Join us in Cooperstown's Lake Front Park
to celebrate Otsego County's precious water resources!

The Otsego Lakes Festival began in 2004 as the Otsego Lake Festival, a community event to assemble and showcase groups that are connected through their efforts to conserve and protect water quality of Otsego Lake.  The event has become a venue where nonprofit organizations, businesses, educational institutions, and government agencies come together to share information with the community in a festival atmosphere. In 2010 the focus of our festival has broadened to celebrate all of Otsego County's lakes and water bodies!

The 2010 Festival will kick off at 12:00 pm with the dedication of the Buffer Strip Garden in Lake Front Park followed by a presentation to honor Dr. Ted Peters for his life-long commitment to water quality conservation. Read more about the buffer strip garden dedication here.

2010 Festival Special Events

12:00pm Dedication of the Buffer Strip Garden, by the Otsego Lake Association & the Lake and Valley Garden Club

Recognition of Dr.Theodore Peters, Jr. by the Otsego County Water Quality Coordinating Committee

1:30pm Barge Tour on Otsego Lake by the SUNY Oneonta Biological Field Station (sign up at the BFS Display)

2:30pm Rain Garden Workshop by Master Gardener Annette MacLeod

3:30pm Barge Tour on Otsego Lake by the SUNY Oneonta Biological Field Station (sign up at the BFS Display)

12:00 to 5:00pm Exhibitors, vendors, and the Kids' Activity Tent open!

 

Kids' Activity Tent

An entire tent will be dedicated to creative and educational activities for children of all ages. 

• Fish Prints with local artists, sponsored by Stewarts Holiday Match and the Cooperstown Art Association

• Watershed Function Model

• Aquatic Insect and Fish Identification

• Properties of Water

• Lakes Appreciation Month Poster Contest - North American Lake Management Society

• Ronny the Raindrop!
  

Workshops & Exhibitions

Master Gardener Annette MacLeod will lead a session on the design and function of rain gardens as a means of reducing the impacts of storm water runoff.   Additional topics may be covered, including preventing the spread of invasive species and septic system maintenance.  More detail will be provided as the festival approaches.

Exhibitors will provide an array of information related to the protection of water quality: lake and stream ecology, watershed protection and management, land use planning, soil conservation, agricultural conservation programs, wetland mitigation, and more!

Barge tours on Otsego Lake will be provided by the SUNY Oneonta Biological Field Station.  Tours are informal, but will include a discussion of the geologic history of Otsego County and the resulting influence on our present water bodies, lake ecology, and the history of watershed management activities in the Otsego Lake Watershed.

Confirmed exhibitors and vendors include the following:

Information for Exhibitors & Vendors

Are you interested in displaying an exhibit or having a vendor table?  Simply fill out and submit our Exhibitor Registration Form along with your $50 donation (tax-deductable) to OCCA at PO Box 931, Cooperstown, NY.  Feel free to contact our coordinator with any questions.  Call (607)547-8778 or emailmeehanha@oneonta.edu for more information.

The Otsego Lakes Festival will provide an 8-foot table, chairs, and access to electricity for each exhibitor (please bring your own extension cord). Exhibitors and vendors may request space within the exhibit tent or supply their own canopy if desired.  If you have exhibits or activities for children, please note on your registration that you would like space within the Kids' Activity Tent.

Event Donors

We would like to thank our generous community members for their support of our Otsego Lakes Festival. 

Commemorative Posters - an artful tradition 

Beginning with the first Otsego Lake Festival in 2005, local artist Scottie Baker donated the design of a poster to commemorate each year's Festival.  In 2010, the official Otsego Lakes Festival poster has been designed and donated by photographer Richard Duncan.  Prints will be available for purchase the day of the Festival (details below).  Prints of past posters as well as original works by Scottie Baker will also be available.

Proceeds from these generous donations go toward the WQCC's hosting of the Otsego Lakes Festival as well as the committee's water quality initiatives throughout the county. 

2010 Commemorative Poster by Richard Duncan

17" x 22" limited edition print - signed and numbered       $100

13" x 18" commemorative print - $20

Dedication of he Buffer Strip Garden - Lake & Valley Garden Club and the Otsego Lake Association

As part of the Otsego Lakes Festival, at noon the Lake and Valley Garden Club and the Otsego Lake Association will hold a dedication of the Buffer Strip Garden in Lake Front Park. Senator James Seward, Cooperstown Mayor Joe Booan, former Mayor Carol Waller and dignitaries from the Garden Club of America will be among the honored guests. The buffer strip has been a joint effort of the LVGC and OLA. Phase one of the project was initiated by OLA primarily to deal with the run-off from Pioneer Street into Otsego Lake and to provide a demonstration of the effectiveness of the buffer strip concept. After that, efforts were combined with LVGC to expand the project to span the entire frontage of the park, including a handicapped accessible boardwalk, native plantings, horticultural beautification, and plans for education about conservation and protection of lakes and streams.

 Members of OLA and LVGC were assisted in this endeavor by volunteer contributions from numerous individuals and businesses who will be recognized at the dedication ceremony. Among these are the Otsego Area Occupational Center’s Building Trades Program, the students of which built the boardwalk, and Lynn Marsh of Landscape Alternatives, who donated many hours of technical advice regarding plantings and ongoing maintenance of the garden. OLA and LVGC member Suzanne Kingsley, along with board members from both organizations, was instrumental in the design and execution of the garden. The contributions of the Village of Cooperstown and Cooperstown Graduate Program will also be recognized.

The Buffer Strip Garden has been the recipient of awards from the New York Federation of Lake Associations and College For Every Student, as well as the prestigious Founders’ Fund Award from the Garden Club of America, which included a $25,000 stipend for this project.

Support Otsego County's Waterways! Sponsor the Otsego Lakes Festival Today:

Our water bodies need you!  To sponsor the Lakes Festival, send a check with "OLF 2010" in the memo line to:

Otsego County Conservation Association - OLF
PO Box 931
Cooperstown, NY 13326

Donations made to the 2010 Lakes Festival will enable us to provide the festival venue and some of the educational components of our program.  Donations and gifts to the Otsego County Water Quality Coordination Committee can also be accepted through OCCA, and are used to help the Committee to disseminate water quality information throughout the county.

Otsego County Water Quality Coordinating Committee

The committee was established in 1992 as a sub-committee of the Otsego County Soil and Water Conservation District. It is comprised of a diverse group of people representing state and local government agencies, non-profit organizations, academic institutions, and lake associations. These members have technical expertise and knowledge and are committed to working to improve and maintain the quality of water in Otsego County through the reduction of nonpoint source pollution within its boundaries. More information on the committee, member organizations and its activities click here.

2010 Otsego Lakes Festival Planning Committee:

Holly Waterfield, SUNY Oneonta Biological Field Station, Committee Chair
Darla Youngs, Otsego County Conservation Association
Liz Fury, Otsego County Planning Department
Jill Eichler, Otsego County BOCES
Blanche Hurlbutt, Otsego County Soil and Water Conservation District