Greetings!
Above is a picture that was taken this past week by Travis Speirs atop the rooftop of Sharpe's cottage looking out west across Shawanaga Bay toward Turning Island and Shawanaga Island. Perhaps at night in the moonlight, with the ice or snow on the trees, it'll look and feel a bit like the holidays!
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Just when there didn't seem to be much in the news, several areas have come to the surface that are worth sharing - the US/Canada Border Closure updates, the announcement of the winners to PaBIA's Photo Contest, a great idea for a cozy read in front of the fire and an acknowledgment for all that our associated organizations do for us!
From all of us to all of you, have a Safe and Healthy Holiday!
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In this eBlast:
- Support for Non-Canadians for 2021 Summer in PaB
- PaBIA Photo Contest WINNERS!
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Shawanaga Island Survey - IPCA - DEADLINE Dec 18th
- Marine Patrol 2021 Applicants May Apply!
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Book Recommendation from EdCom - Winter World
- Bay Notes - November Meeting
- GBA - COVID19 and Border Closures
- GBF The Bay Still Needs us to Give
- GBLT Tis the Time of Year to Give
- GBB Donate Now To Make a Difference
- Lake Michigan-Huron Water Levels - (not able to update)
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From PaBIA's President, Erica Allen |
Greetings!
As the Festive season nears and encouraging news of successful COVID19 vaccines starts to brighten the prospect of an end to this horrid pandemic, I wanted to reach out to reassure you that we have been and will continue to do all that we can to ensure that everyone gains access to their Pointe au Baril homes just as soon as they can safely do so.
Most recently, this week our two PaBIA directors who sit on the Georgian Bay Association (GBA) Board, through an approved motion by this umbrella advocacy association, have gained a commitment to officially plead the case of all non-Canadian Georgian Bay property owners to be allowed to return to their summer homes. While the Pandemic situation around the world is changing almost daily, there is now excellent support for safe cross-border travel when close adherence to health and safety protocols are followed. Testing and isolation procedures have proven to work and now, with the promise of effective vaccines, the case for our members to be cleared to travel is improving significantly. With any luck, by early to mid 2021, the situation will have continued to evolve positively which should offer another opportunity for us, through the GBA, to petition the authorities.
Early in the New Year, the GBA will deliver written petitions urging our politicians and the appropriate Government agencies to grant safe access to our US and International members to their Canadian homes. In addition, the GBA will provide petition letter templates to all 19 GBA member associations, PaBIA included, as well as local Georgian Bay businesses, so that a full-scale letter-writing campaign can be mounted. We will be sure to share these templates across our Membership.
We all share the ultimate objective in this difficult time; that is, of course, to stay safe and healthy as we work together to bring this pandemic to an end. Getting back to Pointe au Baril and back to the full slate of summer activities and events for all Members is what we are all working towards.
PaBIA’s total membership reached an ALL-TIME HIGH in 2020. We now have 759 “active” members thanks to 44 additional Junior members. With this positive prospect for the future, your Board continues to work hard on many fronts to ensure that, despite those things that are beyond our control, our Association is in great shape.
Please continue to give us your trust and support as we all work to come through this together.
If things don’t develop the way we all want – to have everyone back on their island paradises – PaBIA will, as we did this past season, conduct an additional cottage patrol for those members unable to be there in person who request it at no extra cost.
I wish you all the happiest of Holidays and a safe and joyous New Year… including a wonderful reunion with friends and family in Pointe au Baril next summer!!
Erica Allen
PaBIA Board President
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PaBIA Photo Contest Winners!!!! |
We want to thank everyone who participated in this first summer's PaBIA Photo Contest! And we have a winner!
PaBIA's Overall winner of the Photo Contest 2020 is Andrew Vanderwal! His "Starry Night" caught everyone's attention! Congratulations, Andrew! You will receive a $100 gift card to the Ojibway Club's Art Show 2021! Congrats, Andrew!
