| Lake Holiday | |
|---|---|
| Location | Frederick County, Virginia |
| Lake type | man made dam lake |
| Primary inflows | Isaacs Creek, Miller's Run, yeiders run |
| Primary outflows | Isaacs Creek |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Settlements | Cross Junction |
Lake Holiday is a private gated community of about 1200 homes and 2700 building lots situated around a 240-acre (0.97 km2) man-made lake from which the community takes its name. It is located north of Winchester in Frederick County, Virginia, United States. Lake Holiday is approximately three miles southwest of the boundary with the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. The postal address is Cross Junction but Lake Holiday and the surrounding community lies within unincorporated land in Frederick County. The Census Bureau defines Lake Holiday as a census-designated place (CDP) with a population of 1,905 as of 2010.[1] Construction on the dam and building lot began in the late 1960s and the dam was finished in 1972. It took approximately 12 years for the lake to fill to capacity and flow over the spill way. The community is looking at a 10 million dollar plus project to refurbish the dam which does not meet current safety guidelines established by the Federal Emergency Management Agency FEMA and by the Commonwealth of Virginia VDEMA since the September 11 attacks. Once the new dam and spill way project has been completed it will once again take several years, depending on weather patterns, to refill the lake once it is drained in Sept. 2011.
Lake Holiday has a private marina available for use by members for a yearly fee of approximately $500.00(no fuel pump), and tennis and basketball courts which are located near the club house. The lake flows into Isaac's Creek. When the Lake was first built there were three (03) man made beaches, There is only one usable beach now. The other two are either not accessible or in such disrepair they aren't safe or suitable for kids or swimming. the sand has washed away from beach two and beach three is closed due to a gate and the roads being washed out after years of neglect. There is pending several million dollar law suit for a drowning in 2009 due to this now there are no life guards at beach one, since other Virginia lake communities don't provide lifeguards, Lake Holiday has been advised not to provide them either. Swim at your own risk is now in place. If LH-HOA looses this lawsuit it will bankrupt the HOA and dissolve the hoa and Lake Holiday will be an open community. The main creeks feeding the lake are Isaac's Creek and Miller's Run along with many small unnamed creeks that flow into the lake.
Lake Holiday has hired an outside private armed security patrol. There are no law enforcement or fire/EMS facilities at Lake Holiday, they rely on outside sources for these from Frederick County, Virginia. Typical Volunteer response time is 15–20 minutes or longer after dispatch to get on scene. There is a movement to start a volunteer fire and rescue station at lake holiday independent of the local system which is located to far away to provide ample and timely service. There has been numerous drownings which have resulted in deaths at Lake Holiday and EMS calls which have proved less than favorable to the patients due to the long response times involved with get into the community, which has been hampered by the installments of speed bumps. Fires at Lake Holiday and other emergencies result in large scale property loss. Recently Lake Holiday has been in the news due to Virginia politics involving Senator Jill Vogel who has been trying to influence the state laws pertaining to Homeowners Associations, particularly Lake Holiday.