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Name Survey

What's in a name?

         Survey now closed. 

The discussion on changing the name of our association, initiated in 2017, will continue in 2018.  First presented to our members at the 2017 AGM, we followed up with articles in three issues of the Area News, posts on FaceBook and eNews bulletins. The questions asked on our recent member survey about a name change for your association were few in number, but they were important ones. Many of you took time to complete the survey, and it was quite apparent that a lot of thought went into your answers. Beyond the specific questions asked, we also received a number of thought provoking suggestions and comments.  Thanks to your interest and feedback we have a significant amount of material to review and discuss, and your Directors are committed to doing just that.

 

Why consider changing the name?

The Lake of the Woods District Property Owners Association was established by cottage and property owners on Lake of the Woods and surrounding lakes and rivers. While the main constituency of the association is and always will be property owners, our vision and mission appeals to an audience that is much broader than that and includes children and grandchildren of property owners, individuals and families who simply love the Lake of the Woods area but don’t own property, boat owners, canoeists, campers, and so on. 

While there are issues such as hydro rates and taxation that are property owner-centric, others including environmental issues, lake use concerns, IISD-ELA and highway twinning are all important to this larger constituency.

With the average age of our LOWDPOA membership sitting at about 65 years old, there are two or three generations of cottagers who are not yet “property owners” but who love the lake and want to preserve it for future generations. Although we have always welcomed these “non” property owners into this association our name does not suggest this. While there is history in the name and what the association has accomplished over the past 50 years, based on your response at our recent annual meeting and subsequent discussions with owners, it is time to seriously consider a name change that embraces this inclusivity.