PaBIA’s eBlast August 13, 2025

Aug 13, 2025 | Eblasts | 1 comment

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Volume 17 No. 14

With the extremely dry conditions, let’s be vigilant about no firecrackers or fires of ANY kind as the Fire Rating is still at HIGH and could go up to extreme if the forecasted rain doesn’t produce enough moisture. The ToA website will have the latest on Thursday when they reassess the conditions. Did you know about the now-contained fire that occurred just north of PaB and south of Highway 529?

It’s hot! We recorded a high of 35oC (95oF) not far from the lighthouse, making swimming almost necessary to keep us comfortable! There is no better way to cool off than a swim in the Bay!

And the bears are still showing up as they begin preparing to hibernate – so take heed of the precautions shared in previous eBlasts and stay vigilant.

Don’t miss Waddington’s slide presentation about the In the Footsteps of Group of Seven and Tom Thomson in the Movie Hut this afternoon at 4 pm.

Check out the videos from last Saturday early morning’s storm – isn’t nature remarkable!

We have a new idea for you to consider for submission to the 2026 Yearbook – described below. Perhaps you might want to take a picture before leaving for the season.

Consider coming to the OHPS meeting this Saturday, put the CZBL Open House on your calendar for later this month in PS, and respond to GBA’s Vision 2050 survey! They want to hear from you!

Table of Contents In this eBlast:

PaBIA

  • PaBIA Series – In the Footsteps of the Group of 7 & Tom Thomson – TODAY @ 4 pm
  • MNR Bear Wise Briefing: Preventative Measures – Part 3 & 4
  • PaBIA‘s Saturday Sailing Race: August 16, 2 pm PaBAR
  • PaBIA’s On-the-Water Boater Coaching Class 9 am TODAY
  • Unusual PaB Storm Captured on Video
  • Sharings for 2026 Yearbook
  • Literally on the Bay – Winds from Further West

OF INTEREST

  • OHPS Annual Meeting – Saturday, August 16 at 10 am.
  • Nature Walk on Price Island – This Saturday. Registration Requested
  • CZBL Review ToA Open House in Parry Sound: Tuesday, August 26th from 3-5 pm
  • GBA Special Update re Vision 2050 – PLEASE take the survey
  • Lake Michigan-Huron Water Levels – August 11, 2025

PaBIA

Join Us for a Slide Presentation by Sue and Jim Waddington

In the Footsteps of the Group of Seven and Tom Thomson

Wednesday, August 13 @ 4 pm
Ojibway Movie Hut

Sharings for 2026 Yearbook

Ties to Pointe au Baril run deep and span generations. We want to know what brings you back to Georgian Bay, what resonates with your spirit and uplifts your soul.

Send us a picture and a short description (100 words) of what makes Pointe au Baril so special for you. Is it a sunset view, a comfy chair, a cedar strip canoe, your grandmother’s painting or something else? We’d love to share your heartfelt submissions in the 2026 PABIA/Ojibway Club yearbook.

Please send the picture and up to 100 words describing what brings you back year after year to Hilde Clark.

MNR’s Briefing – If You Encounter a Bear – Part 3 & 4

Several weekends ago, Brandon Hellyer from our regional MNR office boated around Pointe au Baril to speak with some of those cottagers affected by bear break-ins. He also sat down with PaBIA for a wide-ranging discussion regarding the bears here in the islands.

This entire briefing covered 3 to 4 major areas:

Should you wish to read the entire briefing, please click here to read it in its entirety. Otherwise, this discussion will be shared in four separate parts. Part 3 & 4 are below.

If you encounter a bear,

1.       Use loud sounds to scare it away

a.       bear or marine horns

b.       pans banging together

c.        whistles

d.       If with a group, gather together and make a great deal of noise

2.       If you don’t have a motion detecting entry light, keep a strong flashlight available and shine it in the bear’s eyes. They don’t like bright lights.

