After reading the President’s Message on the opening page of this edition of the newsletter, you might have assumed correctly the Board of Directors is very pleased with the Winchester Land Trust’s application for a grant from the Department of Environmental Protection for the placement of a conservation restriction on Town-owned property, especially the property in the Highland Lake watershed. This unique opportunity potentially provides a large increase in the amount of open space in the watershed guaranteed for future generations.

That is also the purpose of our newly announced Legacy program - to preserve open space in the Highland Lake watershed by accepting land as donations or monetary donations to help the HLWA acquire land to preserve as open space. We have now accepted donations of seven undeveloped properties on the east side of the lake and expect to soon receive the deeds on two additional properties in the same area. These donors of the property understood our goal to preserve as much property as possible but also realized some tax benefits with the gift of the property.

We also have purchased our first piece of undeveloped property on East Wakefield Boulevard

Late last year we announced a friend of the lake proposed to fund an annual matching grant of $10,000 toward additional land purchases in the watershed. We will be sending out more information on the matching grant in the near future and ask if you also are interested in preserving land in the watershed to consider making a donation to the Legacy fund.

I would like to make a special note of those HLWA members and other friends of the lake who have donated funds for our Legacy program. Thus far we have received just over $10,000 in gifts and matching donations. We are grateful for these gifts and are very appreciative for the donors’ concern for the future of Highland Lake. The following have sent in contributions that were matched for the Legacy Program*.

Edwin G. and Marjorie K. Booth	Millie Hudak
Annesa and Richard Borla	Katherine Oneglia
Bob and Karyl Burns	Concetta Scutt
Thomas A. Flaherty	Dorothy Smith
Betty Formaggioni	Mike DeClement and Jennifer Perga
Dr. Daniel S. Hersh

To all of you, many thanks, and you are truly “Friends of the Lake.”

Before considering any donation, you should consult with your tax accountant, and I believe you will be surprised at the tax benefits resulting from such a donation. If you have any questions, please call Mike Peacock or myself.

A Special Thanks . . .
Many of our members make additional donations to the Association with their dues or at other times during the year. This year we have so far received more than $2,400 in special donations. These gifts add significantly to our ability to carry on the work of protecting the lake and its watershed – water testing and analysis, education and communications, preservation of watershed forest land. All lake area residents and those who love the lake are beneficiaries of these gifts and the work they support. Here is a list of this year’s special donors*:

Stephen and Janet Becker	Nicholas and Denise Mancini, Jr.
Mark and Jean Blair	Michael and Jill Mastrianni
James Brandolini	Don and Pat Masucci
Bob and Karyl Burns	Stephen and Rose Molinelli
Richard & Mary Carotenuti	Robert and Susan Moore
Richard Clark	Robert and Maureen Ney
George and Sue Closson	Katherine Oneglia
Fran Delaney	Gary and Beverly Paganelli
Timothy and Dina Fisher	Joseph and Judith Palmer
Betty Formaggioni	Daniel and Beth Papermaster
Rick and Sarah Gervasini	Michael and Susan Peacock
David and Deborah Guillet	Michael E. Peacock
Jack and Dorothy Hillman	Althea Perez
Wayne and Elinor Hoffman	Scott and Brigitte Rouleau
Cecilia Kuhn	Sam and Rebecca Sciacca
Dick and Jean Labich	Gary and Lois Wolff
Jeffrey J. Loureiro

*As of August 11, 2010