Dear Fellow Posters,
I must apologize for not having involved myself prior to now as this site does a terrific job of addressing issues of great interest to me and to my fellow members of the Lake Winnipesauke Sailing Center. I promise to be more involved from now on.
There was a posting on the site this morning by lakegirl, #7 under "building Winni Sailing", followed almost immediately by another post from nvtngtxpyr. Both posts, especially the one from lakegirl took a number of unpleasant and grossly inaccurate pot shots at me and at our Lake Winnipesaukee Sailing Association's efforts to locate a sailing center at Ellacoya State Park.
I really don't care about the personal attacks, but I do respectfully object to our plans for a new Sailing Center an Ellacoya being misrepresented. The proposed building will be a single storied structure except for a portion on the end that will be two levels high. The complex will add a badly needed dimension to life on the waters of our treasured lake, and it will offer increased, but controlled public access to the lake for boating activities that are clean and green and fully sustainable. We will teach children and adults how to sail and we will offer an adaptive sailing program for people with disabilities. We will put people who are sight impaired and who are paralyzed from profound injuries and birth defects out on the water giving them a sense of freedom from the constraints they encounter on land. We will give their lives new meaning. One of our strategic partners will be the Wounded Warrior Project and another will be the Easter Seals Society of New Hampshire. The Gunstock Adaptive Skiing program staff has agreed to be active in our new facility along with Ability Plus and Disabled Sports USA.
The new center will be named the LWSA/Adams Memorial Sailing Center in memory of one of our first sailing school students more than twenty years ago when we first began our program. David Adams, whose parents still live in Alton, went on to sail competitively at UNH winning several Junior National titles. He even came back to teach sailing to youngsters in our school program. Sadly, David was fighting a terminal illness for many of the years he was with our organization, but we will keep his spirit alive by naming the new facility in his honor.
The LWSA/Adams Memorial Sailing Center is still very much in the planning stages. Although the Parks and Recreation Division of DRED has given our project a green light to develop our plans and to announce our intentions, we are still a distance away from being approved to begin construction. We have met with our abutters at Lake Shore Park and we have addressed a number of their concerns, but understandably, there is a bit of a "not in my backyard" reaction to our plans and I have no doubt that "lakegirl" is a resident of that community or a friend of one of the owners. I am also happy to say that there are many supporters of our plans that live in this unique community as well. Lake Shore Park has nothing to fear from the new sailing center other than they might now have to share the beauty and the opportunities provided by this unique resource with a few more people than have been there in the past.
We will remain sensitive to all of Lake Shore Park's legitimate concerns, but Ellacoya belongs to the people of the entire State of New Hampshire -- it is not Lake Shore Park's private domain. For most of the Park's residents, the new Sailing Center will offer an attractive amenity for children and adults alike. When and if our plans are finally approved, the LWSA's use of this resource will be reasonable and sensitive to all of its neighbors concerns, but we will not stand by and allow anyone to misrepresent our group's plans and aspirations. I have spent the last five years looking for a site for this center and testing the waters to be sure there's a need for what we offer. Ellacoya is the right location and now is the right time to build this important new addition to what the area has to offer residents and visitors alike.
This past year we taught over 200 area children how to sail out of logistically tight quarters and in an area of the lake that is far from ideal, if not downright dangerous for the children involved. We scholarship children into our program if there's a need for assistance. We have a demand from adults who want to learn how to sail, but we have no facility suitable for this purpose. Unfortunately we do have a demand for an adaptive program, but we lack the equipment and a location. The LWSA is serious about its commitment to bring such a facility to Lake Winnipesaukee. We will be an asset to the entire lake as well as an asset to Lake Shore Park. We will meet anyone, anywhere and at any time who wants to see our plans and learn more about our programs. I can be reached by phone at 603-759-2510 or on line at
tntmullen@owlsnestgolf.com . A pamphlet on the Center and a photo that sums up everything I said in two words -- "GONE SAILING!' are attached. Need I say more!
Sincerely,
Thomas N.T. Mullen, President
Lake Winnipesaukee Sailing Association, Inc.
A 501(c)(3) Charitable Corporation
www.lwsa.org