Find us on Social Media
Volume 17 No. 11
Please join PaBIA this afternoon at 4 pm in the Ojibway Lounge for Georgian Bay Biosphere’s presentation on “Climate Change in Georgian Bay” then stay for some wine and cheese and join the conversation!
The Junior Regatta is THIS weekend. So we encourage all the kids and grandkids to come out and join in the fun and all the parents and grandparents to join the conversation on the dock and watch the kids as they compete for the awards.
The following weekend is the Senior Regatta and then PaBIA’s Pancake Breakfast and Annual meeting. Don’t miss it!
Gentle reminder: More concerns are being expressed about boats and jetskis being out on the water without lights as dusk approaches. This endangers both the occupants of the lightless vessels as well as all other boaters on the water AND is a major cause of boat collisions and fatalities. Be safe out there, not sorry!
Table of Contents In this eBlast:
PaBIA
- PaBIA’s Junior Regatta – THIS Saturday July 26
- PaBIA presents – GBB Climate Change in Georgian Bay – TODAY @ 4 pm
- PaBIA’s Pancake Breakfast and AGM – Monday August 4 @ 9:00 am
- PaB Bear Break-ins May – July 2025; PaBIA Initiative & MNR Response
- Part 5 – Safety Strategy When Fighting a Fire by Matt Solecki
- PaBIA‘s Sunday’s Sailing Race: July 27
- Literally on the Bay – Whistle by Linwood Barclay
- Yearbook Update July 21, 2025
OF INTEREST
- Ojibway Art Show Needs Volunteers!!
- Ojibway Art Show Online Previewing Starts Tomorrow
- Radiothon Moose 103.3 to Raise Money for WHPSHC Operating Rooms
- GBA – Update
- Lake Michigan-Huron Water Levels – July 21 2025
PaBIA
PaBIA’s Junior Regatta is This Saturday – Come Join In the Fun!
Madi Barber and Izzy Pepper are readying the Ojibway docks for THIS Saturday’s Junior Regatta! Come out and root for your kids and grandkids as they compete for fun in canoeing, swimming and diving events. And reconnect with friends whom you haven’t seen yet this summer as you root on your favourite participant(s)!. The Awards will be given out after the final contest!
Climate Change in Georgian Bay –
TODAY Wednesday, July 23
4 pm Ojibway Lounge w Wine & Cheese Following
The PaBIA Naturalists’ Speakers Series continues today with a presentation on climate change and its serious effects on Georgian Bay and in our communities. We’ll share what positive actions are being led in the Georgian Bay Biosphere region, and ones we can do at home and cottage!
The talk will be followed by wine and cheese, a chance to say hello, and to hear what’s important to you. The GBB staff will have information resources at our display and be happy to answer your questions on this critical topic.
PaBIA Pancake Breakfast and AGM – Monday, August 4th @ 9:00 a.m.
PaBIA’s Annual Meeting, following our blueberry pancake breakfast, will be held in the Ojibway Dining Room the Monday after Senior Regatta.
Our Guest Speaker is David Sweetnam, Executive Director of Georgian Bay Forever, talking about our Georgian Bay’s Living Water.
“Water sustains us—now it’s our turn to sustain it.”.
We will be asking the membership to vote on the new slate of Directors.
The proposed continuing Directors are:
Mike Berton
Hilde Clark
Katie Findlay
Will Lawler
Emma Manners
Mary Thomson
The proposed NEW Directors are:
Anne Randall
My career started in nursing and over time moved to healthcare philanthropy. I was fortunate to work at several hospital foundations over the years, most recently William Osler Health System, raising funds to build the new hospital in Brampton.
Volunteer work has included over 10 years on the Board of Georgian Bay Forever, including Vice Chair, Chair and Past Chair as well as ongoing involvement with their Nominating Committee.
My family has enjoyed summers at our Pointe au Baril cottage since 1978 – which makes us new to PaB compared to many others. There is nothing more important to me and my family than the beauty and health of Georgian Bay. We have been PaBIA members since the beginning and appreciate the critically important role it plays. I look forward to my involvement with this great organization.
Ed Kernaghan
I’ve cottaged in Pointe au Baril my whole life. My first summer job was working for PABIA giving the white cairns a fresh coat of paint when I was 15. I then spent 9 amazing summers working at the Ojibway including 2 years as the club manager. My wife Jen and I love exploring the Bay with our two kids, Charlie and Claire, who both now work at the Ojibway as well.
Emma Berton
Emma Berton (they/them) is a fourth-generation Pointe au Baril cottager, and recently a Parry Sound resident. They have been acting as the Co-Chair of the Indigenous Relations committee since August.
Emma has been involved with PaBIA since 2016 when they served on to the Marine Patrol for two years. Following this they continued to volunteer with the Marine Patrol portfolio, becoming the Supervisor of the program before its closure.
Outside of PaBIA Emma has spent 10 years researching, listening, and learning about Canadian history, colonization, and Indigenous ways of knowing. Emma’s learning and understanding of our Anishinabek neighbours continues to grow through ongoing reading and their work with the Georgian Bay Mnidoo Gamii Biosphere.
PaB Bear Break-ins May – July 2025
PaBIA Initiative & MNR Response
With over 40 bear break-ins this spring and early summer, much has been written about the ransacking and destruction as well as ways to protect yourself and your loved ones should a bear approach. MNR’s Bear-Wise webpage is full of useful information about how to prevent and protect yourselves and what to do if you have encountered a bear at your cottage.
