WATERVILLE – John Shea was named the Lake Steward of the Year at the Congress of Lake Association’s annual meeting at Colby College on June 21.

Shea has been an advocate of maintaining excellent water quality at Worthley Pond in Peru for more than two decades.

In the 1980s the Worthley Pond Association dissolved. Shea contacted several camp owners and the association was reborn in 1991 with him as president.

The nomination said Shea, as the “grandfather” of the association, keeps it motivated and focused. He served four terms as president and many years as a director. He was the primary writer of the newsletter for 15 years. It has grown from one page to a 10- to 12-page publication.

Shea provides a home for the association store by donating the use of his garage to sell clothing and knickknacks, display educational materials and have people available to answer questions.

In 1991 he hired Scott Williams to do annual testing of the pond, building a data base to measure changes in water quality that need attention.

In 1999-2000 Shea organized a watershed study to detect areas of soil erosion. Members canvassed the pond, documenting work and persuading owners to correct problems, including work on public roads by a town crew.

The nomination stated that the main reason the association feels Shea is deserving of the individual award is that he, now in his 80s, in 2005-2006 on his own initiative went around the lake, knocking on 350 doors and explaining a courtesy boat inspection program.

He came up with the idea of having owners on a camp road serve as a team, taking a time slot for the season. Due to his most recent effort, the association now has a successful courtesy boat inspection program running at two locations from mid May to Labor Day.