Issuu

Volume 48

Number 1

Early Spring 2018

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In this Issue…

President’s Message Editor’s Message

Notes from your Executive Director Members’ Page

Members Need-to-know Mark Your Calendars LOW Cottage Show & AGM FOCA Fall Seminar for Lake Associations Festival of Trees Charity Fundraiser Common Ground: A Sharing of our Stories What’s Happening on your Lake?

News & Notes Lake of the Woods Art Centre Project Progresses Province Moves to Universal Residential PLT Rate Reckoning with the Power of the Big Storm by Shari Mills The Upside of an October Blizzard by Susan McLeod Safeway in Kenora by John Dahl

Basin News Lake of the Woods Sustainability Foundation Gaanawendagoziwinaan

Cottage How-To Harry the Handyman When the Power Goes Out

Recreation Sunset Trail Riders Snowmobiling at Lake of the Woods

Invasive Species Little Green Eating Machines

Food & Drink The Challenge of the Perfect, Simple Roast Chicken Beef Fillet Wrapped in Prosciutto Cover Photo: Ihor Kor

LOWDKids! Kat the Nature Dog Get Outside Cottage Services Classifieds

62 Advertisers’ Directory 63 Real Estate Listings

Tramping Through the Bush by Lori Nelson

Beautiful Inside & Out Kenora’s Quality Builder

807 407 9983 | blackfoxconstruction.com

President’s Message Nancy Salmijarvi, LOWDPOA President

Happy 2018! The term “baby it’s cold outside” could not be truer so far this year! As I write this, Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario are suffering through a significant and prolonged deep freeze. Winter arrived early and in a big way with our first heavy snowstorm at the end of October—my photo above was taken October 26. The heavy, wet snow caused a lot of damage to homes and cottages around the district. The power was out for several days in the Kenora District while Hydro One crews worked around the clock to get everyone’s power back on. Kudos to the Hydro One crews for their tireless work restoring power to 4,000 households. I expect several of you have been able to escape the cold and snow and may be reading this edition of the Area News online while enjoying a warmer climate. Now that we have a digital option with our online member community, the magazine can truly go anywhere you take your phone, tablet or computer. 2017 was another busy year for LOWDPOA staff and directors. Several new initiatives were introduced, in addition to continuing with our tried-and-true programs that members look for and support. For that and more, I’d like to say a big thank you to the LOWDPOA staff and board of directors. The staff works hard to address our members’ needs while ensuring the association remains viable for everyone. Our dedicated volunteer board also puts in countless hours attending meetings, chairing committees, participating in events and planning for the future of LOWDPOA. If you haven't already done so… please remember to renew your 2018 LOWDPOA membership. Renewal forms are available in this magazine, you can call us directly, or you can renew online. You may even get a personal call from a board member or a LakeSmart team member as a friendly reminder to renew. Take a minute to explore our website (lowdpoa.com) and login with your email and password. It’s quick, easy and gives you access to member-only benefits, including digital versions of current and archived issues (2016/2017) of Area News. So, what’s happening next? In the coming months we’ll be very busy preparing for spring and summer programs and activities. Of course the AGM and Cottage Show will kick off the season with plans well underway for this year’s event—May 7 at the Victoria Inn and Conference Centre. Recruitment for our LakeSmart team has begun with ads in Area News, online and through social media, and LakeSmart visits to area lakes are already being booked.

Watch for an economic impact survey in the next issue of Area News. Your association is conducting this survey in partnership with the City of Kenora’s Economic Development Commission, the Lake of the Woods Business Incentive Corp. and the Township of Sioux Narrows–Nestor Falls. A full survey of LOWDPOA members hasn't been done in several years, and we hope many of you will participate in this one. Your answers to the survey questions will help us better understand the significant economic contributions and needs of our seasonal and year-round members and will provide information that our partners can use for planning purposes to identify opportunities and priorities We've incorporated a new section, ‘Harry the Handyman’ in Area News. Members often ask our staff ‘how to’ do-it-yourself questions—questions that we’re pretty sure are not unique to them. So, we thought we’d add a Q&A page to answer some of those questions and others that you send in. This edition covers some dilemmas that often occur while at the lake in the winter. I should probably point out that the “handyman” answering your questions is my husband, Harry. While not a professional handyman, he has built, repaired and manufactured more things than I can keep track of. He has first-hand experience with many of the issues like frozen and burst water pipes, so he can speak from experience! Send us your questions; we will endeavour to help with common issues and maybe save members some time, money and headaches. If I were to tell my family lake stories the common theme could be working with Harry to build, fix and repair more than I can list over the years. What’s your family lake story? We would like to hear lots of members’ stories and to share them in Area News or on our website. Long time cottager/resident or newcomer, historical, humorous, life lessons or just a plain old good story; we’d like to hear them all. Don't worry about the writing part—we have experienced writers that can work with you to bring your story to life on the page. Just contact us with your idea and we will take it from there! The countdown is on to the 2018 cottage season! Stay warm, relax and enjoy this issue of Lake of the Woods Area News.

