The Lake Improvement Association, a non-profit organization dedicated to the improvement of Grand Lake St. Marys, recently announced the result of its “Name That Dredger” contest.
The new dredger destined to join Grand Lake St. Marys State Park’s record-setting fleet will be named “Hoedag”, the moniker of a mythical creature said to prowl the waters of Grand Lake St. Marys.
“Hoedag” was selected after Grand Lake St. Marys State Park Manager Brian Miller asked the LIA to submit name suggestions for the dredger, and the LIA subsequently reached out to its members and the general public on Facebook. More than 150 name suggestions were submitted via Facebook, with Hoedag the most numerous.
The LIA board turned the results over to Miller, who, along with Waterway/Construction Operations Manager Tom Grabow, had the final say. Grabow announced the new name at the April 2014 LIA member meeting, and unveiled a “Hoedag” graphic that will be placed on the dredger.
New dredger to arrive in summer 2014
The new dredger is currently being built in Wisconsin by Ellicott Dredges, and is slated to arrive on Grand Lake St. Marys this summer.
“Hoedag” will join a fleet that has broken records for cubic tons dredged two years in a row. In 2012, the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources removed a then-record 289,000 cubic yards of sediment from Grand Lake St. Marys; in 2013, ODNR bested its own record by removing 302,226 cubic yards of sediment from the lake.
Such nutrient-rich sediment plays a role in the development of algal blooms, so removing it is a critical part of the process to restore Grand Lake St. Marys.
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Press Release, May 6, 2014