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- Written by: Matt Wilson - Breese Journal Reporter
Members of Friends of Carlyle Lake group participated in the U of I Extension Pollinator Pallooza event held at the Carlyle Lake Visitor Center in October. The Friends group educated the public on the Monarch butterfly’s migration, life cycle, and importance of native flowers and milkweed. Those who visited the booth received milkweed to take home and plant. In the photo are Friends of Carlyle Lake director Peggy Hilmes and president Kim Hammel. A group looking to create more partnerships with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Carlyle Lake is seeking to continue to grow.
The Friends of Carlyle Lake work in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Carlyle Lake Project to foster environmental stewardship and enhance overall visitor experience through educational, interpretive services.
They seek to develop educational materials and experiences for public enjoyment. An example of that is a new informative panel to be placed in the General Dean Recreation Area for the community to utilize during the height of bald eagle season.
"Our purpose is to help the Corps provide educational exhibits and also partnerships through grants to get special projects at Carlyle Lake," president Kim Hammel said.
The Friends of Carlyle Lake also have partnered with the U.S Army Corps of Engineers Carlyle Lake Project to purchase shirts for park rangers to hand out as a reward to lake visitors who are wearing life jackets. The "I got caught wearing my life jacket at Carlyle Lake" campaign encourages swimmers, boaters and other types of outdoor water recreationalist, that visit Carlyle Lake, to always wear a life jacket when on or near the water.
The Friends of Carlyle Lake also purchased an educational panel on eagles that will go at the General Dean Bridge. They are working on a viewing scope for people who stop in to see the eagles but don't have binoculars. They will get the viewing scope as soon as they get the funds.
When Hammel worked for the Corps of Engineers, the lake had a cooperating association. When they had the visitors center, when it first opened after it burned down, there was a gift shop there. They piggy-backed on a cooperating association from Shelbyville and they provided all of the merchandise that went into the gift shop.
Carlyle never really had a friends group of its own. About three years before Hammel retired, she thought Carlyle Lake really needed a friends group and then worked that into a cooperative association with the Corps of Engineers.
The group has slowly been working on getting things together and are at the point where they are accepting memberships from individuals and businesses.
