May 2012Glidden Drive Association Newsletter

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May2012NEWSLE

TTER

GliddenDriveAssociation

President’s Messageby Bill Hensge

The Big Anniversary Dinner

JULY22:Excitement, energy and responses fromyou, our members, are building nicely toward ourFIFTIETH (50th) GDAAnniversaryCelebra-tion, which will culminate at Donny�sGlidden Lodge Restaurant for a Sundaynoon dinner.

THEMEMORYBOOK:Thehighlight alongwith ourdinner and other plannedactivitieswill beTheMemoryBook,which is being compiled.Thanks to so many of you whohave submitted yourmemo-ries, andwhile the deadlinewill have passedby the timeyou have received thisNewsletter, there may be time forseveral more if submitted quickly to JaneHensge � no guarantees.

YOUR INVITATION&RESPONSE: You shouldhave received your invitation on or about May 1 andwe must have your response and check returned asquickly as possible to ensure your attendance.Donny�s does have seating limitations for a privateparty.

OUR ANNUAL MEETING is scheduled for Sat-urday, July 7 and we need several volunteers to serveeither as a Board Member or Officer. There will besignificant turnover as we close out 2011 � 2012.Boardmeetings are bi-monthly. Contact aBoardmem-ber for additional information and interest.

OUR WINTER DINNER AT Mr. G�s was well at-tended by nearly 50 people and included several newcouples to our social events. Thanks to all whomadethis outing a nice success on a relatively mild winter

Saturday. And many thanks to Gary Henger whoassumed full responsibility for this event and whoensured that no detail was overlooked. Nice job andkudos to Gary.

WEWELCOME BACK ALL OF YOU who wereaway for the winter. No doubt you were

aware of our verymild seasonwithnotmuch snow, andwere probablysurprised to see �spring-like� con-ditions upon your arrival. It is highlyimprobable to bike and play golf in

March and April in DoorCounty, but many of us did.

Finally, you are re-minded to check out ourGDA website at

www.doorbell.net/gda for moreinformation of interest.

by Jane Hensge

The festivities for the 50th Anniversary Celebra-tion are well under way. With the generous input ofso many of you, we will have a special memento ofthis occasion. We will be sharing the finished prod-uct at the dinner and distribute copies to all mem-bers of theGliddenDriveAssociationbeginning some-time the week following the party.

You should have received your invitation aboutMay 1; if not, call Jane Hensge.

Many thanks to all of you who took the time toinclude a personal recollection for this book. Seeyou at the celebration!

Let the Party Begin

Glidden Drive Association NewsletterMay 2012

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Largest Conservation Purchase in Door County in Nearly 50 Years

483 Acres Preserved in Sevastopolby The Door County Land Trust

In 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt recommendedthat land just inland from Lake Michigan in the Town ofSevastopol be preserved and open for the public to enjoy.One hundred and seven years later, President Roosevelt�swishes have been granted.

The Door County Land Trust recently purchased 483undeveloped, pristine acres just south of the WhitefishDunes State Park. The property is part of the ShiveringSands State Natural Area (SNA) and is bordered on theeast by Glidden Drive; it adjoins lands already protectedby the Nature Conservancy. The purchase represents thelargest conservation project in the Land Trust�s 26-yearhistory and the largest conservation project inDoorCountysince the 1967 expansion of Newport State Park.

�A project of this magnitude would not have been pos-sible without a lot of people coming together and workingtoward a common goal,� states Dan Burke, Door CountyLand Trust Executive Director. �The Land Trust had thebacking and support of theWisconsinDepartment of Natu-ral Resources (DNR), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,The Nature Conservancy, the Town of Sevastopol, manysporting organizations and theGliddenDrive Association.Most importantly, the families that owned the land dis-played an extraordinary amount of patience as this pur-chase took over three years to complete. Without theirvision and perseverance, this land would not have beenprotected.�

The purchase by the Land Trust means the publicwill now have an expanded opportunity to experience andappreciate the beauty and diversity of the Shivering Sandsarea as the land will be available for hiking, hunting, andother nature-based activities. For Dick Baudhuin, one ofthe former owners of the property, public access was amotivating factor for selling to the Land Trust. �I feelstrongly that this land be open for the public to enjoy andthat sustainable forestry activities continue. I want thisto be a place that brings the community together, a placewhere people who appreciate nature can share their com-mon interests.�

