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Volume 15 No. 17

What a Difference a Week Makes! Last week, one could hardly see this same view!

Thankfully this holiday weekend has been beautiful, sunny skies without the heavy smoke we experienced ten days ago. However, with very little rain, we still have extremely dry conditions.

This week, we hope you will enjoy the sailing, participate in the fire pump contest and be sure to add the PaBIA Naturalist to your calendar! Or perhaps, you’d like to identify the bird who keeps singing in your ear or see an Indigenous exhibition at the Tower HIll Museum in Parry Sound?

In an effort to shorten these eBlasts, with so many upcoming events in PaB and interesting blurbs to read and learn from, we will begin to link the older blurbs that have already been in the eBlast so you can still access the information via links (red lettering and underlined) rather than scrolling through them each week. I would love it if you would provide feedback with your opinion on this change.


In this Eblast:

PaBIA

  • Are You Ready to Win? Firepump Contest Is Ongoing until July 9! Win $100!
  • Marine Patrol Fire Pump Demo – July 8 Ojibway Back Docks
  • PaBIA Naturalist State of the Bay – July 16 @ 10 a.m. in the Movie Hut
  • PaBIA Blueberry Pancake Breakfast & AGM Monday, August 7th @ 9:00 a.m.
  • Literally on the Bay – Tom Thomson’s North Star
  • Who’s Singing? by Trudy Irvine, Education Committee
  • Additional LInks from Ode’min: The Heart Berry on Medicinal Properties’ and Ojibwe Teachings about the Strawberry

Of Interest:

  • INDIGENOUS INGENUITY: TIMELESS INVENTIONS TRAVELLING EXHIBITION
  • Celestial Events This July
  • Yearbook Update as of July 3, 2023
  • Lost – a ramp/dock from A-318
  • Lake Michigan-Huron Water Levels – July 3, 2023

Past Links

PaBIA



Marine Patrol Fire Pump Demo – Ojibway Back Docks – July 8

The 2023 Marine Patrol training period has been an immersive experience. We enjoyed learning about the many aspects of our job. One particular highlight was the testing of the different fire pumps PaBIA has around Pointe au Baril. It is important to remember that even with the recent rain, conditions are still extremely dry and fires are still a huge risk. With the discounts provided on fire pump equipment (fire pump excluded) by Bobcat in Parry Sound, the training videos, and the upcoming contest, we encourage you to orient yourself with your fire pump and buy any equipment you may need to ensure proper operation. We look forward to seeing everyone who joins us for a fire pump demonstration on the Ojibway back docks so that you can become acquainted with the PaBIA fire pumps on July 8th from 10 AM – Noon!



State of the Bay: Perspectives on Ecosystem Health/Fisheries

Sunday, July 16, 2023
Ojibway Club Movie Hut

Katrina Krievens, Aquatic Programs Manager, Georgian Bay Biosphere
Becky Pollock, Executive Director, Georgian Bay Biosphere
Arunas Liskauskas, Upper Great Lakes Management Unit 

Join staff from the Georgian Bay Biosphere to launch the third edition of the State of the Bay report which explores both scientific and cultural perspectives on ecosystem change. For the first time, this publication weaves regional scientific findings and environmental trends with Anishinaabek worldviews and stories. Learn about key issues facing water quality, the food web, coastal wetlands, and species at risk, as well as ways to get involved.

Management Biologist and State of the Bay technical advisor, Arunas Liskauskas, from the Upper Great Lakes Management Unit of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, will provide an overview of the health of fish communities in Lake Huron and Georgian Bay. Decades of study reveal the complexity involved in fisheries management in the face of ecosystem change.



Notice for
PaBIA Blueberry Pancake Breakfast & AGM
Monday, August 7th 

The 2023 PaBIA Annual Meeting of Members will be held on Monday, August 7th at the Obijway Club. The Meeting will commence immediately after the Annual Blueberry Pancake Breakfast which begins at 9:00 am.  All PaBIA Members are welcome. The business of the Meeting will include approval of the Minutes for the 2021 Annual Meeting of Members; receipt of the Secretary-Treasurer’s report and tabling of the Financial Statements for 2022, as published in the Yearbook; election of the 2023-2024 Board of Directors; and any other business as may be determined by the Board. Pursuant to ¶4.4 of the 2020 Bylaws, a Member wishing to have a new matter considered at the Annual Meeting must provide written notice of the matter to be raised, together with sufficient background to allow the Board to consider same, to David Sharpe, President of the Board on or before July 23, 2023.