Editor’s Message

Teika Newton, Area News Editor Snow is gently falling outside my window. The bitterly cold freeze of midwinter has given way to milder, late January weather, perfect for getting outside to play and revel in the enormous beauty of the Lake of the Woods region in winter. Lately, my weekends have been spent entirely on crosscountry skis, exploring the frozen lakes and trails all around my home, fully immersed in the best our area offers in the ‘off-season’. Though I’ve long prized early spring’s joyful dawn of new life, winter is quickly eclipsing all other seasons to become my absolute favourite time of year: no ticks, no mosquitoes, and so much peace and quiet as I glide through the sleeping, snowy woods on my skis.

state of the basin’s health. This year, look for regular articles on invasives and the latest watershed science. Snapshots of lake history will continue to be showcased on the back page. New this year is the Harry the Handyman column, where our resident handyman Harry Salmijarvi will do his best to answer your how-to questions to improve your enjoyment of life at the lake. In the Kids’ pages, look for a new LOWDKids activities feature from environmental educators Drew Monkman and Jacob Rodenburg. You can read more about this award-winning duo in their biographies found in the LOWDKids pages. Look for more food, drink and culture pieces this year, too.

Winter is a season many of you enjoy, too. Seasonal activities like snowmobiling offer families opportunities to bond at the lake all year long, as you’ll read in Gerry Brunnenstahl’s story. Though winter delivers breathtaking beauty, sometimes that comes with a bit more severity than grace, as so many of us experienced in October’s major storm that brought in winter in one gale force blast; in this issue, you can read two members’ stories of getting through the Big Storm, too.

It’s time to snuggle in with a warm blanket, a cup of tea, and read all the latest Lake of the Woods Area News. Wishing you all a happy end of winter. See you soon at the lake!

Our main feature stories this year will focus on histories of lake people, their activities and favourite places. This month, we are profiling the history of Kenora’s iconic Safeway store on the water. If you have a rich family history that you’d like to share with other LOWDPOA members, please get in touch with us, and let us help you put your story in print.

In this first issue of 2018, you can look for a few small format changes, and several elements we are retaining from past years. Last year, we introduced regular columns on invasive species, climate change impacts in our watershed, cottage care and maintenance information, and the popular back page lake history story. Over the course of the year, we saw an increasing interest in expanding our LOWDKids section, and also in providing more news and information about the

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, Colt Manson

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.

UPCOMING EDITORIAL DEADLINES:

March 1, 2018 May 3, 2018

July 26, 2018 October 3, 2018

©2018 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.

BUILDING DREAM S

Executive Director's Note Diane Schwartz-Williams

The term ‘extreme sports’ conjures up dozens of mental images of activities enjoyed by some for the thrill, for fun, or simply for the challenge of testing the limits of what is possible. A quick Google search presented a list of 41 such activities. While two of these, wakeboarding and water skiing, are familiar ones around here in the summer, none of our winter activities made the list. Obviously, whoever created that list has not experienced a winter such as ours this year. We dealt with a sudden and intense start to winter: widespread and lengthy power outages, hundreds of trees downed on roads, power lines, trails and homes, extended periods of record low temperatures, and a 30 cm dump of snow that shut most everything down for a couple days. This winter has been nothing if not extreme; for some there was fun, for many, a thrill, and for most, the challenge of testing our limits. We hope you’ll enjoy a look at our own brand of extreme sport with LOWDPOA member stories included in this issue of Area News. We are also hoping that those member stories might encourage you to share yours for a future issue or a special member-only website page. Remember too, we are always looking for member letters for Area News. Have a look at this issue’s letters on the next page. My first year as Executive Director for LOWDPOA could be described as somewhat extreme. It has been busy, multi-faceted, interesting, challenging at times, but so very rewarding and even fun. While there is much work we do behind the scenes, ultimately it is all about our members, and the opportunity to connect directly with members (whether in person, by phone or email) is a highlight for me. With the plans for 2018 coming together, I am looking forward to all that and more as we build on familiar programs and initiatives, expand others and look to introduce new ones. You will see some of those plans laid out in this issue, and we will continue to provide updates in future issues, on our website (lowdpoa.com), on Facebook (@lowdpoa), and in our eNews bulletins. The discussion and survey on changing the name of our association, initiated in 2017, will continue in 2018. First presented to our members at the 2017 AGM, we followed up with articles in three issues of Area News, posts on

