(Mission Times Courier, San Diego, CA) - The lake, its perimeter road and the environs are looking pretty darned good. The suggestion of public service and participation is taking hold. Lake staff has had more community help, organized groups such as the Friends of Lake Murray, La Mesa sponsored Key Club from Helix High and others have helped for a long time. Also, there are random pickups by individual folks who come to the lake. Credit should also be given to the daily pickups by walkers and runners on the streets leading to their lake trek; Carol Daugherty from her home on Baltimore Dr., David McLaren and Diane Nelson on Jackson Drive. There is a man with a bag that collects litter on other community streets and I once stopped to thank him. He says that it his way of "keeping in shape." His "keeping in shape" really is doing double duty. He looks very fit and the streets are cleaner.

Mildred and Ken Larcomb re-organize the bulletin board near the main parking lot often but are frustrated when they come back a day later and the board is a mess. Think of how bad it would look if they didn't try to keep it clutter free. At least we know people are checking out messages and flyers to see what is new. I am among others who forget to take down dated materials. Sorry. The bulletin boards are a magnet that attracts most visitors.

When the Friends pickup fishing line and trash on the second Saturday of each month, we are disappointed when we are unable to reach areas in the water where debris collects. At the last trash pickup we were joined by George Yackey, Bruce Michael, Bruce Bechard, Bob Pharoah, Barry Pechersky, Lucky Ketcham, and leader Ed Velton of the San Diego Fly Fishing Club. Bruce and Bruce got in the water with their waders on and removed fishing paraphernalia from the reeds and rocks.  Ed Velton, (who was recently released from a hospital stay) and Bob Pharoah got in their pontoon boats and retrieved trash from the inlets where it accumulates. They collected fishing line, many fishing lures, hooks, lead sinkers and littler. Lucky said that they even retrieved a $20 Castaic bass lure. Barry and Lucky cleaned up the shoreline, as did the Friends.

The fly fishermen's relationship with the community and lake visitors is exemplary. They give back to the community and create goodwill in turn. They built the BBQ on the Padre Bay shore and poured a slab big enough to fit two tables. They made a shade structure over it. The grouping is named for Gordon Foster who was on the SDFF Board of Directors for 25 years. When he passed away, he left a large donation to the club to protect streams and promote fly-fishing. The area has become a meeting place for their group and community get-togethers.

Each Sunday from 9:00am to 12:00pm, Ned Sewell of the SDFF club gives a free fly-fishing lecture. Afterwards the participants have an opportunity to try casting without expense. Those who take part are retirees, young people and couples. Rods and reels are provided and since hooks are not used, permits are not required. There are 390 members of the SDFF club and Lucky thinks that there have been over 1,100 people that have gone through the classes since 2006. He says that it works out to 5.6 people per week. Annually the club awards a member that has proved unselfish service back to the club and community.  Ed Velton is a past winner and so is Lucky Ketcham. They are two gentlemen who are well liked and whose reputations are inspirational.

The Friends and lake staff were elated to have the help of the fishermen. They accomplished what we could not with our pickers from the shore. It was a pleasure to meet them and hope they know how happy we were to have their help. It is especially good to have dangerous hazards removed for the wildlife. Remember…School students can get community service slips signed by joining our pickup on the second Saturday of the month. We meet at the boat dock at 8:00am.

I received a sad e-mail from a San Mateo couple that was in San Diego on the first day of their vacation.  On January 12th, they were walking at Lake Murray with their dog, Skipper.  A biker going at excessive speed cut the corner on Padre Bay and hit Skipper.  The couple was concerned with the biker who fell. The female and her bike were fine but Skipper suffered broken ribs, a punctured lung and a broken back.  The veterinarian had to put the dog down.  The couple said their sadness at the loss of their beloved Skipper was indescribable and don't think that they can ever come to Lake Murray again.  They say that if the biker had been going a normal speed that the accident would never have happened. It is such a sad story to lose a pet unnecessarily. I think that almost worse was that no one stopped to help or seem concerned with the couple or their injured dog.

Conversely, we see walkers that won't move over for faster walkers, runners, and bikers.  One biker ran into the brush because the walkers wouldn't move even though he kept calling out to them.  He was injured and as in the case of Skipper, no one stopped or was concerned. From time to time, we all daydream and don't watch where we are going.  Mixed-use activity becomes a problem. Even non-motorized traffic on the lake road can be a disaster if one isn't defensive and aware of those around them.

Winnie Reno's black Labradoodle "Cinder" has a first birthday coming up. It reminded me of the woman who had a Bark Mitzvah at the lake. She celebrated by inviting her dog's lake dog friends to celebrate his 13th birthday.  There were games, birthday "cake" and prizes.  One game was having the dogs run to their owners and the fastest dog won.  The cake was a round meatloaf with mashed potato frosting. Winnie thought it was a good idea and Cinder might have a hamburger patty with a candle in it. I know, I know. What can I say?  We love our dogs.

The February 19, 2009 Friends of Lake Murray meeting will be at 5:00pm at St. Dunstan's Episcopal Church on the corner of Park Ridge and Wandermere Dr.  Our speaker will be Earl Towson. He is a retired aerospace engineer, ham radio emergency net operator/ coordinator, Red Cross disaster support person and a NASA Ambassador.

Earl will present a program titled Mars-Recent Discovers.  He writes: "Over the past decade NASA has been successfully exploring Mars with robotic rovers, stationary landers, and orbiting spacecraft.  We will review some of the more significant discoveries. These missions are laying the groundwork for an even more exciting future that could lead to manned missions in our lifetime.  The future exploration of Mars and what we have learned will be discussed."

For more information about our meetings or trash pickups, call Barbara Cleves at (619) 463-9706.