ONEIDA LAKE'S MOST PRECIOUS RESOURCE:
  
by Chuck Abaté

Here's the quiz question for this issue: What's the single most important concern of the Oneida Lake Association?  I'll give you a few hints.  It's not Oneida Lake's water quality, nor is it completion of the walleye hatchery in Constantia.  It's not law enforcement on the Lake, nor is it continued funding for improvements at the Lake's public launch sites.  It's not even the invasion of zebra mussels or other species which could threaten the balance of the Lake's ecosystem.  Well, then, what is the most important concern of the Oneida Lake Association?  Give up?  The answer is simple:  it's the membership of the OLA.  Without the loyalty and support of each and every one of YOU, the OLA would not even exist, and therefore wouldn't be able to lobby for its various environmental and recreational causes on behalf of Oneida Lake.

The officers of the Oneida Lake Association would like to take this opportunity to thank every one of its members for the contributions you make to the Association.  Of course, your yearly dues are greatly appreciated, and help to finance the Association's yearly mailings to its membership, as well as other costs associated with the Association's political lobbying and advocacy of your concerns about Oneida Lake.  But even more important to the OLA is the contribution that all of you make by your ongoing dedication to the Association, and your shared passion about the continued welfare of Oneida Lake and its wealth of sporting and recreational opportunities.

The officers of the OLA are sincerely grateful for your commitment to the Association, and hope to count you among its membership for many more years to come.  Please don't assume that your individual membership in the OLA "doesn't matter".  The Association needs every one of its members in order to remain strong, just as an anchor line needs each of its individual fibers to maintain its own integrity.  Every new OLA member is treasured by the Association, and so is every individual who renews membership year after year, because each member increases the Association's political clout, and assures that the collective concems and desires of the OLA membership will be heard and taken seriously. Every single member helps better persuade varous political, law enforcement, and other agencies that the OLA represents a broad-based and growing constituency whose voices cannot be ignored.

Every time the Association loses a former member, it loses far more than that person's dues--it also loses that person's political voice and passion for the concerns we all share about Oneida Lake.  The OLA would like to remind you of something you all know, even though it often goes unsaid:  YOU ARE OUR MOST PRECIOUS RESOURCE!  We are thankful for your loyal support of the Association, and we hope that your love of Oneida Lake's beauty and your concern for the Lake's welfare will motivate you to remain a member of the OLA for many, many years to come.