Estling is hiring

Category : Open/Close

Hello fellow lakers! We are so excited that the lake will be fully open this summer and we need your help. In order for the lake community to run smoothly, we have several paid positions we are hiring for this summer.  

Lifeguards:
If you or your child are interested in lifeguarding, here are the parameters for being able to be a guard at Estling Lake:

  • 16 or over
  • Must be Open Water certified (not just pool certified.)
  • Must be certified in CPR/First Aid
  • Hours include 1-5:30 daily starting June 26-September 5.
    • Schedule and number of hours will vary per week and are flexible to work around other commitments.
    • Additional hours may be available coaching swim lessons (position TBD.)

There were several of you that mentioned you might have a child who would want to lifeguard.  We have a need and it would only be a walk/bicycle ride to work. 

Additional positions needed throughout the season:

  • Mail distribution
  • Janitor for community house
  • Beach raker

If interested in any of the positions above, please send an email to Pat G. and she will send you an application. You may also call Pat if you have any questions about the positions above.

Thank you in advance for your service to our community. It cannot run without everyone helping out!

Until we meet again, very soon.
Pat


We are open for fun!

Category : Featured Open/Close

Last night the Board met to discuss our plans for the 2021 season and I’m excited to announce that we will fully reopen for events and activities this summer!  Nets will be installed at the athletic field, floats and diving boards will be put out at the beach, and the Community House will be opened.

This is all possible as a result of yesterday’s announcement that the NJ Governor has lifted indoor and outdoor capacity limits, removed social distancing mandates, and pulled back from mask requirements.  However, following the guidance of the NJ Governor and the CDC, the Board has decided that anyone entering the Community House must wear a mask if they are not vaccinated.  This includes children who are not yet eligible for the vaccine along with adults who choose not to be vaccinated and applies at all times when the building is open.  For events where food is being consumed, like when you are devouring chicken and corn at the Chicken BBQ, you don’t have to wear your mask while seated and eating.  And while we won’t be posting guards at the doors nor will we be checking immunization IDs as you enter, we do expect that everyone will follow this guidance and that each of you will help to politely and respectfully enforce it.  Everyone will also have the option to remain outside on the porch, unmasked, for events at the Community House as we plan to have extra seating available outdoors at many activities.

I think it’s also important to share how the Board came to this decision.  We had a long discussion on this topic and there were a variety of perspectives shared.  We respect everyone’s right to choose to get a vaccine or to remain unvaccinated and we want everyone to feel included.  At the same time, we want to keep all members of our community safe using reasonable precautions.  Vaccines and masks have both been shown to be effective methods for controlling the spread of the virus.  Therefore, we are asking our community members to use one of the tools (or both if you choose) when you participate at our indoor events.

This is a big step forward in our “return to normal” and I thank you all in advance for your cooperation.  I’m looking forward to seeing all of you very soon!

-Scott


Preparing for the 2021 Season

Category : Featured Open/Close

The Board met on Monday to review our plans for 2021. Our Directors have been in contact with officials from both state and local agencies to ensure we understand how to remain in compliance with the numerous executive orders and directives in NJ. At this time, the State has yet to release updated instructions for organizations that operate beaches and lakes, but we expect to hear more before Memorial Day. The Board decided it would be best to hold off on any final decisions until more information was published by the State. I understand that this is frustrating for those who are making plans to move in or visit for the holidays, but I appreciate your patience as we evaluate our reopening options.

The Board did discuss one important topic that I can share now to aid with your planning. I mentioned in a prior email that NJ has updated its Travel Advisory for those coming from out of state. Since that email, I have confirmed that this advisory applies to children as well as adults. You can read the full details here, but if your family is arriving from out of state, individuals in your party (meaning children or adults) must quarantine for 7-10 days upon arrival unless they are fully vaccinated or have recovered from COVID in the prior 3 months. This means that if two adult parents are vaccinated, but their children are not nor have they recently had COVID, the children must quarantine but the adults do not need to quarantine. Again, I understand how challenging this will be for families, but these are the rules of the State. From the Travel Advisory: “The self-quarantine is voluntary, but compliance is expected. Unvaccinated travelers arriving from areas with increasing COVID-19 cases may wish to postpone their travel to the region if they are unwilling or unable to follow the quarantine advisory.”

The Board is scheduled to meet again in May and I expect we will be able to provide more substantial information about the 2021 season prior to Memorial Day. And since we have many new families that have joined us in the past few years, I will also be sending out an email soon with some tips that other campers have shared to help you transition to “lake life.” If you have a tip you would like to share, please reach out to me and I will include it in that message.

