Otsego Lake has long been an important part of the lives CFOC supporters Doug and Rhonda Willies. Their home is on the site of a camp built there by Rhonda’s parents in 1968; Doug and Rhonda have lived lakeside full-time for the past 10 years and spent summers there since 1979. Like Rhonda, their daughters grew up on the shores of the lake, and the Willies can recall many happy days of the girls canoeing, swimming, and fishing for sunnies off the end of their dock.
Over the past 50 years, Doug and Rhonda have observed many changes to Otsego Lake, including a decline in water quality brought on in large part by invasive species, and a delay in the time of year the lake freezes over (if at all)—a visible impact of climate change.
In order to help preserve the health of the lake they love, Doug and Rhonda have been very active as volunteers, through service on the lake advisory council for the Biological Field Station and on the board of the Otsego Lake Association, and by participating in programs to reduce the impact of invasive species and monitor lake quality.
In 2023, the couple decided to partner with the Community Foundation of Otsego County to create a fund (known as a “field of interest fund”) specifically to support projects to help Otsego Lake.
“Otsego Lake is an invaluable yet vulnerable resource,” said the Willies. “We have always believed that we all share responsibility to be good stewards of the precious resources that nourish us. Working with the Community Foundation of Otsego County and others who share these views has given us the opportunity to initiate the creation of the Otsego Lake Watershed Sustainability Fund.”
Through a generous gift, the Willies established the fund and a matching-gift challenge. They were quickly joined by others who appreciate Otsego Lake, bringing the balance of the fund up to $500,000.
The hope is that the fund will not only provide a reliable financial resource but also help to coordinate efforts to care for Otsego Lake and its watershed. The Otsego Lake Watershed Sustainability Fund is a tribute to what a concerned community can achieve and a wonderful legacy for Doug and Rhonda, who have helped to ensure that something so important to them will be sustained for generations.
