Volume 47
Number 1
Spring Photography
Rocks!32 by Dave Schwartz
Pg.
February/March 2017
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In this issue… President’s Message
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Editor’s Message
3 5
Members – Need to Know Meet the Staff Call for Nominations Calling All Area Cottage Associations Renew Your 2017 Membership Today
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News & Notes Ontario Long-Term Energy Planning Process Minaki History Society Call for Input CT Scan Renewal Project at LWDH Corkscrew Island Hyperendemic for Lyme Disease Province Ups PLT for Third Straight Year Common Ground: A Sharing of our Stories Coney Island Music Festival Gains Presenting Partner Cover photo: Dave Schwartz
They Call it Hurricane Island by Pat Keena
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Environment Climate Change Mitigation Resources A Climate Change Framework for IJC Boards What Happens at IISD-ELA During the Winter? 2017 Lake of the Woods Water Sustainability Forum Spring Photography Rocks! by Dave Schwartz
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32
Boating Test Your Boating Safety Knowledge
38 42
Invasive Species Zebra Mussels
Arts & Culture 30 Years with Kenora Scottish Pipes and Drums Ahhh February
44
Cottage How-to Building Green Perspective in Architecture
48
LOWDKids! Books for Fledging Birders Stargazing in the Winter
52 The Back Porch 54 Classifieds 57
Food & Drink Notes from Razberry Lane
Advertisers’ Directory
58
Bridging the Gap by Lori Nelson
60
Beautiful Inside & Out Kenora’s Quality Builder
807 407 9983 | blackfoxconstruction.com
President’s Message
Nancy Salmijarvi, LOWDPOA President
Happy New Year! I realize it’s only February, and although some of you may be relaxing somewhere warm these days, I’m guessing you’re already dreaming about the upcoming summer at the lake. 2016 was very busy for LOWDPOA staff and directors. It was a year of many changes, including the transition to our new publishing partner, Fifth Hammer Marketing Group. We started the year with a short deadline to get our first issue of the Area News out by the end of March, while building relationships with new suppliers, advertisers and editorial contributors. The magazine has been extremely well received by members, and all comments after the final issue of 2016 have been positive. We also had a changeover in the LOWDPOA staff as we welcomed two new members to the team beginning January 1, 2017. I’m pleased to announce and introduce Diane SchwartzWilliams, our new Executive Director. The Hiring Committee interviewed several candidates during our search and it was very clear that Diane was the right choice for the position. The board also felt that because Diane had been our Assistant Executive Director since April, the transition would be seamless as she had a good understanding of the role and our goals. Diane is a longtime Laclu resident with extensive experience in multiple facets of business and an impeccable reputation with her colleagues. Next steps were then to hire a new Assistant to work with Diane and I’m pleased to announce the selection of Linda Biggar, previously Executive Director of the Royal Lake of the Woods Yacht Club. Linda is a local resident and Treaty Island cottager with an extensive network of business affiliations and outreach experience. If you haven’t already done so, please remember to renew your 2017 LOWDPOA membership. Renewal forms are available in the magazine, you can call us directly, or use our new online renewal procedure. Take a minute to view our new website and log in with your own personal profile and password. It’s quick and easy and provides member-only benefits like archived issues of the Area News and access to a digital version of this magazine. For more details turn to page eight in this issue or contact us directly.
Mark your calendars for our Lake of the Woods Cottage Show and AGM, May 1, 2017 at the Victoria Inn. This year we will once again host an interesting and informative variety of exhibitors at our cottage show—there is something for everyone. Keep watching the Area News for a full list of exhibitors and more details as we get closer to the date. Plan to join us for our business meeting during that day to get a full update from all LOWDPOA committees and see what your volunteer board has been busy doing on your behalf. Even though it might seem early with snow still on the ground, we’re already thinking about hiring our LakeSmart team for the coming summer. The ideal candidates are students that are self-starters with a background or interest in the environment, knowledge of the area waterways and familiarity with boat operations. Full details are available online as well as on page six. Looking to the future, the board and staff are busy working on summer 2017 events, strategic planning and membership development. Of course all the work done is in keeping with our vision and mission statement in mind of protecting the most beautiful place on earth. As always, I encourage you to take some time and enjoy this latest issue of our Area News magazine.
Editor’s Message
Teika Newton, Area News Editor Hello and welcome to a new year of the Area News! Late last year, as our first year wrapped up, we were pleased to reflect on the good fortune we’ve had to establish relationships with so many writers, readers, and contributors to this magazine. We learned a lot about what LOWDPOA’s members value and enjoy reading, and we heard about the issues that matter to you. The year ahead promises to be an exciting one as new ideas and contributions continue to pour into our inboxes. Based on your feedback and recommendations, as well as the direction of the LOWDPOA board and staff, we are happy to be bringing a number of standing features to this year’s Area News. We’ve heard quite clearly that cottagers, residents and visitors alike are concerned about the quality and welfare of our shared lake environment. People are concerned about climate change, invasive species, and other water quality threats, and they want guidance and tips for action. In the “Environment” pages, watch for a feature column on local and regional impacts of climate change, including the latest climate change science emanating from the IISD-Experimental Lakes Area and recommendations for do-it-yourself action. We’ll be profiling a few major invasive species threats throughout the year, while providing tips and solutions to mitigate each of these environmental concerns, too. In every issue, our “Cottage How-To” section will detail green building practices that you can apply at your home or cottage. On the recreational side, you can also look for more content on food, drink, and gardening this year. And in keeping with this year’s recognition of Canada’s 150th anniversary, we are pleased to offer a new back page feature column by Lake of the Woods resident historian, Lori Nelson. We will continue to deliver more of the in-depth stories of the people and places that make the Lake of the Woods region so beloved by all of us, including visits to family camps, slow foods, lake tours, and visits to some of the larger and smaller lakes that neighbour Lake of the Woods. We hope you enjoy reading this year’s Lake of the Woods Area News as much as we enjoy putting it together for you. If you ever want to contact us, don’t hesitate to send a note to editor@areanewsmagazine.ca or LOWDPOA’s Executive Director, Diane Schwartz-Williams at diane@lowdpoa.com. Happy 2017, LOWDPOA members!
The official publication of the Lake of the Woods District Property Owners Association.
PUBLISHED BY
Fifth Hammer Marketing Group P.O. Box 2, Kenora, ON P9N 3X1 Phone: (807) 407-7252 Publisher: Mike Greaves, mike@areanewsmagazine.ca Editor: Teika Newton, editor@areanewsmagazine.ca Art Director: Mike Newton, design@areanewsmagazine.ca Design & Layout: Shayla Smith Advertising: Mike Greaves, Dick Tolton Jr.
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©2016 LOWDPOA. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced by any means, in whole or in part, without prior written consent. Statements of fact or opinion are the responsibility of the author and may not represent the view of LOWDPOA or Fifth Hammer Marketing Group.
DISTRIBUTION & MEMBERSHIP
Lake of the Woods Area News is published five times per year and is mailed to LOWDPOA members. To receive Area News visit lowdpoa.com and become a member today. Publication mail agreement #43107013. Printed in Canada.
WE’D LIKE TO HEAR FROM YOU
Help us continue making this magazine great. Send us your comments, suggestions, pictures and story ideas. editor@areanewsmagazine.ca Upcoming Editorial Deadlines: February 28, 2017 July 25, 2017 May 2, 2017 September 26, 2017
L.O.W. AREA NEWS
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017
Members - Need to Know
Meet the Staff LOWDPOA is pleased to introduce our new staff team who hit the ground running as of January 2 after Susan McLeod’s retirement at the end of 2016. The Hiring Committee had a number of candidates apply, and interviews for the Executive Director position were held in late October. Diane Schwartz-Williams had been our Assistant since the first of April and it was clear after interviews that she was the best person for the job. It was also great to be able to promote a candidate from within who understood the association, our members and needs, making the transition seamless. With Diane moving into the Executive role, that left our Assistant position open. Thankfully there were a couple of very strong candidates and Linda Biggar was chosen to fill that role.
Diane Schwartz-Williams, LOWDPOA Executive Director
Diane is a long-time resident of Laclu and LOWDPOA member. She has been active in regional business and volunteer efforts for many years, making a real difference to her communities. Her extensive network throughout northwestern Ontario Photo: Tom Thomson will also help expand LOWDPOA relationships and engagement in the district. Diane’s leadership experience and strong management skills will ensure our association will remain strong and grow into the future.
When asked about her favourite things she replied, “I love family, friends, music, a good storm and cruising on the lake on a beautiful summer day”. Sounds about right to us.
Linda Biggar, LOWDPOA Assistant Executive Director
Linda lives in Kenora, with a cottage on Treaty Island and was most recently the Executive Director of the Royal Lake of the Woods Yacht Club. Prior to that, she was the Sales and Catering Manager at the Best Western Lakeside Inn. Her strong relationships with both local and seasonal residents, coupled with her management and program development experience will be a real benefit to the association. Linda’s love of lake life was clear when she said, “For the last 17 years I have been able to boat to work from May through October and I don’t think I could give that up. No matter how long a day I have I always end up back at the dock - my relaxation place. I can’t imagine not living on the lake during the summer.” The Board of Directors is confident that LOWDPOA has a strong team in place to continue managing the association, and look forward to working with them.
LAKE OF THE WOODS DISTRICT PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION Executive Committee
Board Members
Staff
Contact
PRESIDENT Nancy Salmijarvi, Welcome Channel
Leslie Alexander, Malachi Lake
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Diane Schwartz-Williams (807) 543-4287 diane@lowdpoa.com
P.O. Box 1160 Kenora, ON P9N 3X7
VICE PRESIDENT Hardy Bock, Black Sturgeon
Ted Bigelow, Echo Bay Wayne Bruce, Pistol Lake Dave Christie, Granite Lake
TREASURER Christine Semenchuk, Storm Bay
Don Parfitt, Winnipeg River
PAST PRESIDENT Robert Bulman, Tunnel Island
Becky Slater, Shoal Lake
Laurie Pentney, Morson John Waterer, Clearwater Bay Bob Wilkes, Gunn Lake
ASST. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Linda Biggar (807) 468-8715 linda@lowdpoa.com
EMAIL info@lowdpoa.com FACEBOOK @lowdpoa TOLL-FREE 1-888-265-9784 PHONE (807) 468-8715
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L.O.W. AREA NEWS
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017
Members - Need to Know Call for Nominations 2017 LOWDPOA Board of Directors ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP TECHNICIANS (2) LOCATION: Kenora, ON DURATION: June 19 - August 31, 2017 DESCRIPTION: LakeSmart is an environmental outreach program managed by LOWDPOA during summer 2017. LakeSmart assists the Association deliver on its environmental education mandate and raise the profile of LOWDPOA. KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:
• Act as LOWDPOA ambassadors
• Conduct visits by boat (supplied) to waterfront residents to share information about sustainable shoreline living. • Conduct presentations to various community and cottager organizations • Prepare reports about property visits and information shared EDUCATION AND QUALIFICATIONS:
Enrolled in post secondary education in a job-related program REQUIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:
• Strong organizational and people skills and the ability to work independently • Knowledge of issues surrounding shoreline health
• Excellent written and oral communication skills (e.g. public speaking, contributing articles to newspapers/ newsletters/magazines)
LOWDPOA is now accepting nominations for the 2017 board of directors. We are especially interested in candidates with experience in business, organization management, government affairs, accounting or environmental science. We also seek to maintain a broad geographic representation of our membership base. The primary qualification is a strong interest in the Lake of the Woods district along with a willingness to represent both the association, and the wide ranging interests of our membership. The Nominating Committee shall present its recommendations to the Board no later than thirty days prior to the date of the Annual General Meeting. Additional nominations for directors may be made by voting members, providing such nominees are voting members, are sponsored by at least ten voting members in writing, and contain the acceptance of the nomination in writing by the nominee. Such nominations must be submitted to the Executive Director of the Corporation at least twenty-one days (April 10, 2017) prior to the Annual General Meeting (May 1, 2017). No nominations for directors shall be accepted from the floor of any meeting of members. PREREQUISITES
• Familiar with computer and database management
• Nominee must be a 2017 member in good standing of the Lake of the Woods District Property Owners Association.
• Capability of using marine equipment safely and according to legislation
• Nominee must accept the nomination
• Familiar with the Lake of the Woods region including strong navigation skills
• Must be able to work flexible hours including weekends OTHER REQUIREMENTS:
• Valid driver’s license
• Valid Pleasure Craft Operators Card
• CPR/Standard First Aid Certification would be an asset Applicants must be full-time students, under 30 years of age, and returning to school full-time in September 2017, as per the requirements of Canada’s Summer Jobs Program. Must have access to a vehicle for the position. Please forward a resume and cover letter by April 10, 2017 to: Attention: Diane Schwartz-Williams, LOWDPOA PO Box 1160, Kenora, ON P9N 3X7 E-mail: diane@lowdpoa.com
• Name, e-mail address and telephone number of the nominee must be provided. • Nominee must provide a brief written outline detailing areas of expertise, property location and areas of specific interest. Please contact Robert Bulman, Past President and Chair of the Nominating Committee, bulman@lowdpoa.com or in care of: LOWDPOA Attn: Nominating Committee PO Box 1160 Kenora, Ontario P9N 3X7 Contact Diane Schwartz-Williams for more information: diane@lowdpoa.com / (807) 543-4287.
L.O.W. AREA NEWS
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017
Members - Need to Know Calling All Area Cottage Associations
Representative Change to CWBRAO Appeals Board
Lake of the Woods District Property Owners Association would like to know more about what’s happening in all the cottage areas within the Lake of the Woods district, and to do that we need to hear from you.
Since its inception, LOWDPOA has had representation on the Clearwater Bay Restricted Area Order (CWBRAO) Appeals Board, helping cottagers and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) resolve disputes regarding waterfront property development plans in the district.
Many LOWDPOA members are located on various lakes throughout the region and it’s important we understand the different issues facing your particular area. We also believe that we share many concerns which cross all parts of the watershed and that by working together, we have a better chance of affecting change. We’re happy to post your association material and newsletters both on our website and in this magazine, helping you reach out to other concerned stakeholders in the watershed.
After contributing to the original development of the order, past LOWDPOA President Steve Steigerwald took on the role on the Appeals Board at the outset and continued for many years. When Steve retired from the board, member Darcy Zaporzan volunteered to take his place and ably represented LOWDPOA for the past five years. Now it’s his turn to retire from the position.
We’d also be happy to come to your annual meetings or summer events, both to share our goals, issues or programs, and to hear about yours. Or why not take advantage of our educational programs and fun events?
As of January 1, 2017, LOWDPOA Director Dave Christie will be our representative on the Appeals Board, working with the MNRF to ensure a balanced approach to any disputes, and the fundamental development goals of the CWBRAO are maintained.
We’d like to connect with as many cottage associations as possible, so please contact us at diane@lowdpoa.com to get the most out of your LOWDPOA membership and to help us better serve you.
Our thanks to Steve, Darcy and now to Dave for their commitment to sustainability within the Clearwater Bay area.
DRIVEWAYS | ROAD BUILDING | LANDSCAPING | SNOW REMOVAL
KENORA | CELL: 807-407-1488 | OFFICE: 807-548-5817
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L.O.W. AREA NEWS
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017
Members - Need to Know
8
LOWDPOA MEMBERSHIP JOIN US TODAY! ONLINE Visit lowdpoa.com/membership PHONE 1-888-265-9784 or (807) 468-8715 EMAIL linda@lowdpoa.com MAIL Fill out this card and mail with cheque to: LOWDPOA, Box 1160, Kenora, ON P9N 3X7
YOUR MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION Name: Mailing Address: City:
Prov/State:
Home Ph:
PC/Zip:
Cottage Ph:
Email:
RED PINE SEEDLINGS 15 seedlings per bundle:
# of bundles ______ @ $9.00 each
TOTAL $ ___________
Check pick-up location (Saturday, May 20 between 10 am - 12 pm): Clearwater Bay (Firehall)
Morson (Spruce Creek Golf)
Nestor Falls (Dalseg’s Store)
Kenora (The Blue Heron)
Minaki Marina
Storm Bay Rd. (Firehall)
Sioux Narrows (Gov’t Dock) PUFF Fire Hall
Membership Dues 1 Year $42 (CAD or USD)
2 Years $84 (CAD or USD)
PAYMENT INFORMATION Cheque (payable to LOWDPOA) VISA/Mastercard Number: _______ _______ _______ _______ Expiry date: ___ / ___
CVC: _________
Name on Card: ___________________________________________ Signature: ___________________________________________
There is strength in numbers. Your membership is extremely important to our continued success!