Of Interest

INDIGENOUS INGENUITY:
TIMELESS INVENTIONS TRAVELLING EXHIBITION
AT PARRY SOUND’S MUSEUM ON TOWER HILL, JULY 8- AUGUST 12

Indigenous peoples from North America have long demonstrated a great sense of ingenuity, using nature as inspiration. The world we know today is influenced by their innovations and scientific knowledge. This interactive exhibition at the Tower Hill Museum in Parry Sound invites visitors to experience the innovative processes that give rise to Indigenous knowledge by:

  • OBSERVING nature as a source of inspiration
  • LISTENING to bearers of knowledge
  • EXPERIMENTING with scientific principles
  • SHARING acquired knowledge by passing it on to others

Running from July 8 thru August 12, the exhibit presents a clever and novel mix of science and culture and celebrates the diversity, interconnectedness, and resourceful ways of knowing and being that both Indigenous knowledge and innovations provide in the global community. 

Try your hand at building an igloo, harvesting wild rice, and using virtual reality in the hunting simulation and dogsledding experience. Primarily tailored to children between the ages of 5-12, this highly interactive and unique exhibit can be enjoyed by all ages. 



Your Nature on the Bay

Written by Trudy Irvine, PaBIA Director for Education. Each week, Trudy will be bringing Nature to you with her wonderful eye for unfolding a deeper meaning for us all to consider.

Ode’min: The Heart Berry – Fascinating Links on
Medicinal Properties of Strawberries and
Ojibwe Teachings

These links were left off last week’s article on Ode’min: The Heart Berry.

For more information on the medicinal properties of the strawberry plant and fruit, click here

For more on the teachings the Ojibwe people observe from the strawberry, begin with this

Who’s Singing?

Birds are on the brains of the Education Committee lately, with last week’s book review of “Woman, Watching” and this week’s recommendation for the Merlin Bird ID app.

Designed for beginning and intermediate bird watchers, the app uses the date and location of your phone to tap into millions of records in the “eBird” citizen-science database to narrow down which birds you are likely encountering.

With both a Photo ID function and a Sound ID function, the app will show you the most likely identification of a bird that you have either photographed or recorded. With most birds out of camera range in the treetops, the Sound ID is invaluable and fun to use. Hold down the microphone on the Sound ID tab, and the sound signatures of the birds

your phone can hear begin to appear, with names and pictures of the birds popping up as they are identified. Click on each bird’s photo, and a page of information about the species appears, with a more in-depth description of the bird’s plumage, diet, and flight habits.

Surprisingly, the exotic-sounding song of a bird that I could never get a good look at but whose preferred perch is in the maple tree beside my guest bedroom (and calls enthusiastically first thing in the morning and during my guests’ naptime) turned out to be a small brown House Wren. The sharp calls of what I thought was a gull across the channel were actually the menacing sound of a Merlin – a small, fierce falcon who feeds mainly on birds captured in flight. (My poor warblers.) I’ve never seen a Cedar Waxwing, but last August they were in the tops of the trees all around my deck.

With the air of Pointe au Baril alive with a constant symphony of birdsong, Merlin Bird ID can add even more dimension to the soundscape, providing photos and bios of these avian musicians.



Literally on the Bay

Book recommendations by Charlotte Stein, owner of Parry Sound Books

Edited by Janet Irving, Education Committee.

There is nothing – absolutely nothing – like reading a book on a summer’s day on Georgian Bay! This summer we suggest some books that are literally set on the Bay – or feel so much so that we just had to include them.

TOM THOMSON: NORTH STAR

by Sarah Milroy is a spectacular new book focusing on Thomson’s oil sketches. This work was done on location as Thomson painted in Algonquin Park and among the lakes and woodlands of Northern Ontario – and along the shores of Georgian Bay in the summer of 1914. Scenes that are magnificently observed and brilliantly presented are still fresh more than a century later.



1st Supermoon of 2023 Glowing in the July Sky,
Kicking Off a Month+ of Some Dazzling Celestial Events

from Accuweather.com

Do you enjoy the night sky? Here in PaB, it is often spectacular especially because we don’t have to contend with city night lights! This month will be full of night sky events, according to Accuweather.com. Below is a picture of the Milky Way, taken from an article they have written. The brightness of the Milky Way in mid-July will occur because of the dark skies that accompany the new moon; and then, July 30-31, watch for the twin meteor showers! Please click on the picture to read the article.

LOST and FOUND

Swim Dock Lost

This swim dock is missing from Kanadeio, A-318. If you find it, please contact Livia Hunter.

Yearbook Updates

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 2022 yearbook came out in late April are provided in THIS printable format for you to print out and insert into your own Yearbook! As of August 24th, here are the changes.

Devlin, Mike & Carolyn (change)

Pepper, Susan & Bradshaw, Jonathan (addition)

Rogan Family c/o John Ancona (change)

Watson, Kelly (phone change)

Water Levels

Lakes Michigan/Huron Water Levels July 3rd, 2023

To better read the charts, please click on the chart for the Daily or Six Month Forecast Water level chart and the corresponding websites


Click on the logo to go to the website

705-791-1669

Please support PaBIA’s Yearbook Advertisers 2023

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

• AGM Minutes August 1, 2022

Board Minutes November 9, 2022

  • PaBIA Map 2019 correction
  • Environment and Nature
  • Education