The following are a few of the areas where TPPA can use assistance.  Your donation of a few hours once or multiple times throughout the summer/fall season will be a wonderful addition to the work that TPPA manages with a very limited staff.

Posting TPPA Signs:  3 hours in May and October

This job involves placing TPPA signs at the end of specific roads at the beginning of the season and picking them up and cleaning them for storage at the end of the season.  A detailed list of where they go is available.   

Posting Herbicide Signs:  3 hours in late July/early August

Similar to activity above, but in other areas.  Signs need to be up for 10 days and then removed.   

TPPA Store:  Various activities available from 1 to 3 or 4 hours per activity

• Picking up merchandise from various vendors
• Putting new merchandise into stock
• Taking inventory
• Preparing orders for mailing/delivery
• Delivering orders from Micah Terrace to Milton Hardware or Post Office for shipping
• Sales people (at least three per event) for a few events (Beach concert, TPPA Picnic, Hardware Store Sale Day, Lake Life Education Day)

TPPA Store Coordinator:  Looking for a full-time Milton resident who has the storage space for shelving and 12-15 storage bins, to manage the TPPA Store merchandise.  Reliable internet connection, computer (with printer port to connect to mailing label printer (provided by TPPA) and good computer skills are required. Store season runs from May 15 – October 15 and November 20 – December 20.  

Newsletter:  We are always looking for interesting and informative articles that can be used in the TPPA Newsletter. Photos of activities, wildlife, etc., annual meeting/cookout, scholarship program, water testing, VIPS, cyanobacteria, European Naiad, social events, etc.  Students are also welcome to submit articles.

Grant Writing:  Do you have Grant Writing experience or would you be interested in learning about how to do it?  Please contact Wayne Sylvester 603-686-9032 or email (wsly7.sylvester@aol.com) for more information on this valuable skill.

Water Testing Team:  3 hours, 2-3 times over the summer (based on how many volunteer teams we have).  Requires a pontoon boat and teams of 3 or 2 people (3 is preferred, but 2 will also work).  

You will take water samples and perform a few other observations at a specific location on each of the Ponds.  Return water samples to the Team Coordinators and your work is done.  This is a great way to enjoy time on the lake and perform simple tasks that provide invaluable information regarding the health of our Ponds.  Training is provided. Please call 978-821-5261 or email Jill Palmisano (jillpal@verizon.net) for more information.

Membership Support:  Requires your time and a conversation.  Of the over 800 homes along the lake shores, our Membership is only approximately 200 strong.  We need to get the word out to everyone on the Ponds to support the important and expensive work to help keep the invasive species in check, which reflects on our property values.  Our membership contributions are vital in this work.  We ask you to chat with your neighbors and invite them to become Members of TPPA.  Our website has all the information needed to become a member.  TPPA Membership   Your help with this is very much appreciated!

Social Events Coordinator (SEC):  Social events are important to build spirit and connections around the Ponds.  The SEC will be able to put their creativity to work, propose and plan activities and coordinate their success.  Organizational skills are a must.  Last summer, TPPA sponsored a popular and successful concert on the beach, which may become an annual event and has discussed a potential golf tournament for this summer.  Other ideas have been discussed, but we need a passionate coordinator who can identify activities and help us meet our goal to bring families and friends from around the Ponds together to enjoy and support this wonderful natural resource.

VIPs:  The VIPs (Volunteer Invasive Plant Surveyor) duties entail visually surveying a designated area along the shore, to search out and/or inventory for invasive species, which at this time consists of European Naiad (aka Brittle Naiad).

In your designated area (as close to your property as possible) you are asked to view the water in that area from the shore out to a depth of five feet for any invasive species. This inspection of the assigned area should be performed three times before early August and one more time after the herbicide treatment. Your cost-saving assistance with providing this information is critical to be able to understand where the treatments are needed.

The VIP can complete their inspection in several ways: kayak or canoe, paddleboard or pontoon boat or swimming with goggles and view the area up close. In all cases, inspections are best completed on sunny days with calm waters for optimum clarity. 

After inspections, all VIPs are required to complete a report, which is easily done online to document their findings.  A typical inspection should not take more than 1 to 1.5 hours, including preparation. Reporting online is estimated at 15 minutes per report.

Anyone can be easily trained in about an hour by the VIPs coordinator, Rich Egan, at a time convenient for you.  Can you commit to 6 to 8 hours, at your convenience, over the course of the summer to help the Ponds?

For more information or answers to any questions, please call (603-490-7636) or email Rich Egan (richardegan@comcast.net).