Renew Your 2017 LOWDPOA Membership Today By now you should have received your 2017 LOWDPOA Membership forms in the mail and we hope you’ll continue to support our efforts this year. Do it now to be sure not to miss a single issue of our popular Lake of the Woods Area News magazine! We’ve talked a lot over the past year about needing your support, but you should also know that we are working hard to develop benefits and programs to ensure we continue to offer value for your membership dollar.
JOIN OUR NEW ONLINE MEMBER COMMUNITY! LOWDPOA recently launched our new website as part of the plan to move further into the digital world. It has been developed to not only be accessible on your computers, but also fully functional on your phones and tablets—offering you the ability to stay informed and up-to-date where ever you are! Over 1,000 members who had provided us with current email addresses have logged in to their personal member profile, many renewing their membership online and accessing additional services exclusive to LOWDPOA members. If you would like to join our online community but have not given us your current email address, please contact Linda Biggar at 807-468-8715 or linda@lowdpoa.com to get started. Prefer to try it on your own? Go to lowdpoa.com, click on LOGIN, enter your email and click on ‘forgot password’, and within minutes you will be able to access your personal member profile. If it doesn’t recognize your email address that means we have another one on file for you which we can update as quickly as you let us know. Just remember we are here to help you with the process.
L.O.W. AREA NEWS
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017
Members - Need to Know
Digital Editions
Read Area News wherever you are.
Visit lowdpoa.com
Can't log in? Contact LOWDPOA at (807) 468-8715.
FREE r ou with y POA LOWD rship e memb
MAY 20
Order Your Seedlings! Pick-up day is Saturday, May 20, 2017
Pick-up available at eight locations throughout the region.
New this year -- order online! Visit lowdpoa.com /cpages/seedlings
LOWDPOA members have proudly planted over 300,000 tree seedlings over the years. Each year we offer members the opportunity to purchase bundles of seedlings. For more information contact us at (807) 468-8715 or email info@lowdpoa.com.
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Lake of the Woods
COTTAGE SHOW AND
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Monday, May 1, 2017 • 12:30 - 6:30 p.m. Victoria Inn, 1808 Wellington Avenue, Winnipeg 55th Annual General Meeting, 6:30 - 7:30 p.m.
Share your passion for Lake Life
Bring a friend and introduce them to the benefits of LOWDPOA. PRELIMINARY EXHIBITOR LIST Bob’s Electric Cabin Country Realty Century 21 Reynard Real Estate Ltd City of Kenora
Lake of the Woods Control Board Lumber One Building Supplies MNRF - Province of Ontario
Solar Solutions Inc Star Building Materials TF Leisure Marketing (Linwood Homes) The Blue Heron
Colour Me Water Designs
MNRF - Province of Ontario (Fire Smart)
The Boathouse Restaurant
Denver’s Window Cleaning Services Inc
Northwestern Health Unit
The Nature Conservancy of Canada
Docks & Lifts Earth4U Consulting Inc Flame & Comfort Garriock Insurance
Postech Screw Piles REMR Roofing & Northwest Ontario Roofing Co. Rosanne Chop - Norwex Independent Consultant
The Standard Insurance Verti-Shade on Main Ltd WSL Sport & Leisure Wicker World Home & Patio
IISD Experimental Lake Area
Royal LePage Landry’s for Real Estate
Image One Designs
Ryan’s Rustic Railings
Wolframe’s World of Water
Kenora & Lake of the Woods Regional Community Foundation
Shaw Cable Systems
Wood with Whimsey
Shewchuk Ormiston Richardt & Johnson LLP
Woodlake Marine
Killer Crumbs
The Window & Door Store
For Cottage Show information, please contact Diane Schwartz-Williams at (807) 543-4287 or diane@lowdpoa.com
it all starts
with the dock
CONCEPT TO COMPLETION SERVING NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO & MANITOBA FOR 29 YEARS 1940 HWY 17 W, KENORA
docksandlifts.ca
L.O.W. AREA NEWS
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017
12 News & Notes UPDATE ON THE
Ontario Long-Term Energy Planning Process The Ontario government developed its first Long-Term Energy Plan (LTEP) in 2010, and made revisions to it in 2013. As part of a regular review and revision to the Plan, the Ministry of Energy consulted with Ontarians in late 2016 and a new, revised LTEP will be out in 2017.
The 2017 LTEP will cover demand forecasts for electricity and fuels in Ontario, including anticipated changes to how we use the provincial electricity grid, new developments in renewable and distributed electricity generation, energy storage, and conservation and energy efficiency improvements. The Independent Electricity Systems Operator (IESO) and Navigant, a consulting firm hired by the Ministry of Energy, prepared two background reports. Ontario’s Planning Outlook, prepared by IESO, is focused on the future of Ontario’s electricity system to 2035. Navigant’s Fuels Technical Report is the parallel report on the future of Ontario’s fuels mix to 2035.
LAKE LIFE MARCH 2-5, 2017 RBC CONVENTION CENTRE
The forecasted scenarios in the Fuels Technical Report and the Ontario Planning Outlook, as well as the 2017 LTEP, reflect policy changes that have happened since the last LTEP revision in 2013. These include Ontario’s Climate Change Action Plan and related Climate Change Mitigation and Low-Carbon Economy Act, 2016, as well as the Vancouver Declaration, the agreement among provincial, territorial, and federal leaders that was the precursor to the federal Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change announced in December 2016. The period for public consultation on the 2017 LTEP development closed in mid-December 2016, but information resources and updates are available through the LTEP website at energy.gov.on.ca/en/ltep/.
L.O.W. AREA NEWS
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017
News & Notes 13
Minaki History Society Continuing Its Call for Input The Minaki History Society, a committee of Minaki cottagers, is actively working on the development of the history of Minaki and the Winnipeg River from The Dalles to White Dog. We are developing storylines, preparing chronologies, conducting interviews, and collecting photographic treasures for a wide range of topics and areas of interest.
Some “did you know” facts about Minaki:
These include Indigenous Peoples, Pre-1900 exploration/ expeditions/fur trade, the Hudson’s Bay Company, the railroad, townsite and cottage development, Holst Point Lodge, Minaki Inn and Minaki Lodge, PALA Camp, tourism, mining and lumbering, aviation, hydro development, health and education, hunting/fishing/trapping, policing, commercial camps, boating and marinas, and the arrival of the road being just some of them.
2. The Stanley Thompson-designed 9-hole golf course was built in June 1924. The course came to be universally loved by golf aficionados and was called one of the best 9-hole tracks in the Dominion.
Our goals continue to be to develop and populate a dynamic website, to provide all collected information to the Lake of the Woods Museum for safe storage and public use, and to ultimately publish a book. As we continue to reach out to a wider audience, we are again asking for any stories (long or short), contacts, leads, photos, videos, or “factoids” that can be provided. Every piece of information adds to the collective story we want to tell. We have also developed questionnaires for both cottagers and residents that we can send out, to anyone interested, to help spark memories. We look forward to any and all input and assistance to this exciting project, and we can be contacted at via Garry Bolton at gboltonsms@gmail.com. You can also check out our Facebook page: Minaki History Society.
1. The original Minaki Inn, built in 1913-14, was a city block long, could accommodate 350 guests, and had a large dancing pavilion over top of its riverside boathouse. It only existed for 11 years until its total loss to fire in June 1925.
3. Several surveys, with numerous routes, were considered for the new Grand Trunk Pacific/National Transcontinental Railway east of Winnipeg. Early versions included a line north of Lake Winnipeg and Lake Manitoba; another version crossed the Winnipeg River at White Dog Falls and along the south side of Lac Seul. A route through Kenora and Keewatin, parallel to the CPR, was lobbied for by local commerce. Crossing the Winnipeg River at The Dalles was also deemed feasible, but ultimately too difficult to construct. The area where the final route crossed the Winnipeg River became known as Minaki in May 1911. 4. The rail bridge at Minaki has a main span of 300 ft and a flat span of 100 ft at its east end. This shorter section was designed so it could be converted into a swing bridge, allowing for river navigation by larger steamboats. It was never required. 5. The entire character of Minaki started to change with the arrival of “The Road”. The first cars ventured out in October 1960, on what was not really a road until the spring of 1961.
RECREATIONAL, RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE 100 Main St. S. Kenora, ON Tel: 807-468-7892
Email: shane@pearce-law.ca Fax: 807-468-7503
L.O.W. AREA NEWS
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017
14 News & Notes
CT Scan Renewal Project at LWDH Lake of the Woods District Hospital Foundation needs your help. The CT Scan Renewal Campaign is underway with a $1 million goal to replace the 12-year-old unit currently serving your community and surrounding areas. The advancement of new medical technology has made the manufacturing of replacement parts for LWDH’s aging CT redundant. This means that your hospital could be without the CT should something go wrong and parts for repair cannot be located. It would be detrimental to patient care at your hospital.
“
(When it arrived in 2004) the CT Scanner revolutionized the type of care that we could get in Kenora. It made it much more possible to treat people effectively; people’s lives have been saved. Before the CT Scanner was around, we sent upwards from 8 - 10 patients a day to the city (Winnipeg) to get scans.” ~ Dr. Sean Moore, Chief of Emergency
The new CT Scan will have improved capabilities, including: • Paediatric scanning will now be available on site • Improved image quality-160 slice: current unit is 16 slice (thickness of scan) • Improved diagnostic capabilities with enhanced detail in images • Patients up to 650lbs can be scanned (current max capacity is 350lbs) • Improved radiation dose Dr. Moore was asked how it could affect patient care to be without a CT.
“
We couldn’t offer 21st century care. We just couldn’t do it without the CT Scanner. During regular maintenance, we have backup plans in place so that we don’t lose it for even an hour at a time--it is that essential in our day-to-day care; especially emergency care. Today we needed to do three potentially lifesaving scans and the shift isn’t even over yet! One may have had a dangerous blood clot in the lungs, one may have had a possible bleed in the head, another who had an abdominal condition that could have been potentially fatal; these are the kinds of things that we are looking at all the time.”
Custom-Built Landscapes, Natural Rock Walls & Features • Rock Features and Retaining Walls • Paving Stone Patios and Walkways • New Sod Installation and Grading Solutions • Planting Installations • Wooden Decks and Pergolas
Call now to book your spring/summer project! 204.880.8453 northcorallandscaping.com
Project goal is January 2018. For more information on this project and to find out how you can help, please contact Jess Rheault, Executive Director, Lake of the Woods District Hospital Foundation at 807-468-9861 x2419 or jrheault@lwdh.on.ca.
RBC Dominion Securities Inc.
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RBC Dominion Securities Inc.* and Royal Bank of Canada are separate corporate entities which are affiliated. *Member-Canadian Investor Protection Fund. RBC Dominion Securities Inc. is a member company of RBC Wealth Management, a business segment of Royal Bank of Canada. ®Registered trademarks of Royal Bank of Canada. Used under licence. © 2016 Royal Bank of Canada. All rights reserved. 16_90783_N4D_002
L.O.W. AREA NEWS
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017
16 News & Notes
Press Release, November 2016
Corkscrew Island Hyperendemic for Lyme Disease A new study reveals that Corkscrew Island in Lake of the Woods is hyperendemic for Lyme disease. The blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis, commonly called the deer tick, has been well established on the island for several decades. Notably, the blacklegged tick adults have an infection rate of 73 per cent, which is the highest known in Canada. Similarly, blacklegged tick nymphs have an infection rate of 43 per cent, again, the highest rate in Canada. Corkscrew Island is the most northern location in Ontario reported to have an established population of blacklegged ticks. Blacklegged ticks overwinter, year after year, because they have antifreeze-like compounds in their bodies. They descend into the leaf litter, and are comfortable under an insulating layer of snow. In summer, they go down into the cool, moist leaf litter, and rehydrate. Notably, that they can survive the coldest day, -44°C at Kenora and, similarly, the hottest temperature, 36°C.
Researchers conducted DNA studies on Borrelia burgdorferi, and found that it is the strain that is pathogenic to humans. Health-care professionals must be aware that local patients may present with Lyme disease symptoms and, indeed, have Lyme disease. Sometimes, Lyme patients will also be co-infected with other tick-associated pathogens. Lyme disease is very prevalent in the area, and poses a serious health risk. This tick and Lyme disease research was conducted by John D. Scott, Research Scientist, Lyme Ontario and researchers from four U.S. research institutions. This peer-reviewed scientific article was published in the world-renown International Journal of Medical Sciences, and is available at doi: 10.7150/ijms.16922 Contact: John D. Scott; email: jkscott@bserv.com.
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L.O.W. AREA NEWS
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017
News & Notes 17
Shortly after hearing from Dr. Scott, we received the following letter and story in our inbox.
We are LOWDPOA members as well as residents on Corkscrew. This last summer my wife was infected with Lyme disease while we were living there, and it reached stage 2 before diagnosis. She had no recollection or evidence of a tick bite. It took far too many visits to the hospitals in both Winnipeg and Kenora before reaching the diagnosis, and she was treated for flu every time. There is a major lack of knowledge with health-care personnel in the area. I’m going to have her send her story to you in hopes that you will consider printing it in an upcoming issue in order to educate others and assist them to push doctors into testing if they show any symptoms. There is no question the disease is in the area. Thank you, Quinton Jedlic In May 2016, my family and I moved out to our cottage on Corkscrew Island for the summer. I was determined to get the yard cleaned up quickly and spent many days raking the leaves. I checked for wood ticks at the end of every day. Phew, none! In early July I began experiencing mild flu like symptoms (low-grade fever, minor aches). I would take a pain killer in the morning and the symptoms would go away. This went on for five days, and the symptoms became more intense (severe headache, persistent low-grade fever, migrating joint pain, neck stiffness—meningitis-type symptoms. I visited my family doctor who advised me to go to emergency if the symptoms got worse or did not rectify in the next few days. This led to my first visit to the ER in Kenora. They took X-rays and a blood test which all came back normal. The doctor concluded that it was most likely a simple virus that would sort itself out. He replenished my fluids, gave me some pain killers and prescribed a muscle relaxant. Approximately a week later, although the headache was not as severe, the fever and overall symptoms had not subsided and a rash appeared all over my body. I returned to the Lake of the Woods District Hospital emergency department. The rash presented itself as large, red, bruise-like blotches all over my body. In addition, I had increased pain in joints, particularly in my hands. The ER doctor informed me that he was not sure what it was, but he advised that I visit my family doctor to run tests including a Lyme disease test. I was discharged with no treatment.
The following day I visited my family doctor in Winnipeg and requested a Lyme disease test. My doctor remained skeptical of a Lyme disease diagnosis but prescribed a round of Doxycycline just in case. Within 48 hours of starting the antibiotic, my symptoms significantly improved and within a few days all symptoms had disappeared. Several weeks later, the results of my Lyme test came back. The result was consistent with serological evidence of Borrelia burgdorferi infection, Lyme disease. My blood work also showed the presence of arthritis, which explained the intense pain in my hands and is common in second stage Lyme. It’s important for people to understand the facts about Lyme disease and recognize the symptoms. Many people infected with Lyme don’t recall ever being bitten by a tick. Many infections are caused by nymph ticks, which are the size of a period. Although the bull’s eye rash is so commonly associated with the disease, most people don’t exhibit a rash at all. The Lyme disease test is performed at the National Microbiology Laboratory and in many cases the first test may come back negative, with subsequent tests turning out positive. It’s imperative that if one suspects they have Lyme disease that they find a doctor who will run the test. If the disease is caught early and treated appropriately with antibiotics, it can be rectified with great success. At the same time, Lyme disease can be devastating for a lifetime if left untreated and is often overlooked by professionals or misdiagnosed. Respectfully, Kelly Jedlic
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L.O.W. AREA NEWS
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017
News & Notes 19
Province Ups Provincial Land Tax for Third Straight Year By Bob Stewart
For the third year in a row property owners in non-municipal areas will be paying higher taxes to the province. Increased rates for the Provincial Land Tax (PLT) were announced as part of the province’s Fall Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review in November.
The December report titled A More Equitable and Modern Provincial Land Tax, along with earlier reports, backgrounders and bill inserts can be viewed online at: fin.gov.on.ca/en/consultations/landtaxreform/index.html.
The Provincial Land Tax helps cover the cost of nine provincially provided or funded services including policing, land ambulance, social housing, provincial contributions to Local Roads and Services Boards and public health. PLT charges are part of the consolidated provincial tax bill sent to all non-municipal property owners. The bill also includes Education Tax, Local Roads Board and Local Service Board levies.
