Please note, Pat Huff will resume collecting bottles this Friday. All proceeds from bottle deposit collection supports the Duane Lake Association. Please leave any bagged cans and bottles at the curb or by your mailbox. Thank you.
Casella Waste pickup delayed 1 day
The following message was distributed today via text from Casella Waste: Due to bad weather, we are picking up on a one day delay. Please have your cans out for pickup Thursday (January 1st, 2026) this week. Thank you!
No bottle collection this week
Please note there will be no bottle collection Friday, December 26th.
Winter 2026 Roving Feast update
The 2026 Duane Lake Roving Feast has been scheduled for Saturday, February 28th. This is a fun (and delicious) winter time community event that includes stops at four or five of your neighbors homes, each stop hosting a course or beverage. Neighbors can pitch-in and provide a dish of their choice to supplement a particular host stop. Please mark your calendars - or follow along on the DLA website calendar below. Details to follow....
This weeks email newsletter...
Some items of interest to Duane Lake residents:
Thank you to Sonya and Tom for filling-in for Ken with collecting water samples for the annual CSLAP lake report a couple of weeks ago. And thanks to Kim for assisting Alan in collecting a new batch of water samples that are now being tested for caffeine. Caffeine is professionally accepted and is frequently referred to as an indicator of human contamination in water bodies. Neighborhood participation and assistance with stewardship of our lake and the surrounding environment is always valued and appreciated!
Keeping nutrients -- new phosphorus and nitrogen -- out of the lake is the number one goal of the DLA Lake Management Plan. Disturbed dirt, such as created by the Town's newly-dug culvert ditches followed by an inch and a half of rain, came with the risk of Duane Lake getting a dose of silt and phosphorus and thus a possibility of algae bloom. We have seen this happen before.
Homeowner projects that expose bare dirt also pose the same risk. Remember: water wants to go downhill and takes soil nutrients with it.
A fairly good example of this was provided by the Schenectady County Highway Department in its summertime upgrading of Schoharie Turnpike. Along with the repaving of the road, the roadside ditches that flow into Duane Lake were re-excavated. Luckily, there was little or no rain to wash silt into Duane Lake and by mid September the crew had applied the spray-on green goo known as Hydro-Seeding. It germinated fairly well just in time for the recent rains. Sooner might have been better, but at least it got done and, judging by the downstream water clarity, it seems to have already had the desired effect.
New Schoharie Turnpike ditches before hydro-seeding.
New Schoharie Turnpike ditches after hydro-seeding. The grass will filter out much of the silt before the water reaches Duane Lake.
Please install silt barriers before-hand and a good amount of mulch as soon as possible after your homeowner projects to hold the soil in place.
Completion of the replacement culvert work on Duane Lake Rd has been delayed. Keith Hudson, the Town's highway superintendent explained that the delay is due to the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation inspecting the work and giving approval to complete the job. The Town's Facebook notice follows:
FYI - The Town is expected to do some heavily accumulated weed removal at the outlet culvert and canal when the road culvert work is completed.
Thank you to Sonya and Tom for filling-in for Ken with collecting water samples for the annual CSLAP lake report a couple of weeks ago. And thanks to Kim for assisting Alan in collecting a new batch of water samples that are now being tested for caffeine. Caffeine is professionally accepted and is frequently referred to as an indicator of human contamination in water bodies. Neighborhood participation and assistance with stewardship of our lake and the surrounding environment is always valued and appreciated!
Keeping nutrients -- new phosphorus and nitrogen -- out of the lake is the number one goal of the DLA Lake Management Plan. Disturbed dirt, such as created by the Town's newly-dug culvert ditches followed by an inch and a half of rain, came with the risk of Duane Lake getting a dose of silt and phosphorus and thus a possibility of algae bloom. We have seen this happen before.
Homeowner projects that expose bare dirt also pose the same risk. Remember: water wants to go downhill and takes soil nutrients with it.