Facebook and eNews bulletins. The questions asked on our recent member survey about a name change for your association were few in number, but they were important ones. Many of you took time to complete the survey, and it was Photo by Tom Thomson quite apparent that a lot of thought went into your answers. Beyond the specific questions asked, we also received a number of thought provoking suggestions and comments. Thanks to your interest and feedback we have a significant amount of material to review and discuss, and your Directors are committed to doing just that. By the time you are reading this, it will be just over two months until our annual Cottage Show and AGM. With 50 exhibitors already confirmed for the show, we are ahead of last year’s registrations at this time. Last year’s screening of part one of Lake of the Woods; a History by Water was a huge hit, and plans for the AGM this year include screening of the sequel released last summer. We are pretty excited about how everything is shaping up, and we are hoping to see you Monday, May 7 at the Victoria Inn in Winnipeg. While we all manage to navigate whatever ride Mother Nature takes us on, I expect I am not the only one who has lovely images of spring and summer lake time flashing through my mind with increasing frequency. In the meantime, kick back and dive into the first issue of Area News for 2018. Let us know what you think about the magazine, a particular story, or if you have any questions or suggestions about something you read on these pages. See you in the spring!

LAKE OF THE WOODS DISTRICT PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION Executive Committee

Board Members

Staff

PRESIDENT Nancy Salmijarvi, Welcome Channel

Wayne Bruce, Pistol Lake Dave Christie, Granite Lake Anneke Gillis, Paddy Lake Jean Anne Hallas, Lily Pad Bay Lucas King, Woodchuck Bay Don Parfitt, Winnipeg River John Waterer, Clearwater Bay Bob Wilkes, Gunn Lake

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Diane Schwartz-Williams (807) 543-4287 diane@lowdpoa.com

Contact

ASST. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Linda Nelson (807) 468-8715 linda@lowdpoa.com

EMAIL info@lowdpoa.com FACEBOOK @lowdpoa TOLL-FREE 1-888-265-9784 PHONE (807) 468-8715

VICE PRESIDENT Hardy Bock, Black Sturgeon TREASURER Christine Semenchuk, Storm Bay PAST PRESIDENT Robert Bulman, Tunnel Island

P.O. Box 1160 Kenora, ON P9N 3X7

L.O.W. AREA NEWS

EARLY SPRING 2018

Members' Page Snowmobile Trails: Ready to Ride! Two stroke smoke… if you know what that term means, odds are you’re an avid sledder or have ridden a snowmobile at some time in your life. With all the beautiful lakes and landscape in our area to explore and enjoy in the winter, what better way to do that then on a sled (snowmobile)? For most riders though, the only way to truly enjoy the experience this wondrous terrain is to have a diverse trail system that connects all these landscapes together. The Kenora area has a marked, easy to navigate trail system (approximately 600 km and 4,000 stakes) which is maintained by Sunset Trail Riders (STR) volunteer snowmobile club. Each year volunteers from the club get together in the fall to start preparing the trail system for the sledding season. This year of course required an exponential amount of volunteer work to have the trail system ready for an enjoyable season. Remember that snowstorm that hit the Kenora region at the end of October? Approximately 20 mm of rain fell, followed by 30 cm of wet snow, over a span of about 30 hours—closing roads, damaging property and leaving thousands of homes without power for a few days. The storm showed no mercy to the STR trails. Our entire trail system in the region became completely impassable. Most of the trails had completely collapsed in on themselves with broken and uprooted trees. The smaller trees did not break, but were bent over and frozen to the ground in such a way that even a rabbit would find it tough to navigate. The Sunset Trail Riders club swung into action and developed a plan to save the 2018 trail season. By November 15 volunteers were in the forest starting on what seemed like a daunting, never ending task of clearing and reopening our trails. Between individual volunteers and donated support from local companies, over 2,000 volunteer hours have already gone into the trail system this year, and the work continues. The next time you’re on the trails, we hope you’ll take a moment to look around and appreciate all the volunteer hours that go into maintaining the trails every year (especially this year) so that we can all enjoy a lovely ride through our winter wonderland with family friends. And remember, we’re always happy to welcome new volunteers! —Gerry Rummery & Doug LeBlanc Avid sledders & STR volunteers

L.O.W. AREA NEWS

EARLY SPRING 2018

Members' Page Laclu Memories 1999-2018

A member suggestion from Dyke Williams:

Put a cup full of water in your

When I was eight years old, our family took a very important car ride to Clearwater Market. Initially just a drive to put us (children) to sleep, my parents stumbled upon the Sally Kendall Real Estate office and found our golden home posted on the wall. In spite of the rain and horrible weather conditions, our family of five continued to trek through the wilderness on Highway 641 to set eyes on their vision and dream for our family. Boy, am I grateful for that drive. Thankfully, I was old enough then that I have some very early camp memories. I remember the exact (horrendous) bathing suit I wore that first summer, the colour of the exterior (equally horrendous), and the songs we listened to during renovations (cowboy take me away). I remember my little brother, Logan, never wanting to stay close to home and instead venturing off to neighbours and the Rice Bay Store buck-naked. I remember every boat we’ve ever had sitting at our dock and watching my dad gleaming with joy as he took us tubing or wake boarding. I remember falling off a tube with a friend and needing the wonderful handy work of Norie Bennett to magically stitch my nose up. I remember that everyone felt comfortable and at complete, peace with this incredible journey we were on together—after the initial 30 minutes of settling in on a Friday, of course. I will forever cherish my dear Laclu summer friends who became my soul sisters; remnants of our fort are still there to this day, and I can’t help but smile. Once a path that we needed a weed whacker to clear, our shortcut between the Adamson’s and our cabin, is now permanently bare of weeds. I still get excited when someone pops out from that path. This place we all love has connected my family in ways I could never have dreamed with my husband now sharing our love for the lake. When I am there, I am overwhelmed as I watch my parents fall more in love, visit my beautiful nephew, Levi, rock away to the music on Adamson’s boat, and with just being there. I can’t thank my parents enough for taking that drive and providing us with invaluable memories that have helped shape who we have become as adults. Cheers to 100 more years! —Katie Desilets (Mahaffy)

freezer and wait for it to freeze

completely. Once it gets to that

point, place a coin on top of the ice. If you get home from your

vacation and the coin has sunk to the bottom, you’ll know that your power went out and your food is no longer safe to eat.

A member suggestion from Shayla Smith:

cottage) to be notified by phone, text or email when your power goes out and when it comes

back on. It's not infallible, but

it doesn't hurt to sign up. Visit

hydroone.com/request-a-service/ outage-alerts.

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L.O.W. AREA NEWS

EARLY SPRING 2018

10 Members - Need to Know Our Contributors Hayley Anderson is a graduate of Ecosystem Management and a former Invasive Species Technician. She has lived in Kenora her whole life and actively enjoys the lakes in our region.

Mark Your Calendars We’re looking forward to a busy spring and summer for LOWDPOA with some plans firmly in place and others well underway. Look for updates in the next issue of Area News, and in the meantime follow us on Facebook @lowdpoa or Twitter @lowdpoaLakeTime to keep up to date. March 7 - 8 | 2018 Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Forum International Falls, Minnesota

Mort Goss is a local business owner, volunteer and current City of Kenora councillor. He is a passionate foodie who seeks out quality simple foods and techniques from around the world.

Professional symposium intended for researchers and resource managers working and/or interested in research and management activities related to the International Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed. April 6 | LakeSmart and Invasive Species Outreach applications due

Susan McLeod is the past Executive Director of LOWDPOA. She is still loving lake life and the Association.

Drew Monkman is a retired French immersion teach, naturalist and writer who has a family cottage on Clear Lake, near Peterborough, Ontario. He is the co-author of The Big Book of Nature Activities: A Year-round Guide to Outdoor Learning.

Lori Nelson is the Director at Lake of the Woods Museum. Her family grew up on Tunnel Island and by sail her family has explored every corner of Lake of the Woods.

Elsie Neufeld lives on Black Sturgeon Lake. She’s an avid traveler and since retirement has been authoring a novel, teaching writing workshops and freelancing.

Jacob Rodenburg is Executive Director of Camp Kawartha, a summer camp and outdoor education centre, and an environmental educational instructor at Trent University. He is the co-author of The Big Book of Nature Activities: A Year-round Guide to Outdoor Learning. Bob Stewart in a former Kenora newspaper reporter and is heavily involved with LOWDPOA’s government affairs committee, District of Kenora Unincorporated Areas Ratepayers Association and Kenora District Services Board.

Summer employment opportunities with LOWDPOA. We're looking for two LakeSmart Ambassadors and one Invasive Species Community Outreach Liaison. See page 16 for job postings. April 16 | Nominations for LOWDPOA’s 2018 Board of Directors due For more information see article (page 14) or contact Robert Bulman bulman@lowdpoa.com or Diane Schwartz-Williams diane@lowdpoa.com. May 5 | Last Day to Order Seedlings Place your seedling order online at lowdpoa.com/cpages/seedlings, by mail or phone: 807-468-8715. May 7 | 56th Annual General Meeting & Lake of the Woods Cottage Show Victoria Inn, Winnipeg (1808 Wellington Ave.) Doors open for the Cottage Show from 1:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. 92 exhibitors last year, and we’re on the way to matching that or more! LOWDPOA Annual General Meeting from 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Catch up on your Association business, and enjoy a special presentation of the video documentary, Lake of the Woods: a History by Water Episode II, the sequel to the video shown last year to rave reviews. May 19 | Seedling Pick-up Day from 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. July 1 | LakeSmart Team & LOWDPOA at Matiowski Farmers’ Market Whitecap Pavilion, Kenora from 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. July 4 - August 29 | LakeSmart Team & LOWDPOA at Matiowski Farmers’ Market Whitecap Pavilion, Kenora every Wednesday from 8:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. Plans in the works & dates pending: • LOWDPOA Summer Meeting at the Lake » Two locations this year: Kenora & Nestor Falls • Three full day visits to IISD Experimental Lakes Area • Free Metal Waste Collection Day at Pye's Landing • LakeSmart Team visits to area lakes » Tentative dates for Laclu and Morson, with many more to follow • LOWDkids activities including Storm Drain Painting to spread the message “A healthy lake starts here!”