Property Class
For the PLT, the increases for 2017 are $20 per $100,000 for residential property within school tax zones and $40 outside school zones. Farm and Managed Forest properties are taxed at 25 per cent of the residential rate that applies in their zone. For business property owners, the increase is $49 per $100,000 of value and starting in 2017, business and industrial properties will be taxed at the same rate. The chart on the right highlights PLT rate increases, expressed as dollars (rounded) per $100,000 of assessed value since the review began. Still to be decided by the government is whether the non-school residential rate will be brought up to the school zone rate, and whether there will be further increases and/or equalization in non-residential rates. Within the area served by Lake of the Woods District Property Owners Association there are approximately 3,200 PLT residential properties within school zones and 1,900 outside. The changes are the result of a Provincial Land Tax review begun in 2013, and this fall the Review issued a fifth public report on the review. The report notes the government’s ultimate target for residential property within school zones is $250 per $100,000, meaning a further $18 per increase can be expected in 2018 or 2019.
Residential (Inside School Board)
13/14
2015
2016
2017
$162 $172 $212 $232
Residential
$25 $35 $75 $115
Commercial
$54 $69 $134 $183
Pipeline
$190 $245 $480 $480
(Outside School Board)
Industrial
$31
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$119
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L.O.W. AREA NEWS
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017
20 News & Notes
Common Ground: A Sharing of our Stories BACK FOR ITS 12th YEAR ON APRIL 8, 2017 2017 marks the 12th anniversary of the Lake of the Woods storytelling event, Common Ground: A Sharing of Our Stories. This day-long event features local storytellers sharing true stories of their life and interests here in the Lake of the Woods area. This year the event will be held on Saturday, April 8 at the new Seven Generations Event Centre in Kenora.
Over the past 11 years, local audiences have been delighted and enlightened by stories about different neighbourhoods, family histories, living on the lake, the growth of tourist camps, and the origin and development of different community events. They’ve heard stories of bank robberies, the Seven Grandfathers, being stranded on the lake, rehabilitating wildlife, summering on Lake of the Woods and have been wowed by the display of one of our storytellers in full regalia. The purpose of the event is to provide people with an opportunity to find some figurative common ground with the other people that share this actual common ground of the Lake of the Woods area. This year the day will include stories about birch bark canoe construction, TryLight Theatre Co., a bush plane crash, and the jingle dress. We will see Kenora and Keewatin revealed through the medium of postcards. There will also be a family story from Minaki and even a love story. Tickets are $30 (cash or cheque only) and will be available at the Kenora Public Library and the Lake of the Woods Museum by March 8, 2017. Admission includes a full day of storytelling, lunch and coffee breaks. For more information or to make ticket arrangements if you are coming from out of town, please contact Lori Nelson at 807-467-2105 or lnelson@kmts.ca.
Coney Island Music Festival Gains Presenting Partner From humble beginnings to now the ninth “maybe annual” year, the Coney Island Music Festival is looking forward to another wonderful mid-summer event in 2017. It was music to the ears of the co-founders of the Coney Island Music Festival in December with the news that The Standard Insurance and Wawanesa are stepping up as “presenting partners” for the ninth “maybe annual” festival. The Coney Island Music Festival has become a summer fixture on the calendar. It is held the last Sunday of July preceding the August long weekend. This year’s date is Sunday, July 30. The festival runs from noon to 5:00 p.m. featuring five bands performing throughout the afternoon on the outdoor stage and plenty of activities and prizes for the kids between sets.
Co-Founder Ferg Devins expressed that the festival is still in need of further support and donations to ensure that the ninth “maybe annual” festival is a go. He states, “we have had wonderful support from local businesses, partners, families and patrons over the years. Each year we need to confirm support to ensure that the event will be staged.” Inquiries about how local area residents and visitors can support the festival should be directed to coneymusicfest@gmail.com. For more information, visit coneyislandmusicfestival.com. Be sure to make plans for a wonderful family event on one of Lake of the Woods’ finest beaches and parks this summer on Coney Island. Located in the northern most channel of the lake, shuttles run continuously from the Kenora Harbourfront to the festival site.
22
They call it Hurricane Island, named after a carved wooden sign found amidst the rubble left by the previous occupants, but Dan and Ronni Grosenick are carving their own tranquil piece of heaven on a windswept little island on the northern edge of the Manitou on Lake of the Woods. The island is so small you can throw a rock across its width and hit the water on the other side. On this calm and beautiful October day, Dan and Ronni greet you at their well-appointed dock on the eastern shore, tie up the boat and give you a big smile. What’s not to smile about? A breeze is blowing, the kids are outside somewhere rooting around having fun and the day holds promise of adventure and a warm fire inside their cozy cottage later tonight.
a
en e K Pat y b
Dan and Ronni purchased the property in 2010. The island is unnamed on the map and about a 15 minute ride in a fast boat south of Kenora, west of Scotty’s Island and south of Anchor Island.
When they first bought the property, Ronni was hesitant about making it into a permanent home and suggested a camp instead. As a result, the couple and their two children, Coleman (nine years old) and Garrett (seven), retain a home in Kenora. But home is where the heart is, and when you look at this family, this is home. Coleman says he likes the rocks best, and the sense of being alone when he wants to be.
23
Ronni and Dan Grosenick enjoy another day on their tiny island on Lake of the Woods.
Camp is enjoyed year round
Dan owns Solid Construction in Kenora. Since incorporating in 2003, the business has become a going concern that keeps Dan and 35 workers busy with commercial and residential projects. He builds cottages, boathouses, decks and docks as well as roads and other concrete delivery projects. His commercial projects include community halls, schools and tourism centers like the Lake of the Woods Discovery Centre. “I started off thinking that I would like to be a carpenter and it just kind of grew from there,” says Dan. Ronni is an officer with the Ontario Provincial Police, a position she has held for 20 years in various capacities. She has served in scenes of crime investigations as a crisis negotiator and currently works as community safety and media relations officer.
Coleman Grosenick and his English Bulldog, Willy.
said she was on the road, trying to figure out how to move the 1,200-pound carcass, when a crew of construction workers saw her on the highway and pulled over to help. Dan was one of those workers. However, they didn’t get to know one another until sometime later when they were introduced by Dan’s sister. Now with two children, two dogs and happy years ahead, they look lovingly about their island camp and talk of construction plans. Two of the original buildings left by the previous owners still exist, giving them valuable living and storage space until replacements can be built. Now that a solid dock is in place along the eastern shore of the island, complete with boat lift, Dan intends to focus on building a boathouse/ storage shed around the point just north of the dock.
They have already built a small cottage behind the dock that, for now, serves as the main living and sleeping area. It has a small kitchen and dining The sign was left behind by the previous owner, The Grosenicks but the name is appropriate for this windswept little island area. Two sets of enjoy their on beautiful Lake of the Woods. moose antlers camp year hang in the round. living room. School Dan’s moose holidays was captured in the sumat close range when mer are probably the bull heard his call and the best for the boys, bemistook Dan for an amorous cow. Ronni cause they can spend their time swimming, shot hers at a distance of 250 yards. kayaking, and learning how to drive a tiller-handle boat. At night, there’s bonfires and soaking in the hot tub or sauna followed by a cold dip in the lake. Ronni and the boys have started building a tree fort. But Dan says he enjoys winter best. He plows a winter road from Kenora to their island, using his understanding of the lake to select the safest route across the ice right to his doorstep. “It’s quiet and calm. It’s peaceful. You get a real sense of being alone,” says Dan. Both Dan and Ronni have the outdoors in their blood. Ronni grew up in Fort Frances on Rainy Lake. Dan has always lived in the Kenora area, spending most of his youth on Longbow Lake.
On the second story of the cottage is a large bedroom with a beautiful view south onto the Manitou. The second floor used to be accessed by a retractable ladder, but now boasts a wooden staircase built in “ship style”. The new staircase is steep, taking up about half the floor space of a conventional one. Each stair is indented on opposing sides so that one climbs it like a ladder but you can rely on the railing to keep you steady. With the exception of the propane stove and wood-fed heater for the sauna, all of the appliances on the island are operated by solar power. The couple looked into connecting to electrical power with a nearby island but found the cost prohibitive.
“I always joked that I would be really picky about the person I would go out with,” says Ronni. “He would have to know how to gut a moose and clean a fish.”
They invested in a solar system instead, placing panels on the south-facing roof of their cottage as well as smaller collections of panels at other points on the island. Their system generates enough for their current and future needs.
In fact, the first time that Ronni and Dan met, it was over a dead moose. Ronni was working for the O.P.P. and was called out to one of many moose-vehicle collisions. She
Dan and Ronni envision the main cottage on the southern tip of the island. They want to capture the panoramic view onto the Manitou.
24
High water, small island
The stairs to the bedroom on the second level of the cottage are done in “ship style” to economize on floor space without compromising safety and ease of access.
A septic field has already been built, strategically located to receive waste and grey water gravitationally from the future main cabin. However, the year after it was built and before it was operational, Lake of the Woods and the surrounding area experienced the highest water levels in decades.
“When the water was so high, waves crested right over the whole island. We had crayfish in the sauna. A storage box loaded with exercise weights and kettlebells was pushed from the west side of the island to the eastern shore,” says Dan. “We had bass swimming right across the dock,” adds Ronni.
Camp life is an active life
It doesn’t seem to be difficult to keep the kids entertained on a tiny island. It takes several calls from Ronni and Dan to round up the boys from their outdoor explorations in order to come and say hello. “The kids stay active and I think that we all connect better as a family when we are here,” says Ronni. “There are no electronics on the island. We do have a collection of movies that we watch some evenings.”
Although Dan had built a retaining wall of heavy rocks, the unprecedented rise of the water that year caused all of the sand in the field to release onto the eastern shore of the tiny island.
For much of the open-water season, the Grosenicks live at the camp, commuting to town for work and other activities. Ronni says she has come to love Sundays because she knows she doesn’t have to rush to pack up and leave.
The high water year of 2014 was very hard on island property owners. It was particularly hard if your island is as small as Dan and Ronni’s. One night, Dan went out in a storm with a chainsaw to cut away the decking on the dock. The water was already well above the dock and the wind and waves were pounding so hard that Dan feared for the structure itself and, since it is connected to the porch on the small cottage, that structure was also threatened. With the decking cut away, water spouted through the dock like a geyser.
Ronni says that her co-workers can tell when the family has switched over to living full-time at the camp on the island. “I’m still the same person,” Ronni says. “But they tell me I am a calmer, happier version.” AN Pat and Gerry Keena have a cottage on the northeast shore of Thompson Island on Lake of the Woods where they enjoy the lake with their children, one grandson, and two dogs.
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L.O.W. AREA NEWS
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017
26 Environment
Climate Change Mitigation Resources for Waterfront Property Owners The Federation of Ontario Cottage Associations (FOCA) often shares information resources with LOWDPOA and its other member associations. Last year, FOCA released a number of publications related to climate change impacts and mitigation for cottage and waterfront property owners. Their 20-page report, Managing Your Waterfront Property in a Changing Climate, as well as a related shorter publication in Lakeline Magazine “Adapting shoreline and riparian zone management to build resilience and mitigate impacts of climate change,” serve as nice compliments to LOWDPOA’s own Living Green at the Lake resource guide for property owners looking to protect their investments from climate change impacts. Following FOCA’s lead, throughout 2017, we will be sharing information on current climate science and policy development in our watershed, plus suggested actions property owners can take to mitigate some of the current and anticipated impacts of climate change. In this issue, look for information on green building at the cottage, starting on page 44. As well, this summer, LOWDPOA’s LakeSmart team will be able to help with ideas on your property. Contact diane@lowdpoa.com to arrange an appointment.
This month, we are focusing on some recent work undertaken by the International Joint Commission to develop a Climate Change Framework for its many watershed boards. Living Green at the Lake is available online at lowdpoa.com, by clicking on the Living Green link in the main navigation. Connect with Diane Schwartz-Williams if you would like a hard copy. To download your copy of FOCA’s Managing Your Waterfront Property in a Changing Climate PDF or view the “Adapting shoreline and riparian zone management to build resilience and mitigate impacts of climate change” article, visit foca.on.ca » News & Events » Publications. There you’ll find a link to the Managing Your Waterfront page where both resources are located.
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L.O.W. AREA NEWS
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017
Environment 27
A Climate Change Framework for IJC Boards By Teika Newton
As part of its ongoing International Watersheds Initiative, the International Joint Commission (IJC) held a workshop in April 2016 at which boards identified the need for a framework that would help them prepare for climate change. Along the entire Canada – U.S. boundary, the IJC has 16 member boards with varying responsibilities. Some boards are responsible only for water control, while others, like the International Rainy – Lake of the Woods Board, have a broader mandate that includes protecting water quality and regulating water quantity. The climate change framework has to be adaptable to the needs and mandates of each of these boards. The framework must also respect that the state of climate science research varies among the boards, as does the on-the-ground action and policy already in place to address climate change impacts. To guide the development of this framework, the IJC enlisted Bill Werick, a former member of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers who has worked on IJC initiatives for many years, and Casey Brown, an Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Massachusetts. Representatives, including myself1 and other members of the International Rainy Lake of the Woods Watershed Board, were drawn from each of the IJC boards to form the Climate Change Framework Working Group (CCFWG).
terms, for the Rainy - Lake of the Woods Board, this means planning for the worst-case scenario of basin-wide flooding rather than trying to better predict which areas could potentially be subject to increased flood risks. Although a worst-case scenario might be less likely than recurrent, localized flooding, the potential costs and damaging impacts of basin-wide flooding justify spending financial resources in planning for the worst rather than on modeling the most likely outcome. The climate change framework proposal is currently being refined and reviewed by IJC staff. Pending administrative changes that may befall the U.S. Section of the IJC with change in federal government in the United States, we hope to see a final framework completed by early 2017. Since 2013, I have served as a member of the Community Advisory Group (CAG) to the International Rainy - Lake of the Woods Watershed Board (LOWDPOA also has a seat on the CAG, with Diane Schwartz-Williams now the organization’s representative). I am also a member of the Board’s Communication & Engagement Committee and Climate Change Framework Working Group. 1
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The group met in Ottawa in November 2016 for a two-day session during which we mapped out methods for developing an adaptive management system for addressing climate change impacts within the mandates of each member boards. The CCFWG opted to develop the framework using a method called decision-scaling. Decision-scaling looks at a range of possible impacts related to climate change, and then rather than focusing on trying to figure out which outcomes are most likely, we instead plan for avoiding the most costly or damaging of potential outcomes whether they are highly likely or not. This is a practical, cost-effective method that is best employed when conditions are changing and it is hard to predict outcomes with a high degree of accuracy. Our group recommended that boards and their science or policy partners should aim to mitigate the most costly and damaging of possible outcomes, rather than investing heavily in research aimed at narrowing the range of possible outcomes. In practical
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L.O.W. AREA NEWS
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017
28 Environment
What Happens at IISD Experimental Lakes Area During the Winter? by Sumeep Bath, Media and Communications Officer, IISD Experimental Lakes Area It is no secret that IISD Experimental Lakes Area (IISD-ELA), comprised of 58 lakes and their watersheds, located in a sparsely populated region of northwestern Ontario, is pretty remote. In fact, its remoteness is the reason the location was originally selected. It’s only by ensuring that the lakes on which we experiment are pristine and untouched by other human activity that we can be sure that the results we are getting from our whole-ecosystem experimentation is down to us, and us alone, manipulating those lakes. All of the images you probably recognize of the site are in glorious summer, with sun reflecting off the lakes, beautiful sunsets, and our researchers out on the lakes basking in the heat. What you may not realize is that, despite the location’s remoteness, IISD-ELA is actually open and functioning around the year—365 days a year, in fact. And yes, that includes the winter. Admittedly, most of the freshwater science, fish work, tours, and educational programming take place during the official summer research season, which tends to wind down in November. Even so, we have researchers and facility managers out at the site throughout the winter months. What are they doing at IISD-ELA in the middle of an icy and bitter northwestern Ontario winter?
