Charlie Turner, president of Raymond Waterways Protective Association (RWPA) for 34 years, yielded his office to Steve McCormick at the annual meeting of the organization on Sunday, July 24.

In the earliest days of RWPA, Ernie Knight, long-time president and one of the founders of RWPA, invited Charlie to a meeting of the fledgling organization. Charlie accepted the invitation and became president in 1977. Except for the treasurer, secretary, some volunteer water testers and loon counters on other Raymond lakes, Charlie, quite literally, was Raymond Waterways. He did all the water testing on Panther Pond, counted loons for the annual loon count, he toured all Raymond lakes once a summer, he wrote, published and mailed the newsletter, and he ran the annual meeting.

A few years ago when threats to regional lakes from development and milfoil became even more urgent, the RWPA Board of Directors knew it had to step up and take the lead in both education and mitigation. A former teacher and strong believer in education, Charlie had always sought to spread the word about the dangers of erosion, overloaded septic systems, and invasive plants. As he presided over the hiring of RWPA’s first executive director, he and the rest of the Board were able to take the organization to a new level. In recent years, RWPA has acquired federal grants for erosion mitigation on Panther Pond and Crescent Lake, and has built a Diver Assisted Suction Harvester boat that is in its second year of operation on Sebago Lake to eradicate milfoil.

As Charlie steps down as RWPA’s president, about the only thing he won’t be doing anymore is presiding over the annual meeting. Taking on the new title of Environmental Officer, he will still do all the water testing on Panther Pond, and in his almost daily tours of the lake he will keep track of loons, shoreline construction, and other lake activities.

In looking back over his long tenure as president, Charlie says, “The greatest thing about the job is the people doing this work. They’re all in this because they are committed to protecting our lakes. They’re just down-to-earth, nice people.”

And that is what anyone would say about Charlie a down-to-earth, nice guy who has been so committed to keeping Raymond’s lakes clean that he was RWPA’s president for 34 years.

Raymond Waterways Protective Association Board of Directors,
from left, includes Ben Severn, Steve McCormick, Charlie Chapman,
Charlie Turner, Connie Cross and Elden Lingwood. Missing members
are Peter Wilson and Jim Chapman. For his 34 years of service to
the organization, Turner was recently honored with a commemorative
walnut Secchi disk, an item used to measure water clarity, crafted
by Lingwood.