Monday, May 7, 2018 | 1:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Victoria Inn, 1808 Wellington Avenue, Winnipeg 56th Annual General Meeting: 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Lake of the Woods

COTTAGE SHOW AND

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Share your passion for lake life! Bring a friend and introduce them to the benefits of LOWDPOA membership.

P R E L I M I N A RY E X H I B I TO R L I ST Our exhibitors represent some of the best businesses serving the LOWDPOA membership. Don't miss out! Visit lowdpoa.com for our updated exhibitor list or to become an exhibitor. All Brands Boat Repair

Killer Krumbs

Q104 Kenora Online

Best Way Rentals & Sales

Lake of the Woods Brewing Company

Rainfresh Water Treatment

Bruce Krawicki Ltd.

Lake of the Woods Control Board

REMR Roofing

Change of Latitude Marina

Lake of the Woods Cottage Guide

Solar Solutions Inc.

Cabin Country Realty

Lake of the Woods District Hospital Foundation

Star Building Materials

Lake of the Woods Sunrise Soap

Sunset Spray East Ltd.

Century 21 Reynard Real Estate Duncan Carmichael Real Estate Earth 4U Consulting Ens Brothers Faux Rocks Northwest Garriock Insurance The Hardwear Company IISD Experimental Lakes Area Kenora & Lake of the Woods Regional Community Foundation

Lake of the Woods Water Sustainability Foundation Lumber One Building Supplies Nature Conservancy of Canada Oakwood Roofing and Sheet Metal Co. Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources & Forestry - Kenora District OPP Marine & Trails Unit Postech Screw Piles

Suncoast MB TF Leisure Marketing (Linwood Homes) Tom Thomson Photography Verti-Shade Wooden Pens & Much More Wood with Whimsey Woodlake Marine World of Water WSL Sport & Leisure (Kenora)

For show information please contact Diane Schwartz-Williams at (807) 543-4287 or diane@lowdpoa.com

L.O.W. AREA NEWS

EARLY SPRING 2018

12 Members - Need to Know LOWDPOA’s Executive Director took part in the latest FOCA member event, the Fall Seminar for Lake Associations, in November 2017. It was a lively day of discussion and learning about building community, volunteerism, engagement and ways to connect with younger generations, for the good of all our lake associations. Here are some highlights.

FOCA Fall Seminar for Lake Associations Updates from FOCA

FOCA’s Executive Director, Terry Rees, reviewed FOCA’s recent work, including invasive species projects undertaken in the summer of 2016 with 26 member Associations across the province including LOWDPOA’s beetle release to control purple loosestrife. FOCA is also working on a rural economic development project to clarify and assert the importance of cottage residents’ roles as entrepreneurs in municipal economies. In 2018, FOCA will continue to work on asserting the significance of lake associations to decision makers, and will keep members informed about the upcoming provincial and municipal elections. The theme of the day’s seminar (“Strong Associations for Future Generations”) reflected members’ ongoing interests in membership growth and retention, and finding new and younger volunteers to ensure the vibrancy of lake associations for the future. While acknowledging the essential value of long-term commitment, there is clearly a need to keep filling the ranks of volunteers in our community organizations. Terry quoted the Corporate Knights: “A more sustainable future will only come about through the dedication of an informed and active citizenry.” Our challenges are many, but we have the strength of community to help us tackle them.

Keynote Speakers: The Water Brothers Alex Mifflin and Tyler Mifflin are the creators and co-hosts of the TVO eco-adventure documentary series, “The Water Brothers.” Since 2012, these Georgian Bay cottagers have travelled the globe, exploring some of the most important water stories of our time.

The brothers’ passion for environmental education and conservation has led them to become water ambassadors in Canada and around the world. They strongly believe in ensuring that audiences, particularly young people, are aware of the challenges we face in relation to our most precious resource: water. They want youth to become part of the emerging solutions that will need to be implemented in the coming years, in order to harmonize our relations with ecosystems that support all life on earth. To see more visit thewaterbrothers.ca. Don’t miss, “On Thin Ice,” the episode about water science and their visit to the IISD Experimental Lakes Area!

