LAKEPORT — More than 50 attendees showed up at the Friday Night First Fling at the Lake County Arts Council to vote in the people”s choice quagga mussel poster contest, sponsored by the Clear Lake Advisory Subcommittee (CLAS).
Sixty-nine students, mostly from Coyote Valley Elementary School, participated in the contest. CLAS invited elementary, middle and junior high school students from each school district to submit poster designs to raise public awareness about the threat posed to Clear Lake by the invasive quagga mussel species.
The mollusk is capable of producing one million offspring per year. It was first found in the U.S. in the Great Lakes in 1988. Since appearing in Lake Havasu a year ago, 10 other bodies of water in the state now have the mussel. The mussel colonies are difficult and costly to eradicate and harm the environment.
CLAS is a volunteer committee appointed by the County Board of Supervisors to address the quagga mussel threat to Clear Lake. Deputy Director of Water Resources Pam Francis will present quagga prevention ideas to the Board of Supervisors a week from today at the Lakeport Courthouse Board of Supervisor”s chambers at 1:30 p.m.
CLAS secretary and poster contest organizer Suzanne Lyons said the posters will be placed in storefront windows and may be professionally reproduced and distributed.
She said awareness in the community has grown during the past three months. “Now, when I run into people, most of them say, ?oh, yeah, the quagga,”” Lyons said.
But that”s not always the case. “When I was at Library Park checking out the quagga sign, I asked a fisherman if he knew about the quagga. He said, ?Oh yeah, I”ve seen a lot of them today.” He didn”t know what they were,” Lyons said.
During the Friday Night Fling, Lyons spent three hours talking to people about the mussel.
CLAS sponsored the poster contest to get area schools involved and educate young people, who in turn help spread awareness through friends and family, Lyons said. “You can tell they really did their homework,” she said, gesturing to the 10 posters CLAS chose as contest finalists.
The people”s choice first place award went to Tom Chasen, a fifth grader in Mr. Paul Krohn”s class at Coyote Valley Elementary School. The CLAS choice first place award went to homeschooler Theresa Rasmussen of Nice. Both will receive a $50 award. Runners up were Evey Ross of Mr. Krohn”s class and Morgan Kuck, a second grader in Mrs. Marilyn Guenther”s class at Lakeport Elementary School. Runners up get $40 each and 11 more cash prizes ranging from $5 to $20 will be awarded. The prizes were contributed by individual CLAS members.
Contact Elizabeth Wilson at ewilson@record-bee.com.
