New Burgee with Tekton
Connections Update Header
 Volume 12 No. 25
Greetings!

For our American and International cottage owners, the Canadian Public Safety Minister Bill Blair announced last Friday that the ban on Americans entering its northern neighbor will be extended until at least September 21 due to the rising number of positive new cases of the coronavirus in the United States. "We're taking this step to keep people in both our countries safe – because your health and safety is always our top priority," ...Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Otherwise, the birds, the butterflies and all the critters are alive and well in Pointe au Baril. With fewer humans and less boat traffic, they too have found a haven in which to fly, come out of their chrysalis, and roam the rocks and swim in the bay! May everyone enjoy all the wildlife!
In this eBlast:
  • PaBIA Cottage Patrol Tags for Non Canadians LAST CALL
  • PaBIA EdCom: River Otters
  • PaBIA's Photo Contest Ongoing throughout the Summer
  • PaBIA's Marine Patrol: Rattlesnake Monitoring
  • Monarch Miracles in our Island Trees
  • PaBIA's Scavenger Hunt NEW Clue - Until August 19th
  • PaBIA EdCom: Is Georgian Bay TOO BLUE (part 1 of 3)
  • PaBIA EdCom: Shawanaga Pow Wow 2020
  • Ker Plunk - and Barry to the Rescue
  • GBLT VISIT - on the Ojibway Docks August 22
  • PaBIA PaBAR Sailing Races - Saturday Aug 22 @ 2:00 pm
  • PaBIA's Cottage Patrol Tag Offer to Non Canadians
  • PaBIA's AGM Rescheduled for September 24th
  • WPSHC Cyclist Fun(d)raiser - Check It Out!
  • GBBR Celebrate Flight of the Monarch Butterfly - Aug 22nd
  • Lake Michigan-Huron Water Levels - August 17, 2020
  • Lost and Found: Found - Box of beach toys
  • Yearbook Update
Latest Updated Calendars for
July (7.13.20) and August (7.13.20)
Of Interest
PaBIA Logo
TO OUR AMERICAN &
OVERSEAS MEMBERS Winter Tags
from Tom Scoon, President of PaBIA

Unfortunately it would appear likely that many will not be able to come to Pointe au Baril this year.

With that in mind, PaBIA wishes to support our American and overseas members by arranging for a late summer cottage patrol at the organization's expense.

PaBIA is also aware that many of our non Canadian members have had friends, neighbours or their contractors checking their cottagers throughout the summer and do not need this service.

Keeping that in mind and to save unnecessary expense, this extra service will be provided ONLY to those members who
  • need/want it and
  • REQUEST it by emailing Nancy.

As for the 2020-2021 Fall, Winter and Spring Cottage Patrols for those unable to get to their cottages this summer, Bruce Tiffin, PaBIA's Off season Cottage Patroller, will punch existing cottage patrol tags a second time - resulting in 6 punches rather than the traditional 3 and will replace any missing tags to give you the assurance that all your properties are checked and the patrol indicated by the punch mark.

Please remember to contact Nancy NOW to request a late summer cottage patrol!
EDCom Logo
River Otters

by Trudy Irvine, PaBIA Education Committee

A day trip to the Key Harbour area this past Saturday resulted in my first sighting of a North American River Otter. With my dogs and the rest of my party forging ahead on a walkabout of the outer island on which we had anchored, shouts caught my attention. I looked up just in time to see what looked like three extra-large minks come bounding out of a clump of cedars and plunge into the water. Three bewhiskered heads then floated off the shore for a few seconds, looking back at us and grunting indignantly. Fumbling my iPhone out, I was only able to record a very short and very poor-quality video peppered with profanity laced exclamations from my companions before the otters dove and swam away. Thank you to Helen Bryce for supplying me with the wonderful pictures taken at Flatrock Island.
River Otters 1
Like mink, river otters are members of the weasel family, but where mink might weigh a maximum of 3 pounds, river otters can grow to be about 30. It hardly seems fair to call such  gregarious and playful creatures “weasels”- they live in family groups of adult females and their offspring, often with unrelated “helpers” of all ages. Juveniles engage in wrestling, chasing and other play that sharpens their swimming and hunting skills.

Males also establish enduring social groups with as many as 17 individuals. Otters are not strongly territorial, and their home ranges often overlap.
 
