Well they don’t actu­al­ly hiber­nate. They go into a state of dor­man­cy. Like most water crea­tures, mus­sels are not active in the win­ter. They bur­row deep­er into the sandy bot­tom of lake and stream beds. They also do not eat. So that means they don’t need a large amount of water. (500cfs) This is fact and based on sci­ence. Win­ter would be a good time for USFWS, FERC, NIP­SCO and SFLECC to come to the table and agree to back off the water efflu­ence from the Oak­dale Dam. It would give Lake Free­man time to heal and not harm any endan­gered mus­sels. A win win. Every­one is look­ing for a bet­ter solu­tion and this one makes sense and is bio­log­i­cal­ly driven.

When boat­ing on the South por­tion of Lake Free­man on a Sun­day after­noon and you see orange boy’s in the mid­dle of the lake, be aware that the Lake Free­man Yacht Club is prob­a­bly hold­ing a regat­ta. It’s fun to watch the sail boats, but be respect­ful and keep your distance.

On a whim, I decid­ed to have a par­ty. Not just any par­ty, a par­ty with some teeth. I invit­ed thir­ty or so friends over, had them bring their floats and bev­er­ages, got a pro­jec­tor and some speak­ers and watched the clas­sic ​“Jaws”. I thought it would be fun, but it was real­ly fun. Hey, the Lakeshore Dri­ve-In is still pret­ty cool, but if you’re look­ing for some­thing dif­fer­ent on a hot sum­mer night… it was a blast!

Big things have been hap­pen­ing at both the Madam Car­roll and the Oak­dale Bar & Grill. In case you haven’t ven­tured by either Lake Free­man busi­ness, we encour­age you to. The Oak­dale now has an incred­i­ble beer gar­den and patio. The Madam Car­roll has a very robust sched­ule and top tal­ent for its cruis­es. AND it just received a mod­i­fi­ca­tion to it’s liquor license to remain open while docked!

Thank you Chris Peters and Nick Blum for all your hard work.

Carmel Har­ri­son is one of the neat­est guys I’ve met in the area around Lake Free­man. He’s 80, that’s right 80, and still cuts wood like a lum­ber­jack! Carmel has the best fire­wood you can find around Twin Lakes. He sea­sons it, sorts it, and loads it. He’s got fast and hot burn­ing Pine, slow burn­ing Oak and wood smok­ing Hick­o­ry. He’s locat­ed down road 1100 & 421, at The Land­ings. Swing by and pick up a load. He’ll be glad to see you.

We all know real­ly cool dogs, but this one is excep­tion­al. You’ll find Sadie at the sand­bar, spot­ting wake board­ers or cruis­ing the neigh­bor­hood in a golf cart. She belongs to Steve and Amy Pol­lack who have made her com­fort­able around the water since she was real­ly young. I love see­ing dogs with sea legs. 

Some dogs take to the water easy, while oth­ers need some time. If you bring your dog out, espe­cial­ly to the sand­bar, keep an eye on them. Not all dogs are as cool as Sadie. She’ll be watch­ing from her chair!

If you’re look­ing for a grill to bring on the boat, look no fur­ther than the Weber Q.

This grill has been bat­tle test­ed on the Lake Free­man Sand Bar. And passed with fly­ing col­ors. If your boat has an extend­ed swim plat­form, the Weber Q fits per­fect­ly. Just put an old tow­el under­neath it to catch any grease. You can also buy a nifty, light­weight stand that can go right in the water.

The Weber Q heats up hot and even­ly with dis­pos­able camp­ing propane tanks.

There are two mod­els the 1000 and 2000, basi­cal­ly small and large. This year they are also avail­able in a num­ber of col­ors. It’s not the cheap­est grill, about $199, but after the first time you use it you’ll think it’s worth every penny.

So come on, become a sand­bar chef. Ok, end of commercial!