By MATT LINDSEY

NORWOOD –Norwood Lake will continue a busy summer with an upcoming concert, snowmobile races, plans for a new boathouse and attempts to control growth of invasive plants.

The Norwood Brass Firemen’s Band will play the fourth Norwood Pond Concert on Aug. 17.

Sailing around Norwood Pond on three pontoon boats, the Brass Firemen will play from 1 to 3 p.m. with a brief stop at the Norwood Beach.

The band invites others to join their flotilla with other pontoon boats, motorboats, jet skis, canoes and kayaks.

The brass firemen are recognized not only locally, but also around the world. They were the official U.S. band in the 1984 Winter Olympics at Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, attended two presidential inaugural parades and performed for Nancy Reagan at the White House.

Following the two-hour concert, the band will return to Terry LaFleur’s for a reception.

Meanwhile the 25th annual Norwood Lake Regatta will return Aug. 23 and 24 with gates opening each day at 9 a.m. with the first races slated for an 11 a.m. start.

Aside from the races, there will be several vendors, crafters, legal beverages and food available. Admission is $5 and children under age 12 are admitted for free.

Clarkson University plans to build a new boathouse on the Raquette River in Norwood for its crew club team, following approval at the state level.

A bill sponsored by state Sen. Joseph Griffo and Assemblywoman Addie Russell reently passed both houses of the legislature without any dissenting votes and was signed recently by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

The legislation authorizes the Village of Norwood to lease use 0.23 acres of the 12.7 acre Norwood Recreation Park to Clarkson to build and use the property for a boathouse for the 50-member Clarkson University Crew Club Team, to begin this summer and be finished before the next snowfall.

“The rowing competitions with other top schools on Norwood Lake will certainly be an economic benefit to us,” said Norwood Village Mayor James H. McFaddin. "We look forward to adding these meets to other events -- like the Norwood Regatta -- that bring tourists and other visitors to our community."

Norwood expects to benefit from hosting recreational rowing events that promote parkland use and local tourism, and Norwood will get Clarkson’s help in controlling invasive aquatic plants along the Norwood Recreation Park shoreline.

Meanwhile, Paul Smith’s College has agreed to help the Norwood Lake Association with the invasion of Eurasian milfoil into the lake, a part of the Raquette River.

McFaddin, who is also Norwood Lake Association president, said the college “has accepted our offer to partner with our organization to control growth of invasive plants in Norwood Lake and they began work last Wednesday. This is recognized as a major benefit for our local residents and taxpayers as Paul Smith’s College is recognized as a leader in combating invasive lake plants.”

The association approached Paul Smith’s to partner with them and the Village of Norwood in the control of milfoil, discovered in Norwood Lake in 2012 by St. Lawrence University researchers, according to McFaddin, who is also mayor of Norwood.

A study by Clarkson in 2013 said that if left unchecked, milfoil could cover 80 percent of Norwood Lake in 10 years, causing property values to plummet 20 percent and affecting boating, fishing and swimming.