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-----Original Message----- <br />From: Rose Winkels [mailto:rose.winkels@gmail.com] <br />Sent: Wednesday, February 26, 2020 7:20 PM <br />To: Adam Edwards <aedwards@ci.orono.mn.us> <br />Cc: LLRC Long Lake Rowing <longlakerowing@gmail.com> <br />Subject: Orono Parks Commission - LLRC Boathouse <br /> <br />Orono Parks Commission, <br /> <br />My husband, our five children and I have been living in the Orono/Long Lake/Maple Plain area for the <br />past 25 years. We do not own a motorboat, we do not fish, and we do not live near a lake. My husband <br />grew up near water and it was always his dream to own a boat and live next to the water, but that never <br />worked out for us. We drove by Long Lake often, but never found a way to engage in the lake and enjoy <br />it. Then our youngest daughter Ava, after trying numerous sports, tried rowing with LLRC and she fell in <br />love. <br /> <br />She would get giddy just driving past Long Lake and could not wait to get out on the water and just be - <br />just be one with the water. Rowing has become her passion and she feels a tremendous devotion to <br />Long Lake. She is so proud to say that she is part of Long Lake Rowing! It has not all been easy, there has <br />been lots of hard work, and she has had to work harder than rowers from most clubs because we are <br />such a young club that does not have the facilities that most clubs have. <br /> <br />Ava has recruited friends from school and the community to join the rowing team. These are people that <br />have never had a connection with the water. She also convinced my husband and I to join LLRC. So my <br />husband did not get his dream of owning a motorboat and living on the water, but instead we are <br />rowing on Long Lake three days a week and thoroughly appreciating all that the lake has to offer. It has <br />given us the opportunity to use the lake that we had been driving past for 25 years but did not have a <br />way to engage with. <br /> <br />Ava was recruited by the University of Kansas to row on their D1 Collegiate team. She was so proud to <br />tell the coaches, teammates, and all of her fellow classmates that her heart is in Long Lake. LLRC opened <br />a door to the lake that Ava, her friends that she has recruited to be on the team and my husband and I <br />would never have gotten without rowing. <br /> <br />The next step is to build a boathouse for LLRC so that the club has a home to invite the community into <br />and share this beautiful life long sport of rowing. We personally feel a commitment to the club, to the <br />lake itself and the community surrounding the lake and we hope that the Orono Parks Commission will <br />support LLRC in it’s efforts to build a boat house that will promote the lake and bond the community <br />together. <br /> <br />Thank you in advance for any support that you can provide! <br />Rose Winkels <br />