PaBIA’s eBlast July 30th 2025

Jul 30, 2025 | Eblasts

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Volume 17 No. 12

Ah, it’s the middle of summer and the weather is cooperating. The Junior Regatta had great weather and fantastic participation! So, despite the occasional storm (Thursday late afternoon), it’s been mostly blue skies or light cover!

The middle of summer brings many events upcoming: Sr Regatta, PaBIA’s Blueberry Pancake Breakfast & Annual Meeting with our speaker, David Sweetnam, from GBF and vote on our Board of Directors (come meet our new nominees and chat with everyone), PaBIA’s Sunday Sailing, and the Ojibway Art Show.

We also hope you’ll read the final section of Matt Solecki’s 6 part Fire Articles.

Please don’t miss the full briefing that PaBIA had with MNR about the bear break-ins last weekend here in PaB.

It has also come to our attention that many may not know of the changes to the old nursing station – now officially the Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic and it’s new (at least to many of us) procedures – including not accepting walk-ins. Rather there are new Ontatio virtual health clinics in the North East area of Ontario that everyone can access.

Yes, this is a long eBlast…but chock full of important information and fun events. Please take a few moments to be up to date on all of this – and remember that if you see [View the Entire Message] at the bottom, click on it to read the eBlast in its entirety.

Table of Contents In this eBlast:

PaBIA

  • PaBIA’s Senior Regatta – THIS Saturday August 2nd. 11 a.m.
  • PaBIA’s Pancake Breakfast and AGM – Monday August 4 @ 9:00 am
  • PaBIA‘s Sunday’s Sailing Race: August 3. 2 pm
  • Part 6 – When Ontario Wildfire Crews Arrive by Matt Solecki
  • MNR Bear Wise Briefing – a Discussion with MNR
  • Literally on the Bay – “A History Of Canada In Ten Maps” by Adam Shoalts

OF INTEREST

  • Nurse Practitioner-LED Clinic (Old Nursing Station) Updated Procedures for Health Care
  • Georgian Bay Biosphere – Climate Change in Georgian Bay Recap – What we can be doing
  • Ojibway Art Show – Volunteers needed
  • Ojibway Art Show Online Previewing
  • Ojibway Art Show Market Place
  • Ojibway Art Show Breakfast with the Artists
  • Lake Michigan-Huron Water Levels – July 24 2025

PaBIA

PaBIA’s Senior Regatta is This Saturday – 11 am – Come Join In the Fun!

Hope you’ve been honing your skills for this Saturday’s Senior Regatta! Come out and compete for the fun of it in the canoeing, swimming and diving events.

Meghan Allen and Kate Pittfield are ready for you on the Ojibway docks for THIS Saturday’s Senior Regatta! Everyone is invited to participate 14 and up!

Come 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!

PaBIA Famous Blueberry Pancake Breakfast and Annual Meeting

This Monday August 4 at 9:00 am

Speaker: David Sweetnam – Executive Director of Georgian Bay Forever
“Living Water: Renewing Our Bond with Georgian Bay“

PaBIA Financials 2024

PaBIA Annual Meeting Minutes 2024

The proposed continuing Directors are:

Mike Berton
Hilde Clark
Katie Findlay

Trudy Irvine
Will Lawler
Emma Manners
Mary Thomson

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. 

MNR’s Bear Wise Briefing

Last weekend, 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 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 1 is below.

Brandon wants everyone to know that if you have a bear break-in or see a bear around your cottage, it is imperative that you call the MNR Bear Wise Hotline 866-514-2327 to record the incident asap.

  • Start by adding this Bear Wise hotline phone number to your phone contact list NOW and that will enable you to quickly record the incident without much effort if/when it happens. 
  • MNR needs a full picture of the problem in order to respond to the influx of bear break-ins we’ve experienced this year!

This summer, while Scott Weir and PaBIA tabulated over 40 encounters, the MNR only received 11 calls. It was Scott’s comprehensive (not exhaustive) map and the letter from Dave Sharpe, President of PaBIA, that caught MNR’s attention to the issues here in Pointe au Baril. Because of the communications, MNR boated out into the islands last Saturday to talk with a various affected cottagers who had called the hotline. (If you would like to talk with MNR, they are happy to arrange another trip and go to your cottage.)