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Next, congratulations to our Jr. Contest Winner, Robin Holysh, whose eye caught nature in action in "Down by the Pond"! She will receive a $50 gift card to Ojibway's Art Show 2021!
For the winners of the seven categories listed below, each will receive a PaBIA Map (either a wall or folding). Over the next several months, we will share each of the winning photos with you - to help get us ready for summer 2021!!
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Action - Libby Hunter for Diametrically Opposed
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Cottage Fun - Brendan O'Neill for The Ice Cream Run
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Love and Friendship - Lynn Hunt for Rainy Day
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Magic Moments - Andrew Vanderwal for Starry Night
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Natural Wonder - Libby Hunter for Sunset Heaven
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Wildlife - Robin Holysh for Down by the Pond
Every participant will receive a PaBIA Burgee to fly on their boats next summer as a thank you for participating!
!! Congratulations !!
PaBIA would like to thank our five members who willingly stepped up to the call to be our judges for this first annual Juried Photo Contest: Mike Berton, Scott Bowlby, Ester Bryce, Jen Kernaghan, and Becca Worple! We appreciate your time and interest in this endeavor!
So here is a call to all camera enthusiasts for 2021! Hone your skills - Summer 2021 will be here before you know it!
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Shawanaga Island – Indigenous Protected Conservation Area ( IPCA)
PaBIA has been asked by our Shawanaga First Nations neighbours to help circulate a brief survey asking about individual's usage of Shawanaga Island. Although we have communicated that the enclosed map does not clearly indicate the perimeter of Shawanaga Island, if inclined, when responding to the survey please indicate the areas in and around Shawanaga Island that you do use.
Survey Deadline extended to December 18, 2020 - SURVEY LINK
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WANTED:
Marine Patrol
Applicants for 2021
Do you, or someone in your family, have an interest and ability to serve your community? Protect the environment? Participate in scientific testing? Promote boating safety and the interests of a dynamic community association?
The Pointe au Baril Islanders’ Association (PaBIA) is seeking students currently enrolled in grade 12 or university/college with a strong interest in the local environment, protecting community quality of life, and promoting better boating safety.
The employment period is Saturday, June 21 to Monday, September 2, 2021. Training will be provided from June 21st—June 30th.
The Marine Patrol position demands maturity, dedication, and teamwork. Individuals will be required to work autonomously, follow well-defined protocols, and demonstrate sound decision-making in advancing PaBIA’s agenda and those of its partners: Georgian Bay Land Trust and Canadian Coast Guard. It is a ‘resume-worthy’ position with attractive compensation for students that are looking for a demanding position with serious responsibilities.
A detailed job description can be found here or at PaBIA's website. For those students interested in a Marine Patrol position, please apply for the 2021 Summer Program by email with:
- a cover letter,
- resume
- references
US citizens are welcome to apply!
The DEADLINE for receipt of all resumes is February 21, 2021.
Telephone interviews will be conducted March 8th – March 12, 2021.
Successful candidates will be notified by March 22, 2021.
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It’s Time to Curl Up With
a Good Book…
written up by Trudy Irvine, EdCommittee Contributor
...and Bernd Heinrich’s Winter World* is wonderful. A professor of biology at the University of Vermont, but also seemingly a bit of a mad scientist and a poet, Dr. Heinrich’s insatiable curiosity about the creatures surrounding his cabin in western Maine has resulted in these engaging inquiries into animal adaptations to the harsh conditions of winter. His style of writing is learned, yet accessible and even downright lyrical, with stories that are “plain engrossing - in their elucidation, their breadth of examples, and their barely contained sense of awe and admiration.” (Kirkus Reviews)
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Curious Pointe au Baril naturalists will warm to chapters such as "Torpid Turtles Under Ice", "Mice in Winter", Iced-in Water Rodents", and of course "Bears in Winter". The book can be opened at any chapter - even at any page - and enjoyed quite nicely. Letting the book fall open on my lap one day, the first sentence that caught my eye was “Unlike my father, I prefer not to keep weasels free in the house.” How can one resist?
