By RHEA-FRANCES TETLEY
Staff Writer
The Arrowhead Lake Association (ALA) celebrated its 50th anniversary on Aug. 10 at Tavern Bay Beach Club, with music, beach time, bounce houses and opportunity drawings.
Children had two bounce houses to choose from at the anniversary celebration.
The beach club rocked with the music of Dave Bennett and his band: John Golden, guitar; Dean Cortez, bass; Roy Swedeen, drums, Jeff Paris, keys; and Shannon Bizzy, vocals.
Children lined up to have their faces painted by Julie Price of Oopsie Daisy.
There was free popcorn and face painting by Julie Price of Oopsie Daisy. Folks lined up at the two food trucks and then enjoyed their meals sitting in the shade of the E-Z Ups and the pergola.
The Rim of the World Historical Society had a booth at the event with historians ready to share their knowledge of how and why ALA was formed.
A committee was established to create the nonprofit ALA with prominent local property owners Donald Conghim, Sid Sidenfaden, Charles Luciano, Eugene Newcombe, Richard Anderson, Anthony Zehenni, Hal Pierce, Cherie Sadler, Robert Everhart, Craig McManigal, Ralph Wagner, Edward Duarte and Karl Rodi.
ALA was organized as a corporation in July of 1974, creating a nonprofit organization for the purpose of providing recreational facilities and activities exclusively for the property owners of the Arrowhead Woods and to support the 1964 agreement, which established the rights of the Arrowhead Woods property owners regarding their use of the lake.
The situation in 1974 was that representatives of two homeowner associations were suing the lake owner, Boise-Cascade Corp, to uphold the 1964 agreement. This was after Boise-Cascade had been give one year by the state to repair the dam or reduce the level of Lake Arrowhead by 70 feet. At the same time, another state agency put Boise-Cascade under orders to divest itself of all its property holdings within the state of California. So, the position of Boise-Cascade was that they were not legally allowed to and would not fund the construction of a downstream dam to save the lake and thus would allow the water level to be lowered. This made the property owners outraged, so they sued.
There were three organizations involved in the agreement to end lawsuits with the three-fold purpose to uphold the 1964 agreement. ALA would end the lawsuits, purchase the lake and reserve strips around the lake and support the passage of the $7 million bond, CSA70 D-1, to build a new dam creating a flood control district during the November 1974 election. When the election was held, the bond passed with 91 percent approval.
Then, after 17 months of negotiations, ALA signed an agreement with Boise-Cascade in October of 1975 to complete the purchase of the lake, water rights, reserve strips, shoreline buffer zones, beach clubs and Grass Valley Lake.
Boise-Cascade sold the property at a discount price to ALA, to be paid over an eight-year period. After an appeal to the property owners, most made a voluntary one-time capital contribution to pay off Boise Cascade early, which enabled ALA to get a line of credit to make improvements and, when possible, to acquire additional facilities.
ALA’s mission statement is: “To protect operate and improve Lake Arrowhead and ALA properties, to provide reasonable and safe recreational facilities in a fiscally responsible manner, with appropriate planning for the future.”
According to the late Ralph Wagner, one of the founders of ALA, “Lake Arrowhead is the foundation of all commerce and property values in the Arrowhead Woods.” Without the Arrowhead Lake Association supporting the 1964 agreement and the other provisions of the agreements, Lake Arrowhead would not be the unique community that it is today.
The beach at Tavern Bay lured ALA members into the cool water.
The celebration at Tavern Bay seemed to be a complete success with ALA members and their families enjoying the lake and facilities that ALA created and maintains.
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