By Susan Thompson | Lake Panorama Times
This year ushers in the second decade of Friends of Lake Panorama’s impact on the Lake Panorama community. Articles of Incorporation were filed with the Iowa Secretary of State’s office Nov. 1, 2013. The first meeting of the Friends board of directors was held a month later.
In January 2014, an application for 501(c)(3) nonprofit designation was submitted to the IRS. Approval was received that July.
Friends of Lake Panorama was established in response to Lake Panorama Association (LPA) members asking for ways they could give back to the Lake Panorama community with an estate gift or other tax-deductible donations.
With the help of donors and LPA, Friends has completed many projects. Sunset Beach playground opened in July 2016. In August 2017, Friends received a $473,700 estate gift from Jim and Joyce McLuen to use at the Panorama West Golf Club. That gift demonstrated the amazing impact planned giving can have at Lake Panorama.
Next up was the Boulder Beach sports courts, which opened in June 2018.
To help prioritize additional projects, Friends conducted a survey in April 2019 to gather input from LPA members. Responses to that survey led to additional recreational amenities being planned, funds raised and new amenities completed.
Friends will launch a similar survey in March to gauge interest in additional projects, plus gather feedback on completed projects. Once available, the online survey link will be publicized on the Friends Facebook page and the LPA Panorama Prompt.
Here’s a look back at how information gathered in the 2019 survey spawned new amenities at Lake Panorama.
In response to LPA member interest in improving the lake’s three beaches, new playground equipment was installed at Shady Beach in October 2020 and at Boulder Beach in April 2021. Three swings were added at Sunset Beach in 2022.
The “Benches at Beaches” project was launched. Since then, more than a dozen benches have been donated and installed at Lake Panorama’s beaches.
The 2019 survey focused not only on large scale projects but also on cost-effective efforts to make existing LPA properties more useable for members.
Examples of this are the Panorama West Nature Trail, which opened in 2022, and the South Shore walking trails and disc golf course, which opened in 2023. These provide alternatives to walking on LPA roads during the busy season, and were developed in response to strong member interest in walking trails.
While the survey didn’t have a large number of people asking for a dog park, those who did were passionate and committed. A task force of volunteers helped with planning and fundraising, and the dog park opened in the summer of 2022. This project provides members a safe and responsible option for exercising their own dogs, plus dogs that accompany their guests for a weekend at the lake.
Finally, survey respondents asked for a sports court on the west side of the lake. A half-court that accommodates both basketball and pickleball was installed at Sunset Beach in 2022.
The Friends board will use information from this year’s survey to develop long-term project goals.