Winter World may compel you to go outside and explore - perhaps at night to listen for owls, or, after a fresh snowfall, to look for fresh tracks. Or maybe just to cast your mind’s eye from your cozy home to the frozen expanses of Georgian Bay shores, where the animals, somehow, miraculously, are surviving the frigid season.
*Winter World is available at fine bookstores in print and as an audiobook
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BAY NOTES -
Ward 3 Councillors
Here are the topics in the BAY NEWS that you may wish to read in depth...which can be done by emailing Scott or Earl to request to be put on their direct mailing list.
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These are the topics covered in November's Bay Notes. Please sign up for Earl and Scott's eBlasts so you can be fully informed and read about these issues in depth.
GOOD NEIGHBOUR
Economic Development Officer
The District of Parry Sound received a grant from FedNor, a federal government agency serving Northern Ontario, to continue the funding of an Economic Development Officer for the next three years. Council agreed with the recommendation that our Township be the recipient municipality on behalf of West Parry Sound. Mr. Glen Barnden, Economic Development Officer will work out of the TOA Municipal Office on behalf of member municipalities.
While the Township’s Official Plan is focused on environmental protection in priority over economic development, our providing residency for the Economic Development Officer offers added contact and advisory to our environmental and economic development initiatives. Mr. Barnden has already provided support to our broadband initiative. We are fortunate to have Glen’s extensive experience, contacts, and leadership as a resource to our businesses, entrepreneurs, and to the Township.
Parry Sound Public Library
POLITICAL LEADERSHIP
Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative -
Bill 228: An Act to Prohibit Unencapsulated Expanded or Extruded Polystyrene in Floating Docks, Floating Platforms and Buoys.
Mr. Norm Miller, MPP, Parry Sound-Muskoka, introduced Bill 228 Private Members’ Bill in the Legislature on November 5, 2020.
https://www.ola.org/en/legislative-business/bills/parliament-42/session-1/bill-228 This is an especially important Private Member’s Bill that could have a positive effect on the environment, not only along the Georgian Bay coast, but also affect coastlines, lakes, and rivers throughout the Province. PaBIA’s Marine Patrol has consistently documented the proliferation of dock foam waste along our shorelines as have shoreline clean-up initiatives up and down Georgian Bay.
Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative
ENVIRONMENT
Environment - Georgian Bay Biosphere| Partner Review
Of the 2020 TOA/GBB joint program for Water Quality Monitoring, Youth Education, Biosphere Walks, Stewardship, Communications, Septic Health, and Invasive Species.
Skerryvore Road Culvert Replacement is a unanimous success.
It included not only the construction of barriers to impede turtle and snake access to the road, but a collection of turtle eggs, rearing of hatchlings, and re-introduction to the ecosystem is highlighted by many groups as a best practice.
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COVID-19 and US Border Restrictions
The following letter was written to all Americans and International cottage owners by John Carson, President of GBA.
The ongoing pandemic indicates that many public health restrictions may remain in place into next Spring and beyond, even with the rollout of vaccines. This situation raises concerns over the ongoing restrictions on travel across the US border, which unfortunately could prevent American cottage owners on the Bay from accessing their properties for a 2nd successive summer.
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GBA’s Board of Directors discussed this issue at our December meeting and were unanimously of the view that we need to advocate with government on behalf of the many American members of our member associations. Not only would continuing restrictions at the border this summer impose hardships on our American members, it could also create issues for member associations and GBA, as well as negatively impact local businesses on the Bay. GBA intends to strongly advocate for an exception to the border restrictions for American owners of recreational properties in Canada.
There are several existing exceptions to the border restrictions in place and the reality is that millions of border crossings into Canada have happened since the start of the pandemic. The proposed exception would apply on the basis that people crossing into Canada would proceed directly to their seasonal residence and observe any quarantine requirements and other public health measures that are in place at the time. GBA continues to believe that the risk of additional spread of covid-19 from permitting this exception would likely be very low.