Fish are a favorite food of the otter, and they also eat crayfish, turtles, amphibians, and freshwater clams and snails. (This was very obvious in their “latrine” area- whew.) These strong swimmers hunt mostly at night, and their acute senses of smell and hearing help with this, as well as a delicate sense of touch in their paws for dexterity. Their eyes are well adapted for aquatic hunting with built in goggles in the form of a transparent extra eyelid, but they are quite nearsighted out of the water.
River Otters 2
Otters are active all winter long, coming and going from dens originally made by other animals such as fox or beaver, or in hollow logs or rock hollows lined with moss, leaves and hair.

Since I had my glimpse of the otters, I have heard of a few sightings in the Pointe au Baril area, several around the Shawanaga River. I am curious just how common these sightings are- I felt very lucky to finally spot these charming animals and was sorry to disturb their nap!
Ryan and G checkers
Remember to Join in PaBIA's Friendly Photo
Fun Contest -
It's for Everyone!

Want to share your favourite pictures and the stories that surround those images from this summer's fun? Enter PaBIA's contest as often as you like - and please, don’t hold back - so we can together build a treasure house of 2020 summer memories! You might even win a prize!!!
Monitoring Rattlesnakes in the PaB Area
Marine Patrol LOGO
One of the jobs for the patrollers is to monitor our threatened population of the Massasauga Rattlesnake. All cottagers can help the MP to keep us abreast of any sightings by contacting us by email as to where you saw it, including a picture but only if it can be done safely!

The rattlesnakes that might be seen at your cottage, and who tend to be in the same location year to year, are most likely females staying in their nesting area.
It is preferred that everyone leave the snake alone and be more cautious around the cottage (wearing shoes etc.) or making noise when you are out and about as a warning signal to the snake. 

However, if one feels as though the rattlers are posing a danger to you or your family, we recommend either calling or emailing the MPs to remove them. Not only will that help us monitor them, but since we have gone through the protocols for how to properly remove the snake, we can do it for you. However, should you choose to remove them personally, please remove them to a safe location that is no more than 1KM away from where you found them. If it moved outside of their ecosystem/territory of 1 KM, it will die due to the species being very territorial.
Massasauga Rattlesnake2
How to tell the difference from a rattler (seen here) and a fox snake? Although the rattler will shake its rattle on its tail whenever it feels endangered, fox snakes can and do imitate the sound of the rattle, even though they don’t have a rattle at the tip of their tail. Fox snakes have copper coloured heads and are not venomous despite their attempt to rattle like a rattlesnake. If unsure if you have a rattlesnake, Chris and Tom, your MPs, will be more than happy to help identify the snake for you (and remove it if preferred).

Just a few reminders:
  • remember to not touch or try to grab a rattlesnake. Most bites come as a result of folks trying to have fun or while under the influence of alcohol. It is rare that a rattlesnake will just bite for no reason. Did you know that it is actually more scared of you than you are of it? Rather, it is best, if you do encounter a rattler, that you stop in your tracks and back away slowly. You will find it will most often scurry off in the opposite direction. Don’t attempt to touch snakes to avoid injury!

  • if bitten by a rattlesnake, do not ice the wound or elevate the limb. Rather keep your arms and legs ‘facing’ the ground to avoid the venom from traveling more quickly to other parts of your body. Most importantly, one wants to avoid the venom from getting to the heart or other vital organs. Of course, seek medical attention immediately – call 911 or at least alert the ER you are coming.

Remember that when it comes to snakes, please be cautious but also thoughtful. We have invaded their territories, not the other way around. This is our home for the summer, but it is their home year around. If you have any questions, please contact us!
Monarch Miracles on our Island Trees
Yearbook Cover 2020
Pointe au Baril’s own Monarch Butterfly scientist illustrator/artist extraordinaire, Betsy Cole Roe who provided this year’s Yearbook cover painting and article in the Naturalist, has commented on this beautiful picture of the Monarch Butterfly chrysalis (below) that Marc Krofchick took this week at his cottage in PaB. Marc subsequently shared that just a few hours after he took this picture, he returned to find it gone.

To get to this chrysalis stage, Betsy suggests that the monarch caterpillar had most likely been eating the milkweed, the only plant that they can live on and found in the Pointe au Baril area. Then the
Monarch Chrysalis Marc K
caterpillar would have formed its chrysalis and stayed inside for ten days or up to a couple weeks. But in just a few hours, when the chrysalis becomes transparent and shows clearly the beautiful orange and black wings, the butterfly breaks through the chrysalis, all crumpled up, until the blood is pumped into its wings, making the wings strong enough so that it can fly away.

