TAVARES — Due to an overwhelming response from local photographers, the Lake County Adopt-a-Lake Program is opening an online poll for the community to vote for the top photograph out of 27 semi-finalists that were selected from 300 received for the 2010 Adopt-a-Lake Calendar.

The top 13 vote-getters will be featured in the 2010 Adopt-a-Lake Calendar while the photograph receiving the most votes will grace the calendar’s cover. Online voting will end Friday, Nov. 13. A panel of Adopt-a-Lake team members, including Cathie Catasus, Sharon Tatum and Maryann Krisovitch, and guest judge County Commissioner Elaine Renick independently rated the photographs paring down the 300 entries to a semi-finalist list of 27 photographs.

Adopt-a-Lake calendars, which include pictures from water bodies in Lake County that have been adopted, are available for a suggested donation of $5 from the Lake County Department of Environmental Utilities, Water Resource Management Laboratory. Proceeds from calendar sales benefit the volunteer Adopt-a-Lake Program.

Sponsorships of the 2010 Adopt-a-Lake Calendar are available. If a business or organization wishes to sponsor a page in the calendar, contact Cathie Catasus, Adopt-a-Lake Program Coordinator, at (352) 253-1659 or e-mail cmcgwier@lakecountyfl.gov. The 2010 Adopt-a-Lake Calendar is due to be out in early December.

The Adopt–a–Lake Program is similar in some aspects to the County's Adopt-a-Roadway Program. The program encourages local civic organizations, individuals and fraternal and business groups to adopt a segment of a lake's shoreline. Unlike an adopt-a-roadway program where litter cleanup is the sole component, the Lake County Adopt-a-Lake Program is comprised of three separate components: Water-quality monitoring, public education and pollution prevention. Volunteers can elect which components of the program best fit their desired level of participation.