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Volume 18 No. 7
The ice is out (Yeah!) and some have already been up to check things out – several have even encountered Bruce Tiffin, our off-season Cottage Patroller, as he makes his spring rounds! Remember that the water is still extremely cold so stay safe out there, and the weather is still quite cool and damp!
The Large Item PickUp days are now on the calendar for June and August….
The hope is that all the markers will be in place by the May Long Weekend, but know that their placement is predicated on calm waters and good visibility so that Desmasdon’s can in fact, place them safely and properly. Thankfully they don’t have place as many markers due to the new replacement navigational markers that PaBIA has purchased to aid in boating safety!
As a reminder, the Fire Rating Legend is linked to both the fire logo above and the The Township of the Archipelago’s website. Be sure to thoroughly enjoy a safe the long May weekend 10 days from now.
Lastly, the yearbooks were sent out 10 days ago. Many Canadians already have their books. The books sent to the US are just now beginning to arrive at people’s homes. The International books will be taken to PaB and distributed this summer.
Table of Contents In this eBlast:
PaBIA
- Winter & Spring Cottage Patroller Rounds
- Meredith Wheler, PaBIA’s new Social Media Chair
- PreSeason PaB Community Tennis for 2026
- Congrats to PaB Cottagers GBLT King Bursary Winners 2026
OF INTEREST
- The Archipelago Express Spring Newsletter
- 2026 October Election Information
- Updated Recycling Guidelines*PLEASE READ
- ToA’s Wildland Fire Protection Plan Survey
- Update on the Comprehensive Zoning By-law Review
- GBB – Annual Native Plant Sale
- GBA – Update May 2026
- Lake Michigan-Huron Water Levels – May 8, 2026
PaBIA
PaBIA’s Winter & Spring Cottage Patroller Rounds
Bruce reports that this winter’s patrol was more difficult due to the amount of snow. But because he was fortunate to have had some cold temps before the majority of the snow fell, there was a good amount of ice to make the journey around the islands easier and safer. All in all – he reports another excellent winter patrol round.
He has been doing the spring patrol for the last couple weeks and will be pushing to get to the rest of our members properties by the long weekend as always. The ‘road maps’ below are his winter rounds to give you an idea of his routes and how he tracks his whereabouts. PaB’s spring 2026 has been chilly accompanied by high winds, making the going more challenging. There are more winter patrol picks on the PaBIA website’s picture page.
He’s noticed that there are still several members that apply their tags inside a screened in porch or behind a storm door that make it more difficult or impossible to access the tag without damaging the door – many doors are stuck in ice. (See the pics below)
Some members will also see a new tag applied with either just the winter and spring, or just the spring box punched. He assures us that he made the visit, but the tags have blown off. One of the downsides of our newly designed patrol tags is the rigidity and many have blown off in high winds. Our members will most likely find the missing tags on their islands somewhere – (usually down in the grass nearby). The older tags were more like a typar material and could take the high wind much better.
PaBIA is already looking into a better material for the tags to better handle the winds, but for this year, it’s been suggested that our members, in the fall, apply an extra pin or two – that would hold them in place. Properties where Bruce applied new tags – he used three pins minimum, one of which is near the bottom.
Meet Meredith Wheler, PaBIA’s New Social Media Chair!
I am happy to take on the role of PaBIA’s Social Media Coordinator! I grew up cottaging in PaB, attending Ojibway Camp, and have spent the past two summers as a camp sailing instructor. This summer, I’m looking forward to stepping into the role of Recreational Head at camp. Some of my favourite memories include both participating in and watching the PaBIA sailing races, as well as learning to sail on the Flying Scots during PaBIA sailing clinics. I’m always open to getting more involved in the community, and I’m excited to help out and give back to PaBIA this summer!
PRE-SEASON PaB COMMUNITY TENNIS
AT THE OJIBWAY
ALL tennis players in the Pointe au Baril community are welcome to meet for Pre-Season Mixed Round Robin tennis at the Ojibway. The fun begins daily at 10 AM (with a rain-delay of 2 PM) starting Victoria Day Weekend until Tuesday, June 23rd. Regular Ojibway Club tennis membership play begins on Wednesday, June 24th. Stay tuned for details about our fun pre-season Summer Solstice Tournament! A special thank you goes out to the Ballon family and friends who will be putting up the nets on the May long weekend, WEATHER PERMITTING. See you on the courts!
For further information please contact Brad Honsberger 519 718 1931.
Congratulations to PaBers Adam Merifield & Kara McIntosh
GBLT King Bursary Winners
Adam Merifield is a Toronto-based landscape photographer who spends his summers at the family cottage in Pointe au Baril on Georgian Bay. For over two decades he has explored and photographed the waters, islands, and shores of eastern and northern Georgian Bay.Adam will use the King Family Bursary to assist in the completion of Portals into Precambria, a premium-quality coffee-table book that presents a full sweep of Georgian Bay’s eastern and northern shores. Portals into Precambria celebrates the Bay’s unspoiled character amid growing development pressures, while exploring our shared human longing to experience nature in its raw and timeless form. Read More
Kara McIntosh is a painter and textile artist based in Collingwood. She brings a sustained engagement with place, light, and the felt experience of landscape to her practice, translating the rhythms and patterns of the natural world into abstracted, layered paintings. Finn O’Hara is an award-winning photographer based in Toronto with a long-term practice exploring the Canadian landscape, particularly Georgian Bay. Through his photography, O’Hara explores the beauty and complexity of our relationship with nature, working primarily at night, using laser and LED lighting to reveal the Bay’s terrain after dark, creating images that sit between document and vision.