A fairly good example of this was provided by the Schenectady County Highway Department in its summertime upgrading of Schoharie Turnpike. Along with the repaving of the road, the roadside ditches that flow into Duane Lake were re-excavated. Luckily, there was little or no rain to wash silt into Duane Lake and by mid September the crew had applied the spray-on green goo known as Hydro-Seeding. It germinated fairly well just in time for the recent rains. Sooner might have been better, but at least it got done and, judging by the downstream water clarity, it seems to have already had the desired effect.
New Schoharie Turnpike ditches before hydro-seeding.
New Schoharie Turnpike ditches after hydro-seeding. The grass will filter out much of the silt before the water reaches Duane Lake.
Please install silt barriers before-hand and a good amount of mulch as soon as possible after your homeowner projects to hold the soil in place.
Completion of the replacement culvert work on Duane Lake Rd has been delayed. Keith Hudson, the Town's highway superintendent explained that the delay is due to the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation inspecting the work and giving approval to complete the job. The Town's Facebook notice follows:
FYI - The Town is expected to do some heavily accumulated weed removal at the outlet culvert and canal when the road culvert work is completed.
W Duane Lake Rd culvert repair begins
Lake community, please be advised, the culvert and road repair is underway this morning by Kim and Mary Roberts at 1417. The road is closed for through traffic while the work is being completed.
UPDATE: Work has finished for the day and the road is reopened.
Photos by Kim Roberts, 9/29/2025
Duane Lake Garage Sale and Pop Up Art Gallery
Duane Lake Neighborhood Garage Sale
The Duane Lake Neighborhood Garage Sale is set for this coming Friday and Saturday, August 22nd & 23rd. The lake wide garage sale will be advertised in the Times Union, the Schenectady Gazette, the Altamont Enterprise and on several digital sites. The advertised hours will be from 9 - 4. There will be corner signs placed in strategic locations as well. If you have any specific items for sale that you think will draw people in for the garage sale, please reach out to Pat Huff by August 15 at (deleted). So don't forget to set aside your items to sell.
Pop-Up Art Gallery!
Duane Lake's got talent! A surprisingly lot of it. Two art teachers, a very fine nature photographer, and two painters who have exhibited elsewhere will offer their works, as will three other excellent Duanesburg artists.
And - just to take advantage of the effort going into this - the gallery will open one day before the Duane Lake Garage Sale and close one day after (4 days - from Thursday, the 21st through Sunday, the 24th). A good deal of the works offered will be Duane Lake landscapes and Duane Lake wildlife. All artists have agreed to grant the DLA a 25% commission in support of the Duane Lake Association's lake stewardship work. The Pop-Up Gallery will be at (deleted). It will open each day at 9:30 a.m. and close at 4:00 p.m.
Pop-Up Art Gallery!
Duane Lake's got talent! A surprisingly lot of it. Two art teachers, a very fine nature photographer, and two painters who have exhibited elsewhere will offer their works, as will three other excellent Duanesburg artists.
And - just to take advantage of the effort going into this - the gallery will open one day before the Duane Lake Garage Sale and close one day after (4 days - from Thursday, the 21st through Sunday, the 24th). A good deal of the works offered will be Duane Lake landscapes and Duane Lake wildlife. All artists have agreed to grant the DLA a 25% commission in support of the Duane Lake Association's lake stewardship work. The Pop-Up Gallery will be at (deleted). It will open each day at 9:30 a.m. and close at 4:00 p.m.
Bobcat sightings
There have been a couple bobcat sightings that were caught on doorbell and security cameras in the past few weeks. This video was shared by a resident located in the east/southeast side of the lake.
Nature at its finest!
Rowing Feast Photos
The Rowing Feast photo album link is now on the Photos page!
A BIG thank you to all of the DLA Rowing Feast hosts and to all those that contributed a dish. What a great day it was! The food was plentiful, creative and tasty. It turned out to be a beautiful day - not too hot or humid. The showcase of houses was impressive - so many people have really put a lot of time and effort into improving their homes. The company was relaxed and fun-loving. We are so fortunate to live in a community with such good neighbors.
