PaBIA's eBlast August 5, 2020

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Volume 12 No. 23

Greetings!

The weather continued to be glorious at least through part of the August long weekend - then the heavens let loose with some much needed rain and some cooler temperatures are prevailing!

We hope you were taking pictures of all the fun things you were doing both inside and out and will consider sharing a few for PaBIA's Photo Contest...then remember to share the stories that go along with the picture!

Also ongoing is PaBIA's Scavenger Hunt - check out the clues and see how many categories you can find for a chance to win big prizes!! Remember the Hunt continues until August 19th!!!

The water levels remain high so after wind storms, especially with this high water, please be vigilant and look in the water in front of and around you for debris that could cause issues with boating, tubing or water skiing!

In this eBlast:

PaBIA's Membership Stronger than Ever!
Do You Have a Gypsy Moth Problem?
EdCom: Channel Cat
PaBIA Sailing Races - Saturday Aug 8 @ 2:00 pm
PaBIA's Scavenger Hunt - Until August 19th
PaBIA's Photo Contest Ongoing throughout the Summer
PaBIA's AGM Rescheduled for September 24th
Ojibway Club Art Show 2020 - Ends This Sunday @ 5:00 p.m.
GBLT Virtual LandMark Series: Living on the Edge - Aug 8th
WPSHC Cyclist Fun(d)raiser - Check It Out!
GBLT Virtual LandMark Series for KIDS - August 15th
Lake Michigan-Huron Water Levels - August 4, 2020
Yearbook Update
FOUND: Odd Shaped Dock and LOST: Water Ski

Latest Updated Calendars for

July (7.13.20) and August (7.13.20)

Of Interest

PaBIA Membership Stronger Than Ever!

Recent changes made to make joining PaBIA more attractive to younger folks and to family members of existing primary PaBIA Members appears to be working well. Despite having to make an annual fee increase to the Primary Membership this year, 2020 total membership has increased by 43 to 758.

You can see from the numbers below that the greatest growth has come from Junior Members, which is encouraging and augurs well for PaBIA’s future as these individuals remain close to our association and stay involved in the community. Hats off to Virginia Skuce, our Junior Membership Chair and now Member Activities Director, and her team for all the amazing work to increase membership events over the last few years. The PaBIA Triathlon and Winter Picnic are great examples of fun initiatives working to build a strong cohort of younger PaBIA loyalists, while the PaBIA Scavenger Hunt is yet another brainchild of her 2020 team!

The changes in 2020 Membership classifications had also intended to attract more permanent residents to the PaBIA family. Trimming the unnecessary off-season cottage patrol costs from their annual dues was intended to make joining more reasonable for this group. We have not yet seen growth in this area, so more work needs to be done to reach out and make PaBIA Membership more appealing for our full-time Pointe au Baril residents.

Thank you to all of you for your continued interest and support for PaBIA -especially those of us not able to be on the Bay this year given the unusual and tragic COVID-19 pandemic. While most cottager associations struggle to even maintain their numbers, PaBIA remains, by far, the largest and strongest of its kind across the 19 Georgian Bay eastern and northern shore cottager associations.

Membership Stats Comparing 2019 to 2020

2019: total membership 715

631 full @ $175 = $110,425

84 junior @ $40 = $3,360

Membership dues total: $113,785

2020 - new membership structure total membership (as of July 26) 758

534 primary (full) @ $200 = $106,800

71 secondary @ $165 = $11,715

26 supporting @ $135 = $3,510

127 junior @ $40 = $5,080

Membership dues total to date: $127,105

Do You Have A Gypsy Moth Problem?

Currently, the Gypsy moth infestation is at the stage where the females (white moth above left) are laying egg masses (white mass on bark) that will overwinter and result in many voracious caterpillars. Regretfully, as reported In the Government of Canada website, they are a serious threat to forests.

It is possible to manually remove these egg masses now, which in turn would spare the pine trees or birch (or other leafy) trees many thousands of caterpillars (right mature caterpillar) next year. Once the egg mass is recognized, they are easy to spot, and most are within reach near the base of trees.

One may be seeing hundreds of male Gypsy moths flitting about right now (the white female version of the moth cannot fly) so that would be a good time to be on the lookout for the white female, often on the lower bark of a tree, or better yet, the egg masses they leave before dying.

These egg masses can produce between 100 and 1000 caterpillars – and a single gypsy moth caterpillar can eat an average of one square metre of leaves. Thanks to Andrew Vanderwal for his bringing this to PaBIA's attention!

Channel Cat

by Trudy Irvine, PaBIA's Education Committee

This amazing photo above of a lynx (or bobcat?) was taken just west of Steamboat Channel last week. A family was out fishing just west of the narrows about 8 p.m. and noticed the cat 50 feet further to their west, swimming hard for the north shore and contending with a strong west wind.

Given the lack of sightings of these elusive cats, it is surprising to find out that the ranges of both the lynx and bobcat extend to our region - lynx from the north and bobcats from the south. Both species are most active at twilight and are usually very wary of people, which makes spotting them a rare occurrence.

Not only is it unusual to see one of these cats at all, but it is also surprising to see a cat swimming! However, lynx are reportedly strong swimmers (one account records a lynx swimming 2 miles across the Yukon River) and bobcats can swim well when they need to but generally avoid water.