3.       Make yourself as large as you can – even use a black garbage bag and flap it above your head.

4.       Do NOT use bear pepper spray unless as a last resort. The residue from the spray is sweet and will later attract a bear.

How Can you help MNR to Help Us?

1.       If you have a video cam and have bear footage where you can see the bear (if you have the motion detector lights, that improves visibility), please send it to MNR

2.       If you have pictures of a bear near your cottage, please send them to MNR. Knowing whether it was a single bear, adult or cub, or a family of bears helps to determine the extent of the problem, whether the area is dealing with one bear or many. 

3.       If you rent out your cottage for any period of time, alert the renters that they are in bear country and list preventative measures and provide protective tools.

4.       Know that MNR’s main objective is to educate us on how to live with the bears. Bears will travel long distances to return to valuable food sources, and managing attractants is the priority action for resolving human-bear conflicts.

5.       Understand that relocating bears on water access properties would increase the level of complexity and safety risks to the public, the bears, and MNR staff.

PaBIA’s Sailing Race on Saturday – PaBAR @ 11 am. with PaBIA Races @ 2 pm

SATURDAY, August 16
PABAR @ 11 am
Picnic @ Bradshaws
PaBIA Sailing Races at 2 pm
Venue: Turning Island
Dinner at Ojibway Club – reservations required

Want to be added to the sailing email list or for further information, please email Jamie Isbester by either clicking on his name or text/phone him by finding the information on page 292 of the 2025 Yearbook.

PaBIA’s On-the-Water Boater Coaching – Today Wednesday, August 13
Final Class on Wednesday, August 27

Randy Johnson will again lead this coaching class – so sign up in the Ojibway Club office for NEXT Wednesday. Bring your boat to the back Ojibway Docks. If you have questions, please email him before next Wednesday. It’s never to late to learn/brush up on your boating skills!

Unusual PaB Storm Captured on Video

At 6:45 am last Saturday morning, as an isolated storm descended on Pointe au Baril, two videos, back to back, were recorded by Trudy Irvine.  The radar screenshot from Jamie Rowland shows this small blob right over PaB at the exact time as the videos were taken.

In the two videos below, the first video shows the wind coming from the southwest; then in a heartbeat, the wind shifted and the second video shows the wind coming from the southeast. Barb Hill commented that it felt like the Wizard of Oz. And the Clarks, in that same nanosecond, ‘heard’ a very loved but aging flagpole bite the dust!

Radar at 6:45 am Saturday, August 9

Literally on the Bay

Welcome to the Pointe au Baril Library summer e-blasts.
The Library, located in the Community Centre on South Shore Road, is open from 9:30-11:30 am Mondays and Wednesdays, holidays excepted. Recent best sellers have been added to the collection in time for summer reading. We are very much looking forward to the many conversations that a Library generates.


Pointe au Baril Library at the Community Centre, South Shore Road
Summer hours: Monday and Wednesday – 9:30 am – 11:30 am

The Winds from Further West

By Alexander McCall Smith

We’re witnessing the defeat of values – of virtues, perhaps; there is a sense of emptiness. That’s the tide that’s going out. So rings a central theme in Alexander McCall Smith’s latest novel, The Winds from Further West. Dr. Neil Anderson appears to have it all: a new position in medical research at a prestigious Edinburgh institute, an intense new relationship with an ambitious colleague, and a beautiful flat on the south side of the city. Anderson’s sense of achievement and well-being is shattered when a student misconstrues a comment he makes during a lecture and reports him to the university administration. Anderson maintains his innocence but is told that he must make a public apology if he wishes to continue in his position. He refuses. He hands in his resignation and moves to the Isle of Mull on the west coast of Scotland. The remote beauty of the island, the constancy of the tides, and the trust in genuine friendships begin to heal Anderson’s despair and sense of betrayal. At the novel’s end, Maddy, Neil’s island neighbour and confidant, speaks the lines from a W.H. Auden poem. If equally affection cannot be, Let the more loving one be me.

