PaBIA eBlast May 8 2019

Volume 11 No. 5

Dear PaBIA,

The Ice is finally OUT (late this year) and the Yearbook is ready and has hopefully arrived in your CN mailbox by now – way ahead of schedule! For Americans, it may take a bit longer!

It is the grand plan that the markers will be in place and ready to safely guide us out to our cottages by the long May weekend, BUT it totally depends on having good, sunny weather to accomplish this very large and cumbersome task!

In this eBlast:

PaBIA’s 2018 Survey: Safety and Emergency Response
GBLT‘s new protected pristine land
Ward 3 Councillor‘s request
Water Levels
Ontario Birds – The Blue Heron
Habitat’s Pointe au Baril Build 2 Summer Job opportunities
West Parry Sound Health Centre’s GBay Walk, Run, Pole!
PaBIA’s Sailors group is growing – Join In!
Yearbook Updates.

PaBIA/Ojibway Club Yearbook ’19

By now, so long as you have paid your dues, you should have received your PaBIA/Ojibway Club Yearbook for 2019. Thanks to Nancy (and Jim) Rogers, all books were stuffed and then mailed on Monday, April 29, for all those in Canada and the US. All mailings to other countries will be taken to the Ojibway Post Office to be there when you arrive at the Bay!

Your Cottage Patrol tags and boat stickers were tucked inside the front cover. PLEASE – remember to save the Patrol Tags and attach them to your cottage buildings before the end of the summer.

To the left is the beginning of the stuffing process. The envelopes have to be sorted: US, Canada, extra stickers & tags, labels needed for those who order extra books, Jr. members who don’t get patrol tags, notes to those who order flagpole burgees, extra labels to send small burgees (mailed separately), a couple of other categories plus envelopes & notes to advertisers…Phew! A million thanks, Nancy!

Sailing Roster Is Growing – Join It and Enjoy!

Stephen Griggs, PaBIA’s new Sailing Commodore, is gearing up for the season and wants to encourage ANYONE and EVERYONE who has any interest in sailing to get in touch with him so that you can receive all the information as the season kicks off.

Want to crew and join another boat?
Wish to skipper an idle sailboat?
Enjoy the Committee Boat?

2018 Survey Results – PaBIA has spoken!!

As announced in the April E-Blast, the 2018 PaBIA Membership survey results are in, and you can find both an Executive Summary and the full detailed Survey Report at your PaBIA.ca website.

In the previous April PaBIA Membership eBlast, we offered you a “deep-dive” look into survey responses concerning PaBIA Membership Communications. In this eBlast and over the next five, continue to watch for bite-sized summaries into the other key areas of questioning; Safety and Emergency Response, Land Use and Development, PaBIA’s Community Role, Environmental Protection and PaBIA Membership Services.

We reiterate, this is your Pointe au Baril, and these survey results are an expression of what your community wants, needs and feels passionate about. Read on, and then hop over to the PaBIA website and dig into the full Survey Report for all the fascinating results and get up to speed on what your Pointe au Baril friends and neighbours are all about!

2018 Survey Results “Deep-Dive” #2:

PaBIA Membership Safety and Emergency Response

Encouraged from the findings below, as well as the overall importance of PaBIA’s role to promote Membership wellbeing and safety, here is a partial list of initiatives the Membership Safety Committee will be looking into over the next months:

Continued communication efforts to urge Members who have not yet done so, to prepare a Cottage Emergency Response Plan, and fill out the Yearbook removable back cover flap with the information and action steps in the event of an emergency at the cottage.
Redouble efforts to promote safety on and off the water through other means such as, on-going Membership communications efforts, safety tools such as the boating navigation Right-of-Way Stickers, eBlast safety reminders and best practices, provision of fire prevention and suppression strategies, and season-long Marine Patrol community presence.
Pursue an “Early Response Fire Prevention Program” where all Pointe au Baril residents will have access to the best fire extinguishers for marine, residential and recreational property use, up-to-date information on the correct placement, use and maintenance of their fire extinguishers, and provision of a convenient and cost effective fire extinguisher ordering and delivery protocol for all in Pointe au Baril to take advantage of for summer 2019.
Focused effort to explore possible solutions and build a recommendation for on-water EMS in Pointe au Baril. While a complicated and potentially expensive undertaking to establish, emphatic support by our Membership to this initiative insists that we explore all possible solutions.

SURVEY FINDINGS

(For a representative list of Respondents verbatim comments, visit the PaBIA website Full Survey Report)

This section of 2018 Survey examined Membership adoption of the 2018 Cottage Emergency Action Plan (CEAP), and establishment of a Neighbourhood Emergency Plan, that was published last year on the removable back flap of the PaBIA Yearbook and again in 2019. The initiative is meant to encourage cottagers and their community to be better prepared in the event of an emergency. Emergency information and an action plan contained in the CEAP are designed to speed an effective cottage emergency response and mitigate emergency negative consequences.

RESULTS – SAFETY AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE

Results show a good start to this valuable initiative.

Results also show that it takes time and some organization to achieve widespread adoption of CEAP. The Neighbourhood Emergency Plan needs someone in each cottage area to take the lead. PaBIA should continue educating Members on these emergency safety tips and references.

————————-

Over half (53%) of the respondents have discussed the Cottage Emergency Action Plan and
Over half (52%) have discussed or plan to discuss the Neighbourhood Emergency Plan.
Only 28% have actually filled out the back flap for quick reference.

Emergency and Safety Information

Q22 -Have you discussed your “Cottage Emergency Action Plan” (CEAP) as outlined in the 2018 Yearbook, or not?