Together, McIntosh and O’Hara will explore Eastern Georgian Bay and the North Channel by boat and shoreline, working across the threshold of day and night. They will paint and photograph the same spaces, McIntosh responding in daylight, producing entirely new paintings that translate what they encounter into layered visual language, and O’Hara photographing the landscape after dark as the Bay comes alive under the stars. The intention is that the two bodies of work speak to each other without repeating each other, each entirely new and distinct from their existing practices. Read More
Of Interest
- Introducing your 2025 Champions of the Bay!
- IAAC releases their Summary of Issues for the TC Energy pumped storage project
- GBA attends Hydro One open houses
- Canada launches ‘A Force of Nature’ to protect our lands and waters
- Be the help your community needs: a guide to Ontario Corps
- Movie night, our treat: meet the invisible heroes of Georgian Bay
- Let’s talk trash!
- Cold water kills and one gasp is all it takes
- Be bear wise as hibernation ends this spring
- A call for community support to preserve the Jones Island rear lighthouse
- Water levels report
The Archipelago Express Update for Spring
Please fine HERE the Township’s Spring Express Update to help keep you informed as to all that is happening at the ToA.
In this edition is a very detailed listing of those items meant for recycling... recycling properly will help to save Site 9 from deteriorating faster.
But have you ever wondered which trash goes where? Were you aware that by throwing out items into the wrong bin or not prepping an item correctly, it can ruin an entire collection and by default, put ALL the into the landfill instead?
Did you know that by everyone doing their part, including ALL family members, we can make a huge difference? “An updated list of recyclable materials, and a new sorting guide, is available, most notably: milk containers, paper laminate containers, and aseptic liquid containers are now collected in the plastic recycling stream.” Check the updated recycling out HERE, download and print out the pdf and keep it in your cottage for reference!!!
SENIOR LUNCHEON
As well, please check out the Seniors Luncheon to be held on June 16th. RSVPs are asked for by June 1st.
Native Plant Orders Due Soon
There’s still time to order wildflowers, shrubs, and trees from our Native Plant Fundraiser! Order by May 25th, and pick up your order in either Parry Sound or Port Severn on Saturday, June 6th. All order proceeds support our programs, thank you!
In Memoriam
David B. McAllister, 18 Hemlock Rd. ‘Pointe au View’, son of Miriam McAllister & Stepson of Larry Rhodenizer, father of David J. Jenny and Rhyan. April 11, 2026.
Yearbook Update
With each eBlast, we provide with a list of members with updated contact information.
The details of all the changes since the March 15 deadline for the 2026 yearbook are provided in THIS printable format
for you to insert into your Yearbook! This is the full list until after the new Yearbook is published
For reporting Markers’ problems
contact Tom Cavers by cell (pg. 266 in Yearbook 2026) or email
To contact Secretary-Treasurer
Elise Findlay: contact.pabia@gmail.com
Barbato, Virginia & Randy (addition)
Bell, Peter (addition)
Biller, Andrew & Vanessa (addition)
Casgrain, Katie & Chase (addition)
Cook, Jesse & Cardwell, Nancy (addition)
Cumming, Carl & Jan (addition)
Delafranconi, Pierre & Renee (addition)
Fennell, Scott & Pott, Jennifer (addition)
Fisher, Katherine & Alexander (new members)
Freygang, Katherine (addition)
Greene, Michael & Sandy (addition)
Grigg, Virginia & Rosh (addition)
Ireland, Honor & Sam (addition)
Kopas, Suzanne & Don (addition)
Kuchman, Cindy & Jeff (addition)
Levison, David & Joy (addition)
Lloyd, Morgan (addition)
McCoy, Sandy (William) & Beery, Natasha (addition)
Murray, Robert & Cintra (addition)
Nanibushes Cottage (addition)
Pady, Bryan & Nobes, Heather (addition)
Profis, Francesca & Eugene (addition)
Ridgely, Zac & Adamo, Laura (addition)
Ryley, Bronwyn (addition)
Ryley, David & Shantz, Rachel (addition)
Ryley, Deedee (addition)
Ryley, Hannah (addition)
Schneider, Phil & Amy (addition)
Simon, Scott & Brandon (new members)
Solecki, Cynthia & Jonathan (addition)
Solecki, Lauren (addition)
Spangler, Brooke & Josh (addition)
Suter, Amani (new member)
Tangredi, Vincent & Ko, Siu Lan (addition)
Thomas, Charlie (addition)
Wagner, Anne (new member)
Winn, James (Jim) & Marney (addition)
Younger, Alexander & Richardson, Sarah (new members)
Water Levels
Lakes Michigan/Huron Water Levels May 8, 2026.
To better read the charts, please click on the chart for the Daily or Six Month Forecast Water level chart and the corresponding websites
Please support PaBIA’s Yearbook Advertisers 2026
This site’s advertising feature was created to provide assistance for special local information & events for existing Yearbook advertisers only.
Emergency
• PaB Nursing Station
• Canadian Coast Guard
Search and Rescue
800-267-7270
• PaBIA Emergency info