Stories

Autumn 2024

Dear FALC Neighbor,

As we approach the end of 2024, we are writing to ask for your support for the Frankfort Area Land Conservancy (FALC) - see photo below. The land conservancy was created from the grounds of the old Frankfort Golf Course in 2008, with the goal of preserving the natural beauty and habitat of the land within the Conservancy and preventing the high-density development that threatened to change the character of this lovely open land that borders our cottages, be they on Golf Lane, CSA, Wildewood or Ness Rd.

We hope that in the past year you and members of your family were able to enjoy walking through the lovely grasslands which are now connected to CSA via a mowed walking path, allowing access without having to risk the traffic on M-22. You may have spotted one of the many forest creatures that reside on the Conservancy or seen a stand of wildflowers that donors helped plant. Your support has made creating and maintaining the Frankfort Area Land Conservancy possible - thank you!

There are a variety of activities necessary to preserve the natural beauty and health of this land. In partnership with Wildlife and Wetland Solutions, we continue to monitor and remove invasive species that threaten our forests and native prairie grasslands with environmentally-responsible sprays and hand-pulling several times each year. In fall of 2025 we are due again to conduct a prescribed burn to manage thatch build-up and restore a healthy plant ecosystem (recommended every 3-5 years, after the second burn). 2025 will also be the year that we perform the every-five-year professional inspection of the “containment area,” the land under which toxic soil from the golf course was buried within a permanently-sealed impermeable membrane. These core responsibilities, along with the removal of fallen or threatening trees as needed, require an annual budget of close to $10,000, our fundraising goal for this year.

We do these things so that all of us can continue to enjoy this lovely corner of northern Michigan, delighting in all that this special place has to offer, and ensuring that we are able to pass on to our children not only the land and happy memories, but an appreciation of the delicate balance of nature that exists there. 

To continue this work, we would very much appreciate your tax-deductible financial support. 

• The easiest way is to go to our online donation site and give using your preferred debit or credit card, Google or Apple Pay, or an ACH bank draft.
• If you prefer, you may send a check made out to the Frankfort Area Land Conservancy to P.O. Box 2194, Frankfort, MI  49635. 
• Or from your phone you can text code "GIVETOFALC" to 44-321 and you will receive a link to our donation site.

Again, thank you for your support,

Sincerely,

The Frankfort Area Land Conservancy Board

David MacWilliams, Chair

Ruth Clements-Gottlieb, Secretary

Brian Potter, Treasurer

Nancy Baglan

David Belknap

Lucas Nerbonne

​Beth Madden

CSA MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE

By Ginanne Brownell - August 10, 2023

For many CSA members—old and new—the CSA’s Membership Committee has always been something of a mystery. But according to Ann Murphy Burroughs, who co-chairs the committee with Megan Royle Carrella, it isn’t purposely that way.  They have made concerted efforts to explain exactly how CSA membership has worked in the past and how it works now in the annual Assembly News and on the CSA website. Ann, who has been on the committee for almost 30 years, says it’s believed the committee was formed when the CSA, “stopped offering anyone who came to the desk the opportunity to purchase a ticket, and the category of Associate Members was created.” For a number of decades, the committee met routinely once a week during the season, but with leadership change and the pandemic, they have adopted both virtual and in-person meeting formats and meet a few times during the season.

From its inception and continuing today, the committee established policies and procedures for membership and ticket purchase eligibility as approved by the Board of Trustees and lot owners. Over the years, as family stays reduced from 8-10 weeks to 1-2 weeks a summer, and families sometimes missed CSA seasons entirely due to various societal factors, membership definitions and ticket purchase eligibility policies evolved. 

At various times the CSA Board has discussed ways to generate more income, especially early in the season. Consequently, the Membership Committee has discussed how policies might accommodate ticket sales in the “shoulder” seasons – early June and late August – and what programming or services might be offered at those times. 

In terms of what the committee does beyond policies and procedures, part of their work is reviewing incoming Associate Member applications, keeping track of lot owners and Associate Members, and determining who is eligible to purchase a ticket and vote at annual meetings. An applicant for membership or associate membership needs to provide evidence of a lengthy past association. “We also work to make membership policies broadly communicated and understood [and] consider larger issues such as making new members feel welcome, how membership policies impact crowding and car traffic at the CSA, and how membership policies might be adjusted in the future,” Ann says.

She points out that like all CSA committees, the committee’s job is to stay on top of all current issues at the CSA as well as to think about how things might evolve going forward, and draft recommendations to the Board as needed. “At times we have consulted with Waterfront regarding capacities for boats and people on the Crystal Lake beach, with CSA Staff regarding which programs and activities can welcome the general public, with new office staff on the intricacies of membership policies related to ticket purchase, with the Women’s Association on welcoming new members, and with Bylaws related to membership,” Ann adds.

The Committee has also taken on new roles when needed, for example when it was decided that all Associate Members would be invoiced in the spring for the equivalent of a two-week ticket. At that time the Membership Committee took on the work of preparing those invoices and mailing them out for over a decade. Nowadays, this is done by paid CSA staff. Also, in the past, when membership policies had outlived their relevancy and were failing to address “certain situations based on general demographic and constituent lifestyle shifts” Ann says the membership committee has reviewed these policies and suggested amendments to the Board.

In terms of challenges, Ann says one of the biggest ones they face is that “our membership policies have grown to be incredibly detailed and complex, and it is very hard for the general CSA member to get a handle on how membership operates.” However, she says that this is nothing new: similar situations have occurred in the late 1990s/early 2000s.  That led to a lengthy study by the Membership Committee that included open forum discussions, a board recommendation, a CSA lot-owner vote, and new policies adopted in 2007. She added that since that’s now been almost two decades, “we again welcome ideas and discussion on membership policies from CSA participants, especially regarding potential ways to simplify membership policies.”  Open forums and community discussions have always played a critical role for many perspectives to be heard as the Membership Committee considers future options.

While at present the Membership Committee is fully staffed, they welcome anyone interested in attending their meetings.  Ann says what is so enjoyable about the Membership Committee is the chance to work, “with a dedicated, multi-generational group to consider how past and present CSA community constituents were/are defined, and how our community would like to welcome constituents in the future.”  She encourages anyone to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.her with your thoughts and/or questions.