Looking forward to seeing you all soon and please stay safe and healthy!
Scott


Community Update for 5/21/2020

Category : Open/Close

The Board met Monday evening to discuss summer at Estling in these Covid-19 times.  In arriving at our conclusions, we primarily relied on the executive orders from the governor, especially the May 14th executive order concerning the opening on Memorial Day of NJ beaches and lakes.  We also consulted with a handful of neighboring lakes and local public health officials. Restrictions are beginning to be lifted but our current policies need to be based on what exists now.  Hopefully these can be relaxed in the weeks ahead.

We plan to open our beach the weekend of June 20th, the first day that we will have lifeguards on duty.  However, due to the restrictions discussed below and continued restrictions on social gatherings, we are cancelling work weekend.  Executive Order #143, the governor’s order concerning the opening of beaches and lakes, sets forth very specific restrictions.  Executive orders have the legal force of law and must be obeyed and adhered to.
The key provisions that affect us include the closure/non-use of the following:

•    The Community House
•    Playground equipment, and
•    Water “toys” that may be used by others, including kick boards and noodles

Opening of the beach will require that family units remain six feet apart on the beach.  For purposes of this restriction a family unit could be as large as ten people  or as small as a single person. This will prove to be a difficult provision for us and other local lakes.  Some lakes will restrict admission.  Others are considering a “sign-up” sheet and limiting time on the beach. To deal with potential overcrowding, Estling will restrict the beach to Estling families only – that is, no guests allowed at this time.  Additional restrictions may be needed.

We are required to develop and implement beach operational plans and modified lifeguard training.  We are also required to block access to all benches.  Importantly, we are instructed to enforce impermissible pubic gathering as previously described in Executive Order #107.

To open the beach we are required by the health department to open our duplex, implementing a frequent cleaning protocol.  The board has decided to hire an outside firm to perform this cleaning daily. We will also ask members using the restrooms to wipe down surfaces with CDC approved products.  Such products will be supplied by the corporation.

Consistent with, but not specifically addressed by Executive Order # 143, there will be no floats, no diving boards or ladders at the diving dock, no box of toys behind the soda house, and no box to jump off.  The perimeter ropes will define the swimming area but the diving dock area will not be part of the swimming area this year as the rope on the left will be on the soda house side of the diving dock.  The CDC recommendation regarding use of masks in outdoor settings continues to evolve.  Everyone is strongly encouraged by the governor and the health department to wear face coverings when present on the beach as social distancing measures are difficult to maintain.

The soda house may be opened.  The Ladies Club will make this decision although the board will offer recommendations here.

Gatherings of individuals and social events were cancelled by executive order.  Therefore, at this time we do not anticipate holding activities such as land events, water events, song service, community dinners, special programs, etc.  Board meetings will be Zoom-based as will the town-hall meeting set for July 1st.

Scott S. has addressed use of the athletic field.

Bob R. as the Director responsible for the beach will ask for volunteers to assist as needed to open the beach.  Scott as the director responsible for the athletic field and Kim N. as the director responsible for the community house and duplex will do likewise.

We do not intend to hire janitors or mail delivery persons for the summer.  Mail will continue to be delivered to the box by the tennis court where it will be sorted and placed in accordion folders that will be left in the big plastic box.  Adults wearing gloves will do the sorting.  Likewise, adults wearing gloves will handle garbage collection at the beach.

The executive orders and recommendations, upon which much of the above is based, are fluid.  As these change the board will meet to discuss and evaluate the changing circumstances.

Stay safe.
-Rick


Preparing for the 2020 Season

Category : Open/Close

As we approach water-on at the Lake, we are all starting to think about life at Estling given the coronavirus epidemic. The board has begun discussing this in some detail, but so much can change over the next three months. So, as you contemplate moving to the Lake, check the current NJ rules and guidelines understanding that the board will embrace the letter and the spirit of these rules and guidelines.
– Rick


Work Weekend – June 9th

Category : Open/Close

Looking forward to work-weekend –a great way to start the summer. We will open up the lake on Saturday, June 9h. As usual, everyone should report to the Athletic Field or the Community House at 9AM.

  • Scott S. will be at the tennis courts/ball field – bring your gloves, rakes and pruning sheers.
  • Kim N. will be in the Community House.
  • Scott W. will be on the beach. The floats go in around 11 am.
  • In addition to the above Mike D. will recruit a crew to clean out the ditches on the dirt road pat the Walker camp.  Bring shovels.
  • Lunch with thanks to the Ladies Club will be between 12 and 12:30.

Work Weekend is an important event on our annual calendar. There’s much to do so we need everyone to join in. Some jobs require heavy lifting, but many do not – we can find a task for all.

After lunch and having already warmed up cleaning out the cove at the beach, we may cleanup of the shore in front of the Reitwiesner camp and the Price/Livingston cove. Boots are helpful, iron rakes and wheelbarrows too.

There will be a Board meeting Sunday at noon at the Community House.

Rick P.


