By Maggie Beamguard
Insider Editor
The 2025 recipient of the prestigious Fellingham Award was announced at the annual meeting of Seven Lakes West Landowners Association on March 16. This year’s recipient is a true man of the lake, Don Smith.
The Fellingham Award was created in memory of prominent and popular SLW resident Ted Northrup upon his death in 2005 as a way to honor his contributions at the annual meeting.
George Fellingham, endearingly known as the “George Washington of Seven Lakes West” for his key leadership role in the development of SLW, was the first recipient of this award in 2006.
Recipients of this honor have given 10 or more years to making a “significant and enduring contribution to the improvement of the community of such magnitude as to generate the admiration and respect of the community as a whole,” according to the award criteria.
Additionally, recipients have sustained the community’s quality of life, had a positive impact on the lives of SLW members and created opportunities for the community through new facilities or programs.
Smith embodies the characteristics of a Fellingham Award recipient. For nearly two decades, Smith has dove into many forms of service, especially those which benefit the ecosystem of the community.
Smith and his wife, Karen, moved to SLW in 2006. He promptly became an active member of the Lake Auman Sports Club and served as its vice president in 2009, 2021, 2016 and 2017 and as its president in 2010, 2013, 2014 and 2022. He has served on the LASC board of directors since 2010.
He has been a hands-on volunteer, participating in LASC lakeshore cleanup projects, the manual removal of aquatic vegetation in coves and clean up projects on Pine Island including controlled burns.
Smith has cast a wide net of lake improvement ideas. According to Smith’s nominator: “This nominee recognized the need to improve fishing and catching opportunities in Lake Auman so, along with promoting and coordinating the various fish-stocking programs each year, he fostered and oversaw several fish habitat programs sponsored by the Lake Auman Sports Club and authorized by the Lake Committee.”
At the fore of these habitat projects is the annual Christmas Trees Under the Dock project. Under Smith’s guidance, the LASC has placed over 900 Christmas trees under lake Auman Docks in the last 28 years.
Smith also organized the LASC fish feeding program offering fish feeding programs, selling fish food to homeowners. He also fostered the fish feeding program in the open lake, supported by strategically placed, automated fish feeders.
The lake’s deep waters also caught Smith’s eye for fish habitat development. Smith and the LASC collaborated with a Boy Scout on a project that would satisfy his Eagle Scout merit badge and also benefit the fish. The scout designed and engineered an artificial habitat and with the help of Smith, placed it in Lake Auman.
He dove deeper with plans to develop additional deep water habitats after listening to local fishermen from the community. A project to place large tree piles at depths of 20-25 feet around Lake Auman was test piloted in 2023 and completed in full in 2024.
The LASC has created habitats from bamboo structures and purchased and installed commercial artificial structures.
Smith has also improved the quality of life of Seven Lakes residents. Through the LASC, Smith developed fishing opportunities for kids and adults by organizing popular bass fishing tournaments.
“These tournaments have become wildly successful because of the efforts of this nominee and have created very successful bass fisheries in Lake Auman,” wrote Smith’s nominator. “The increasing size and number of fish caught during the latest annual fishing contests will attest to this nominee’s successful efforts.”
Not only has Smith been an active and influential part of the LASC, he has actively served on the SLWLA Lake Committee from 2010 to 2020 and from 2021 to present, coauthoring policies including those on beaver removal and dredging.
Since 2022, he has served as the beaver damage control liaison, a position many may not realize exists.
A major undertaking of the Lake Committee was the 2023 certified sterile, triploid grass carp project. He organized and oversaw the project which was part of the long-range aquatic vegetation control plan. Smith has also headed up the “Bucket Brigade” since 2012, organizing and conducting the SLW annual fish stocking of Lake Auman.
As a member of the SLWLA Finance committee since 2020, Smith has served as a liaison to both the Dam and Lake committees. Additionally he has served as a member of the Financial and Reserve Study Ad Hoc Committee from Feb. 2022 through March 2023 and is a member of the Safety and Security Ad Hoc Committee representing the Lake Committee.
“SInce 2009, it has been the nominee’s dedication, hard work and imagination that has maintained the Lake Auman Sports Club as a viable and important asset to the SLW community including the adults and children who love our beautiful lake and all that the lake life offers to our members including excellent fishing, boating and swimming,” wrote the person who nominated Smith. “No one has been more dedicated to this effort and deserving of the Fellingham Award than this Fellingham Award Nominee.”
Smith, who was unable to attend the annual meeting, wrote in a response, “It is an incredible honor to be receiving this prestigious award and to join the group of accomplished past recipients who came before me. I am humbled to have been selected by them as this year’s recipient.
“I want to thank all the Lake Auman Sports Club volunteers, other community volunteers and everyone else who served on committees with me to accomplish all that we have for our beautiful lake community. Finally, a special thanks to my wife, Kathy, for all her support and flexibility throughout the years.”
Nominations for the Fellingham are annually sought from the community by the SLWLA Leadership Support Committee and the recipient is chosen by a committee formed by previous Fellingham Award recipients.
Contact Maggie Beamguard at maggie@thepilot.com.
