Staff Photo / Bob Coupland Randy Cox, president, left, and John O’Leary, treasurer, with the Cortland Conservation Club, prepare for kayaking on Mosquito Lake at a recent club meeting at the club grounds on the east side of the lake. The Cortland Conservation Club, which focuses on outdoor family activities, is celebrating its 75th anniversary and started the same year the Mosquito Lake Dam was built.

CORTLAND — On June 15, 1944, after the Mosquito Lake Dam was constructed and dedicated, a local group was formed to focus on enjoying the outdoors in and on Mosquito Lake.

This year the Cortland Conservation Club is marking its 75th anniversary with members spending time boating, kayaking, fishing, swimming or relaxing in the evenings watching sunsets at the lake.

Randy Cox, club president, said the group originally was formed as an outdoorsmen-type club with quail and turkey hunts and fishing, but has since changed since firearms cannot be used at the five-acre property.

The property is leased from Army Corps of Engineers, providing lakeside access to the members.

“The outdoorsmen activities were a big part when they first formed. Today, it is more of a social and boating club. The club is open all the time for all the members. We have family and social events each month such as chili cookoffs and fish fries, camping and kayaking and sailboating. This is like a lake home for many families,” Cox said.

He said 50 percent of the members have their boats at the site to get out on the water.

While most members live in the Cortland and Warren area, a few come from Michigan and other states.

John O’Leary, treasurer and 30-year member, said the club for him “is the best-kept secret.”

“We are family friendly and plan many activities for the members. We have the best view of the lake and can use the lake for boating and kayaking,” O’Leary said.

Cox said the membership brings people from all walks of life.

“We have a really diverse group of members who share a common passion of being out by the water. We have retirees, doctors, steelworkers who are members,” he said.

Cox said the club in recent years has been more modernized with internet access and wi-fi.

“We have modernized the facilities. A dairy barn is now used as an all-purpose meeting room. We have tennis courts, bocce and shuttleboard,” he said.

Cox said families come out and spend the day at the site and get their boats, which are tied with anchors to many buoys in the water.

The club celebrated its anniversary with the Army Corps of Engineers in June for the 75th anniversary of the dam.

“We work very closely with the Army Corps and try to do events together and promote safe boating on the lake,” he said.

Cortland resident Noah Craciun at 20 is the youngest member and trustee, having been coming to the club with his parents, Renee and John Craciun, since he was a young boy. He said boating on the lake is what he enjoys the most.

Cortland resident Frank Poese, a 32-year member, said the club was on the mind of the men planning the dam when the dam opened June 15, 1944.

“It is amazing that people back then were foresighted enough to get this land approved and figure out a way to get it all to work with a lake and dam,” Poese said.

He said swimming in the lake has always been popular with a platform area by the club grounds.

“The sunsets here are beautiful to watch over the lake. There is a lot of interest by the members in kayaking and sailboating and playing bocce. That has always been a popular thing to do. There is good fellowship,” he said.

For membership or information, go to www.cortlandclub.com or call 330-638-0502.

bcoupland@tribtoday.com