LLPOA Year-End Message

As we wrap another wonderful year at the lake we love, the snow has unexpectedly shown up before many of us were ready. Putting away the summer gear and getting ready for all the wonderful things winter brings is just business as usual in our oasis. For those of you wishing for a white holiday season and eager for snowmobiling, snowshoeing, cross country skiing, skating etc. your wish came true. Regardless of how you feel about winter it does give us something to chat about.  As Canadians we do love to talk about the weather!

The Lake: An Unusual Year

As 2025 draws to a close, we can look back on an eventful year, with the weather remaining a frequent topic of conversation. We endured a summer of heat and drought, watching as our lake’s water levels receded, shorelines reappeared and the risk of forest fires increased. This was not a phenomenon unique to Lake Louisa, but one shared by hundreds of lakes throughout the Riviere du Nord Watershed, to which we belong. It does remind us how fragile our environment can be and how mother nature has a mind of her own. Regardless, it is always important for all of us to do what we can to help maintain a healthy lake and a vibrant forest that surrounds us.

On a sad note, we recently heard of the passing of one of our members Gerry Lamothe. Well known on lake Louisa for his tour-du-lac in his beautiful wood boat while sharing his infectious smile and waving at all passers by. We have put together a memorial page for him which you can visit here.

www.lac-louisa.ca/gerry-memorial

Boat Wash Station update

On the operational side, the Wentworth boat wash station finally became functional, requiring all watercraft owners to clean their vessels before entering the lakes. Many residents noticed increased traffic from non-residents, prompted by the low fee for accessing Lake Louisa. The one-year agreement with the Ministry of the Environment ended this fall, and the price for non-resident access will be rising. We have proposed a return to the $300 fee level, and while council has not objected, it has not yet adopted the higher fee.

LLPOA Next chapter

We are pleased to announce that the LLPOA website has been updated and upgraded, continuing to be accessible at  www.lac-louisa.ca. The New site includes Members only content and sections for non members who can still access the website and the current newsletters but all members only section will revert you to the membership signup details. More details about the website are listed below. Along with the new website will come a renewed focus this upcoming year to continue to protect our lake and the lake experience while respecting each other and everyone’s different interests through education and information. 2026 will hopefully bring new engagement from residents, visitors, and friends. Working together we will strive to maintain our 3 main goals: protection of our lake, being a voice for our members and lake Louisa’s interests and finally producing innovative ideas to address problems and maximize everyone’s lake experience. In this upcoming year we will be looking for input from our members via the online forum setup to discuss where we can invest in the lake.

Our New Website

The Website is now live and available in English and French. Please keep in mind that we are all volunteers and no one is paid for this work, so we could really use your help for any corrections in either language. Please send all correction requests or functionality problems to us using the contact form. Here is a breakdown of the new features and functionality of our new site.

1. General site updates
   1. General look and feel have changed.
   2. A big thank you to Randy Ovaskainen for the drone footage and Bill Roberts for his footage and editing skills which provide us with the video as the background of the full version on the site. (mobile and tablet have a fixed background)
   3. Visitors to Lake Louisa: a link dedicated to people visiting lake Louisa that share useful information in a “know before you go” format.
   4. Non members can view the website but will not have access to members’ content.
   5. Any useful information for the protection of the lake stays open to everyone.
2. Members content.
   1. Membership Zone which includes a new forum, events, and most importantly Members Rewards section.
   2. Updated Environment section: reusing as much content but updating the look and feel of things like Bird of Lake Louisa, Fish, Wildlife, and vegetation.
3. Memberships and renewals
   1. As a member you should have received a notice to reset your password to your account via the email we have on file.
   2. Memberships are set to remind you to renew 365 days after the original date of payment from 2025. You can verify your renewal date in your “my account” section under subscriptions.
   3. If you paid by cheque or other method than credit and we could not track your renewal date which has been set to May 1^st by default. We are working on an auto renew feature but not 100% sure it works yet.
   4. If your membership is older than 365 days old, then you can simply re-register following the link.
   5. There is no longer an option to increase your donation at the time of membership unfortunately. There is a section for donations, and it will be a separate transaction. We very much appreciate the extra funds and encourage donations.
4. Members Rewards
   1. As a vow to increase the value to our members we have approached local vendors that wish to offer a discount to our members in exchange for representation on the website.
   2. Member discounts at each vendor are available by simply showing them your active membership card located in “my account section” under membership card.
   3. We are actively looking to increase the rewards and are open to any local vendors, so all ideas are welcome.

There will be a webinar on the evening of Thursday December 18^th to run through the new website in English and in French. Members will be able to sign up in the events section as of today. We will rerun this webinar in the new year for those that cannot join.

A Closing Note

2025 was an interesting year full of joy and challenges. We are reminded that our lake is a privilege and something that requires care and education. 2026 will bring its own set of developments and we look forward to increasing the programs we offer and the value to our members.

We wish everyone Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!

LLPOA Board of Directors

Robert Houle                       Danny Miron            Martin Brisebois

Shannon LeBrash               Jim Shea

Becca Blackwood               Mark Pilon