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The Lake George Association’s Catch Vac in Action

With warmer weather hitting the area a little earlier than normal, the spring cleaning bug may have come early for some.

The Lake George Association (LGA), the membership organization that works to protect the beauty and cleanliness of Lake George, takes an unusual approach to spring cleaning, its called a Catch Vac, and it came out of storage and hit the streets of Lake George Village this week.

The LGA’s Catch Vac removes large quantities of sand and grit, applied to the roads during the winter, that accumulates in the region’s catch basins, said Randy Rath, LGA’s project manager.

The Catch Vac reaches and pulls out leaves, debris, bottles and cans from as far down as 100 feet into storm water drains, manholes and catch basins. By providing the Catch Vac for lease to area municipalities, contractors, homeowners and private citizens, the LGA makes this essential spring cleaning task both easy and affordable.

This month the village of Lake George is using the LGA’s Catch Vac. It requires only a couple people to operate, and efficiently removes large quantities of litter and polluting debris, allowing the catch basins to function properly so they can capture additional material before it enters the Lake, Rath said. Many storm drains and basins in the Watershed go for years without cleaning, because of perceived difficulty or expense. The LGA’s Catch Vac makes it relatively simple and inexpensive to take care of these cleaning tasks, which are so vital to keeping the Lake clean and healthy, and we are encouraging other area municipalities and contractors to contact the LGA.

To make a reservation to use the Catch Vac, the public may contact Mona Seeger at the LGA, 668-3558. In cooperation with the Warren County Soil and Water Conservation District and other partner organizations, the LGA has applied for federal funding to acquire a larger, truck-sized system that will be shared by organizations across the Lake George Watershed and will more easily capture heavy material. A non-profit organization, LGA members work together to protect, conserve, and improve the beauty and quality of the Lake George Basin. For more information, contact the LGA at (518) 668-3558 or visit the website at www.lakegeorgeassociation.org.

The Lake George Association’s Floating Classroom will visit Huletts Landing twice during the summer of 2010, courtesy of the Friends of Historic Huletts

The Lake George Association has received a $5,000 grant from the Glens Falls Foundation in support of its 2010 Floating Classroom educational program. The grant will help the LGA continue to offer the program free of charge to area students within the Lake George Watershed, including students from Glens Falls, South Glens Falls, Queensbury, Lake George, Luzerne, Warrensburg, and Bolton. It is scheduled to visit Huletts Landing twice this summer.

The Floating Classroom teaches over 1,000 area students, adults and visitors each season, providing hands-on activities about lake ecology, geology and stewardship. In 2009 the LGA purchased a new 40-foot custom-built catamaran boat and outfitted it with water quality measurement tools, including Secchi disks, plankton nets and other lake monitoring equipment. Schools, youth groups, adult groups and tour groups are invited on board for programs customized to their interests. This summer, for the first time, the LGA will offer two-hour floating classroom trips to the general public on Wednesday mornings during July and August, leaving from a dock near Shepard Park in Lake George.

The Glens Falls Foundation is a non-profit community trust that serves the tri-county region comprising Warren, Washington and northern Saratoga Counties. Since 1939, the Foundation’s purpose has been to improve the quality of life for the people of the greater Glens Falls area. The Foundation provides grants to non-profit organizations and donor-directed scholarships for area students. It also serves as an endowed investment fund for non-profit organizations. Funding for the Glens Falls Foundation and its sub-funds comes from private donations and bequests. The Foundation funds capital projects, equipment purchases, start-up costs, and special projects of non-profit organizations.

Now in its 125th year of service, the LGA is a non-profit membership organization of people interested in working together to protect, conserve, and improve the beauty and quality of the Lake George Basin. For more information, contact the LGA at (518) 668-3558 or visit the LGA’s website at www.lakegeorgeassociation.org.