Discussion Group Session

One of the highlights of the day was a break-out session of table discussions about lake association success stories. Each group considered what is working to find and engage new members as well as younger volunteers, and what gaps might be preventing lake associations from improving membership or volunteer/youth engagement. Some interesting recurring themes and new ideas bubbled through the discussions. Top ways to find new members include: dock-to-dock visits, social events that include food and drink, creating a welcome book or welcome wagon to greet newcomers, and leveraging digital tools such as websites, email newsletters and social media to circulate information about the “burning issues” that can galvanize interest in the association. Younger volunteers may be found by hosting events targeted at youth, by taking advantage of social media, and by offering high school community service hours with your association. Also, it can help to offer younger volunteers specific, finite tasks and short-term commitments for one project or event, instead of a two-year Board stint, for example. Participants reported some skills gaps to manage social media, websites and digital apps. They also identified that new structural models (such as “youth” or “associate” memberships) might encourage new people to get involved.

Panel - Volunteerism and Youth The Water Brothers and FOCA’s Terry Rees

The afternoon continued with a panel discussion moderated by FOCA’s Frances Wilbur and three panelists providing other perspectives on getting volunteers and youth engaged.

L.O.W. AREA NEWS

EARLY SPRING 2018

Members - Need to Know 13

FOCA's Fall Seminar 2017

FOCA’s Programs Manager with the afternoon panelists

Jacob Rodenburg, Executive Director of Camp Kawartha and co-author of The Big Book of Nature Activities, focused upon the youngest definition of youth: those under 18 years of age. “A child is ‘biofluid’ and benefits from experiences in the same places, repeated over time to foster a life-long relationship with nature,” he noted. “From relationship comes respect, which leads to responsibility, and finally to reciprocity (wanting to give back).” Jacob encouraged associations to connect local nature experts with youngsters, and to consider offering kids’ day camps, as well as opportunities to perform simple acts of naturalization. Thomas McAuley-Biasi, Chair of the non-profit organization Emerging Leaders for Biodiversity, urged lake associations to establish one-to-one connections with millennials (roughly, the 18to-35 year olds), and to engage them by sharing the passion that fuels your own involvement. Remember that those finishing school need volunteer hours and unique internship opportunities that will help them stand out as they look to enter the competitive job market. Finally, Mike Hendren, Executive Director of the Kawartha Land Trust, echoed the call to “never waste a crisis!” Identify the transformative issue(s) at your own lake that will speak to new members and encourage new volunteers. Mike noted that we often expect volunteers to do too much; try asking for help at a one-time event instead of requiring a Board commitment.

Video Launch: “Lake Associations”

The event concluded with the launch of the FOCA 2017 video project: “Lake Associations,” a new short film by videographer Chelsie Xavier-Blower, a graduate student of the Environmental Visual Communication Program of Fleming College and the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM). Chelsie was introduced by Dave Ireland, Managing Director of the ROM Centre of Discovery in Biodiversity. FOCA thanks all the members who assisted with the making of this video, which was shot in Ontario cottage country last summer. See the video here: foca.on.ca/lake-associations-a-video. Please share it! FOCA is the Federation of Ontario Cottagers’ Associations, an incorporated non-profit organization that represents over 500 waterfront property owners’ groups, with over 50,000 member families. For over 50 years, FOCA has spoken on behalf of, and supported, Ontario’s 250,000 waterfront property owners. As a member of LOWDPOA, you are also a member of FOCA!

Share your passion for lake life... ...with a LOWDPOA gift membership!

Easy to order!

You can also order by mail. See page 10 for details, or contact info@lowdpoa.com or (807) 468-8715.

L.O.W. AREA NEWS

EARLY SPRING 2018

14 Members - Need to Know Festival of Trees Charity Fundraiser The Kenora and Lake of the Woods Regional Community Foundation held their 14th Annual Festival of Trees Gala Evening at the beginning of December. This is always a spectacular evening for a most-worthy cause complete with amazingly decorated trees, delicious food, great company and a lovely way to kick off the season. This year marked the first time LOWDPOA was involved in this event that supports community philanthropy at the Community Foundation and all the amazing work it does for the benefit of so many charitable and non-profit organizations in their catchment area. Our involvement was one of support and somewhat indirect as it was actually realized through the efforts of the Lake of the Woods Brewing Company and the tree that they decorated and donated to Festival of Trees. The tree was quite striking and aptly themed to showcase our partnership initiative—One 4-Pack/One Tree. The bidding on ‘our’ tree was brisk and we were delighted to watch the bids climb until the winning bid of $950 was accepted. The Community Foundation’s 14th Annual Festival of Trees Charity Fundraiser was once again a success. The entire event, which included a Gala Night and Auction, Community Day, photos with Santa, and a Seniors’ Tea, netted $28,000 for their Community Leadership Fund. Organizers are already looking forward to the 15th Annual Festival of Trees Charity Fundraiser to be held on November 30 and December 1, 2018. The theme will be “An Enchanted Evening”.