As expressed by MNR, the islands are a unique challenge this summer (as compared to the small towns who normally are just now beginning to experience the bear issues).

  1. Relocating bears is not an effective long-term solution, as they will travel long distances to return to valuable food sources. This behaviour can increase the risk of human-bear conflicts and may ultimately lead to the bears being euthanized.
  2. Since trapping bears is done with cages each weighing 1500 pounds, relocating bears from water access-only areas increases the level of complexity and safety risks to the public, the bears, and MNR staff.
  3. Since killing bears is almost always out of the question, we need to remember that we live in bear country – we are the guests.
  4. Did you know that a bear’s sense of smell is 5000% more than humans, so cooking/food smells coming from our cottages are likely to attract bears. If windows and doors are left open, the bears think they’ve found their next meal!

Part 6 – When Ontario Wildfire Crews Arrive by Matt Solecki, PaBIA member and worked for BC Wildfire Service for more than 10 years as a Wildfire Technician.

In the event of a wildfire where Ontario Wildfire has been called, it is important to understand what to expect from them. Click here to read the entire 6 part series

When they arrive on scene, especially when arriving in a helicopter, the crew will start by orbiting the fire several times in order to get an accurate assessment of the fire and the situation in general. This is an important step, and while it may seem like it’s taking too long from the perspective of people on the ground, a lot will be happening in the helicopter to create a plan and communicate with dispatch. These activities will have an important impact on their ability to suppress the fire. It is very important that if any drones have been launched by curious onlookers, they must be grounded well before fire crews arrive on site.

    Once they have landed, the crew will want to make contact with the responders on the ground. Have someone prepared to give them a quick briefing that should include:

    • How many people are on site
    • If anyone is hurt or in danger
    • What people have done so far
    • Any hazards that might affect the crew or any aviation
    • Any structures or values of note
    • If anything is known about how the fire started

    At this point the crew may ask that all non-wildfire personnel leave the area, this is not a reflection on the work of anyone fighting the fire before Ontario Wildfire arrived, but it is the mandate of all first responders to ensure the safety of the public. Once a wildfire response has been activated, the workspace can quickly grow too complex to allow unknown resources to operate in the area.

    If you are responding to a fire as part of a community response, please do so with the utmost caution.

    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

    At the 45th Anniversary Celebration for The Township of The Archipelago, the deck of the Pointe au Baril Community Centre was covered by a gigantic 8 metre by 11 metre floor map, Biinaagami, The map, a collaboration between Indigenous peoples and Canadian Geographic, depicts a global treasure, the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Lowland watershed, the planet’s most expansive freshwater ecosystem. With its visual thrust, Biinaagami has the power to alter the way we comprehend our world. This is an elemental aspect of mapping – it tells a story; it opens our eyes to new perspectives.

    Adam Shoalts’ book, A History Of Canada In Ten Maps, is similar to Biinaagami in this regard. Ten epic stories chart the history of Canada’s mysterious land to reacquaint us with the records of exploration across this huge, remarkable country. The book was originally published in 2017; however our intensified commitment to the protection of our national sovereignty makes this book essential reading. Shoalts’ book begins with the story of the 1000 year old Viking Skalholt Map and extends to mapping the explorations of Samuel Champlain, Peter Pond, Samuel Hearne, Alexander Mackenzie, and that greatest of mapmakers, David Thompson. The Siege of Fort Erie and the mapping of the Arctic frontier close the book.

