Siggy Pehel, president of the Glade Run Lake Conservancy, looks at the newly installed "Chappel" which honors the organization's former vice president Bonnie Chappel, who died in 2019.

Those who enjoyed Glade Run Lake thought they would never again see it in its heyday after a 2011 decision to drain the lake.

But several of them returned Sunday to see the body of water healthier than it had ever been. These were the people who formed the Glade Run Lake Conservancy, which celebrated its 10-year anniversary Sunday with a community event and the dedication of a new facility.

“We all wanted to make a difference with the lake,” said T. Lyle Ferderber, treasurer of the conservancy. “This is now better than it was when it was built.”

In 2011, Glade Run Lake was drained in an effort to prevent potential dangers related to its busted dam. The decision left several people who used and enjoyed the lake saddened.

According to Ferderber, the Glade Run Lake Conservancy started as a grassroots effort to save the lake, but it now has the support of thousands of people, and just as many people visit the lake each year. Its members started the organization as the lake was being drained in 2011, but by 2017 they had raised enough money not only to have it refilled, but also to have it stocked with fish and equipped with habitation devices.

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