Call for Nominations 2018 LOWDPOA Board of Directors LOWDPOA is now accepting nominations for the 2018 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 16, 2018) prior to the Annual General Meeting (May 7, 2018). No nominations for directors shall be accepted from the floor of any meeting of members. PREREQUISITES

(L-R) Diane SchwartzWilliams (LOWDPOA) and Rob & Megan Dokuchie (LOW Brewing Company) at Festival of Trees with One 4-Pack/One Seedling themed tree. Photo by Cory McCrindle and Kenora & Lake of the Woods Regional Community Foundation

One 4-Pack/One Seedling: partnership launched by Lake of the Woods Brewing Company and LOWDPOA to plant 5,000 red pine seedlings in the Lake of the Woods area... in addition to the 10,000 planted annually by LOWDPOA Members.

• Nominee must be a 2018 member in good standing of the Lake of the Woods District Property Owners Association. • Nominee must accept the nomination. • 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

EARLY SPRING 2018

Members - Need to Know 15 Common Ground: A Sharing of Our Stories Common Ground: A Sharing of Our Stories, a day-long storytelling event, returns for its 13th year. Hosted by a group of Kenora residents who love this area and the stories that define it, the event provides an opportunity for storytellers to share the stories of their life and interests on Lake of the Woods. This year’s gathering will be held on Saturday, April 7 at the Seven Generations Event Centre in Kenora. Over the past 12 years, those in attendance have been enlightened by such stories as: The History of Tunnel Island, Experiencing Lake of the Woods from the Grace Anne II, Water Development on the Winnipeg River, The Man-Made Island of Shoal Lake #40, The Stone Boat Company, Anishinaabeg of Kapabikitowang: The People of Lake of the Woods, German Prisoner of War Camps and Stories from Keewatin’s Cemetery, to name just a few. As well, there have been many, many stories of early residents, businesses, and institutions. This year’s Common Ground event will include a story of the shipwrecks of Lake of the Woods; Shirley Richardson’s story of her life and connection to Lake; the tale of two of Kenora’s World War II heroes, Lloyd and Frank Hanton; and an account of the ice candle tradition at the Lake of the Woods Cemetery; and more.

Tickets are $30 (cash or cheque only, payable to: Common Ground) and will be available at the Kenora Public Libraries and the Lake of the Woods Museum by March 7, 2018. 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.

Book your LakeSmart visit now! Thanks to the generous support of Woodlake Marine, who provides the LakeSmart boat each summer, the LakeSmart team travels extensively on Lake of the Woods. They also visit a number of other area lakes. Spread the word about being more sustainable in our stewardship of land and water. Share practical knowledge that leads to a healthier lake ecosystem: • • • • •

Tips for living and playing green at the lake Information on preventing the spread of invasive species Suggestions on ‘good’ plants to grow on shorelines Shoreline buffer zones, Checklist for healthy, safe septic systems

We’re looking for spots to drop anchor. Interested in having the team visit your property, attend your event or visit your lake? Call 807-468-8715 or email info@lowdpoa.com.

LOOKING FOR YOUR MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL PACKAGE? If you haven’t received it yet, contact Linda to have your renewal package sent out or check pages 8-10 for everything you need to know about membership renewal. info@lowdpoa.com 807-468-8715 | 1-888-265-9784

L.O.W. AREA NEWS

EARLY SPRING 2018

16 Members - Need to Know OFAH INVADING SPECIES AWARENESS PROGRAM SUMMER EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

SUMMER EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

POSITION: Environmental Stewardship Technicians (2)

POSITION: Invasive Species Community Outreach Liaison (1)

LOCATION: Kenora, Ontario

DURATION: June 18 - August 25, 2018

DURATION: Late June for 8-10 weeks, dependent on funding

DESCRIPTION: LakeSmart is an environmental outreach program managed by LOWDPOA during summer (2018). LakeSmart assists the Association delivery on its environmental education mandate and to raise the profile of LOWDPOA.

DESCRIPTION: LOWDPOA partners with OFAH (Ontario Federation of Anglers & Hunters) in delivery of their Invading Species Awareness Program. This program assists the Association in meeting its environmental education mandate and to 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 • Familiar with computer and database management • Familiar with the Lake of the Woods region including strong navigation skills • Capability in using marine equipment safely and according to legislation • Able to work flexible hours including weekends OTHER REQUIREMENTS: • Valid driver’s license • Valid Pleasure Craft Operators Card • CPR/Standard First Aid Certificate would be an asset

Applicants must be full-time students, under 30 years of age and returning to school full-time in September 2018 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 for either position(s) by April 6, 2018.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES: • Liaison with community groups and resource professionals to assist in the development of invading species awareness initiatives • Attend and provide support to community events, such as fishing derbies or community fairs • Conduct presentations to various community organizations • Coordinate community groups in stewardship/monitoring activities • Develop educational materials on invasive species/contribute articles to local newspapers/newsletters. EDUCATION AND QUALIFICATIONS: Enrolled in post secondary education in biology, environmental science or a related resource management program. REQUIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE: • Knowledge of invasive species affecting local environments • Plant, fish and invertebrate identification skills • Knowledge and skills relating to monitoring local waters and natural areas for invasive species • Experience networking with resource professionals/agencies and engaging volunteers/public in invading species awareness and stewardship projects • Excellent written and oral communication skills, including experience conveying information to the public (e.g. presentations to community/contributing articles to newspapers/newsletters) • Familiar with computer and database management skills (MS Office, MS Outlook, Internet) • Knowledge of the principles of field work, such as accurate data recording, use of technical equipment, record keeping • Able to work flexible hours and perform occasional field work • Strong organizational skills and the ability to work effectively with minimal supervision • Valid G driver’s license • Pleasure Craft Operators Card & valid police reference check

