June 2026
- May 28
- 3 min read
Our June issue of LAKE magazine marks a midway point of sorts for our publishing schedule for this year, given that our publication only comes out during the more active months of lake activity in Oakland County.
We specifically chose to publish when lakefront homeowners are paying more particular attention to what is taking place on the waterways in the county. So lakefront homeowners in 2026 receive LAKE magazine beginning in March through the month of October when most homeowners start the process of shutting down lake activities before late fall and winter set in.
Of course, as I have lived on three different lakes in Oakland over years – Union Lake in Commerce/West Bloomfield townships, Long Lake in Commerce/White Lake townships, and on White Lake which straddles Highland and White Lake townships – we remained active, albeit at a reduced pace, during the winter months. For a few seasons we tried maintaining an ice rink and we took a shot at ice fishing for a couple of years. But it was the spring through early fall periods where the lake was the central focus of our activities, highlighted by skiing, tubing, fishing and break-of-dawn workouts with my rowing shell on the water.
It was the years of being a lake resident that helped increase both my appreciation and my growing concern about the quality of life when it came to the many lakes and tributaries in Oakland County and eventually my desire to produce a publication focused on protecting this part of the environment.
Also playing an important role in my development as a journalist focused on the environment was my running of a publishing group (SCN Communications Group) in the west Oakland lakes area starting in the 1970s. Our publishing group was the first media outlet to note the federal commitment to clean up countless barrels of toxic waste that had been dumped in north Oakland County into wetlands that drained into the headwaters that serve as point of origin for the many waterways that make Oakland County the unique place we all appreciate.
Of course, my creation some 30 years ago of the first magazine serving lakefront homeowners and now the LAKE magazine you hold in your hands would not have been possible without the support of the advertisers you find on the pages of each issue.
I still remember personally meeting with a number of businesses to explain my plans for a magazine focused on living on the waterways of Oakland, an unheard of concept decades ago, So I thank the business community then and today – it is their advertising dollars that allow us to mail out LAKE magazine eight months of the year, pay a printer and staff.
So please become familiar with those helping to bring you this magazine. When you need a product or service at your lakefront home, please support those who are part of the LAKE magazine family.
FRONT COVER: Our thanks to Kari Cotter, who tells me she has lived on Oxbow Lake in White Lake for the past 30 years, for the cover photo on this issue. As I said last month, we are still encouraging lake residents to send us possible covers for our magazine. As lakefront residents know, there is a variety of activity that takes place on local lakes and if you think your photo would make a good cover, please send us a jpeg of your best shot to lakephotos@downtownpublications.com. We ask that the photo be high resolution so it reproduces well. Vertical photos work best for the magazine’s cover. When you send in your photos, please include your home mail address so, if your photo is selected, we can send you a check for $100 and some extra copies of the magazine to share with friends.
David Hohendorf
Publisher