First, we need to collect data around the calendar for our Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program with meteorological, hydrological, water quality, and fisheries data collected since 1968 from five IISD-ELA lakes and their watersheds. This dataset has been unbroken since 1968 (even when the site was threatened with closure) and so is of vital importance. We work on various data, ranging from the oxygen and temperature profiles of the lakes to the depth of the snow and the ice. We can use this ‘control data’ to compare the results of the lakes on which we are experimenting, and also to monitor changes over longer periods of times, such as the effects of climate change. To physically capture the samples we need to generate this data, we need to snowmobile out onto the lakes, set up a contraption akin to a hut for ice-fishing, use an electric or manual auger to break through the ice, and get the sample through the newly formed hole. We also, throughout the year, track vital meteorological data at the site for Environment and Climate Change Canada, and so our Meteorological Site needs to be tended to daily, requiring someone to always be on site. Moreover, winter is a time when we can service our equipment and make any necessary repairs, and potentially make upgrades to the site. So where do the other IISD-ELA researchers go and hibernate for the winter? In fact, they can mostly be found in Winnipeg at the International Institute for Sustainable Development’s (the non-profit organization that now operates the site) headquarters, working on and analyzing results collected during the summer, writing up research, and, of course, catching up on emails.
Above: Researcher Ken Sandilands rides a Polaris snowmobile out to Lake 224 to sample. Below: Researcher Ken Sandilands prepares to start sampling out on Lake 224.
IISD-ELA’s doors also stay open for its perennial educational outreach programming. For example, last year, 12 courageous high school students from Winnipeg’s St John’s-Ravenscourt School braved a IISD-ELA March to take their ‘Winter Survival Course’ at our research site. Pauline
L.O.W. AREA NEWS
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017
Environment 29
Gerrard, our deputy director, worked with the school’s staff to arrange three days of survival skill building, as the students learned how to build quinzhees; survive a night outdoors; transport themselves through the snow; and read and understand the weather.
Seeing as the work at IISD Experimental Lakes Area is so vital, we need to keep working around the clock. So when you are safely bundled up in your houses this winter time, remember the dedicated team of researchers out on the frozen lakes, keeping our water supplies safe. AN
In addition to being an enjoyable experience for all involved, if not a slightly chilly one (!), we also made sure to expose the students to the world-class, unique freshwater science that takes place at the research site. They partook in some of the science to broaden their skill sets, as we showed them some hydrological tasks out on Lake 239. And since the course proved such a success in 2016, this March more intrepid explorers from St John’s-Ravenscourt School are headed out to camp to take the course.
Sign up for IISD-ELA newsletter at: iids.org/ela/news-media/newsletter/ Left to right: Researcher Ken Sandilands rides a Polaris snowmobile out to Lake 224 to sample. Lee Hrenchuk prepares for winter sampling on Lake 224. Sometimes our researchers kick it old school. Here are Lee and Chandra at Lake 223 using snowshoes (instead of a snowmobile) and a hand auger (instead of a gas-powered auger).
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L.O.W. AREA NEWS
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017
30 Environment
2017 Lake of the Woods Water Sustainability Forum Keys to “unlocking” the Lake of the Woods algae conundrum to be presented at 2017 Forum
With ice still covering the lake, scientists and policy makers working on the health of Lake of the Woods and the plan for its future will gather at the International Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Forum. Will you be there? The foundation will hold this annual science forum March 8-9, 2017 in International Falls, Minnesota. For LOWDPOA members concerned about nutrient pollution and toxic algae blooms on Lake of the Woods, there will be several sessions of particular interest, including: • Results of multiple studies that are answering the questions of what is causing the algae blooms on Lake of the Woods; what are the roles of historical “legacy” pollution built up in the lake bottom, current watershed sources, and climate change; and what could be done to limit algae blooms. • Results of Minnesota’s multi-year study of phosphorus pollution and its reduction plan moving forward to restore the lake to meet state water quality objectives. • A joint Canada-USA “launch” of the Bi-National Plan for Lake of the Woods. This will be a first look at how Canada and the U.S. will integrate the $5.5 million scientific effort by Environment Canada into an overall framework for science and bi-national governance for remedial actions. Participating will be representatives from Environment Canada, Global Affairs Canada, US EPA, US Department of State, and the State of Minnesota. There will many, many more presentations at the forum as well. For more details including registration, accommodation, and the full program of research presentations, visit the Foundation’s website lowwsf.com/forum. Online registration closes March 1. Although hosted by the Foundation, this annual event would not be possible without the dedication and work of the scientists and the assistance of many organizations, including the Lake of the Woods District Property Owners Association who initiated the very first forum in 2004.
MODIS satellite image of Lake of the Woods, January 13
The forum – for 14 years a key driver for the future of Lake of the Woods
The forum has been an important catalyst and incubator for science and international collaboration and this year will be no exception. But it started out as just a simple idea way back in 2004. Back in the early 2000s, research was beginning to address concerns about deteriorating water quality, but generally in isolation with little interaction between agencies across the international border. To fill this gap, the Lake of the Woods District Property Owners Association convened the first forum in 2004. This was the first time that researchers assembled to share information and discuss the lake’s health and plan for the future. Since 2005, the Foundation has taken forward the task of organizing the forum annually, leading a partnership of agencies that organize and support the forum, including LOWDPOA. Now entering its 14th year, the forum has grown into a major event attended annually by approximately 160 researchers, resource managers, policy makers and the interested public. It also has become the annual “hub” for face-to-face meetings of many other groups working on ecosystem health in the watershed including the International Joint Commission, the IJC Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Board and its Community and Industry
L.O.W. AREA NEWS
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017
Environment 31
Advisory Groups, the IJC Rainy-Namakan Rule Curve Review Study Board, and the International Multi-Agency Arrangement (IMA) group of federal, provincial, and state agencies, NGOs, First Nations and U.S. Tribes collaborating on research and management projects. Fourteen years – it’s hard to believe. Looking back, that first forum was visionary. Its participants identified key needs for the lake including: a State of the Basin report, a nutrient budget and a hydrologic model, establishment of a research coordination committee, and a sustainability plan and champion for the lake that could bring significant resources to bear. This led to the establishment of the Lake of the Woods Water Sustainability Foundation and charted much of the progress achieved for Lake of the Woods over the ensuing years.
The forum – the Deborah Battigelli Memorial Fund assists student participation
To honour the memory of Deborah Battigelli, her family has established The Deborah Battigelli Memorial Fund at the Lake of the Woods Water Sustainability Foundation. This fund honours Deborah’s love of life at the lake and her interest to preserve the lake area for future generations to continue to enjoy what she loved. The Deborah Battigelli Memorial Fund supports postgraduate researchers’ travel to present their research at the annual International Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Forum. Eligible candidates include MSc and PhD candidates or recent graduates, pursuing scholarly training and research on the water quality or ecological heath issues of the lakes and rivers in the Lake of the Woods region. This tribute to Deborah will assist the up-and-coming generation of scientists with their research on our lakes and continue to build the research base and capacity for protecting the water quality and ecological health of our lake area for generations to come. AN
Environment Canada on Lake of the Woods this Winter Scientists from Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) will be working on Lake of the Woods this winter. They will be collecting samples to characterize how water chemistry, algae community, nutrient conditions, and the role of nutrient release from the sediments under low oxygen conditions under ice cover contribute to the nutrient loads and summer algae blooms. This is part of the enhanced monitoring and being initiated by ECCC as part of the bi-national plan being developed by ECCC and Global Affairs Canada. Full details of the ECCC science plan are still evolving but will be finalized for presentation at the International Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Forum in March. We expect the ECCC crew to be in the northern portions of the lake, ice conditions permitting, near Kenora and in the Bigstone Bay area, Poplar Bay and possibly Clearwater Bay areas. Arthur Zastepa will be the lead scientist for Environment Canada out on the ice. Back in 2010, as a postdoctoral fellow, Arthur conducted research into the accumulation of algal toxins in lake sediments cores on Lake of the Woods. If you’re out on the ice this February and see folks with weird core-tubes, sample bottles and equipment—say hello! Arthur Zastepa (at left in 2010) with core of Lake of the Woods sediments for toxin analysis. Arthur will be leading the algae and algae toxin work being conducted by Environment and Climate Change Canada.
32
SPRING PHOTOGRAPHY
ROCKS!
by Dave Schwartz For many people in the Lake of the Woods area, the weeks surrounding spring thaw can be frustrating because their favourite winter activities are over and their usual summer activities are not yet possible. Photography can help to fill that activity void, but early spring is a challenging time for the amateur photographer. From the time the snow starts to disappear until leaves and flowers start to appear there is a lack of vibrant colour that tends to dump amateur photographers into the doldrums. The temptation may be to put the camera away and wait for nature to bring on the colour. However, opportunities for great images do exist at this seemingly drab time of year. Stepping up the effort or just being lucky can still result in rewarding photographs. Pussy willow flowers of various species are one exception to the absence of spring flowers prior to the growing season. Located on the tips of willow branches in the spring, they have their own special beauty and are worthy of the photographer’s attention. Another even less conspicuous tree flower of very early spring is that of the silver maple which is common on many properties and is also very photogenic. As the ice begins to melt, open water near the shores or currents is a magnet for returning waterfowl, which makes them easier to find and photograph. Exploring the shorelines of creeks and marshes may turn up normally elusive species like the hooded merganser, along with the usual ducks, geese and gulls. Photographing or simply watching wildlife puts you back in touch with nature. For wildlife photography a telephoto lens is an absolute necessity regardless of the time of year. For most non-professionals the best telephoto option, for ease of use, is a good quality point-and-shoot camera with a wide range zoom. There are many excellent such cameras to choose from, but the Nikon CoolPix 900 is the gold standard right now with its excellent 83x zoom.
The best camera is always the one you have with you, but the best camera no more guarantees great shots than a fantastic stove ensures delicious cooking. Cell phones are great for snapshots but don’t really cut the mustard for more challenging photographic opportunities. Their principal advantage is being there, ready, and easy to use when you need them.
For wildlife photography most of us tend to focus on charismatic megafauna like deer, moose and eagles, but small, colourful songbirds are a special treat when you zoom in close enough to capture their beauty. The white-throated sparrow is among the earliest migrating songbird species to arrive in the spring. The accompanying photo of a white-throated sparrow was taken at our bird feeder last spring. Using a bird feeder, you can easily capture images of feeder birds like the purple finch, pine and evening grosbeaks, blue jays, and chickadees. Even wood ducks can occasionally make an appearance at the feeder. A trip to the marsh in early spring will turn up redwing blackbirds loudly proclaiming their territory. My trophy shot of Safety Bay in Kenora (seen above) was the product of good luck, timing, and my having the unusual good sense to resist the temptation to take a snapshot with my cell phone. I had been visiting a friend in the hospital and when I came outside and glanced across the bay I spotted the many white seagulls gleaming in the sun on the deep blue candled ice, with downtown Kenora in the background. I made a quick trip home to pick up better equipment. In fifteen minutes I was back with my best camera and a tripod. Mother Nature showed up with a bonus.
33
A white-throated sparrow
In the time I was gone the position of the sun had changed to create a fiery reflection in the windows of Kenora’s stately Kenricia Hotel. That scene presented a very short window of opportunity to capture downtown Kenora and Safety Bay under a very special combination of light, colour, wildlife, and ice conditions. That scene lasted only a few minutes and may not appear again for many years, if ever. The lens I used had a maximum focal length of only 55 mm so the picture had to be cropped to better capture the scene. Fortunately, I had used a tripod and the resulting image is sharp enough to survive the enlargement process and still be reasonably sharp. Using a good camera enables a person to take better photographs but it’s still imperative for the user to know how to use the equipment and how to handle the subject. My personal preference for versatility is a high quality, simple to use camera with a wide-range zoom and overrides to allow for more creativity. The ultimate in that regard is the Nikon CoolPix 900 that is equipped with an 83X zoom. It’s in a class by itself for anyone wanting close-ups of wildlife without the weight and inconvenience of carting a single lens reflex camera and a collection of heavy, budget-busting lenses. A good zoom also eliminates the need to be changing lenses to accommodate different situations. The CoolPix takes amazing photos, even at extreme telephoto. Vibration reduction technology makes this possible when the camera is hand-held but it’s even more impressive on a tripod. Sunrise and sunset can be counted on for some blazing colour at any time of year and the bonus is that in spring you don’t have to shake yourself out of the sack at some unacceptable hour or brave the winter’s cold to capture the sunrise. Adding subjects in front of the rising or setting sun can also produce beautiful images. For fascinating abstract images, you might try shooting chunks of ice with the rising or setting sun in the background. Experiment with lenses and focal lengths and assorted shapes of ice. Even the lowly icicle can be the subject of intriguing artistic images.
Fast moving streams swelled by the spring freshet offer eddies, riffles, and cascades which provide opportunities for creative photography. Putting your camera on a tripod and experimenting with slow shutter speeds can give you lovely soft, almost ethereal images of water swirling over and around rocks. Later in the season when warmer temperatures bring nature fully back to life you will be rewarded by improved photography skills due to your earlier efforts. Nature photography any time of year provides much benefit. There are the artistic excursions in which you immerse yourself in the natural environment, reap the benefits of fresh air, exercise, and relaxation while you carefully hunt for, and capture, a photograph which will produce a treasure for a lifetime. Far into the future the beautiful images you create will evoke memories of those wonderful days at the lake. AN An Otter's breakfast
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L.O.W. AREA NEWS
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017
Boating 35
Test Your Boating Safety Knowledge By Marianne & Rod Nuttall
Every boater has a responsibility to know and understand the basics of boating safety while
1
out on the water. This includes topics such as the regulations, Right of Way rules, navigation
2
aids, how to avoid getting into trouble, how to use safety equipment, recognizing and dealing with medical emergencies etc. It has been over 15 years since the boating safety education program Pleasure Craft Operators Card (PCOC) was introduced. This program was phased in starting in 1999 with younger boaters first, followed by smaller boats, then all ages and sizes of boats in 2009. Reducing boating fatalities and accidents is the goal of this program. Over the years the PCOC program has changed a bit. The program is provided by the private sector (from very small to large organizations) with guidelines and monitoring by Transport Canada. The mandatory course material has changed, new material added and some deleted. In 2011, the test was increased from 36 questions to 50 questions. At the same time it was changed to Transport Canada providing the questions for all tests to provide some consistency, since some providers made them too easy and some too difficult. The mandatory procedures for providing the testing and card issue has undergone the most changes and rightfully so. Unfortunately, in the early stages there were some shortcomings by some unscrupulous providers that were not controlled immediately. The long and short of it is that there are people out there that never did learn the recommended information from the start. And along the way many may have forgotten some of the basics. In some cases, parents challenged the test and passed. Later they sent their children to an accredited course but were unable to reinforce the safety information their children were taught since they did not learn it themselves.
So, how is your knowledge?
Read each of the following and just think about what you would do in that situation. We’ll provide some recommendations on the next pages but we won’t give you multiple choice answers to choose from. That’s not how it works in the real world. When you are out on the lake, you have to decide on an action, based on your own knowledge and experience.
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
You are operating your boat at night and see a red light and a separate white light on a boat approaching you. What does the red light mean? What should you do? You are operating your boat during the day and see another boat heading directly towards you on your port (left hand side). What do you do? What should the other boat do? You are out for an afternoon cruise on your boat with friends. As the driver, you are not drinking alcohol. Is it okay for the passengers to be drinking alcohol? You keep your safety equipment (life jackets, fire extinguishers, buoyant heaving line, paddles, etc.) in a locked compartment or out of sight under the bow, at all times, to avoid theft, sun and rain damage. Is this a good or bad idea? Why? You are travelling by boat to your friend’s cottage across the lake at night. Several cottages along the way have lights on plus there are lit navigation aids, so you can see your way. Your dock lights will be on when you return. Do you need navigation lights on your boat? Yes or no and why? You have a group of friends at your cottage and are taking someone water skiing and tubing. You aren’t going far. Rarely does another boat ever visit your end of the lake. Do you require a spotter in the boat with you in this case? You are cruising out on the lake and see someone slowing raising and lowering their arms from their side. What does this signal mean? You round a corner and meet a very large boat heading straight for your bow while you are in a much smaller boat. Do the Right of Way rules apply to all sizes of boats? You are out in the boat driving at slow speed in a very sheltered area and several of your passengers are suddenly feeling headaches, nausea and fatigue (like the flu). Should you be concerned? Why? What should you do?
are out on a hot day and one person has heavy 10 You sweating, paleness, muscle cramps, dizziness, nausea, fainting, headaches. Should you be concerned? Why? What should you do?
