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Rename Mosquito ‘Blue Water Lake’

DEAR EDITOR:

There has been much in the news lately about renaming the lake west of Cortland.

When I moved to the Mahoning River area in 1975, I got an invitation to a boat ride on the lake nearest to Howland Corners.

“Oh,” I said, “Where is that?”

“On Mosquito Lake.”

“There’s a lake around here that advertises mosquitoes?” I asked.

It turns out there was, and is.

My wife and I took our guest up on his offer, and he showed us a beautiful lake just a short distance north of Howland. Such a really nice lake, and such a lousy name. Of course, it was explained to me that it is in the middle of a very old creek called Mosquito Creek, so it became a lake of the same name.

I guess we were lucky they didn’t see some snakes along that creek bed.

Now some are proposing to name the lake for controversial political figures in our present and past history. This is a very bad idea because it polarizes the lake by making it attractive to some and despicable to others. Why try to remake what nature and a well-planned dam have made so attractive. The lake is filled, for the most part, with beautiful blue water.

I propose we let nature name the lake. Let’s make it BLUE WATER LAKE. Let’s just take a clue from nature and give it a name that reflects what nature and good planning show it to be.

I really think that it should have a new name that reflects what a beautiful lake of blue water it is.

DONALD BUTLER

Warren

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