The Land Trust�s recent purchase includes portionsof two wild lakes, Schwartz and Arbter, hundreds of acresof forest, and numerous spring-fed springs, seeps andcreeks. According toWisconsin�s late, renowned ecologist,Jim Zimmerman, �Shivering Sands is the largest unbro-ken natural area in Door County and has the largest whitecedar tract in Wisconsin.�

Identification as a Wisconsin Five Star Land LegacyArea further solidified the claim that the Shivering Sands

SNA is a biologically-rich jewel. It houses nineteen natu-ral landscape communities including dunes, kettles,swales, old and present shorelines, small lakes, streams,ponds, fens, bogs and forests. These natural communi-ties provide habitat for unique plants such as dwarf lakeiris, tussock bulrush and coast sedge. They also providehabitat for an impressive list of animals such as otter,fisher,mink,weasel, badger, fox, sandhill crane, bald eagle,one hundred plus other species of breeding birds, andthe federally-endangered Hine�s emerald dragonfly.

The Door County Land Trust plans to transfer own-ership of the preserved land to the DNR for long-termmanagement. The Land Trust will work with the DNRand volunteers to establish and maintain hiking trails,eradicate invasive nonnative plants, andmanage the healthof the upland forest community.

Funds for this purchase were made possible throughgenerous grants from the Knowles-Nelson StewardshipFund ofWisconsin and the U.S. Fish andWildlife Service�sNational Coastal Wetland program. The Land Trust ex-tends its thanks to The Nature Conservancy of Wisconsinfor its invaluable help in securing grant funds and tomem-bers of the Land Trust for providing the private fundingneeded to make this historic project a reality.

Contributions toward the Land Trust�s purchase ofthe Baudhuin property may be sent to the Door CountyLandTrust, P.O. Box 65, SturgeonBay,WI 54235 ormadeonline at www.doorcountylandtrust.org. The Door

May 2012Glidden Drive Association Newsletter

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This address range is approximate, andmight cover agreater area than just 4000-4300, but it was limited toonly part of Glidden. After numerous service visits, theproblem was traced to a bad underground cable section,and Charter has replaced it.

There�s No Place Like FoamHave you seen piles of foam in our creeks? There is

one spot in Shivering Sands that seems to accumulate itquite often (see picture). This may or may not indicatecontamination.

According to Paul LaLiberte, in a paper made avail-able through the Door County Soil and Water Conserva-tion Department, foaming is often caused by an �increasein nutrients and/or organic material at the surface. Thisenrichment decreases surface tension so that any aera-tion, such as winds, riffles, dams, waterfalls, etc., pro-duces foam.

�While inorganic nutrients are capable of loweringsurface water tension and causing foaming, themost com-mon cause in freshwater systems is glycoprotein orproteoglycan polymers of biological origin. This includesorganic material associated with plants or plankton pro-duction.�

So the answer is�there is no one cause.Bill Schuster, Soil & Water Department head, has

promised to provide a report on the Shivering Sands wa-tershed area this summer, including samples and analy-sis from several years of data collection.

The LaLiberte paper is posted on our web site.

Sevastopol TV Wins AwardsOur Charter Channel 986, Sevastopol�s cable TV sta-

tion, has won four Excellence awards in the Spring 2012VideoFest held byWisconsin CommunityMedia. All showswere produced and edited by Laddie Chapman. You cansee the winners and many other locally-produced videoson not only cable TV, but also onwww.YouTube.com/user/shermanbay. They are: Sevastopol History with GeorgeEvenson, Valmy threshereewithDennisConnolly,GeorgeEvenson Visits the Simon Infants, and Sevastopol DairyBreakfast with Dennis Connolly.

The Valmy Thresheree was also recipient of the Bestin Show Award for Documentary/Feature produced bySeniors.

County Land Trust is a local, nonprofit organization dedi-cated to preserving Door County�s open spaces and wildplaces. Since 1986, the Door County Land Trust has per-manently protected over 6,000 acres throughout DoorCounty. Visit the Land Trust�s website to find out moreabout the LandTrust and formaps and directions to LandTrust nature preserves.