L.O.W. AREA NEWS
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017
36 Boating The answers:
1. You see a red light at night on a boat approaching you. The red light most likely means you are seeing the port (left) sidelight of another boat. You will see the red light if you are facing their port side from straight ahead to 112 degrees down their port side (see diagram). As long as you continue on a collision course you do NOT have Right of Way and must give way by turning out of their way. You must do this early and obviously so that the other boat knows that you are giving way. 2. Daytime, you see another boat heading directly towards you on your port (left hand side). This is the opposite situation of the one above except it is in daylight and you will not see any lights on the other boat. If another boat is on your left—you have Right of Way. Tip: Remember the rule at a four way stop sign in your car— yield to the right. You expect that the other boat will show early that they are giving way. But watch them carefully and if they do not appear to be giving way, do something to avoid a collision.
3. You are out for an afternoon cruise on your boat with friends. As the driver, you are not drinking alcohol. Is it okay for the passengers to be drinking alcohol? No! It is against the law and for a good reason. While you may think as long as the driver is not drinking everyone would be okay. But as people start to drink, they may do silly things that may cause the entire boat to be at risk. They may lose their balance and fall out of the boat or cause the entire boat to capsize. In past we saw a passenger fall off the front upper deck of a houseboat while underway. In that case it didn’t matter if the driver was totally sober; the person drinking put themselves at risk. Luckily the person was not hit by the motor as they were swept under the boat. 4. Safety equipment in locked compartment or under bow? While that may be the best place while your boat is stored at the dock—it is the worst place when you are underway. Your safety equipment will be of little value if it is locked in a compartment or not accessible if you capsize or have an emergency that requires quick action. You can be fined if your safety equipment (especially life jackets and/or PFD’s) are not accessible while you are underway.
Boating Safety Course Dates Nuttall Boating Safety BASIC Course
A six and half hour course, plus exam. Or optional review, with no test. *See below. PLEASE REGISTER IN ADVANCE. Location Date Time St. Vital/Windsor PK (Arts & Tech Ctr) April 23 (Sun) 9:30 am to 4:30 pm River Heights (Grant Park H School) April 29 (Sat) 9:00 am to 4:30 pm St. Vital (College Jeanne Suave) May 9 & 16 (Tue) 6:30 pm to 9:45 pm River Heights (Grant Park H School) May 24 & 31 (Wed) 6:30 pm to 9:45 pm Transcona (Murdoch MacKay) June 6 & 13 (Tue) 6:30 pm to 9:45 pm Kenora (Clarion Lakeside Inn) July 4 or 5 (to be confirmed) 9:30 am to 5:00 pm *Note: We are now offering an optional Boating Safety Review Course - No Test or Card Issued. This is intended for boaters that already have their PCOC (Pleasure Craft Operators Card) but would like a review of the course material. You will join in the Basic course but will not write the test at the end and a PCOC card will NOT be issued. (A $30 discount on course fees.) To register for a course, contact Nuttall Boating at 204-889-3000 in Winnipeg or Toll Free 1-877-783-3368 or email info@nuttallboatingsafety.com. Check our website for changes and additional dates. www.nuttallboatingsafety.com
L.O.W. AREA NEWS
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017
Boating 37
5. Do you need navigation lights on your boat if you can see where you are going?
9. Your on-board passengers are suddenly feeling headaches, nausea and fatigue (like the flu).
Yes – navigation lights are required at all times when travelling in the dark. The lights on your boat are not so that you can see. They are not like highlights on a car. Their main purpose is so others can see you. If you do not have lights on, others may not be able to see you. There are too many accidents at night because people did not have their navigation lights on.
They may be suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning. It may be exposure to fumes from a running gas or diesel engine if there isn’t enough air flow to remove the fumes. Also any fuel burning appliance like a charcoal barbeque, propane or alcohol stove can build up carbon monoxide if your boat is not moving, etc. Remove people from the source of the fumes and ventilate the area. If symptoms do not improve, seek medical attention.
6. Do you need a spotter in the boat in a remote location? Yes - you do at all times. The driver needs to be watching where they are going for other boats, obstructions and dangers. An example of a problem is where a driver (without a spotter) was too busy watching and yelling instructions to the person being towed that they did not see swimmers in the water as they came back to the dock. He ran them over! 7. You see someone slowing raising and lowering their arms from their side. What does this signal mean? This is a distress signal and they are asking for your help! You have a responsibility to stop and offer assistance as long as it does not put you at risk. You remember this signal if you get into trouble. Hopefully others will recognize it.
Yes, the Right of Way rules apply to all boats BUT there can be exceptions in how they are applied. Large boats often have reduced manoeuvrability and cannot change course easily and/or quickly. Because the other boat is a very large boat, you should give way and change your course to avoid them. Always stay out of the way of large boats. Remember—big boat meets little boat—big boat wins because of their size.
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Marianne & Rod Nuttall are certified Boating Safety instructors offering Boating Safety courses in all areas of Manitoba and NW Ontario. They have certified over 17,500 boaters to date. They can be contacted in Winnipeg at 204-889-3000, Toll Free at 1-877-783-3368, or email info@nuttallboatingsafety.com.
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Yes, you should be concerned. These symptoms can indicate heat exhaustion which is loss of salts and electrolytes due to heat. Cool the person and give them plenty of non-alcoholic fluids. If they do not improve seek medical help. In some cases it may progress into heat stroke which can be life threatening. Heat stroke symptoms include absence of sweating, hot or red flushed skin, confusion, disorientation and coma. If heat stroke is suspected, get them medical treatment as soon as possible and cool the person while doing so—get them into the shade and apply cool or tepid water. How did you do? If you don’t know how to respond to these situations maybe it is time for a review of the course material. Dig out your course manuals or consider taking a review course.
8. Do the Right of Way rules apply to all sizes of boats?
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10. Someone has heavy sweating, paleness, muscle cramps, dizziness, nausea, fainting, headaches.
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L.O.W. AREA NEWS
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017
Invasive Species
Photo: Randy Westbrooks
by Hayley Anderson One of the first questions from LOWDPOA members after zebra mussels were discovered in Lake Winnipeg was, “can we get them in Lake of the Woods?” Followed by, “so how do we stop them?” It is discomforting to know that they are at our doorstep, one short ride away from changing our lake forever. One of the most frustrating traits of zebra mussels is that because they are such adaptable little creatures, there are not many guarantees or predictions to be made about their spread or suitable habitat, despite the best efforts of those who study them. In order to prepare ourselves for the worst-case scenario, while hoping for the best, we can look at the science that is available and try to infer what that means for our beloved lakes. Impacts of Zebra Mussels
Zebra mussels are an invasive, aquatic bivalve, native to the Caspian and Black Sea and surrounding region of Eurasia. They were transported to Canada as stowaways in ship ballast water from ocean freighters and first discovered in Lake Erie in the late 1980s. By the early 1990s the invaders had spread widely through the Great Lakes and their tributaries in Southern Ontario and the U.S. Zebra mussels’ initial and continued impacts to lake ecosystems have been widely publicized. Photos of piles of rotting shells along once pristine beaches,
Photo: Whitney Cranshaw
cut feet from stepping on their sharp edges, and native mussels being forced down into the sediment by the weight of the zebra mussels colonizing on top of them paint a very bleak picture. After establishment and spread, even more impacts have come to light. Ecosystem-wide changes result from zebra mussels as they filter water for food, creating crystal clear waters to the delight of some cottagers but resulting in the departure of species such as walleye, who need darker waters to live and feed.
L.O.W. AREA NEWS
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017
Invasive Species 39 Zebra mussels have also played a significant role in the spread of avian botulism. The botulism toxin is naturally occurring, though usually dormant on the lake bottom and the mussels’ presence has moved it into the food chain at a much higher rate than would normally occur. As zebra mussels filter feed, contaminants in or near the sediment move in to their tissues. Then, as the mussels are eaten by other species like fish or ducks, the contaminants get passed along and concentrated into the next level of the food chain in a process called biomagnification. This increased concentration of botulism toxin eventually leads to the death or illness of diving ducks and other bird species that feed on the fish that ate the mussels. This is reminiscent of the effects that DDT once had after being passed up the food chain to eagles.
that by the millions of mussels that may be present and you begin to understand the large-scale ecosystem changes that occur after their establishment. As zebra mussels feed, they keep the food items (plankton, algae) and discard the others as pseudofeces on the sediment at the bottom of the lake. This means that any suspended solids in the water are effectively removed from the food chain and become inaccessible to other species.
Additional impacts to public and private properties in the form of blocked water intake pipes, fouled watercraft and docks are not to be taken lightly. Costs run into the millions of dollars a year for removal and control as well as lowered property values.
Adult females begin to reproduce in their second year, and can produce up to 1 million eggs at a time. In fully established populations, there may be as many as 700,000 mussels in a square metre, and most live for between two and five years. Many people in Southern Ontario have noted that their lakes initially became infested and overrun, then after about 10 years the zebra mussel population seemed to crash. This is a known characteristic of zebra mussels - they are introduced into a new area with no predators and a copious amount of food, allowing their population to explode. In time, they eat themselves out of house and home and begin to die off. In every species, there are population fluctuations and while this does not mean the zebra mussels will be gone permanently, but they may not again reach those initially large population numbers. Nevertheless, their impact is permanent and often completely changes the composition of the lake where they are introduced.
Zebra Mussels
Lake of the Woods
The disappearance of native mussel and invertebrate species, after being pushed out or directly killed by zebra mussel colonization, is another impact that has led to the listing of several native mussel species on the Ontario Species at Risk registry.
The life cycle of a zebra mussel begins as an egg that hatches into a veliger; a microscopic, free-floating larva. These larvae float in water currents for 1-2 weeks prior to growing a shell that weighs them down enough to begin to settle on the bottom. The veliger stage is when zebra mussels are most likely to spread as they are invisible and easily moved in water. Once they settle on the bottom and find a hard surface, they continue to develop into a recognizable mussel. The adult mussels are small, about the size of an adult human fingernail. The name “zebra mussel” comes from the distinctive stripes on their shell, however, there can be variability in pattern and some zebra mussels may not have stripes at all, and instead be a dull brown or solid black. Zebra mussels and other bivalves grow long thin strings of protein, called byssal threads, to adhere to hard surfaces and use to “walk” short distances. These threads can be so strong that humans cannot pick them up, but instead must use a scraping tool or power washer to remove the mussels from their boats and docks. When established, the mussels begin to actively feed. An adult zebra mussel can filter one litre of water every day. Multiply
Lake of the Woods covers an area of 3,850 km². The International Joint Commission’s 2015 Water Quality Plan of Study for the Lake of the Woods Basin describes the northern portion as having a granite base that is a part of the Pre-Cambrian shield containing approximately 14,500 islands. The southern portion is located in prairie topography from glacial Lake Agassiz. While some nutrient levels in the lake are high, like phosphorus for example, others like calcium are generally low in the northern basin as is characteristic of granite shield lakes.
W. Randall F. Seller, B.A., LL.B
Stephen R. Lundin, B.A., LL.B
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Beth Allison White, B.H.Ec., LL.B
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L.O.W. AREA NEWS
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017
40 Invasive Species Lake of the Woods already has some permanent unwelcome guests including rusty crayfish, spiny water flea, and rainbow smelt. These invasive species, accidentally introduced through human activities, have changed the ecosystem from what it once was. The threat from zebra mussels and other invasive species is one of the concerns that most alarms LOWDPOA members about the future of our lakes and rivers. This is a valid concern, as zebra mussels have been discovered in the Lake of the Woods watershed in a Minnesota lake that eventually discharges to Rainy River. We also have significant traffic of boats coming from Manitoba and Lake Superior where zebra mussels have been identified.
for metabolic functions than most native mussel species. It has been noted in other lakes with a granite shield base that the calcium levels are low enough to provide a buffer from large-scale invasion, but further study is required specific to Lake of the Woods. This greater need for calcium may indicate that perhaps at least the more acidic partial granite and peat-based soil in the northern basin of Lake of the Woods may not provide the same water levels of calcium as the more alkaline limestone-based lakes in Southern Ontario and the U.S. The same cannot be said for the southern basin of the lake, and there may also be small habitat niches elsewhere that will satisfy their requirements.
Reducing Zebra Mussel Risk to Lake of the Woods
The probability of permanent “settlement” of any invasive species goes up exponentially the more often they are introduced; and most introductions are caused by humans. There are steps we can take in order to protect our waters, especially when moving boats and equipment from one lake to another.
Comparing what we know of habitat requirements to what we know Lake of the Woods has to offer, there may be hope that perhaps it will be spared from a full-blown invasion. It has been proven that zebra mussels require a greater amount of calcium to grow their shells and to use
Always drain all water including the livewell and bilge. Never dump bait buckets other than where you fill them. Inspect your tires and undercarriage if running close to or into any lake while launching your boat. If you are taking your boat from a known zebra mussel infestation, power wash and let it dry in the sun for at least five days before launching it in another water body.
To date, zebra mussels have not been found in the adult or veliger stage in Lake of the Woods.
We can reduce or prevent the chances of an introduction that would change our lake irreparably, from zebra mussels or any other invasive species. Since LOWDPOA began their partnership with the OFAH/MNR Invading Species Awareness Program, Lake of the Woods and the surrounding lakes have been tested for aquatic invasive species every summer through the LakeSmart Program. If you want to check the waters near your home or cottage, contact Diane at diane@lowdpoa.com to arrange an appointment to take a sample.
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Maps and information on zebra mussel infestations can be found at eddmaps.org/ontario AN
L.O.W. AREA NEWS
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017
Invasive Species 41 Invasive species are on the rise in our lakes...
But boaters can help stop them How to stop the spread of these invaders
You may be surprised to learn that just taking your boat out for a spin on a neighbouring lake can help spread harmful invasive species. And that these invaders—left unchecked—can seriously harm your favourite lakes and rivers.
Here are five steps boaters can take to make sure they are not spreading invasive species to new areas:
1
Fish, plants or invertebrates can be spread by humans—either on purpose or by accident—to new areas of the province. These species can become invasive, causing harm to the environment and the economy. In fact, in Ontario, the impacts from zebra mussels alone cost between $75 million and $91 million per year.
2 3
And the presence of invasive species means fewer of the types of fish you like to catch, since invasive often compete with native species, taking away their food and space or introducing parasites and diseases that harm native fish and other species. When invasive species are introduced and get established, their numbers can increase rapidly. Some invasive species that have already invaded Canadian waters include: zebra mussels (mussel), round goby (fish), spiny water flea (invertebrate), Eurasian watermilfoil (aquatic plant) and the rusty crayfish. Invasive species are among the leading causes of native fish and other aquatic species being threatened or endangered, and they negatively affect global biodiversity, economies and human health around the world.
GOOD
CLEAN, DRAIN
Clean off all visible mud, vegetation and other debris Pull and store the drain plug, lower your outboard to drain standing water and drain livewells before leaving the launch
Inspect your boat, motor, trailer, and boating equipment (anchors and fishing gear, centerboards, rollers and axles). Remove any zebra mussels and other animals and plants that are visible before leaving any water body. Drain water from the motor, live well, bilge and transom before leaving any water body. Wash or dry your boat, tackle, downriggers, trailer, and other boating equipment to kill harmful species that were not visible at the boat launch. Some aquatic species can survive out of water for long periods of time. Therefore, it is important to either: • Rinse your boat and equipment that normally gets wet with hot tap water (> 50°C), or • Spray your boat and trailer with high pressure water (>250 psi), or
4 5
• Dry your boat and equipment in the sun for at least five days before transporting them to another body of water. Empty your bait bucket on land 30m away from the water. Never release bait into water, or release aquatic animals from one water body into another. It is illegal to use gobies, ruffe or rudd for bait. You can report sightings of invasive species by calling the Invading Species Hotline (1-800-563-7711) or by emailing info@invadingspecies.com. You can also use the EDDMapS Ontario system to report sightings through your computer or smartphone.
BETTER
CLEAN, DRAIN, DRY
In addition to cleaning and draining: Dry your boat and equipment in hot or sunny weather for 2-7 days before transporting them to another body of water
Join in the fight against invasive species and protect your great outdoors.