Betsy considered two reasons why this gorgeous specimen was gone when Marc went back to check on it only several hours later. One consideration is that a predator came and devoured it for lunch. 

However, if the Monarch is gone and the empty Chrysalis shell is still there, Betsy says that the butterfly that came out of the chrysalis would be the 5th and final generation of Monarchs that began in Mexico, getting ready to go into its state of diapause (a state of delayed development in which resource consumption slows drastically and physical development halts from Wikipedia), in order to save the needed energy to live six to nine months for its big migration south, their wintering over in Mexico and the southern US, and their start back again for Georgian Bay, to begin laying eggs for the next four generations that take them to our shores in Southern Ontario.  

If you missed Betsy’s wonderful article in the Yearbook, please feel free to check it out here. Also, check out Sandy Boeckh's article on the Milkweed in the Yearbook on page 204! Then read about the GBBR's Celebrate the Flight of the Monarch Day in an article under Upcoming Events in this eBlast!
Last Day for
PaBIA's Scavenger Hunt

Just today left to complete the PaBIA Scavenger Hunt! Get your family together, complete the activities and find the identified items. Participants have a chance to win a $100 Gift Card to the Ojibway Club Gift Shop!

Scavenger Categories
Remember to submit the game board via dropbox (see hunt instructions for details). The hunt can be done individually or as a family.

For questions about the hunt, please email Virginia Skuce or Savannah Richardson.
EDCom Logo
Is Georgian Bay TOO BLUE?

by Helen Bryce, the PaBIA Education Committee

Bear witness
Have you noticed the numerous collected pieces of mainly blue dock foam (although it comes in other colours) floating along your shoreline? You’ll see it washed up into crevices, not only at your cottage but on the outer islands where you picnic. It is not the blue we want to see reflected in the Bay at all, but its everywhere! We have a specific problem with dock foam pollution in Pointe au Baril and all around Georgian Bay and we all need to participant in whatever ways we can to try and mitigate the problem and seek positive change. This article is meant to educate and encourage our members to participate in whatever ways you can towards driving positive change!
Dock Foam Pic _1.jpg
Get involved
Many of the organizations focused on the health of the Bay have undertaken numerous shoreline clean-ups and are adjusting those guidelines to incorporate the Covid-19 social-distancing safety requirements: 
  • Georgian Bay Forever organizes them up and down the eastern coast (see their report here) during the summer months and through their “Families for Change” challenge,
  • Georgian Bay Association organizes them as part of their new annual “Love your Bay” event,
  • Georgian Bay Land Trust is constantly cleaning up garbage on their properties through their stewardship program and the
  • Georgian Bay Biosphere Reserve educates children about nature, including the impact that human activity has on the environment through their “Lessons in a Backpack” educational programs offered to area schools. 

It is energizing - and hopeful - to see such volunteer and organizational energy focused on cleaning-up our shorelines while educating ourselves and the next generation to become stewards of this precious Bay and all that it encompasses. This is a great example of how individual actions can drive change! Join a shoreline clean-up and get involved.
EDCom Logo
Shawanaga Pow Wow 2020

by Madi MacDonald,
PaBIA Education Committee
Over the past couple of years, Donna Longlade and Vince Pawis, from the Shawanaga First Nation, have come to the Ojibway to generously share their teachings with our community. Some of these teachings have included: the medicine wheel, tee-pee building and the making of talking sticks with campers and members. It is through these learnings that we delve deeper into an understanding of the symbolism and meaning behind these practices.
Shawanaga-Logo
As noted on the SFN website on August 13th, the Shawanaga First Nation (SFN) belongs to the larger Anishnabeck Nation which stretches across much of Ontario, east across the prairies and around the northern shores of all the Great Lakes. The Anishnabek Nation is comprised of Algonquin, Saulteaux, Anishnabe (Ojibway), Odawa, Chippewa and several other groups.

For the past 22 summers, SFN has hosted a Pow Wow in the summer months, with up to 700 people attending. Many cottagers have also attended this Pow Wow over the years and look forward to the annual event and an opportunity to celebrate with our Shawanaga neighbours their incredible culture and practices.