Joe Winkler

Len Moss

In MemoriamIn MemoriamIn MemoriamIn MemoriamIn Memoriam

Foam on Shivering Sands Creek

Charter Supervisor DougKurshner fixes a cable problem

483 Acres (continued)

Wal-Mart OpenOur newWalMart Superstore is now in operation. With

the old building down and being made into a parking lotand retention pond, parking is in short supply near thenew building, but this should soon be rectified.

You can enter the new lot fromEggHarbor road, acrossfrom the Nightengale (or is it Nightingale?) or at the side,from 14th Ave.

The new store has a large grocery section, bakery andeven such modern conveniences as self-checkout, whichmay take some self-education to make it work. My expe-rience with it suggests that humans will have to adapt tothe computer, and not the other way around as you mighthope.

Charter ChatterIf you are a Charter

communications cus-tomer from4000GliddenDrive to 4300 and expe-rienced multiple phone,TV and Internet outagesfrom March 10 through19, you might be due arefund, but youmust ask.

Around The Driveby The Old Beachcomber

Glidden Drive Association NewsletterMay 2012

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Because of the decline in amphibian populations, theirnumbers are being monitored by organizations such asthe Wisconsin Salamander Survey.

As the term amphibian suggests, most of the animalsin this class, amphibia, live in the water and on land.There are exceptions, however; mudpuppies never leavethe water and red-backed salamanders never enter thewater.

The Shivering Sands Wetlands Complex in the townof Sevastopol is the largest unbroken natural area in DoorCounty and is designated as a Five Star natural Area bythe Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. It is anideal habitat for these environmentally blooded (coldblooded) creatures that are very important in the web oflife.

Monitoring salamanders consists of five traps for fiveconsecutive days. This year traps were set on March 20throughMarch 25. This setting is four weeks earlier thanin 2011.

The red-backed �sally� is common throughout DoorCounty as is the mudpuppy.

The booklet Amphibians of Wisconsin is an excellentsource of amphibian information. It is available at White-fish Dunes State Park.

Salamander Surveyby Carl Scholz

The Results2012 2011 2010 2009

Blue spotted salamanders ....... 170 67 103 188Spotted salamanders ................ 37 26 30 0Wood Frogs ............................. 328 187 347 1Giant water beetles ..................... 8 7 3 20Crayfish ...................................... 2 9 2 1Leeches ...................................... 0 1 2 0Egg Masses ................................. 1 0 1 0Mud Minnows ............................. 0 12 0 0

Glidden Drive Association Newsletter May 201266666 Published by the Glidden Drive Association, Inc., P.O. Box261, Sturgeon Bay, WI 5423566666 Editor, electronic pre-press composition: Laddie Chapman66666 The Glidden Drive Association Web Site is atwww.doorbell.net/gda, where you will find back newsletters,the latest news, and other items of interest to members.

Directors 2011�2012

Glidden Drive Association, Inc.

Board ...................................... Term expirationDarrell von Berg ............................................ 2014

Laddie Chapman .......................................... 2014

Susan Peterson ............................................. 2012

Jack Reiners ................................................. 2013Fred Shumway .............................................. 2013Kaare Wold ................................................... 2012

OfficersBill Hensge ............................................. PresidentGary Henger .................................... Vice PresidentSueWehrli .............................................. SecretaryGeorge Wentz ......................................... Treasurer

Monday, June 4, 2012:GDA Board Meeting, 9AMat Sevastopol Town Hall

Saturday, July 7, 2012: GDA Annual MembershipMeeting, 10AMat Sevastopol TownHall. Comeearlyfor coffee & donuts.

Sunday, July 22, 2012: GDA�s 50th AnniversaryCelebration, Donny�s Glidden Lodge Restaurant.Contact Jane Hensge: janehensge@sbcglobal.net,743-7718

Monday, August 6, 2012: GDA Board Meeting,9AM at Sevastopol Town Hall

MarkYourCalendar

Copyright © 2012 Glidden Drive Association, Inc., all rights reserved. Except as otherwise provided by law, this document may not bereproduced, transmitted, stored or retrieved in whole or in part, in any form or by any means now known to exist or yet to be invented,including, but not limited to, photocopying, scanning, recording, transmitting, uploading or downloading without the express writtenpermission from the copyright owner.

Red-backed salamander