Learn more at Ontario.ca/InvasionON
BEST
CLEAN, DRAIN, DISINFECT Use a pressure washer to spray off your boat and trailer (250psi) OR rinse off your boat and trailer with hot water (greater than 50°C) To prevent the spread of viral hemorrhagic septicemia, rinse live wells with 10% household bleach/water solution (i.e. 100ml of bleach to 1L water). Rinse well with water to remove any residual chlorine
L.O.W. AREA NEWS
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017
42 Arts & Culture
30 Years (more or less) with the Kenora Scottish Pipes and Drums by R. Cecil Burns
On August 20, 2016 the Kenora Scottish Pipes and Drums held a 30th anniversary concert at Knox United Church in Kenora. Although the band has performed hundreds of times for the community, this performance was special. A young piper’s dream and the courage of his first eleven students from Kenora had survived the trials and tribulations of 30 years. In 1986 I was attending a “Scots’ Night Out”, orchestrated by Don Cameron, when following the speeches, the Address to the Haggis and a sampling of haggis, “neeps and tatties”, we were treated to the very first performance of the Kenora Scottish Pipes and Drums. The band performed a halting rendition of “Amazing Grace” and the crowd was blown away. Kenora had its own pipe band! Learning to play the bagpipes is not an easy task. Even though there are only nine notes (low G to high A), no sharps or flats to worry about, and there is only one key, playing bagpipes is a lot harder than it looks. Besides the nine notes, bagpipe music is peppered with numerous flourishes called grace notes, doublings, grips, throws, tarlouths, strikes, birls and something called bubbly notes. Without these, pipe music is somewhat boring. It’s learning these phrases that gives rise to hours of frustration and cause many beginners to give up—and that’s only on the practice chanter. Only when you master the practice chanter are you allowed to try an actual set of bagpipes. If you thought the chanter was hard, bagpipes is a new level of difficulty. A piper has to learn how to keep the bag inflated while squeezing hard
enough to get the melody out of the chanter and keep the drones playing at a steady pitch. He or she also has to learn how to strike in the drones, start up, play in unison and end at the same time as everyone else. A piper also has to memorize the music and march in step, in unison. Normally pipe bands start with a group of pipers and drummers who have either played with other bands or have been playing on their own. To start a pipe band with an entire ensemble of novices was not something that was normally done in the piping world. Wes Sheppard had other ideas. The then 19-year-old piper from Winnipeg reasoned that if he started a band with a clean slate of new pipers and drummers he could shape and mold the band into something worthwhile, without having to fix bad habits, retrain the players or deal with pipe band politics. Not knowing any better, he jumped right in. It was somehow decided that a formal organization was needed to support the formation of a pipe band. Word got out that an organization was being formed and consensus held that the organization could support not only a pipe band, but a group of Scottish Country Dancers and the teaching of Highland Dance as well. In 1987, the Kenora Scottish Heritage Society was incorporated as a non-profit organization with an initial membership of over 100 souls. The goal of the society was to promote Scottish heritage and culture though music and dance. The society was a busy organization in those first few years - securing funds to pay instructors, finding places for the lessons to take place and buying kit to outfit a band. Wes decided early on that he wanted the band to compete and band practices began in earnest to achieve some level of competence so that we could compete. From its first competition in Minneapolis in 1988 (finishing last in Grade 4) to the World Pipe Band Championships in Scotland in 2000 (finishing 12th out of over 50 bands in Grade 4), Wes led the band into competition for many years.
The Kenora Scottish Pipes and Drums marked its 30th anniversary with a concert at Knox Church in Kenora on August 22, 2016. Photo: Brenda Stewart
In 2002 Wes Sheppard moved away and for a few years the Kenora Scottish struggled, but they never lost hope. New recruits moved to town and the ranks again began to swell and after a series of temporary Pipe Majors, Stephen Mitchell took over the reins.
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Arts & Culture 43
Pipe Major Mitchell reinvigorated the band and even convinced us to compete, with some success. The ranks swelled again and the band continued to support a myriad of local functions. He also began the summer tradition of “Practices in the Park” where the band held outdoor practices in various city parks during the summer months to the delight of locals and tourists alike. In 2015 work took Pipe Major Mitchell back to Thunder Bay and the band again had to find another Pipe Major. Fortunately, Bill Forster rose to the occasion and now provides skilled leadership for the band. Pipe Major Forster has helped the band to further enhance its repertoire, and has encouraged all players to develop personal favourite tunes that can be performed as solos. One of the things the band always maintained was its commitment to the area and in that role it has played for many community functions over the years. The Kenora Scottish was a mainstay of the Multicultural Festival every spring hosting a booth as well showcasing the Pipes and Drums, the Highland Dancers and the Scottish Country Dancers on stage. Canada Day parades and performances at the Mather-Walls House were, and continue to be annual events for the Kenora Scottish. The CF Walk, Relay for Life, the Mother’s Day Run and Remembrance Day are all occasions supported by the Kenora Scottish. There have been many memorable occasions at which the Kenora Scottish performed: • Piping in the Stanley Cup (once in 2007 for the 100th anniversary of Kenora’s 1907 win and a second time in 2012 for Mike Richards’ win with the LA Kings) • 2002 World Curling Championships in North Dakota • Welcoming Mike Smith home with his Gold Medal from the Commonwealth Games • Rededication of the Royal Lake of the Woods Yacht Club by the Duke and Duchess of Connaught • The National Midget AAA Hockey Tournament • Honouring the Afghanistan veterans after their day of fishing on Lake of the Woods • The Allan Cup Championships, and many, many more The Kenora Scottish has always been a teaching band and is perpetually on the lookout for new students. It provides piping and drumming lessons free of charge to all ages and has been a stepping stone for many young pipers and drummers. A review of old records shows that since 1986 over 40 pipers and nearly 30 drummers have played with the band over the years—some coming from as far away as Saskatoon and South Dakota. Many have gone on to play at much higher levels in other cities. So on that hot August night over 120 Scots or Scots-at-heart braved the heat to come and hear the Kenora Scottish perform its latest repertoire. Included in the performances were a number of pipe band standards and a wonderful solo by each of the band members. The guest star of the show was Wes Sheppard who held the audience in awe as he showed the audience what a set of bagpipes in the hands of a master can accomplish. From humble beginnings to great things—dreams sometimes do come true. In the end, I don’t believe there was a dry eye in the house. AN
Ahhh February! by Alexander Jackson
February, cold and poorly lit, is the basement of winter. It is both the longest (as it drags on) and the shortest (in actual days) month of the year. Cabin fever, which began as a mild infection in late October, is now a raging epidemic. Hibernating is impossible because everyone and everything is stuck inside, together, and getting on each other’s nerves. This month always begins with the coldest temperatures of the year. The only consolation is after Valentines Day the air probably won’t be that cold again for another ten months. So what are people to do when exposed skin can freeze in a few short minutes? Apparently they go outside, find a frozen lake, drill a hole through the ice and go fishing. Or they chop an even bigger hole and go swimming in it. There is also the option of finding a steep and icy hill, preferably named “Suicide” or “Dead Man’s” and throwing yourself down it on a frictionless sheet of plastic. If you survive, you get up and do it again. That must be the reason it’s not called a “sane” carpet. The second month of our calendar is significant for a number of reasons. The western Anishinabe celebrate it as the time of the Suckerfish Moon, when the suckerfish saw the people were starving in the depths of winter and saved them. Ancient Romans recognized it as a time for ritual purification. Cross-country skiers look forward to breaking trails, following familiar routes, and enjoying frostbite in new and exciting places. Downhill skiers and snowboarders get stoked to strap sticks and boards to their feet and risk fall-related injuries. Snowmobilers bundle up in layers and thrive on long rides and drag races, much as they could in outer space if they wore slightly less bulky suits, and rode less powerful machines. If strapping knives to your feet is your thing there’s any number of skating activities, some of which won’t bring about a visit to the dentist. February is truly a month packed full of something for everyone, if everyone has been packed inside for just a little too long. When the season gets “whiffy” the “whiffy” follow the age-old advice to “get outside and blow the stink off.”
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FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017
44 Cottage How-To
Building Green By Beth Turner
Building green is a hot topic right now. It can be a winwin for those of us looking to shrink our environmental footprints while making our homes more comfortable and healthy to live in. But what exactly makes a home environmentally-friendly? Typical answers include: the use of natural, low-VOC building materials (e.g. logs, straw bales, cork), renewable energy sources like solar panels, and plenty of insulation. These are correct to some extent, but they are only part of the equation. In my own quest to build a greener home, I discovered that the intuitive answers were not always the right ones. As always, the best route is to take an evidence-based approach. So where does the data lead us? In this article, the first in a series on green building that will run through 2017, we will go back to basics and explore a few important factors that prospective homebuilders may wish to consider, such as size, shape and materials. Later in this series, we’ll delve into the nitty-gritty and take a closer look at things like building envelopes and mechanical systems.
Location & Size: Build Smarter, Not Bigger
In general, bigger houses located further away from city centres consume more resources to build and to operate. As such, the sprawling suburbs have gotten a bad reputation for being very resource-intensive, and have even inspired a new type of urban design—New Urbanism—that aims to make cities more livable. That said, for those of us who prefer more private rural areas and who love the wilderness, location is often non-negotiable. We won’t be living downtown any time soon, but we can aim to minimize our commuting distance when purchasing a property. Size is easier to control for. You don’t need to become a tiny-house enthusiast and live in 200 square feet—a trend that is far more suited to warmer climates anyhow. But prospective homebuilders should be careful not to lose their efficiency gains by increasing their square footage. As Alex Wilson notes in GreenBiz, “A 1,500 square-foot house with mediocre energy standards will use far less energy for heating and cooling than a 3,000 square foot house of comparable geometry with much better energy detailing.” The key is to build smarter, not bigger. In building our home, my family of four downsized from a 2,300 square foot, three-storey home to a 1,200 square foot basement-less bungalow. We made it work by making every square inch count: building in additional storage nooks, and ensuring there were no wasted or duplicated spaces. Sound insulation and extra doors were added between living and sleeping spaces to ensure family members’ activities did not conflict with each other. Surprisingly, the result
Our efficient main living area, approx. 550 square feet. Drawing by Hristov Architect Inc., Kenora
turned out to be a house that is more functional (and often less noisy) than our previous home, despite being half the size. Building smaller also enabled us to direct more money toward high-quality materials with a longer lifespan— another eco-friendly idea that I will touch on below.
Shape & Style: Keep it Simple
Some people really like interesting house shapes and styles, and who can blame them? For example, round-homes (often with multiple, linked units), geodesic domes, and earth-sheltered houses are unique and can be lovely to live in. They are often touted as environmentally-friendly, and they sometimes do offer advantages in terms of energy use. However, many experts warn that certain features of these unusual home styles can pose problems (humidity control and condensation in earth-sheltered homes, or heat loss from round-home skylights, for instance). Other unique styles, such as uninsulated cob homes, are simply unworkable in our cold climate. Generally, the most eco-friendly shape is a rectangle. This is because details such as bump-outs and extra corners can increase the surface-to-volume ratio of exterior walls, and make effective insulation and air-sealing more challenging. Similar issues can arise with cantilevers (a cantilevered second story, for example), bay windows, and dormers. Rectangles also lend themselves to a simple roof design. On his popular Green Building Advisor website, Martin Holladay suggests that the best roof is a gable or hip style, with generous overhangs and no valleys (which are prone to ice damming). That doesn’t mean it has to be boring, however. For our home, we chose a raised-heel scissor truss to create an interior vault, and a vented gable roof style that could be cheaply insulated with plenty of blown-in cellulose.
The dining room on left will likely be less energy-efficient than the one on the right, unless extra care is taken during construction.
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Cottage How-To 45 Of course, there are exceptions to every rule. In 2015, Red River College in Winnipeg analyzed twenty-six buildings across Manitoba for airtightness. The study found that a one-year old, architecturally complex school in Steinbach was the most airtight building in the sample, despite its complicated roof and very “non-rectangular” floor plan. The report attributed this pleasant surprise to the extra care that was taken in establishing an air barrier. This is encouraging news for homebuilders who want a tight, energy-efficient house but would like a more complex or unique shape.
Materials: Weigh your Options
There are a number of factors to consider when choosing materials: embodied energy (the total energy required to extract, manufacture and transport the material), resource depletion, recyclability, health concerns for occupants—just to name a few. Insulation value is particularly important in our northern climate. Unfortunately, these considerations often conflict with each other. For example, some rigid foams are energy-intensive to manufacture, and the blowing agents they use have a high global warming potential (GWP). Yet they have the highest insulation value per inch, can act as an air barrier at a certain thickness, and are ideal for subgrade applications such as insulated slabs or basements.
Approx. Value of Embodied Energy in Building Materials MATERIALS ENERGY CONTENT (BTU/LB) Wood 185 Gypsum board (drywall) 1,830 Mineral fibre insulation 7,200 Plastic 18,500 Aluminum 103,500 Source: Architectural Graphic Standards for Residential Construction, John Wiley and Sons Inc., 2003
Generally speaking, products manufactured from petroleum, like polystyrene insulation or vinyl flooring, tend to be less environmentally-friendly than non-petroleum materials
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like mineral wool, cellulose, or wood. They are also more likely to off-gas harmful chemicals, and are usually less recyclable or biodegradable at the end of their lifecycle. But again, there are trade-offs: natural insulation materials tend to have lower R-values (the resistance of an insulating material to heat flow)—which is why we see very thick walls on straw-bale houses, for example. And there are budget considerations, of course. For instance, compared to asphalt shingles, metal roofs are a far better choice in terms of recyclability and they don’t off-gas harmful chemicals, but they do require a bigger financial commitment up-front. Homeowners aiming to go green should weigh the environmental pros and cons of each material, and include other pertinent factors such as flood and fire-resistance, maintenance requirements (particularly for older homeowners) and livability. We must also consider longevity, since the overall impact of a material shrinks as its lifespan increases. For this reason, salvaged materials are often the greenest choice of all, with the bonus of being very budget-friendly. For our home, we were able to source used foam insulation for the perimeter of our foundation. Additionally, most of our windows were “factory-reject” triple-paned fibreglass windows—we purchased them in advance at a steep discount, and then incorporated these custom windows (which may have otherwise been destined for the landfill) into our architectural plan.
Insulation salvaged from a demolition project. Source: www.salvagesupermarket.com
In the next piece in this series, we will take an even closer look at building materials as we explore wall and roof assemblies, and evaluate some ideas on how to create a durable, energy-efficient building envelope. AN
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46 Cottage How-To
Perspective in Architecture by Shawn Sinclair, Adele Sinclair and Shawn Bailey In this essay, Sinclair, Sinclair and Bailey reflect on relationships between humans and nature and the value of play, concepts that inform their architectural practice on Lake of the Woods.
“But all this - the mysterious, far-reaching hair-line trail, the absence of sun from the sky, the tremendous cold, and the strangeness and weirdness of it all - made no impression on the man. It was not because he was long used to it. He was a newcomer in the land, a chechaquo, and this was his first winter. The trouble with him was that he was without imagination. He was quick and alert in the things of life, but only in the things, and not in the significances. Fifty degrees below zero meant eighty-odd degrees of frost. Such fact impressed him as being cold and uncomfortable, and that was all. It did not lead him to meditate upon his frailty as a creature of temperature, and upon man’s frailty in general, able only to live within certain narrow limits of heat and cold; and from there on it did not lead him to the conjectural field of immortality and man’s place in the universe. Fifty degrees below zero stood for a bite of frost that hurt and that must be guarded against by the use of mittens, earflaps, warm moccasins, and thick socks. Fifty degrees below zero was to him just precisely fifty degrees below zero. That there should be anything more to it than that was a thought that never entered his head.”1 Analogous to the man in the paragraph above from Jack London’s story ‘To Build a Fire’, we can argue that much of the world today shares a similar point of view. The tragedy of the story lies in ‘the man’s’ lack of imagination towards nature and how he positions himself in it.
Today our culture often appears to have separated us from nature and, as a result, much of today’s architecture is understood as objective, voiceless, and absolute. “Architects themselves like to photograph their buildings unfinished, silent and empty. It could be said that much of today’s architecture is concerned solely with material forms, cold and intangible, situated beyond time”2. Historically, the floor plan was seen as a composite footprint of a building and an elevation drawing as its face. These were the vertical and horizontal dimensions of lived space. Referring to the architectural drawings as “lived space” showed that the plan and elevation displayed purposes beyond construction and were drawings that indicated architecture as a verb, illustrating that life happened in these spaces. Soon however, a diminishing attitude shifted drawings into scientific projections. “Sections became a legitimate embodiment of architectural ideas because they were precise and considered more appropriate to embody platonic truths."3 Architecture as a social and physical act that presents itself by projecting human actions onto the landscape is largely overlooked today. “This ground goes largely unnoticed or unacknowledged in our scientific culture. In a society that accords priority to that which is predictable and places a premium on certainty, our spontaneous preconceived experience, when acknowledged at all, is referred to as merely subjective”.4 The imaginative reveals itself through a compassionate awareness of what can and can’t be controlled. The creative processes of architecture should seek out ways of seeing the world that are sensitive to both human and natural conditions.