Your Board agreed that now is not the time to start advocating for an exception because governments across Canada are grappling with rising caseloads due to the 2nd wave of the pandemic and stronger public health restrictions are being introduced across the country. Not surprisingly officials are very concerned about the risks posed by social gatherings during the Christmas holiday period. The Board will consider the circumstances early next year and make a decision on when it is appropriate to act. In the meantime, we will contact potential allies in this effort who might lend more weight to our voice on the issue.
GBA suggests that member associations may wish to join us in efforts to enable our American friends on the Bay to access their cottages this coming summer.
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As GBF Celebrates these Days of Giving, Remember the Bay Still Needs You....
We are making great strides in protecting our water from threats like:
- microplastics/fibres;
- raw sewage overflows;
- Phragmites;
- climate change; and
- many others
We can't stop now! And we can't do it without you!
Donors, partners and key collaborators are essential and critical to ensuring the Bay can continue to be enjoyed by our kids' kids' kids!
If you have given already this year, we thank you from the bottom of the Bay. But if you haven't, please consider doing so now! Click on the link below and make your gift today. You can choose to give annually or monthly!
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GBF receives more investment to reduce waste getting into Georgian Bay -
GBF is pleased to announce 'Diversion 2.0' to add to our projects mitigating plastic and waste getting into the aquatic environment, thanks to contributions from Environment and Climate Change Canada*, the Weston Family Foundation, and GBF donors.
The program involves these elements (click on the links if you want to learn more, or get involved):
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Thank you
To all who give!
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We are so grateful to all the property donors, loyal supporters, land stewards, and all partners whose vision and generosity have contributed to the protection and conservation of Georgian Bay's wilderness lands. Thank you for your passion and commitment!
This Giving Tuesday, you can make a difference in protecting Georgian Bay's incredible biodiversity by making a donation to support land conservation. Together, we can leave a lasting legacy of healthy, wild places for future generations.
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The Georgian Bay Biosphere team would like to thank each and every one of YOU for your incredible support in 2020! We appreciate your engagement online with us, lending a hand when needed, discussing our work with your friends, and participating in events - it all has a big impact.
Water Quality
Species at Risk (CNPP Project)
Culture
Education
Climate Action
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215+ carbon calculator entries representing 540+ people
- 5 community GHG emission baselines calculated and forecasted
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6 members & 18 partners established in ICECAP
You are the reason we are able to protect Georgian Bay and
help create vibrant communities, thank you!
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Lakes Michigan/Huron Water Levels Dec 8, 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
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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! As of October 18
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Advocating for the Island Community,
Your PaBIA Directors
Pointe au Baril Islanders' Association
PaBIA reserves all rights regarding decisions on communications to its members
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Fire Rating
LOW
Please click on the logos below for further information on
- PaBIA Bulletin Bd
- Hydro Outage App,
- Coast Guard Environment Canada and
- Weather for PaB.
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PaBIA Bulletin Board
REVAMPED
For all Messages, email requests to Webmaster
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Shortcuts
All 'new' shortcuts are bolded
As of Dec 8, 2020
Emergency
• Emergency Considerations,
• Search and Rescue
• 800-267-7270
PaBIA
• Dock Foam Article 2020
• Survey 2018 -
• Deep Dives
• PaBIA's Education Comm
• • PHONE # 647-545-9283 (cell)
• •Seasonal: June 27 - Sept 1
COVID-19
Associated
• Britt Coast Guard
• OPP Report Phone # for • • Poor Boating 888-310-1122
• • Suspicious Activity
• • PS OPP 705-746-4225
GB4
Affiliated Organizations
• FOCA - Federation of • Ontario Cottagers' Association
• CGLR - Council of the Great • • Lakes Region
Nature
In Depth Articles
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PaBIA's Yearbook's
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