Thanks to many of you who sent PaBIA the details of your individual experiences. Our secretary, Elise Findlay, has compiled a spreadsheet of date, location and level of destruction.
Subsequently, PaBIA member, Scott Weir, has highlighted a map showing the locations and thus the pattern of these bears in Pointe au Baril. His map is below.
Monday morning, our President, Dave Sharpe, sent MNR a letter, along with the spreadsheet and Scott Weir’s map, informing MNR that “we are experiencing a large number of black bear incidents with many [incidences] that would fit well with the bear emergency designation”. Acknowledging that we live in bear country, David asked for any help or involvement MNR could give us beyond sharing the Bear-Wise website and encouraging our members to read and follow all the recommendations what we can to minimize conditions that would encourage bear break-ins.
By Monday afternoon, PaBIA heard back from our regional MNR person who said they were aware of the break-ins and want folks to continue to contact them at 1-866-514-2327.
When asked what else we could do, MNR said to continue to emphasize that we need everyone to:
Report directly to the non-emergency Bear Wise reporting line for all bear break-ins/attempted break-ins 1-866-514-2327.
Continue to follow all of the recommendations on the website (there are many good suggestions)
Part 5 – Safety Strategy When Fighting a Fire by Matt Solecki, PaBIA member and worked for BC Wildfire Service for more than 10 years as a Wildfire Technician.
If you are responding to a fire as part of a community response, please do so with the utmost caution.
Fighting a wildfire is an inherently dangerous task that is often best left to professionals who have the appropriate equipment, training, and safety gear to engage with a wildfire, and more importantly, have the knowledge of when not to engage. If you are going to engage, it’s important to follow the LACES safety protocol, which is a tool used by wildfire fighters across Canada.
- Lookout: Having a lookout keep an eye on changing conditions such as wind shifts or a fire responding to changes in fuel type (different types of trees or brush) or different terrain features. While there may not always be an appropriate location for a lookout it is crucial to always maintain situational awareness and be able to communicate when to pull back.
- Anchor Point: An anchor point is a geographic feature from which to begin suppression operations. It can be a body of water, an area of open rock, or the back end of the fire. It must be something substantial enough that the fire will not be able to get around behind you and cause an entrapment. Once an anchor point has been established, work progressively along the edge of the fire from that point. Do not jump to the front of the fire as it will spread on both sides of you.
- Communication: Ensure that responders are able to communicate with each other and that there is a mechanism in place to ensure that hazards or changing conditions can be effectively communicated to all personnel attending the fire. An easy way to do this is to pair people into groups of 3-5 with a leader assigned, and then 1 person responsible for all groups. The 1 person responsible for all, ensures that any information passed to them is passed to all other group leaders, and all group leaders are responsible for information being passed to their group members.
- Escape Routes: Everyone must have access to a clearly defined escape route and know which way to go in the event of an emergency. Things can change quickly, and this route must be preplanned and clearly communicated to all responders.
- Safety Zones: Escape routes must lead to safety zones. A safety zone is an area where the fire would be unable to reach and will serve as a marshaling point if people are forced to withdraw. A good plan is to place the safety zone on an upwind island where people can regroup and confirm that all personnel are off the fire.
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
Whistle
By Linwood Barclay
Linwood Barclay takes a risk in his new novel, Whistle, making a shift from the more familiar crime thriller genre into the realm of the supernatural chiller. Unlike any of his previous books, be prepared to be stunned, surprised, disturbed. The novel begins with a hit-and-run accident that causes the tragic death of Annie Blunt’s husband. Annie and her young son, Charlie, move to a small town in upstate New York hoping for a fresh start. Soon after their arrival Charlie finds a mysterious train set in a locked storage shed. A cast of unusual characters deepens the plot. Evil lurks in the air.
One of our Library patrons describes Whistle as “unusual in its content yet appeals to and unsettles the reader’s sensibility leaving you fascinated… The boy’s curiosity propels the story to its unexpected conclusion.”
PaBIA’s Sailing Race on SUNDAY Due to Junior Regatta
Race time: July 27, 2:00 pm
Venue: Middle Reach
Rendezvous: Lawler-Morris camp at A380, up Ugo Igo Channel.
This is the last two races of the July Cup. It is also the third and final round for the Junior Series. We will be awarding the July Cup and Junior Series at the rendezvous,
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.
Of Interest
Art Show August 7-10th 2025
The Art Show needs volunteers! Every year many generous community members give their time to help our annual Art Show to be successful. If you have time to spare over the Art Show weekend we need your help.
There are many different volunteer positions available, some examples are:
- boat drivers for moving vendors to and from the station,
- gallery hosts in the art gallery, and
- Friday night cashiers for our cocktail party.
Please take a look through the list and consider volunteering!
The Art Show website will be open for viewing tomorrow at 10am!
All sales will start August 7th.
Radiothon 2025 – Tomorrow July 24!
Together We Can Complete the Surgical Suite
Tune in to Moose FM 103.3 for our Radiothon
July 24 | 6:00 AM – 6:00 PM | Wanna be on the radio?
Sign up to help raise the funds for a floor-to-ceiling upgrade for WPSHC operating rooms and more.
And, make your own donation today to be thanked LIVE on MooseFM.
Keep advanced surgical care here in Parry Sound.
Ring Those Phones at 705-746-2163 on July 24
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)
Garvey, Carolyn (new member)
Kay, Stephen & Susan (fire pump addition & phone update – Susan)
Water Levels
Lakes Michigan/Huron Water Levels July 21, 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