“The perception of other people and the intersubjective world is problematic only for adults. The child lives in a world, which he unhesitatingly believes accessible to all around him. It is suggested that as adults many of us have formulated concepts of the world from our subjective experiences. The child however, sees the world as free to discover and is not aware of the prescribed views that develop over time. It’s important to find the way to a design that freely explores, and similar to the child, frees the way of thinking
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Cottage How-To 47 about architecture as a predetermined object. Consider how the notion of ‘play’ can help imagine an architecture that situates itself within the landscape in a meaningful way. As you plan your home or cottage consider looking for a design process that investigates the imagination and unpredictability between both digital and analogue methods of drawing and modeling. “Many of the technologies today are used in such a way that reflect us back to ourselves, shut ourselves off from other voices (Abram, 1996)”5. In contrast, through the notion of play you can explore how these two worlds can exist in a balanced partnership and inform processes of design that can clearly identify architectural drawings as your ‘lived space’. AN Shawn Sinclair, Adele Sinclair and Shawn Bailey are partners at Boreal Architecture Studio in Kenora with an ambition of providing meaningful architecture that can act as a bridge between people, the landscape and culture. Jack London. To build a fire: A story. (Whitehorse: Wolf Creek Books Incorporated, 2003). p. 2. 1
Luis-Fernadez, Galiano. Fire and Memory: On Architecture and Energy. (Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2000). 4 2
3
p. 40
4
Abram, The Spell of the Sensuous, 34.
5
Abram, The Spell of the Sensuous, 42
Ask An Expert Do you have a question about cottage renos or construction that you’d like to ask an expert? If so, let us know and we’ll track down answers for you!
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February/March 2017
48 LOWDKids!
kids.lowdpoa.com
BOOKS fledgling
for
birders
It is February and there are albatrosses on the wall of the library. If you’ve come into the kids’ department at the Kenora Public Library recently, you may have noticed the live web cams streaming real-time footage of Laysan Albatrosses and/or a northern Ontario bird feeder. As winter turns to spring, we’ll start including live broadcasts of species that also live and nest on Lake of the Woods. Kids need nature and nature needs kids who appreciate nature. In that spirit, here is a list of books to spark awareness and empathy for the birds that share our home.
Starting with pure silliness
Interrupting Chicken, by David Ezra Stein (also check out his book I’m My Own Dog, for a laugh). Those who know me know of my obsession with chickens, and my superpower of being able to bring conversation on any topic around to chickens. They are, after all, the bird species upon which humans are most dependent, so it is important for kids to encounter them in literature, right? This book deals with the age-old intersection of bedtime coziness, literacy promotion, and parental narcolepsy. Big Red Chicken is trying to read bedtime fairy tales to his daughter, but she keeps interrupting with advice, plot corrections, and cautionary notes for the characters. What one kid reader says “I love that it’s funny and that interrupting chicken interrupts every single story. And it’s cute at the end because interrupting chicken reads a story that she made for her dad, but her dad falls asleep. The funniest page is ‘Out jumped a little red chicken, and she said, DON’T GO IN! SHE’S A WITCH!’” It’s not a deep read from a chicken biology standpoint, but it’s a great one. Next, let me issue the disclaimer that I basically love everything created by Mo Willems. Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus and its counterparts (The Pigeon Needs a Bath, Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late, The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog, The Duckling Gets a Cookie) are some of those iconic funny picture books that are always signed out, and always will be signed out, because: hilarity. I actually have real live semi-pet barn pigeons, and they love to take baths and they also love cookies, so I can confirm that these books are fairly accurate from an animal behaviour standpoint. Read these books with the kids in your life, and encourage them to identify and adore pigeons whenever they see them. Pigeons are a most accessible and charismatic starting point for the fledgling birdwatcher.
BY
ERIKA OLSON
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February/March 2017
LOWDKids! 49
Building empathy and awareness
How to Heal a Broken Wing is a compassionate and optimistic offering from the author Bob Graham, who wrote and illustrated another of my favourites: April and Esme, Tooth Fairies. A boy finds an injured urban pigeon on a city sidewalk and helps it to fly again. I am usually apprehensive about “kids rescuing wild animals” types of books, because really what you need to do if you find an injured animal is get in touch with a licensed wildlife rehabber; however, this book is a really lovely story about hope and kindness. I cried a little bit. But, as my child will tell you “I cry at everything, even funny movies.” Lucky Ducklings by Eva Moore. Much in the vein of Robert McCloskey’s classic Make Way for Ducklings, this is a sweet story based on a real-life duckling rescue event. Storm drains creep me right out. If you feel the same, you will understand how hard it is for a mama duck trying to get her babies to safety in an urban landscape. This story works out well in the end and has good literacy-building repetition. Nancy Carpeneter’s illustrations are nostalgic and beautiful.
Learning more with nonfiction:
The kids’ library has a variety of books on bird identification and biology, including the National Geographic Kids Bird Guide of North America, and Bird Watching for Kids by George Harrison. For beautiful illustrations and fascinating biological information, check out A Nest is Noisy and An Egg is Quiet, both written by Dianna Hutts Aston and illustrated by Sophia Long. The artwork in these books is absolutely stunning, and there is lots of advanced vocabulary and opportunities to compare/contrast and explore the behaviours and experiences of different creatures. My final recommendation for beginning birders is Crow Smarts by Pamela Turner. This book gives an intriguing window into the lives of the tool-using crows of New Caledonia. This author’s conversational tone really works for me, making me excited to see the other volumes in this Scientists in the Field series. The author’s website also has great crow videos for kids to explore. What I love most about this book is how it breaks down preconceptions about human versus animal intelligence. Crows are smart… much smarter than me. In fact, I probably should have gotten a crow to write this article. AN
L.O.W. AREA NEWS
February/March 2017
50 LOWDKids!
kids.lowdpoa.com
Next time you go outside at night, look way up in to the sky. What do you see? If you are in Northwestern Ontario, see if you can recognize some of the more common night sky visitors.
North Star, also known as Polaris, is the tip of the handle of the Little Dipper. This star has been used as a directional marker, to help people find their way north for generations.
There are a lot of stars in the sky, and astronomers have named easily recognizable groups of stars as constellations. Once you know how to find them in the sky, these constellations can be used to find your way in the darkness.
The northern lights are also known as Aurora Borealis, a name that comes from the Greek words aurora which means dawn, and boreas which means wind. The northern lights are caused by “burps” of gas from the Sun (gross!) that have little particles in them that bounce off of the invisible shield around our planet (called the magnetosphere), mix with the gases in space, and cause some pretty awesome lights. They can be different colours but around Lake of the Woods they are most often green.. Sometimes they move and shimmer so that they look like they are dancing in the sky, and there are myths and folklore that say that they also crackle and make noise as they move. These curtains of light have been happening for a very long time, and the Inuit believed that the northern lights are the spirits of deceased animals and humans, playing in the sky. Have you ever seen the northern lights? Now you can teach your family about how they form and what they are.
Orion is one of the most easily recognizable and brightest constellations in the winter. Start by looking for his belt, which is made of three bright stars in a straight line. Then look for his shoulders, made of the stars Bellatrix and Betelgeuse (which has a red tinge). Next, look for his legs. One of them has the one of the brightest stars in the sky, Rigel, in it. The Roman myth behind the Orion constellation is that Orion was a great hunter, who fought against a scorpion and they both lost. Now they are destined to be in the sky at opposite sides never to be seen at the same time. Right above Orion is Taurus, the bull. The best time to see Taurus is from December to February. This constellation is one of the largest. There is a large and very bright star called Aldebaran that makes up its eye. Finding Aldebaran can help you to identify the outline of the bull. If you have a telescope or binoculars, you can look within the constellation for the Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters, which is a cluster of seven stars right above Aldebaran. The night-sky is constantly changing, and if you are patient, in the summer time you can see a meteor shower called the Taurid, that is believed to begin from the Taurus constellation. The Big and Little Dipper are probably the most famous star patterns. They are also smaller parts of the constellations known as Ursa Major (Big Bear) and Ursa Minor (Little Bear). The Big and Little Dippers are very low in the northeast sky in the winter, and can be found closer to the horizon. The
If you and your family decide to stay up late and do some sky-watching, you can make it in to a fun winter activity for the whole family. Make a fire, bring a toboggan, drink some hot chocolate and don’t forget your binoculars!
Resources for Budding Astronomers Astronomy resources from the Planetarium at the Manitoba Museum: https://manitobamuseum.ca/main/ visit/planetarium/astronomy-resources/
Make your own star charts and constellation maps here: http://www.heavens-above.com/constellation.aspx Images credit: Constellation maps from http://heavens-above.com
L.O.W. AREA NEWS
kids.lowdpoa.com
February/March 2017
LOWDKids! 51
2016 Photo Contest
WINNERS Kids being active at the lake
“Fearless” Photo by: Steve Stephanson, Winnipeg Location: Survey Island, Lake of the Woods
Wildlife & nature
“Mom and Baby” Photo by: Barb Abramoff, Kenora Location: Route Bay, Lake of the Woods
Family photo
“The Wells family” Photo by: Dave Wells, Toronto Location: Wildcat Island, Lake of the Woods
L.O.W. AREA NEWS
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017
52 Food & Drink
Notes From
Razberry Lane by Henry & Anita Rasmussen
“Love and maple syrup goes together.” - Gordon Lightfoot
I imagine the first settlers to arrive here from Europe would have been pleasantly surprised to find the Indigenous people collecting sweet liquid from trees and either drinking or refining it into syrup. The shortage of sweet drinks from vending machines at this time in history would have made such a product highly desirable. Fortunately box alders or Manitoba maples grew in profusion along with a variety of maples. The silver maple, planted as a shade tree in this part of the world, grew to be much larger than the alder, providing more sap per tree on average. The eastern sugar maple, workhorse of the maple syrup industry in that part of North America, lives much longer than the aforementioned silver species, which will last for a hundred years at most. Eastern sugar maples have a life span of four to five hundred years, during which they can be continually tapped for their wonderful sap.
on our property, we are largely dependent on the goodwill of neighbours and friends for our supply of sap. In a normal year we collect about two thousand litres from thirty-two silver maples that Kenora residents allow us to access. Their generosity naturally entitles them to a fair share of the spoils. Yes, we actually share the good stuff too. On numerous occasions, we have been blessed with the help of good friends who have come to our rescue when the whole process became overwhelming. Their assistance has been invaluable. In researching syrup quality and production, I’ve relied mainly on what I have read about sugar content in other regions. I found from my own experience that local silver maples are very rich in our area. Some show a sugar content
European newcomers quickly developed refinements to the making of maple syrup with the introduction of metal pans to speed up the process. Many innovations to the collection of sap followed over the years, like plastic tubing in place of spiles and buckets. This allowed for the movement of the sap through tubing directly from the tree to the sugar shack, resulting in a tremendous saving in labour. Though traditional installations are still used in the industry today, most large producers have adopted modern methods in order to increase output. Our syrup production, though done on a very small scale, has been ongoing for about fifteen years. As we boast one lone silver maple tree along with one alder
Mary McCreadie and Barry Corbett boiling syrup.
L.O.W. AREA NEWS
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017
Food & Drink 53
as high as 4.5, yielding approximately a 30-to-1 ratio (i.e. 30 gallons of sap boil down to make one gallon of syrup, once most of the water has evaporated) as opposed to the 40-to1 ratio generally used as the production guide in the syrup making process elsewhere. I believe this might be explained by the severity of our winters, causing our local trees to store more sugar.
The only essential equipment needed for the small producer is a candy thermometer, as temperature monitoring is absolutely necessary, especially when nearing the syrup stage. Just before you start boiling your sap, first boil some water and measure the temperature as it comes to the boil. Bring the temperature of the sap up 7.1 degrees F above this number.
Generally speaking, the traditional processing of maple sap involved burning wood to provide the heat required for evaporation. However, use of oil and gas burners was gradually introduced to cut down on labour requirements and to speed up the finishing stage. Further to the evaporation process, a modern refinement has been developed which has been adapted to maple syrup manufacturing. It involves installing a reverse osmosis system inline just after the sap being processed leaves the storage tank. The thicker liquid that would normally go to waste is directed to the evaporation pans or pots. The residue, an absolutely clear pristine water, makes the best coffee imaginable. This method cuts down considerably on the hours of processing.
When the required syrup temperature is reached, pot #1 is removed from the wood stove to a propane burner for final evaporation or finishing. This is the most critical stage of all. To avoid boil-overs, many producers coat the inside rim of the cooking pots with a little butter. Believe me, you do not want to deal with the mess that overflowing sap can create.
I would encourage people lucky enough to have mature silver or Manitoba maples on their property to get involved in making maple syrup. Anyone can do this, as there remain many untapped trees in our small city, awaiting people with an adventurous spirit. However, do remember that the evaporation process when making maple syrup must take place outdoors. There is a very good reason why sugar shacks are kept isolated from the buildings where people reside. Here at Razberry Lane, the process of evaporation consists of a homebuilt wood burner and four large stainless steel pots. During the boiling process, the sap is moved forward from pot number 4 to 3, 2, then 1, while close attention is kept on the colour and consistency of the sap.
The syrup should now be removed from its heat source, strained and poured into syrup bottles and sealed. We have found trial and error to be our best teacher in this The finished product. whole venture. Depending on weather conditions and length of processing, colour and thickness of the syrup may vary from batch to batch, resulting in slight variations that do not affect flavour. Making one’s own maple syrup may not, admittedly, be for everyone. The effort involved can seem daunting, and is generally undertaken by do-ityourself types of people who derive pride and satisfaction from producing their own food. Though the process is hands-on and labour intensive, the challenge results in a final product of the finest quality, pleasing both to the eye and to the palate. AN
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FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017
54 Phil Burke
The Back Porch Lenny Becomes a Man When Little Lenny Laurenson accepted the invitation to his uncle’s camp on the February weekend of his fifteenth birthday, he immediately had second thoughts. He loved his uncle and enjoyed hard work but there was a problem. His cousin Lori, a year younger than he, invited her good friend Alicia to come along. Lenny always thought Alicia was a nice girl in a most magnificent way, so a whole day in her presence could well be too much for him. Besides being shy, he had grown 10 centimetres in the last year, his clothes never fit him properly for more than a week, and his feet were so large they reminded Lenny of Shep their family puppy. Well, the camp visit was only for a few hours and his uncle assured him there would be enough work to keep them all busy. They picked him up at noon on a beautiful day—no wind, no clouds and the temperature hovering just below zero. Lenny wore his dad’s snowmobile suit because he had outgrown his own and his mom wanted to make sure his growth spurt subsided before they invested in another. Then Alicia’s sweet voice spoke from the rear of the crew cab. “Hi, Lenny.” He had hated the name Lenny since he could remember because there were so many things that rhymed with it. He cringed as he recalled that terrible day when he was ten years old. His grade five teacher at White Polar Bay Elementary School organized an outdoor pet show and Lenny’s friend Robbie offered to loan him his pet cockatiel, Shiverme Timbers. The spectators laughed, clapped, hooted and cheered as Lenny marched around the ring with the bird dancing on his shoulder. Only after Lenny returned the bird to Robbie did he learn that Shiverme Timbers had an ‘accident’ that ran down the back of Lenny’s white t-shirt. It was years before the taunts of “Runny Lenny” subsided. When they reached the bush road to the camp on Idgitte Bay, they unloaded the two snow machines. It was agreed that Uncle Ed and cousin Lori would drive in with Lenny and Alicia as passengers. On the trip out Lenny and Ed would drive the machines. But three things happened that day and Lenny’s life changed forever.
