In 2009, due to a lack of funding, the Otsego Lake Festival was cancelled and a more limited Lake Appreciation Day event was hosted by OCCA at Glimmerglass State Park. Thanks to overwhelming community support, on July 10 the Otsego Lake Festival returned after a one-year hiatus to its original location – Cooperstown’s Lake Front Park – with a new name, a broader message, familiar favorites and several special highlights.

Now called the Otsego LAKES Festival, this event is traditionally a day of educational outreach with a focus on water quality. Once a celebration that recognized Otsego Lake and its vital role to the region as the headwaters of the Susquehanna River, the festival focus has been expanded to highlight the importance of Otsego County’s other major water bodies, including Canadarago and Goodyear lakes.

Organized under the umbrella of Otsego County’s Water Quality Coordinating Committee, the Otsego Lakes Festival offers all the components of a festive occasion – music, art, children’s activities, good food and camaraderie – while providing valuable educational opportunities about lake protection and regional water quality programs from those who work to protect these resources. Personnel from WQCC member organizations were on hand both to distribute literature and to discuss water quality issues one-on-one with interested parties.

Click on the links below for more information:

• Webpage
• 2010 Press Release
• 2010 Exhibitor and Vendor Information

• 2010 Program

• 2010 Commemorative Poster by Richard Duncan

• 2010 Photos by Tier French ©

• 2010 Photos by Kate O'Handley and John Darcy Youngs

As part of the 2010 Otsego Lakes Festival, the Lake and Valley Garden Club and the Otsego Lake Association held a dedication of the Buffer Strip Garden in Lake Front Park. 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.

The event also honored Dr. Ted Peters, who had recently stepped down from the OCWQCC, for his steadfast service to the region on behalf of water quality protection.

The Cooperstown Art Association picked up where artist Tracy Helgeson left off in 2008 with her popular fish printing activity. Thanks to a grant from Stewart’s Holiday Match, kids (and adults) were able to create original works of art on cloth, paper, and T-shirts using paints and fish, both real and rubber. Fish printing combines science (fish diversity, anatomy, ecology), art (create colorful displays), math (measure fins, proportions, count fin rays), reading (combine with fish stories) and writing (write fact or fiction about the fish) while practicing the ageless art of Gyotaku, or fish printing. Before cameras, fishermen often recorded large or unusual specimens by making ink block reproductions of their catch. At the Otsego Lakes  Festival, participants were able to develop beautiful, scientifically accurate prints with guidance from the professional artists of the CAA.

The Otsego Lakes Festival also featured a water stewardship workshop on rain gardens by Cornell Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Annette MacLeod, who provided an overview of the design, function and planting of rain gardens for homeowners. Al Keck of the Watershed Supervisory Committee was on hand with information on the WSC’s onsite systems inspection and upgrade program, plus information pamphlets on the care and feeding of such systems. SUNY-Oneonta Biological Field Station interns led biology/ecology/water activities about plants, fish, crayfish, bugs and water in the expanded Kids’ Tent.

Photographer Richard Duncan created this year’s Otsego Lakes Festival commemorative poster. Signed and numbered limited edition posters are available at $100 each, with smaller prints priced at $20. All proceeds go the Lakes Festival – call 547-4488 for more information.

The OCWQCC 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.

OCCA is the fiscal agent for the Otsego Lakes Festival. Executive Director Erik Miller is a past member of the OCWQCC Executive Committee; Administrative Director Darla Youngs is the current vice-facilitator and is also a member of the Lakes Festival Planning Committee.