And a special shout-out to Kim Roberts for all of the prep and planning of yet another party. Kim reports that the poker game totaled $320 and the winning hand was three 2's. So $160 went to the winning hand and $160 went to support DLA stewardship efforts.
Thanks again to everyone - and the photographers too!
A BIG thank you to all of the DLA Rowing Feast hosts and to all those that contributed a dish. What a great day it was! The food was plentiful, creative and tasty. It turned out to be a beautiful day - not too hot or humid. The showcase of houses was impressive - so many people have really put a lot of time and effort into improving their homes. The company was relaxed and fun-loving. We are so fortunate to live in a community with such good neighbors.
And a special shout-out to Kim Roberts for all of the prep and planning of yet another party. Kim reports that the poker game totaled $320 and the winning hand was three 2's. So $160 went to the winning hand and $160 went to support DLA stewardship efforts.
Thanks again to everyone - and the photographers too!
This weekend: Rowing Feast, Garage Sale, and Pop-Up Art Gallery
It's Back - the Annual Duane Lake Rowing Feast!The 2025 Duane Lake Rowing Feast will be held next Saturday, August 9th starting at noon. Everyone is invited to join in, bring a dish to share, enjoy the water and just visit with your neighbors. The Rowing Feast is basically a progressive lunch by way of sailing, rowing, kayaking, walking or driving from one host location on the lake to the next for each course. Please refer to the Duane Lake Rowing Feast host map (attached and above). Hard copies of the map will be available at the first host stop, Sue and Bob Bollentin's house as well.The day starts off with refreshments/and a meet & greet, then we shift over for appetizers, next is your salad course, followed by the main course(s) and finally a dessert stop. Each stop is hosted by one of your neighbors who will provide one or two refreshments/vittles and everyone is requested to contribute a dish to supplement one of the courses. Please call our party planner Kim Roberts to let him know of your planned dish as he will coordinate the day and make sure there are sufficient munchies at each host stop. Kim's number is (deleted).Since this was quite fun and successful last year - for those that would like to participate, a 50/50 poker row game. It will work like this: each entry will pay $20; the player will pick a card at each stop and at the end of the afternoon, whoever has the best hand will win the 50/50 pot with the winner taking home 50% of the funds and the remaining 50% will be donated to the Lake Association.
Your hosts for this year's Rowing Feast are as follows:
#1 Sue & Bob Bollentin
12:00 Refreshments / Meet & Greet and first card dealt to poker row participants.#2 Dave & Ann Vincent1:30 for appetizers and 2nd card of poker row card#3 Tom & Carol McClenahan2:30 for Salad and 3rd card of poker row#4 Dennis Decelli & Ian Colgan4:00 the Main Course and 4th card#5 Vicki & Jay Tanzman6:00 the dessert stop and last card / winner announced of 50/50 poker row.
Duane Lake Neighborhood Garage Sale is set for
Friday and SaturdayAugust 22 & 23
The lake wide garage sale will be advertised in the Times Union, the Schenectady Gazette, the Altamont Enterprise and on several digital sites. The advertised hours will be from 9 - 4. There will be corner signs placed in strategic locations as well. If you have any specific items for sale that you think will draw people in for the garage sale, please reach out to Pat Huff by August 15 at 518-469-0153. So don't forget to set aside your items to sell.Pop-Up Art Gallery will be offered!
Duane Lake's got talent! A surprisingly lot of it. Two art teachers, a very fine nature photographer, and two painters who have exhibited elsewhere will offer their works, as will three other excellent Duanesburg artists.
And - just to take advantage of the effort going into this - the gallery will open one day before the Duane Lake Garage Sale and close one day after (4 days - from Thursday, the 21st through Sunday, the 24th). A good deal of the works offered will be Duane Lake landscapes and Duane Lake wildlife. All artists have agreed to grant the DLA a 25 % commission in support of the Duane Lake Association's lake stewardship work. The Pop-Up Gallery will be at (deleted). It will open each day at 9:30 a.m. and close at 4:00 p.m.