A late fall storm had taken down two trees along the bush road requiring the drivers to break trail and as a result, Uncle Ed’s machine became stuck, one of its runners trapped under a heavy branch. Ed examined the situation, instructed the two girls to grab the machine here and there, he grasped it in another spot and they heaved. Nothing. But it told Uncle Ed where Lenny should put his efforts. Lenny followed instructions, lifted, and in seconds the runner was free. The girls marvelled at this Superboy called Lenny. At the camp, Lenny was instructed to enter the main cabin and ensure that the frost, snow and cold had done no damage. Lenny kicked the snow away from the screen door and pulled. Unfortunately an ice ridge stopped the door from opening. Lenny pulled again and the hinges pulled from the ancient door frame. He held the door in his mittened hand and sputtered an apology to Uncle Ed while again the two girls wondered at Lenny’s strength. Cleaning the snow from the roofs was a job for the roof rake. Lenny tackled the storage shed in no time and then began the main cabin while his uncle and the girls were inside making a fire and hot chocolate. Lenny stood to one side, manoeuvred the rake to the roof ridge and pulled on the metre deep snow. The freeze and thaw cycles of late fall, along with the snowstorms of December and January produced a very unstable base for the snow and in seconds a mighty avalanche swept both sides of the roof clean while almost burying Lenny. A job that should have taken half an hour was finished in five minutes and no one was more surprised than Lenny. On the way home, Uncle Ed thanked them all and wished his nephew a happy birthday. “It’s good to have another man around to help us.” Lenny beamed. Maybe being fifteen was a good thing after all. But the best was yet to come. When they dropped him off at his house, Alicia patted him on the shoulder and said, “Happy birthday, Len.” Little Lenny was no more. AN
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56 Cottage Services GEOTHERMAL ENERGY FOR THE HOME OR COTTAGE
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How to Submit Classifieds Email: diane@lowdpoa.com Mail: LOWDPOA, Box 1160, Kenora, ON P9N 3X7 Next submission deadline: March 10, 2017 Please try to keep your listing to 35 words or less.
For Rent Lakefront cottage on Lake of the Woods, near Kenora. Road access, 2 bdrm, fully modern. Only 2 weeks left available for 2017 summer season: Aug 4-11 & Aug 11-18. $800 per week. Information and pictures, contact lowcottage@hotmail.com. Private Cottage in Bulman Bay, LOTW - minutes from the Yacht Club. Near Keewatin, 10 mins down McKenzie Portage Road. Lakefront with large dock and great swimming. 4 bdrm, full bath with washer and dryer, good sized kitchen with dishwasher, wood burning fireplace and satellite TV. Screened porch, large deck and firepit. Lots of parking. Recently renovated. Available January through December. Minimum 2 week stay. $2800/week. Email enquires to hklapman@mwgapparel.com Exceptional location. Southwest shore of Coney Island, 400 ft shoreline - 3 bdrm cottage + 2 sleeping cabins. Extensive docks, large screened veranda and deck. Modern appliances, full laundry, wifi, satellite TV. One month rental July 10-Aug 7. $10,000 Contact gerrywilson@kmts.ca for additional information and photos. Island Rental 4 miles west of Sioux Narrows. 2 bdrm cabin with loft, kitchen, chemical toilet & water heater. Sleeps 3-4 adults; 3 children. $1000/ wk; $3000/4 wks. Blueberries galore in July/August. 812-637-3366, mel@getreals.com 13 acre island for camping or houseboating. Sandy beach; middle of best walleye fishery. No facilities. Search ‘Craig Island Kenora Ontario’ on Google Earth. $500/wk. 812-637-3366, mel@getreals.com
Sioux Narrows, Executive Log Cabin Estate. 3 bdrm, 4 beds in loft, screened porch, granite kitchen with wolf appliances, washer/dryer, fireplace, boathouse with 1 lift, boat launch, kayaks, mountain bike & walking trails, sand beach all on 270 private acres. Minimal wifi service. Minimum 2 wk stay. $3000/wk. Contact Pete Hayes at 575-621-0800 or email to petehayes1960@gmail.com Lakefront 3 bedroom cottage – 30 mins from Kenora. On a beautiful quiet lake with lots of bays and clear clean water. Perfect for swimming, kayaking, canoeing, paddleboarding, fishing, boating, blueberry picking, hiking & biking. The cottage is comfy, very clean and well equipped with a “10” newly renovated kitchen, 2 decks, floating dock. It will appeal to those who enjoy the outdoors and the joys of lake life. Road access. By the week or longer periods. Email: LakeforU@mymts.net.
Want to Rent 4 bedroom cottage with mainland access, west of Kenora. We require 2+ bathrooms. Dates are flexible. Would like 2 weeks in either July or August 2017. brian@canadianfootwear.com, (204) 981-0277
Real Estate for Sale Waterfront home on Lake of the Woods. Custom built year-round home features 3 bdrm, 3 bath & over 2900 sq ft of living space, west of Kenora. No detail was spared in constructing and finishing this home. Loaded with amenities! Great location, minutes off Hwy 17 in low tax, unorganized territory. Call Wes: 807-543-1556, rae-wes@shaw.ca
Classifieds 57 2005 – SX175 yellow/white Glastron Boat, inboard Volvo/Penta 4.3L with low hours. Includes fish finder, radio, cover, EZ Load trailer. Asking $11,000. Echo Bay. Call Fred: 807-733-3717 or 204-269-8756 TWO Mercury Racing Motors 1 - 1952 KG7 Super 10 - Hurricane 1 - 15 HP - Modified Current model 16 cu.in. c/w new factory racing lower unit and SS cleaver prop (never used). Phone Jim Geddes for info 204-599-2192 2000 Sea Ray 215 Express Cruiser in immaculate condition, 5.0L fuel injected, 240 hp Mercruiser, less than 450 hrs, trim tabs, depth finder, upgraded stereo, cuddy cab with toilet and sink. Sleeps 2 comfortably, pressurized water system, transom shower, integrated swim platform, full canvas, mooring cover and bimini top. Snap-in carpet, custom cooler, garage stored and professionally serviced. Custom Sea Ray tandem boat trailer included. Located on Storm Bay Road. Great value at $14,750! Call Robert at 250-858-3301 Pace Ship 16’ Sailboat. Fibreglass hull, teak wood trim with small storage cuddy. Great for family, lots of cockpit space, easy to sail and very stable in the water. Built in Mahone Bay, NS. Includes jib, main sail, retractable keel, tiller and all lines. Stored for 16 yrs in good condition. Echo Bay, LOW. donway@mymts.net, 760-733-3333 or 204-888-4698
Miscellaneous 10th ANNUAL MIND BODY SPIRIT FAIR Sunday, May 7, 2017 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Clarion Lakeside Inn, Kenora, Ontario
Boats & Motors for Sale 1956 Lyman 19ft runabout, 100 H.P. gray marine inboard, original condition, kept in boathouse, runs great. $18,000. No trailer. For pictures contact Barb. (807) 466-2578 or burchwell@sympatico.ca
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L.O.W. AREA NEWS
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017
58 Advertisers’ Directory Architecture 45 Boreal Architecture Studio 201 Main Street South, Kenora 807-464-1151 borealstudio.ca
Building Materials 57 McMunn & Yates 1666 Highway 17 W, Keewatin 807-547-3366 24 Star Building Materials 16 Speers Road, Winnipeg 204-233-8687 starbuilding.ca/winnipeg
Craft Brewery 19 Lake of the Woods Brewing Co. 350 Second Street South, Kenora 807-468-2337 lowbrewco.com
Community & Philanthropy 55 Bob Nault, MP 301 First Avenue South, Kenora 807-468-2170 INSIDE 0 City of Kenora BACK 1 Main Street South, Kenora COVER 807-467-2000 kenora.ca 53 Lake of the Woods District Hospital Foundation 21 Sylvan Street West, Kenora 807-468-9861 lwdhf.com
Contractors & Construction 2 Black Fox Construction Lot 19, Williams Road, Kenora 807-407-9983 blackfoxconstruction.com 25 DTL Carpentry 204-979-4055 dtlcarpentry.ca
27 Linwood Custom Homes Ted Finlay 204-261-5359 linwoodhomes.com 7 Norsemen Contracting Kenora 807-468-1488 40 Oakwood Roofing 1350B Highway 17 East, Kenora 807-467-8824 oakwoodroofing.com 21 REMR Roofing 2053 Highway 17 East, Kenora 807-548-2811 remrroofing.com 56 Postech Screw Piles 57-075 Symington Rd E, Winnipeg 1-855-4-PILING manitobascrewpiles.ca
Docks 11 Docks & Lifts Ltd. 1940 Highway 17 East, Kenora 807-547-4444 docksandlifts.ca 35 Frank Hickling Sales 15 Chimo Place, Springfield 204-222-3301 fhsales.ca
Electrical 56 Bob’s Electric 225 Main Street North, Kenora 807-468-5915 rbrignall@yahoo.ca
Energy 56 Earth4U 909 Ottawa Street, Keewatin 807-468-4468 earth4u.ca
Equipment Sales & Rentals 56 Best Way Rentals 1906 Sixth Street North, Kenora 807-548-4131
Financial Planning 15 The Darcy Zaporzan Wealth Management Group of RBC Dominion Securities Inc. 3100-201 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg 204-982-2635 dzwmg.com
Fireplaces 47 Flame & Comfort 318 Logan Avenue, Winnipeg 204-943-5263 flameandcomfort.com
Home & Cottage Maintenance 56 Denver’s Window Cleaning Services 30 Deerfield Trail, Steinbach 204-320-1935 denverswindowcleaning.com 56 Keystone Security Solutions 1221 Highway 17 W, Keewatin 807-468-7878 keystonelock.ca 14 North Coral Landscaping 1310-311 Hargrave Street, Winnipeg 204-880-8453 northcorallandscaping.com
Insurance 56 Garriock Insurance 390 York Avenue, Winnipeg 800-773-7157 garriock.ca 59 The Standard Insurance Brokers 319 Second Street South, Kenora 807-468-3333 thestandardonline.com
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Advertisers’ Directory 59 Legal
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29 Booth Dennehy LLP 387 Broadway Avenue, Winnipeg 204-957-1717 boothdennehy.com 39 Hook Seller Lundin LLP 203-301 First Avenue South, Kenora 807-468-9831 hsllawyers.com 13 Shane Pearce Law 100 Main Street South, Kenora 807-468-7892 33 Shewchuk, Ormiston, Richardt & Johnson LLP 214 Main Street South, Kenora 807-468-5559 kenoralaw.com
12 Enns Brothers 1095 Railway Street, Kenora 807-468-4077 ennspowersports.com BACK 0 Woodlake Marine COVER 1956 Highway 17 West, Kenora 807-468-2628 woodlakemarine.com 34 WSL Sport & Leisure | Tall Pines Marina 832 Lakeview Drive, Kenora 807-468-5253 lotwsport.com
Real Estate 0 Cabin Country Realty INSIDE FRONT 138 Main Street South, Kenora COVER 807-468-3541 cabincountry.com 16 Century 21 Reynard Real Estate, Greg Kirby 807-547-5555 century21.ca/greg.kirby 18 Duncan Carmichael Real Estate 625 Lakeview Drive, Kenora 807-467-2323 lakeofthewoods.net 26 Northwoods Realty 5701A Highway 71, Sioux Narrows 807-226-1024 northwoodsrealtyltd.com 37 Shelley Torrie Home & Cottage Realty 721 Beach Road, Kenora 807-547-4020 kenora-realestate.com
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L.O.W. AREA NEWS
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017
60 History
In recognition of Canada’s 150th anniversary in 2017, this year we are devoting the back page of the Area News to celebrating our region’s history. Many thanks to Lake of the Woods Museum director, Lori Nelson, for penning this column for us.
Bridging the Gap by Lori Nelson
A walk on Tunnel Island—the common land, the common ground—grants one an iconic Kenora vista. Water, rocks, trees and… a bridge. With a glance to the south, it’s in full view as one emerges from the wooded trail onto the rocky causeway that corrals the river on its path north and west. The classic arch of the single-span highway bridge provides a counterpoint to its wild environs and frames Lake of the Woods beyond. This current bridge is one of three traffic bridges that has spanned the western outlet of Lake of the Woods between Tunnel Island and Norman over the last 130 years. Let’s look back.
Norman Dam became fully operational, the rollerway and the bridge set upon it were blasted out in May of 1899 but not before another traffic bridge had been constructed. A vast improvement over the first, the second bridge, a Parker truss suited to long spans, nevertheless had its drawbacks. It allowed for single-lane traffic only. Still, it was in use for over 50 years until it was replaced by the third and current bridge.
THE THIRD AND PRESENT BRIDGE
On July 7, 1948, the first concrete was poured for the new bridge. Eleven months of construction followed and on June 16, 1949, traffic made the first crossing.
THE FIRST BRIDGE
The bridge was constructed by Emil Anderson Construction Company, a B.C. firm which continues to operate today. It was estimated that 60,000 feet of lumber was laid to form the deck for the concrete slabs and 10,000 cubic feet of concrete was laid with 26 tons of reinforced steel on the deck.
Several years of exceptionally low water in the early 1880s had adversely affected navigation which, in turn, had affected industry in the area. Those with an interest in the economic development of Rat Portage (now Kenora) began to lobby the federal government to find and fund a solution, with the suggestion that the damming of the outlets near Rat Portage would address the problem. Interested parties offered to have the dam built if the federal government would provide the $7,000 required for its construction. In the early summer of 1887 Parliament granted the monies and construction began that fall. When completed the rollerway dam effectively raised the lake level by about three feet.
Four concrete pillars, two each on the east and west approaches, formed a gateway onto the bridge. Each pillar was adorned with metal art depicting an Aboriginal hunter with bow and arrow and another spearing fish from a canoe. When repair work was done on the bridge in 1997, the pillars and the accompanying art were removed and put into storage at the City of Kenora’s public works yard. Since then, all four artworks have been stolen.
During the winter of 1887 and 1888, a rollerway or low dam was built across the western outlet to control water levels on Lake of the Woods.
The dam also provided the sub-structure for a roadway or, more accurately, a floating bridge, which was built later in 1888 to connect Rat Portage and Norman. Grumblings from Norman residents who felt that they were being taxed too highly for the benefits they received, no doubt, provided impetus for the connecting roadway.
THE SECOND BRIDGE
The first bridge was in use as long as the rollerway dam was. As industry developed so did the sophistication of ancillary services needed to support those businesses. Eventually the rollerway was replaced by the Norman Dam which was constructed a mile downriver. When the
In our current climate we may wince at the thought that these images identified the bridge as “The Indian Bridge” but it is significant that they remind us that the bridge, serving as a symbol of development and connection, intersects the ancient water paths used by our First Peoples. Perhaps the metaphor of the bridge holds more significance today than it ever has as we look forward and consider the reaches that still need to be crossed, the bridges that need to be built and the connections that need repair at this junction of cultures. AN
Kenora’s Winter Carnival is back again for 2017. This year’s carnival will include a number of the same great events you remember from last year, and years past...
Friday March 3
Saturday March 4
Sunday March 5
STORY BOARD WALK
FREE SKATING
KEEWATIN SKATING CLUB DEMO
Harbourfront 2:00pm
PUSH FOR CHANGE SLEEP OUT Whitecap Pavilion 5:00pm–2:00am
SHAW HOT CHOCOLATE
Whitecap Pavilion 5:00pm–7:00pm
FIREWORKS! Harbourfront 6:00pm–6:30pm
BLACKIE & THE RODEO KINGS
Clarion Lakeside Inn 8:00pm
Whitecap Pavilion 8:00am–8:00pm
89.5 CURLING FOR A CAUSE
Keewatin Curling Club 8:00am–4:00pm
TRAPPING DEMO & PROGRAMMING
Rideout Community Club 10:00am–4:00pm
FARMERS MARKET
Lake of the Woods Discovery Centre 10:00am–2:00pm
RYAN PRICE MAGIC SHOW
Kenora Public Library 10:30am & 1:00pm
MUSHIN’ FOR MUTTS Mount Evergreen Ski Area 11:00am–2:00pm
CABELA’S KIDS CAN FISH
Ice Road at 1st Ave S (MNR Landing) 1:00pm–3:00pm
Harbourtown BIZ Ice Rink 9:45am–11:00am
Q104 FREE PANCAKE BREAKFAST Whitecap Pavilion 9:30am
WAGON RIDES BY BEAVER CREEK RANCH Harbourfront 9:30am–11:30am
Sponsored by Golden Eagle Bingo Hall
SUNSET TRAIL RIDERS SNOWMOBILE RIDES *Please bring helmet!
Harbourfront 10:00am-2:00pm
MUSHIN’ MUTTS DEMO
Harbourfront 11:30am-12:00pm
AGILITY DEMO BY IT’S A DOG’S LIFE Harbourfront 10:30am
GREAT CANADIAN CANOE RACE
Harbourfront 12:00pm–12:30pm Sponsored by Harbourtown Biz
FAMILY ICE FISHING Sponsored by Triple P.L.A.Y.
Rabbit Lake 2:00pm–4:00pm
Don’t miss out... visit www.kenorawintercarnival.ca to stay updated on the events schedule, registration deadlines and ticket information.
RANGER PONTOONS
NEW FOR 2017
SEARAY 230 SLX WAKE
NEW FOR 2017
KENORA - LAKE OF THE WOODS
www.woodlakemarine.com
1-866-460-2628 TOLL FREE
1-807-468-2628 LOCAL
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