Holly Fiorella will present the history of the lake community from when it was just an idea up through the years of its planning and construction. In 1924, the Arthur D. Crane Company, an innovative developer of lake communities in New Jersey, acquired 2,600 acres of farmland in the valley of the headwaters of the Wallkill River (also referred to as the Brogden Meadow), which was mostly in Sparta Township and partially in Byram Township.

In 1926, Brogden Meadow was cleared and work was started on the dam that would create Lake Mohawk. In August of that year, the dam gate was closed and the stream overflowed its banks and began to flood the surrounding territory, forming the beginnings of the lake. In 1928, the first waters passed over the spillway of the dam when Lake Mohawk reached its capacity.

Holly Fiorella has been a resident of Lake Mohawk since 1998. In April 2015, the Lake Board of Trustees approved her starting the Lake Mohawk Historic Committee to address the need for historic preservation within Lake Mohawk. She has served as the Chairperson of the Committee since its inception. Holly is a regular contributor to the Papoose, the monthly publication for Lake Mohawk members, researching and providing history related articles. In June 2017, Holly was elected as a Trustee of the Lake Mohawk Preservation Foundation and in July, the bylaws of the Foundation were amended to include the preservation of historic structures within Lake Mohawk. Holly lives with her husband and two daughters and enjoys all that the Lake Mohawk Reservation has to offer.