A recent review sums up McCall Smith’s novel: Cancel culture, given its possibilities, has strangely few literary outings. Thank goodness, then, for Alexander McCall Smith, who here kicks off the action with a spectacular de-platforming … While I loved the city-country contrast and the trademark gentle wisdom, the shocking academic skulduggery was my favourite aspect.

Of Interest

OHPS Annual Meeting – Everyone is Invited!

The Ojibway Club is a Community Centre, open to everyone…and the Ojibway Historical Preservation Society [OHPS] is the non-profit, tax-exempt funding arm for all historical renovations. Without OHPS, established in the early 2000s, none of the historical renovations ​that we have seen – Hotel, (2006), Walking Trails (2011-2019), Grocery Store (2013), Swim Pavillon (2016), Basswood renovation (2016), Gift Shop (2020), Pinewood Cottage (2020) – would have been possible.

Everyone is invited on Saturday, August 16 at 10 am in the Ojibway Movie Hut for OHPS’s annual meeting and to learn more about what OHPS is doing in the PaB area.

Rendition of Restoratin of the Ojibway ‘wharf’.

Please Consider Taking This Survey NOW – Vision 2050

Georgian Bay’s natural environment is under growing pressure—from rapid development and climate change to invasive species, water pollution, and booming recreational use. These changes are putting enormous pressure on the natural ecosystems that make Georgian Bay so unique.

In response, the Georgian Bay Association has launched Vision 2050 – a bold initiative to unite stakeholders, assess threats, and shape a sustainable future for the eastern and northern coasts of the Bay.

Please take a few minutes to take our Vision 2050 survey and
share your perspective with us on the future of Georgian Bay.

Take the Survey

Nature Walk at Price Island – This Saturday – August 16

Join the Georgian Bay Land Trust for a naturalist’s tour of Price Island, and
learn more about the flora and fauna of Pointe au Baril.

Register Here

Comprehensive Zoning By-law Review 
NOTICE OF PUBLIC OPEN HOUSE

The Township of The Archipelago is now actively reviewing its Comprehensive Zoning By-law. The Township’s current Comprehensive Zoning By-law was prepared in 2007 and is being reviewed to ensure it:

  • conforms to the recently updated Official Plan for the Township of The Archipelago;
  • is consistent with the Provincial Policy Statement and all provincial policies and regulations; and,
  • contains appropriate zoning and development standards.

PaBIA members are encouraged to learn more and submit their feedback through the following channels: 

Tuesday, August 26, 2025
Where: The Museum on Tower Hill, 17 George St, Parry Sound P2A 2X4
Time: 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm

Discussion Topics Include:

  • Additional residential units/structures;
  • Floating accommodations;
  • Decks, saunas;
  • Shoreline structures and accessories;
  • Provincial development standards;
  • Backyard hens.

Yearbook Update

With each eBlast, we will provide you a list of names of those members who have provided updated contact information. The details of all the changes since the 2023 yearbook came out in early May are provided in THIS  printable format   for you to print out and insert into your own Yearbook! Changes as of June 23 are below.

For reporting Markers’ problems
contact Tom Cavers by cell (pg. 267 in yearbook) or email

For contacting Secretary-Treasurer and Asst. Sec. Treas.
Nancy Rogers and Elise Findlay: contact.pabia@gmail-com)

Boyle, Ted & Gatta, Kelsey (addition – new member)

Charter, Edward & Alise (addition – new member)

Scoon, Jeff & Susan (addition – new member)

Water Levels

Lakes Michigan/Huron Water Levels August 11, 2025.

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 2025

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

PaBIA

1 Comment

  1. CncPartner
    CncPartner on August 17, 2025 at 10:05 am

    This message 🌈 is something everyone needs to hear today. Your perspective completely changed my thinking