Dancers, singers and drummers come together to celebrate unity, love and family. The circle is an important symbol of the Shawanaga people. The dancers are in the center, the drums and the audience circle around them and the concessions surround the gathering. The Pow Wow brings the circle of people closer to family, friends and the comfort and vitality of their culture.
           
Dancing around the circle represents the cycle of life, and its ongoing connection to all things in this world. Most often, the dancers move in a clockwise motion around the circle to follow the direction of the sun. The Grand Entry, the beginning of each Pow Wow, starts in the ‘Eastern Doorway’ as the sun rises in the East - representing the beginning of a new day - further displaying the connections Shawanaga people have to the natural cycles of mother earth.
Sadly, this year, due to the unforeseen circumstances resulting from COVID-19, the Pow Wow had to be cancelled. Some other nations will be using virtual applications to help broadcast their ceremonies but Donna said this year there will not be a virtual Pow Wow offered for the SFN, due to the limited number of operating staff. Some vendors will be selling their goods on Facebook, while others hope to make things up next summer! We look forward to an opportunity to attend the Shawanaga Pow Wow next summer and thank Donna Longlade very much for sharing this information with us. 
“It’s not a good year for celebrations of any kind but the story of why we honour a Pow Wow celebration is a forever one.” Donna Longlade
           
This link can help you find Pow Wows to attend throughout Ontario! 
Ker Plunk! Barry to the Rescue!
Barry Middleton
by Dave Sharpe

It’s a sound that makes even the bravest of boaters wince and cry out in horror;”PLUNK!”

That horrid sound of your precious multifocal graduated lens in their handsome tortoise shell frames slipping off your nose and disappearing into the deep. 

Damn!!! No!!!!!

Friends, that’s when you pick up the red hotline handset to call the only Superhero in Pointe au Baril able to make things right. In fact, this masked, clad in black, intrepid scuba crusader of the depths has never been foiled. Not once. When called into action his record for recovered sunken keys, glasses, jewelry and other articles of value- 100%, lost items not recovered- 0%. I’m talking about the one and only Barry Middleton, and his gal-wonder, Rebecca.
While bailing my son's sailboat at its mooring last week after the heavy rain, I, my bailing can, and my hat took that slow motion, balance-lost, ass-over-teakettle tumble into the drink. Whoops!

All I saw of my glasses was a little glimmer of reflection as they vanished below. PLUNK! that dreaded sound, echoing in my ears. 

After many fruitless duck dives, we hit the hotline. “Barry, will you come to our rescue?” Soon around the point they appeared. 

After the first day, I suggested to Barry and Rebecca that I was resolved to the loss and had made an appointment in the city to get new glasses. No dice. “What? And ruin my perfect record?” Barry declared. Failure was not to be an option!

Well it took two days, about 4 tanks of air, a high tech metal detector, and the patience of Job, but he did find my precious spectacles deep in the reeds and silt. Retrieved, and no worse for wear. Thank Goodness. 

We are so fortunate to have the Middletons available to come to our rescue. Now, Barry does ask for a modest contribution to his expenses, but it is embarrassingly little. 

And you will find that not only will you experience the elation of recovering your treasure, but you’ll so enjoy these two wonderful people who really and truly do this out of warm community spirit and the joy of helping others. Superhero’s, to be sure. Thanks Barry and Rebecca. 
Upcoming Events
PaBIA Logo
PaBIA AGM
Notice of AGM
Change of date and venue

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24th, 2020
at 7 p.m. EDT, online.
Details and agenda to be announced.
Visit with the Georgian Bay Land Trust
GBLT Logo
On Saturday August 22nd from 1-5pm, Janet Brough of the Georgian Bay Land Trust will be on the Ojibway Club dock to visit with members and talk about all things conservation. Stop by to ask your questions about the Land Trust or learn about their latest projects in Pointe au Baril and beyond, including the Motus migratory bird tracking network, community work to protect species at risk, and more.

The Georgian Bay Land Trust is a charity dedicated to protecting wilderness lands along eastern Georgian Bay and the North Channel, through strategic conservation planning, land securement, stewardship, research, and education. They protect 61 ecologically significant places, including 16 in Pointe au Baril, which provide habitat for 50 species at risk and recreational opportunities for communities.
Sailing in Open
Sail Racing In the Open Saturday Aug 22th - 2 p.m!