Snowshoe hares are a lynx’s favorite food. Isn’t it a bit surprising that the territory of snowshoe hares extends south to our region too? The hares, which are white in the winter and turn brown in the summer, make up to 75% of the lynx’s diet in the winter, but in the summer the lynx’s menu becomes more varied and they will also eat grouse, voles, mice, squirrels, and foxes. Lynx and snowshoe hare populations are closely related, and a regular boom and bust cycle over 10 years has been observed since the Hudson’s Bay Company began keeping trapping records in the 1800’s. Bobcats also prefer rabbits and hares, but vary their diet with the prey available, and will sometimes prey upon larger mammals. Perhaps it is the bumper crop of mice in PaB this year that tempted this cat to swim out amongst the islands!

It is difficult to distinguish Canada lynx from bobcats, (they are actually close relatives) and details like the larger overall size, feet, ear tufts, cheek fur tufts, and more muted coloring of the lynx compared to the bobcat can’t be seen on this wet cat. Even experts often disagree on identification. For some lively debate, head over to Ontario Fish and Wildlife’s Facebook page, and for a good look at a lynx, watch this video of two of them having their own lively debate! (They are likely sorting out territory and breeding rights, like these two in Alberta.)

Picture rgt: Bobcat (top) and Lynx (below)

Clues for

PaBIA's Scavenger Hunt

The PaBIA Scavenger Hunt is a Pointe au Baril adventure activity that includes six categories: Nature, Wildlife, Safety, Activities, Landmarks and Flags.

Participants will have to find the items or complete the activities outlined in the hunt and provide photo evidence using this "Hunt" game board. Each completed category earns one ballot toward the prize.

CLUES are always a great part of any scavenger hunt...so in the flag department...here to the left is one of the flags located in the eastern part of PaB!

And to the right is a flag located somewhere in the western section of PaB!

The scavenger hunt will run from now to August 19^th. The Submissions will be done via drop box (see hunt instructions for details). The hunt can be done individually or as a family.

Grand prize will be a $100 gift certificate to the Ojibway Club Gift Shop, with additional prizes of ice creams cones and PaBIA merchandise.

For questions about the hunt, please email Virginia Skuce or Savannah Richardson.

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 don't want to miss out on the opportunity to win some fun prizes!!!

Upcoming Events

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.

2020 Ojibway Art Show ONLINE - Ongoing Now!

July 31-August 9

We’re pleased to say that opening weekend of the 2020 Ojibway Art Show was a great success in its new online format. It’s encouraging to see so many of you continuing to support these artists and our beloved Ojibway Club. There’s still lots of amazing art available until Sunday August 9 at 5:00 pm at www.ojibwayclubartshow.com.

NEW THIS WEEK … ONLINE AUCTION!

Keep close watch on our Instagram account this week for an exciting auction of a new art piece. You can also follow along to get a sense of some of the items still available for sale.

Make sure you follow along on our Instagram and Facebook over the coming weeks as we profile various artists and preview some of the art that will be available for sale or visit us at the: Ojibway Club Art Show Website. For more information, contact the Art Show Team

Sail Racing This Saturday August 8^th - 2 p.m.

Our next race of the season will be this Saturday Aug 8^th at 2 pm near Pym Rock in the Middle Reach! These races will be the third and fourth in the August Series, so come out and enjoy racing!

Our starting system is 5/4/1/Start.. For a quick refresher on the rules, flags used by the Race Committee and the starting sequence, see Racing Rules.

PABAR

At present, we plan to hold the regular 3 races on August 15^th. Usually we have a picnic lunch at the Bradshaws, and the family has again kindly offered their rocks again. More to come on this next week as details are worked out!

In Compliance

Our races must comply with the Ontario Stage 3 COVID requirements . You are encouraged to read them, but a few simple reminders:

If you are sailing with another person, please make sure they are either in your family/social circle "bubble" or wear masks (not easy but possible)
Stay at least 2 meters away from other boats and the Race Committee boat, including at the start and mark rounding

Stephen Griggs

Commodore PaBIA Sailing

PS Hope to see you out there! If, however, 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 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!

Virtual LandMark Speaker Series

August 8th – 10 am – Dr. Ryan Norris:

Living on the Edge:

The Ecology and Behaviour of Canada Jays in Algonquin Park

Although Canada Jays are common residents of our North American boreal forests, their natural history and ecology remains somewhat of a mystery, even to those that see them regularly. Using a combination of long-term data and recent experiments, Dr. Norris will discuss the year-round ecology of this fascinating and highly intelligent bird, including what factors influence their survival and reproductive success. He will also address why we have observed over a 50% decline of Canada Jays at the southern edge of their range and how this may be related to long-term changes in climate.

Special Presentation: LandMark Speaker Series for Kids!

August 15th – 10 am – Georgian Bay Turtles

with Dr. Pat Chow-Fraser

Join us on August 15th for a special online presentation geared to kids ages 8-12. Wetland biologist Dr. Pat Chow-Fraser will tell us all about the turtles of Georgian Bay, and the science she and her students are doing to learn more about them. Kids are encouraged to send their turtle questions in advance to Dr. Chow-Fraser, who will do her best to answer them during the presentation. Questions can be emailed to or sent in when registering at the link below.

Click here to register and submit your questions.

Lakes Michigan/Huron Water Levels Aug. 4, 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

Lost and Found

Odd Shaped Dock

After the weekend winds, lifejackets, lots of wood, walkway pieces, a walkway and a dock were found in the water. All but the dock has been returned to the rightful owners. The dock has an odd shape and newer boards at one end. Please contact Rebecca Middleton for further information.

Dropped Water Ski Lost

The dropped half of this pair of slalom water skis was dropped while water skiing last Saturday, August 1 at the entry to Sturgeon Bay – between Skunk and Bigwood. When the owner went back to retrieve it, it was nowhere to be found! Please contact Kara should you have kindly found and retrieved it! She would be very grateful!!!!

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!

Duff, Ann MacIntosh (addition)