above map. You can see that most of the lake that can be used for water skiing or tubing is within the boundaries of Lakewood.

Lakewood now polices the lake.

This makes logistical sense since the Lakewood Village Hall is on the lake front next to West Beach.

There have been complaints, however, that the patrol issued only warning tickets last year. Surely, some of the offenses were worthy of a citation, the argument goes.

Lakewood residents foresee a 2-1 vote situation where the control is by the two other governments, the vast majority of whose residents never use the lake. They remember the multi-decade effort by park board members to ban power boats from Crystal Lake.

When it became obvious during last August's flooding that boat wakes were harming lake front property, especially on the North Shore, it was the park district that took the initiative to ask the Crystal Lake City Council and the Lakewood Village Board to issue a “no wake” rule.

Reimer pointed out that the park district got the complaints, but had no power to remedy the problem.

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CCAPOA's Gate 9 pier can be seen on top. Gate 3's pier is seen empty right after installation in 2008 and full during the flooding in August 2007. I'm told the
concrete structures in the foreground were part of the ice house operation. Below is Crystal Lake Park Board President Mike Zellman urging the Crystal Lake City Council to talk about adding the park district to the Joint Lake Management Committee. Below is a map of Crystal Lake, the lake, showing only the northernmost and eastern section right in front of the Main Beach actually being in the City of Crystal Lake. At the bottom are pictures of the Lakewood Village Hall and the patrol boat on one of the days last August when Crystal Lake was so high. All pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them. The bottom picture was taken May 6, 2008, the day the temperature was over 80 degrees. The boat and skier are in front of the Main Beach Park nearer than not to the outlet.

Labels: CCAPOA, Crystal Lake, Crystal Lake Park District, Gate 3, Gate 9, Kirk Reimer, Lakewood, Lakewood Village Hall, Mike Zellman, Pier, Water Skier

Mid-morning Saturday and the day is a bit nasty.

Not an excellent spring day to enjoy.

“Dad, it looks like a summer swim meet,” the ten year old observes.

He was referring to all the team tents.

Not the umbrellas.

Then, I realized it must be the high school rowing meet.

I assume it is the Chicago Greater Regional Rowing Championships, but I didn't get a shot of the sign this year.

The weather was not as windy this year as last year.

I didn't see the start of any races yesterday, but you can see from the photo below that last year the boats had a difficult time lining up at the West End.

No where near as good weather as two years ago when it was held April 9th, as you can see below.

It was raining as we went by about 10:30 in the morning yesterday.

When we returned about 12:30, the rain had pretty much stopped.

Girls were carrying their skiff across Lake Shore Drive toward the Dole Mansion.

They must have been tired because they took a short cut across the lawn of the corner house.

We found the best view was empty.

It was at Gate 3 in Lakewood on South Shore Drive.

Good view of the finish line.

Next year, I think my Country Club Property Owners Association should rent out Beach 3. No one was using it.

Maybe it'll bring in enough to keep the dues from going up.

Well, it's not a beach anymore. There's still sand.

But the CCAPOA Board decided more boat slips were more important than allowing little kids another place to swim.


says the sign.

That's where I took these photos of the race from the completely empty boat docks.

I have no idea who won the races I took.

I know I got better pictures last year.

And better information.

Certainly, none of the three races I watched were close.


A man from Upper Arlington, Ohio, rode by Gate 3 and watched the race with me. His screaming for his team as it crossed the finish line first told me that part of the race's outcome.

This time the most interesting thing came from a boat rowing to the starting line at the West End of Crystal Lake.


came the amplified voice.

He repeated it several times.

The guys looked at me when I yelled, “Whose butt is wet?”

But I didn't get an answer.

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All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Labels: CCAPOA, Chicago Greater Regional Rowing Championships, Country Club Property Owners Association, Gate 3, Lake Shore Drive, Rowing Regatta

Coming home, I detoured along South Shore Drive at Gate 9 in Lakewood and saw that the boat piers have been put in for the season.

It's going to have to be a lot warmer than yesterday to convince me to put our pontoon boat in our slip.

Next we came upon a truck with a new pier for Country Club Additions Property Owners Association Beach 7.

They seem to be less slippery and there go in both directions at the end. I've read there will be two benches.

There's also a pile of new sand that will end up on the bottom of Crystal Lake by mid-summer.

The raft isn't out yet. You can see its edge at the bottom of the lower photo.

Labels: CCAPOA, Country Club Additions Property Owners Association, Lakewood, Pier

Yesterday and the day before, McHenry County Blog ran installments 1 and 3 of what might be considered a review of former Crystal Lake Mayor George Wells’ memoir, “It’s That Way Everywhere, George.” The third installment follows.

Wells gives his take on public service,

”I have one personal fatal flaw: I will not sell out my soul and ruin professional careers of good public servants to further my personal ambitions.”

Wells relates how the establishment ousted Lake in the Hills Village President Tina Thornrose from office.

He compares her sale of an insurance policy to a group seeking a liquor license at a local festival with Bill LeFew’s wife’s sale of insurance to “two establishments that have city liquor licenses in Harvard, where LeFew was mayor and liquor commissioner for three years,” LeFew quotes a December 23, 1996, Chicago Tribune article.

The title of the article?


He identified with Thronrose because

”We both were award of some highly irregular activities taking place and the 'good old boys' who had the legal system and the news media in their pockets were going to get rid of us all costs because if we were successful in our attempts to clean up the messes that were solidly in place when both of us came into office, there were going to be several individuals in deep trouble with the law.”

