Chocorua—August 4, 2024—Ossipee Lake Alliance co-founders Susan Marks and David Smith received Green Mountain Conservation Group’s High Watch Award last week.

The award was in recognition of the pair’s “exemplary service on behalf of the Ossipee Lake System and the Ossipee Watershed,” per a GMCG news release.

Approximately 130 people attended the July 30 presentation, which was part of GMCG’s annual Watershed Celebration event at The Preserve at Chocorua.

In presenting the award, GMCG Executive Director Matt Howe noted that all of the pair’s work is volunteered time, since the organization does not pay salaries and does not have staff.

Ossipee Lake Alliance was formed as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization in 2003 and is based in Freedom.

Smith thanked Howe and his staff and board of directors, and said GMCG was instrumental in helping the non-profit get started after he and Marks decided to create a clearing house of information to educate people on and off the lake about Ossipee Lake issues at a time when such information was difficult to obtain.

In expressing her thanks to GMCG and those in attendance, Marks pointed out the six Alliance board members in the audience and thanked them for their service and support.

Marks later said there is a greater awareness of the environmental and economic importance of Ossipee Lake and the surrounding waters, with much of it taking place in just the past few years.

“It’s been gratifying to see how all of this has evolved,” she said.