Open Course out Empress
Saturday August 22 we will race in the open out Empress Channel starting at 2 pm. If the weather does not cooperate yet we are able to race, we will sail the Middle Reach course.

PABAR Results
Congratulations to the winners! Rainer Kaufmann and Madeleine Arsenault took the Albacore fleet, followed by John Lawler and Mari Lawler in second and Rob and Margie Wheeler in third. Eric and Andrew Vanderwal dominated the Flying Scot fleet with 3 firsts, and Tim Bradshaw took the Laser fleet. Thank you to the Bradshaw family for the use of your rocks and bathroom at the lunch break!

August 29 Race and Sailor's Dinner
The final race of the August Series will be on Saturday August 29. Course TBD. The Ojibway Club has offered to host a Sailors' Dinner on August 29 as a part of the Club's Saturday night dinner program. Seating will be limited so please call the Club office to book your place.

$20 per Sailor for the Race Crew
As we have done in the past, please contribute $20 per sailor so that we can give the Race Committee a small token of appreciation for making our races possible. You can drop it off at my cottage or Etransfer it to me. Password: Sailing

Bell Buoy Race and Awards Ceremony Labour Day Weekend
The last race of the season will be on Saturday September 5 at 2 pm starting near the Lighthouse as usual. We we will be holding a casual BYOB awards ceremony immediately afterwards at the Vanderwal's cottage. Details to follow. Please return any trophies you may have from prior years to my cottage or bring them to the awards ceremony.

See you out there!

Stephen Griggs,
PaBIA Sailing Commodore

PS If the weather is inclement on any one Saturday, PaBIA's Sailing Commodore, Stephen Griggs, sends out an PaBIA Sailing eBlast cancelling the sail. If you would like to receive this notification from Stephen and you don't at the present time, please email Stephen directly to ask to be added to his special sailing mailing list!
Calling all Cyclists! Help Fun(d)Raise for
New X-Ray Equipment for WPSHC
John Offutt, a Lake Joseph cottager, avid cyclist and grateful patient to West Parry Sound Health Centre along with a friend, Harold Fisher, and Parry Sound Bikes are doing a cycling fundraiser to raise needed monies for new X-Ray equipment. 

By clicking on the PSRide decal to the left, folks can log their kilometres and John will pledge 5 cent per logged kilometer. 

If the cyclist wants to obtain other pledges, that too would be wonderful! With so many avid cyclists in PaB, WPSHC wanted to know if anyone was interested in participating!
UNESCO-gbbr logo
Monarch Butterfly GBBR
Celebrate Flight of the Monarch Day

Many of us silently celebrate the return of the Monarch butterfly each summer, a butterfly familiar to us since childhood. Monarch populations have not been doing well over the last decade, with populations being closely watched by scientists and the public alike.

This year, on August 22nd, hundreds of people in communities will recognize “National Flight of the Monarch Day,” a nationwide event to recognize the iconic monarch butterfly and draw attention to their amazing life cycles, fantastic migration, and the serious threats they face. The Monarch has been listed as a species of special concern both provincially and federally in Canada. Despite annual fluctuations, it is estimated that Monarch populations have declined by over 80% since the 1990s.

Lakes Michigan/Huron Water Levels Aug. 17, 2020
To better read the charts, please click on the chart for the
Daily or Six Month Forecast Water level chart and the corresponding websites
Daily Water Level Key 2020
LOST and FOUND

LOST  A yellowish Pongo kayak has gone missing in Matthews Bay/Steamboat area. If you have seen/found it, please contact Julia.
Floating beach toys

FOUND This floating plastic box of beach toys was found in Oberlin Bay last Wednesday evening. Not sure where it came from but am guessing some kids are going to miss their beach​ toys!​

It’s now at A-125 on the dock.
Yearbook Update
With each eBlast, we will provide you a list of names for those who provided updated information. The details of all the changes since the Yearbook's came out in April is provided in a printable format for you to print out and insert into your own Yearbook copy!

Bate, John & Jenn (address change)
Ridgely, Zac & Adamo, Laura (new members)
Advocating for the Island Community,


Your PaBIA Directors
Pointe au Baril Islanders' Association 


PaBIA reserves all rights regarding decisions on communications to its members
in accordance with the PaBIA Policy on Communications
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