DLA website post notification subscription
For Duane Lake Association members who were unable to attend the Annual Meeting and Picnic in June, the DLA discussed a new feature to notify you in near real time via email when a new post is added to the website. This feature may be helpful for those who do not check the website regularly but want to be kept up to date. Occasionally posts are added to the website which are not the routine email/newsletter. Examples might be a suspicious wildlife sighting, a missing pet, or some sort of urgent message.
If you would like to subscribe and receive this email notification, please complete the form below. This will allow the DLA webmaster to update your designated email into the messaging system. Once posts are added to the website, within minutes you will receive an email with the contents of the post.
Please note: this will not generate any spam or unwanted advertising emails, and you can unsubscribe at any time. If you attended the picnic you are already subscribed and need to do nothing, unless you would like to add an additional email address for notification.
Questions? Please send them to duanelakeassoc@gmail.com.
Rowing Feast and Garage Sale Reminder
It's Back...The Annual Duane Lake Rowing Feast!
The 2025 Duane Lake Rowing Feast will be held on Saturday, August 9th starting at noon. Everyone is invited to join in, bring a dish to share, enjoy the water and just visit with your neighbors. The Rowing Feast is basically a progressive lunch by way of sailing, rowing, kayaking, walking or driving from one host location on the lake to the next for each course.
The day starts off with refreshments and a meet & greet, then we shift over for appetizers, next is your salad course, followed by the main course and finally a dessert stop. Each stop is hosted by one of your neighbors who will provide one or two refreshments and everyone is requested to contribute a dish to supplement one of the courses. Please call our party planner Kim Roberts to let him know of your planned dish as he will coordinate the day and make sure there are sufficient munchies at each host stop. Kim's number is 518-522-6811.
Since this was quite fun and successful last year - for those that would like to participate, a 50/50 poker row game. It will work like this: each entry will pay $20; the player will pick a card at each stop and at the end of the afternoon, whoever has the best hand will win the 50/50 pot with the winner taking home 50% of the funds and the remaining 50% donated to the Lake Association.
Your hosts for this year's Rowing Feast are as follows:
#1 Sue & Bob Bollentin, 604 Duane Lake Rd
12:00 Refreshments / Meet & Greet and 1st card dealt to poker row participants
#2 Dave & Ann Vincent, 558 North Mansion Rd
1:45 for Appetizers and 2nd card of poker row
#3 Tom & Carol McClenahan, 491 West Duane Lake Rd
3:15 for Salad and 3rd card of poker row
#4 Dennis Decelli & Ian Colgan, 382 Duane Lake Rd
4:45 the Main Course and 4th card of poker row
#5 Vicki & Jay Tanzman, 1143 West Duane Lake Rd
6:30 the Dessert stop and last card / 50/50 poker row winner announced
Lake Wide Garage Sale
Also - don't forget to set aside your items for the Duane Lake Neighborhood Garage Sale which is set for Friday and Saturday, August 22 & 23. The lake wide garage sale will be advertised in the Times Union, the Schenectady Gazette, the Altamont Enterprise and on several digital sites. The advertised hours will be from 9 - 4. There will be corner signs placed in strategic locations as well. If you have any specific items for sale that you think will draw people in for the garage sale, please reach out to Pat Huff by August 15 at 518-469-0153.
Duanesburg Summer Concert Series
For those interested and not on Facebook, the Town of Duanesburg has posted the line-up for the Summer Concert Series at Shafer Park. Maybe we will see you there?!
DLA Annual Meeting and Picnic
In preparation for the Duane Lake Association annual meeting, your DLA Board of Directors recommends reviewing the June 2024 Annual Meeting Minutes and the 2024 Financial Review. These two items will be voted on at Saturday's Annual Picnic and Meeting.