And,

”Tina Thornrose and George Wells, who unexpectedly won elections that put them in offices where they soon were able to learn of the underbelly of the political system in their communities and in McHenry County, were favorite targets of the Northwest Herald newspaper located in Crystal Lake."

Earlier, Wells, who flight a fighter plane in Vietnam, wrote a similar summary of his opinion of McHenry County’s political arena:

”I am not sufficiently articulate to describe the complete revulsion that I felt when I continually witnessed the blatant disregard for the principles of democracy and adherence to the rule of law in Crystal Lake and McHenry Count that we presumably had been fighting for and giving lives for in Vietnam.”

Wells makes a pretty big deal about the mayor he beat, Carl Whede, being a real estate salesman. Whenever I see a city official enter the real estate game my eyebrows go up. I'll freely admit that.

As I read the book, however, Wells uses Whede's listing of former Lakewood Village President Harry Benoy’s lake front home with Whede as evidence of some quid pro quo.

What Wells does not know is that Whede and Benoy knew each other from the First United Methodist Church. I think that is at least as good an explanation as Benoy’s trying to reward Whede for siding with Lakewood on lake issues. Benoy was not in village government when the home was sold, if my memory serves me correctly, but I may be wrong. In any event, Benoy left office in 1989.

There was one mistake that brought a chuckle to my throat. Wells identifies CCAPOA as the “Crystal Cove Annex Property Owners Association.” I have never heard of Crystal Cove, but there are about 125 homes in Crystal Lake in the subdivision where I reside: Country Club Additions Property Owners Association. The other approximately 300 are in Lakewood.

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You can order the book by typing in the author’s name on this internet page. As I said in the second installment of this review, if anyone else would like to weigh in the on the book, please email your thoughts to McHenry County Blog.

Labels: Carl Whede, CCAPOA, Country Club Additions Property Owners Association, George Wells, Harry Benoy, It's That Way Everywhere George

I don’t know if this is the same egret we saw just west of Gate 21 in Lakewood last week, but it flew onto the main trunk of the tree just west of the Gate 9 pier early on Independence Day morn.

My son and a friend who had spent the night had convinced me to accompany them to the lake to search for snails as soon as they awoke.

That was about 6:30—well before my normal rising time.

We went over and found the previous night’s rainstorm had left the lake less transparent than it usually is that early in the day.

We could see the bottom out probably ten feet from shore, but I could find none of the tell tail snail trails that ended where the tiny snails stopped.

These are the snails that eat duck poop, which, in turn, results in something that causes swimmers itch.

I had hoped the boys would gather dozens of them and remove them from the lake—permanently.

But, no such luck.

I did get most of three newspapers read before I noticed a lovely white bird flying toward the tree which overhangs Crystal Lake at the west edge of Country Club Additions Property Owners Association’s property that is called Beach 7.

I got to the edge of the closest parking lot and took the picture you see.

As I snuck closer the egret became alarmed and flew off. I got a white smudge of a picture of one of the wings, but little more.

For those who can’t envision the tree where the egret landed and where generations of kids have loved to play in winter and summer, here’s a picture I took within the last week showing the setting sun’s rays shining through it.

The egret was standing on the branch sticking over the lake.

Labels: CCAPOA, Country Club Additions Property Owners Association, Crytal Lake, Egret, Gate 9, Sunset

Think Fourth of July fireworks day.

If you have ever tried to get into or out of Lakewood the day of fireworks, you know that there is a police moat around the Lake Avenue portion of the village.

“Our intent is to try to direct everyone to Main Beach,” Lakewood Chief of Police Lawrence Howell told McHenry County Blog. (The eastern border of Lakewood is about at the western edge of the Main Beach.)

If one is a policeman, it will either be an overtime bonanza or another missed weekend opportunity with the family.

“We will have six officers on overtime,” Chief Howell said.

And, Chicago Games, Inc. (the real name of the Gay Games), is expected to pay the bill. He estimates the cost at $4,000 to $8,000.

“They will have to sign waivers,” the chief continued. “When people use village-owned property, (that is) the lake, they have to sign waivers, indemnification agreements and provide insurance.”

Given the money-losing history of previous Gay Games, McHenry County Blog asked whether advance payment or a bond had been requested to pay for the extra expenses that Lakewood will experience.

“At this point, we have not asked for it,” he replied. “Down the road we may ask for it.”

Asked how much Gay Games organizers will have to pay to rent the lake, the chief replied, “There is no charge for the use of the lake. That is covered the waiver of the ($15) stickers. Normally, when people use the lake, the strikers cover than cost.”

Chief Howell pointed out that lake use is governed by an intergovernmental agreement signed by his village, the City of Crystal Lake and the Park District.

”We have nothing in that agreement that allows us to charge for the use of the lake.”

So, what will the extra police do?

“We will not be allowing anyone in the Gates area. We will be blocking off the traffic, (allowing) local traffic only,” Chief Howell explained. “Each street leading to South Shore (Drive) will be barricaded and local traffic will be the only traffic allowed to enter. I’ll have two squads running up and down South Shore all the time.”

Labels: CCAPOA, Chicago Games, Crystal Lake, Gay Games, Gay Games Regatta, Lakewood, Lakewood Police, Lawrence Howell, Main Beach