Donation makes memorial fountain at Elkhorn Lake possible

One of Holton Parks and Rec­reation Director Mike Reichle’s long-time goals for his department has been the installation of a foun­tain at Elkhorn Lake in Holton’s Rafters Park.

A fountain, Reichle has stated, would aerate the lake’s water and eliminate the problem of algae on the lake surface, making conditions better for fish — and for fishing.

“I’m in my 15th year here, and for the past 12 years, I’ve been asking for a fountain,” Reichle said. “That pond doesn’t turn over well, because it’s sitting in a hill.”

Thanks to the donation of Holton resident Jan Hodge, Elkhorn Lake will have a fountain in place in the next few weeks. Reichle said a plan is in place to install a lighted foun­tain in the middle of the lake, measuring “about 24 feet high and 30 or 40 feet wide.”

“We’re excited to put one in,” he said. “I’ve been waiting for this a long time.”

Reichle said Hodge made the donation to have a fountain in­stalled at Elkhorn in memory of her husband, the late Harold Hodge, a former member of the Holton City Commission and mayor.

“He did a lot in the community,” Reichle said of Harold Hodge, who died in September of 2013.

Reichle also noted that his de­partment will receive assistance from the city’s electrical distribu­tion and street departments in get­ting the fountain installed. A rib­bon-cutting ceremony will be scheduled once the work is com­plete, he added.

“We’re probably a week or two away from seeing it,” Reichle said. “We’re in the planning stages right now.”

The fountain’s installation is coming at the change of seasons from winter to spring, bringing more anglers to Elkhorn Lake for trout fishing. The lake was recently stocked with 700 trout, which Reichle said was the final stocking of the lake with trout for the winter season.

“I’m seeing six or seven anglers out there when the weather’s right,” he said. “They’re all over it.”

This marks the fifth year that the City of Holton has worked with the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism’s Community Fisheries Assistance Program (CFAP) to stock Elkhorn Lake with trout in the colder months of the year. The annual trout fishing sea­son ends April 15, it has been re­ported.

All Kansas residents ages 16 to 74 and non-residents 16 and older must have a valid fishing license. Trout permits may be purchased at KDWPT offices, most county clerk offices, licensed vendors such as Walmart or online at kdwpt.state.ks.us/License-Permits

The four-acre Elkhorn Lake is considered a community lake by KDWPT. Other fish in the lake in­clude bluegill, channel catfish, crappie, bass and walleye.

For more information on the lake and the city’s other parks and rec­reation facilities, contact Reichle at 364-9000.