Three Duane Lake Association Board positions are opening up. They are President, Vice President and Secretary. If you would like to serve in any of these positions for the three year term or if you would like to nominate someone who you feel would be an asset to the community in one of these capacities, please notify the DLA by e-mail. Please note, all persons interested in serving or being nominated to serve must be present at Saturday's Annual Picnic and Meeting.
Also, the DLA Board is proposing three changes to our By-Laws:
The first one has to do with voting rights. Our current By-Laws state, in effect, one vote per household. But it does not contemplate having two or more directors serving on the Board of Directors at the same time. The proposed change keeps it at "one vote per member household" for votes at general membership meetings, but would afford one vote per director (even if a second member of the family) at Board meetings. The rationale is that occasionally it is difficult to find members willing to serve on the Board of Directors. This could help deal with that situation.
A second one is intended to clear up a contradiction that neither our attorney nor we caught at the time of incorporation. It has to do with more clearly stating our mission to include a valid public purpose (not merely association members) and
A third that would clarify our IRS tax-exempt status in relation to that public purpose.
You can find our By-Laws by clicking here. There you'll find where and how each of these proposed amendments fits and the rationale for each proposed change.
THE ANNUAL DUANE LAKE ASSOCIATION
PICNIC AND MEETING
AT THE VAN PATTEN MILL PARK
IS THIS COMING SATURDAY!
Everyone is invited to bring a dish and if you have any questions including "What should I bring?", please reach-out by text message or call our bar-be-que master chef and party coordinator, Kim Roberts.
Van Patten Mill Park is located on Depot Road, just a two-minute drive from Stewart's in the hamlet of Duanesburg. It's a fun gathering with bar-be-que favorites and lots of really tasty dishes to share along with our neighborhood camaraderie and celebration of all things summer! Please plan to join us!
We hope to see you all on Saturday!
Septic Replacement Program update
What’s up with the Septic Replacement Program?
Is Duane Lake going to be allowed in?
June 9—Thursday June 12th is the last scheduled date for the NY State Assembly to convene. That means there are only four more days for it to consider and possibly pass a bill that would require DEC to admit Duane Lake into the Septic Replacement Program. The bill was introduced jointly by our Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara and our State Senator Patricia Fahy.
Brendan Savage, a senior legislative assistant to Assemblyman Santabarbara, had already been heavily supplied with documents pertaining to the history of the Duane Lake Association’s efforts to gain entry into the program. This past Thursday the DLA received an email from Mr. Savage, asking for additional documentary evidence of the Department of Environmental Conservation’s rejection of our application and its disinclination to respond to fact-based refutations of the DEC’s reasons. “Can't promise a result here,” he wrote, “but that documentation could potentially be very helpful to us, if you can send as soon as practicable.”
A report was drafted and sent from the DLA to Mr. Savage on Friday the 6th and a collection of actual documents and correspondence was sent late Saturday night, the 7th. For further information, you can read the report sent to Mr. Savage here.
I agree with the sentiments expressed by Holly Vellano, a Schenectady County Legislator most instrumental in advancing our cause: “Thank you so much for the invitation to your picnic, unfortunately, I’ll be out of town. BTW, the legislative session ends soon, but Angelo’s office is pushing to get his resolution passed making Duane Lake eligible for the Septic Replacement Program. Fingers crossed.”
- Alan Knight
Who woulda guessed?
 |
| Photo by Alan Knight |
"Apparently snapping turtles approve of the new silt barriers! The one on top is the biggest one I have ever seen in Duane Lake." - Alan Knight
There's been a lot of turtle sightings all around Duane Lake lately. We shared a story from the May 12th, 2025 E-edition of The Daily Gazette titled, How to help turtles in the road: DEC, advocates share tips during spring egg season in a post last month. Click here to read it!
DLA responds to letters to the editor in the Times Union
Here is a compilation of letters-to-the-editor of the Times Union in response to Lucy Hodgman's front-page article about the DLA's struggle to gain admission to the NY State Septic Replacement Program - previously published on the DLA website. Link to article here
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)