Water Turn on Delay Due to Weather

Category : Open/Close Water

Denville Township was scheduled to turn on the water main today in preparation for our pipeline opening. However, due to unexpected freezing temperatures overnight and predicted low nighttime temperatures later this week, Denville has rescheduled turning on the service until next week. I realize this may be disruptive to plans for moving in this weekend, but we must be cautious when it comes to our above ground pipeline. For those that are not in the area, we actually had an inch of snow this past Saturday.

Assuming the weather cooperates, Denville will be turning on the water supply Tue or Wed next week. If any of the Pipeline team members are available on Fri, 4/20, I would like tackle our repairs starting at 9AM and hopefully get the entire system opened that day.

I appreciate everyone’s flexibility and understanding and I look forward to getting water flowing as soon as possible.

-Scott


Reminders and Updates for 9/16/2017

The water will be shut off on Saturday, October 28th at 10AM.  I’ll be reaching out to our usual group of dedicated volunteers in a few weeks to confirm the meet up.  The water will be turned back on Saturday, April 14th, 2018.

For the website, there is a new addition on the History page.  Many of you have a printed copy of Estling Lake – Then and Now, published by Doris Edwards, and it is now available on our web site in PDF form.  I’ll be working on many updates to the History page over the off season, as I have found a great collection of Estling Lake documents and memorabilia from my grandmother, Nancy Saulter.  Feel free to reach out if you have other items from our Estling history that would be interesting to share.


Work Weekend – Saturday, June 10th

Category : Open/Close

Saturday, June 10th

Looking forward to work-weekend – really!!! It’s a great way to start the summer.

Of course it’s easy to look forward to this event remembering that many hands make light work. You know the routine, a 9 am start –

• Eric will be at the tennis courts/ball field – bring your gloves, rakes and pruning sheers. Also, we lost the mailbox last fall and will be installing a replacement. Hopefully with all our engineers we will be able to figure it out.
• Kim will be in the Community House.
• Scott will be on the beach. There will be sand to spread, so we will need shovels and wheelbarrows. The floats go in at 11.
• If we have sufficient turnout, Margaret has arranged for the town to pick up piles of brush as long as it is neatly piled along the road, maximum length of 4’. So we will assign a crew to this task.

Lunch will be between 12 and 12:30.

After lunch and having already warmed up cleaning out the cove at the beach, Margaret is organizing a cleanup of the shore in front of the Reitwiesner camp and a cleanup of the Price/Livingston cove. Margaret anticipates an hour at each location. Boots are helpful. Iron rakes and wheelbarrows too. We can discuss this over lunch.

Board members will need to be available for a short board meeting at 2:30, primarily to interview Bonnie Desmond, the prospective purchaser of the Collins camp.

-Rick P.


The Estling season of 2016 is here

Category : Open/Close

Hi all,

The Estling season of 2016 is here. Many of you have started—and some completed—the annual clean-up and move-in activities. You will have noticed that we have a much smoother and cleaner Estling Lake Road this year. The first official activity of the season is coming soon:

Work Weekend is June 11-12.

As usual, work will be concentrated at the Athletic Field and Community House/Beach. Start time is 9AM on Saturday. If you’re going to the Athletic Field, bring a rake, some clippers and maybe a tarp. To the Community House, bring a willingness to work and the realization that not everyone waits until 9 to begin.

The Corporation will provide lunch at around noon, or when the work is done (whichever comes last), on Saturday.

There is also a project scheduled for Saturday afternoon. As you may know, as part of last fall’s hydro raking project, we removed a good deal of organic matter from the cove near the Price and Livingston camps. However, the hydro rake, based on a boat, could not reach the material that is in or near the shallow water. The task for Saturday afternoon is to remove some of this stuff. To do this we will need wheel barrows, shovels and heavy duty rakes. And a hearty group of people who are not afraid of a little muck. Meet at the stone bridge by the cove at 2:00.

You will be getting a lake calendar in your mailbox soon.  But until it comes, here are a few early dates you should be aware of:

As usual, the floats and other beach equipment will go in on the Work Weekend. But the beach does not officially open until Saturday, June 25. June 25 is the first day lifeguards will be on duty.

The day before, June 24, we will have S’mores on the beach. The first Song Service is June 26.

Garbage will be collected on Tuesday and Friday starting in June. The bulk pick-up at curbside is on June 28. As usual, put your items out beforehand so your friends and neighbors can prevent obviously valuable but somehow underappreciated items from winding up in a landfill. But please don’t put things out too early and clutter up our roadside.

We don’t seem to have as many deer as we used to, but they are still around. And that means we still have the threat of Lyme Disease. Kevin Bollinger found that there is a new test for Lyme Disease. You can read about it at this site: http://wetlandstudies.com/newsletters/2016/may/lymes.html

See you soon.

Dave