    Shoalts draws significant reference to the exceptional maps drawn by Chipewyan travellers Matonabbee and Idoltlyazee – men who ranged over a greater extent of Canada than almost any other persons in the mid-1700s. For those of us who have a passion for reading about the history of Canada and the ways that this vast and brooding influence of geography has shaped that history, this is a riveting book. Author Adam Shoalts is an elected Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographic Society. To view the interactive map for Biinaagami go to www.biinaagami.org

    PaBIA’s Sailing Race on SUNDAY Due to Senior Regatta

    Race time: SUNDAY August 3, 2:00 pm

    Venue:Matthews Bay – (between islands A193 and A94)

    This coming weekend is the first weekend of the August Series. We are sailing Sunday to avoid the Senior Regatta and because it is such a busy weekend, there is no rendezvous. The race will be in Mathews Bay – for no other reason than that it is a fun venue and we have not been there yet this year. The bay between the Whites’ island (Leonard, A193) and Isbester’s front dock on the south side of Pavis (A194) is a good place to anchor and rig up.

    And remember – this Thursday, July 31, is the Flying Scot Regatta!~

    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

    Pointe Au Baril Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic in PaB (old nursing station)

    Back in 2018 the ‘Nursing Station’ became a ‘Nurse Practitioner- Led Clinic‘ (or NPLC). A NPLC focuses on health promotion, disease prevention and chronic disease management with patients who are registered to the clinic. We are fortunate to have one right here in Pointe au Baril!

    But this change seven years ago resulted in a totally different health care model whereby Pointe au Baril cottagers could no longer just walk in with a medical concern – they MUST call and make an appointment.

    Although walk-ins are not allowed – there are some same-day appointments available but it is necessary that all cottagers book an appointment before traveling to the station. Even then, if the condition warrants more attention than what the NPLC can provide, one should be prepared to continue on to the West Parry Sound Health Centre.

    There are other healthcare options, you are also welcome to

    • call the NPLC site
    • visit the WPSHC website
    • go online to North East Region Virtual Care Clinic They are open 7 days a week, from 1:00 -9:00 pm, and provide virtual, same or next day appointments. The patient just needs to call their phone number or register online. This is run by Nurse Practitioners but is separate from our organization. This is OHIP covered. 

    UNESCO’s Georgian Bay Biosphere Climate Change in Georgian Bay Recap

    About 90 people came to hear Becky Pollock and Ben John talk last Wednesday about how climate change is affecting our own Georgian Bay. If you wished you had taken notes or weren’t able to be there, Becky has shared her slides with us so that you can refresh your recollection and/or learn more about this fascinating subject.

    If you are interested in more science and ways to help. visit the State of the Bay climate pages here. If you have further questions on this complex topic for our staff or Board, please reach out!

    You can continue to support their work by:

    Below is one of many slides (click to see all the slides) from Becky’s presentation with actions we can all be taking. Becky stressed that when a lot of people do a little bit to curb climate change, collectively we CAN make a difference.

    Art Show August 7-10th

    The annual Ojibway Club Art Show fundraiser is fast approaching! Our website is now open for viewing: consider supporting a local artist while also supporting the Ojibway Club. 

    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!

    All sales will start August 7th @ 10:00 a.m.

    Marketplace is Back – and Bigger Than Ever! 

    Friday, August 8 | 5–7 PM Cocktail Party +
    Shopping Night –
    All ages welcome 
    and
    Saturday, August 9 | 10 AM–4 PM

    Get ready for a vibrant weekend at the Ojibway Club as we welcome 33 incredible vendors for our annual Marketplace Fundraiser!

    Kick things off Friday evening with cocktails and first dibs on handcrafted treasures, then come back Saturday to explore a stunning array of unique goods:
    Textiles | Jewelry | Woodcrafts | Artisanal Soaps
    Ceramics | Indigenous Crafts & more!

    Shop in person, support local makers, and
    Discover something truly special.Don’t miss this one-of-a-kind shopping experience—
    See you there!

    Breakfast with the Artists

    Tickets are still available for the

    Breakfast with Artists!

    Please contact the Ojibway Club to get your name on the list. 

    This year we are hosting the event in the Movie Hut! 

    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)

    Water Levels

    Lakes Michigan/Huron Water Levels July 24, 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.

    Mark Payne
    705.746.0171

    Emergency 

    • PaB Nursing Station
    • Canadian Coast Guard 
    Search and Rescue
    800-267-7270
    • PaBIA Emergency info

    PaBIA