Q23 -Have you discussed a neighbourhood emergency plan, or not?

Q24 -Have you filled out the PaBIA Emergency information on the back flap of the 2018 Yearbook, or not?

Separately, the Survey also specifically asked whether PaBIA should look into and recommend a seasonal Emergency Response Program that would provide on-water service to cottagers.

In Favor of Researching a Seasonal Emergency Response Program

Over three-fourths (77%) want PaBIA to look into and recommend a seasonal emergency response program.

Q25. Would you support an initiative to investigate and recommend a seasonal emergency response program in our water access community funded in whole or in part by our Township property taxes, or not?

GBLT’s Tadenac Conservation Initiative –

A 5,400-acre Sanctuary for Nature

GBLT is thrilled to announce the Tadenac Conservation Initiative, a 5,400-acre protected area of pristine wilderness south of Twelve Mile Bay. Containing some of the highest biodiversity in the Georgian Bay region, this area provides an important refuge for numerous species and a critical link in coastal habitat corridors.

The Tadenac Conservation Initiative protects one of Georgian Bay’s largest undisturbed natural areas, providing terrestrial and aquatic habitat for at least 32 species at risk including the Blanding’s Turtle, Algonquin Wolf, and Bald Eagle, and 15 provincially rare plant species. It also includes nesting habitat for waterfowl and critical fish spawning and nursery areas used by endangered Lake Sturgeon. Read the entire message

Two 2019 Summer Jobs Available for

Habitat for Humanity PaB Build

The Habitat for Humanity Construction is Now Underway!!!

The Habitat Pointe au Baril project has (2) paying summer jobs available: Assistant Site Supervisor and Volunteer and Social Media Coordinator. Please let Bob Fisher or Rob Muir know if you know of someone who may be interested.

*Employment will be for 8 weeks

*Canadian citizen for this government program

*Have at least one year of college and a work permit

*1 Construction assistant and 1 Volunteer coordinator

Perhaps, the Construction Assistant job might be someone from a local contractor’s family whereas the Volunteer Coordinator might be a son or daughter of a Canadian islander but anyone can apply!!!

Please contact Rob Muir or Bob Fisher.

Hope for our Habitat family

New Village and Islander friendships

New skills

Team spirit

A step, a wall … an energy efficient home

So, let’s get started

Check out the latest news

Make a donation

Spread the word

From Your Ward 3 Councillors:

PaBIA members, please contact by email, Earl Manners and/or Scott Sheard should you wish to receive their monthly Council update by direct email.

See you on the Bay,

Earl and Scott

West Parry Sound Health Centre – May 26

Walk, Run, Pole – Do It For Life

Pointe au Baril Cottagers Team (PaBC) and the Desmasdon’s Marina Team are gearing up for the 2019 Georgian Bay Walk, Run, Pole – Do It For Life on May 26 in support of the West Parry Sound Health Centre.

Last year PaBC raised over 25K and the hospital was truly thrilled. Helen Bryce, as Team Leader for PaBC has issued a challenge to the Sans Souci Cottager association to compete for the “top cottager team” fundraiser prize (which PaBC won last year). With your support, we can win the fundraising competition in aid of this critical health centre – please support us! We are looking for more team members so please email Helen if you or someone you know might be interested. Read on for more…

Desmasdon’s Team raised over 5K and then matched that in sponsorship for support totalling over 10K in 2018! We are hoping to exceed that this year with your help and the increased participation of the Beacon Marine Team with their staff and customers. Please consider supporting our team as we all do our part to invest in strong health care here in the Parry Sound area. We have made this a priority as good health care is essential to all our families both local and seasonal alike. We have a large group of staff members and their families coming together for a very important cause, and really hope you will join us with your financial support. THANK YOU!

To sponsor a member of either the PaBC or Desmasdon’s Team,

click here

and type in the name of the person you wish to pledge.

There are TWO Teams from PaB worth supporting!!!!

On May 26

For WPSHC

Let’s support them both – for a very worthy cause!!!

Or sign up as an individual participant here

Ontario Birds

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One of the most treasured experiences we can enjoy each morning at the cottage is waking up to the symphony of birds that start our day with music! As you paddle quietly down a channel, there is so much to see and hear – What birds do you see? What do you hear? Having trouble identifying them…here are the 15 most common birds found in our area.

Great Blue Heron

“Widespread and familiar (though often called “crane”), the largest heron in North America. Often seen standing silently along inland rivers or lakeshores, or flying high overhead, with slow wingbeats, its head hunched back onto its shoulders. Highly adaptable, it thrives around all kinds of waters from subtropical mangrove swamps to desert rivers to the coastline of southern Alaska. With its variable diet it is able to spend the winter farther north than most herons, even in areas where most waters freeze. A form in southern Florida (called “Great White Heron”) is slightly larger and entirely white.” Source: Audubon Birds of North America If you click on the Great Blue Heron above, then scroll down the page on the right hand side, there are links to the calls the Blue Heron makes at various times.

Water Levels May 3 2019

Yearbook Updates

Each week, we will provide you a list of names for those who have provided updated information. However, the details of those changes is provided in a printable format for you to print out and insert into your own cottage copy!

Bedell, Katharine & Joe (addition)

Capreol, Rick & Marilyn (addition)

Cortiula, Laura & Tremblay, Ray (addition)

Gould, Jim & Jan (addition)

Hunter, Livia & Rory (changes)

Hutton, John & Eileen (addition)

McBride, John K. & Etu, Susan (addition)

Schneider, Phil & Amy (addition)

Solomons, Stephen (addition)

Wagner, Barbara (changes)

Warrell-Lawson, Maire & Lawson, Michael (addition)