Mail to: Diane Schwartz-Williams, Lake of the Woods District Property Owners Association PO Box 1160, Kenora, ON P9N 3X7 E-mail: diane@lowdpoa.com

L.O.W. AREA NEWS

EARLY SPRING 2018

Members - Need to Know 17 What’s happening on your lake? It may be too early to say that summer and lake time is just around the corner, but it is never too early to start dreaming, planning and talking about it. We know that a number of lake neighbourhoods and associations are beginning to think about events and activities with some plans already in place, and we are looking forward to hearing about all of them. The Laclu Campers Association has moved their plans into high gear for their celebration of the their 100th anniversary in 2018. Final submissions for their coffee table book, Golden Memories of Laclu have been accepted and the work on compiling the book has begun. The calendar of events for the celebration has been set and will kick off with the PUFF Annual Pancake Breakfast on May 19. Events will run throughout the summer and include a Homecoming Dance, fireworks, a boat parade, cottage tours, and Regatta weekend, finishing off with a Labour Day weekend barbeque. For more information on the celebration or to learn how to get involved, visit the Laclu Campers Association website laclucampersassociation.com or their Facebook page. Many Morson residents and cottagers are already involved in plans to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the Morson Township (before amalgamation into the Lake of the Woods

Township) this summer. If you haven’t done so already, give some thought for sharing your stories and photos with the Morson History Book committee. Submissions will be accepted until July 1, 2018 and can be sent to morsonbook@gmail.com. Tell us what’s happening on your lake! Share your event notices, news and activities with us, and take advantage of the opportunity to extend your reach using this column in Lake of the Woods Area News or our e-News bulletins, website, Facebook page and even Twitter. We’d love to follow your association on Facebook and to share your posts. Don’t have a website or Facebook page? Just email your update and we will post them for you. Keep us informed, and we will help you keep others informed. Contact Diane Schwartz-Williams at 807-543-4287 or diane@lowdpoa.com.

If you haven't already, don't forget to check your cottage for storm damage! Our region has already weathered more than one damaging winter storm this year.

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L.O.W. AREA NEWS

EARLY SPRING 2018

18 Members - Need to Know

Digital Editions FREE r ou with y POA LOWD rship e memb

Read Area News wherever you are!

Access this issue with LIVE WEBLINKS as well as all previous issues since 2016.

Visit lowdpoa.com

Can't log in? Contact LOWDPOA at (807) 468-8715 or 1-888-465-9784

There’s always plenty going on with your association and sometimes getting updates and info out to you in a timely manner does not fit into our Area News publishing schedule. That’s where LOWDPOA’s eNews fills the gap. Our eNews is sent periodically (but not too often) and includes breaking news that may be time sensitive, important reminders, event updates, and useful links.

To sign up for eNews:

• Email linda@lowdpoa.com • Call 807-468-8715 or 1-888-265-9784 • Login & update your online profile at lowdpoa.com

LOWDPOA website updates www.lowdpoa.com

@lowdpoaLakeTime

We always enjoy your phone calls, emails and letters; and now our member online community gives you one more way to stay informed, up-to-date and: • • • • • •

access your member profile renew your membership register for events order seedlings purchase a gift membership read Area News anywhere

Prefer to try it on your own? • • • •

Go to lowdpoa.com Click on login Enter your email and click on ‘forgot password’ Check your inbox and you’ll be on your way.

if your email address is not recognized if you're unsure about the process to ensure we have your current email address if you need assistance to get started

Linda Nelson, linda@lowdpoa.com (807) 468-8715 | 1-888-265-9784

@lowdpoa

JOIN OR RENEW ONLINE, BY EMAIL, OR MAIL

Please tell us a little about yourself for your confidential member profile. What you include here will help us better understand who our members are. This info will only be used by LOWDPOA and will not be shared.

EMAIL ____________________________________________ YES, email LOWDPOA eNews (updates between issues of Area News) YES, send my renewal notice by email YES, email LOWDKids in the Wild notices and events Please do not print my name in the membership listing in the June issue of Lake of the Woods Area News. Please tell us how you enjoy the Lake of the Woods area. Check all that apply: Owned my own property in the Lake of the Woods area for ________ years. Part owner of a shared/family property for ________ years. Not a property owner; enjoyed Lake of the Woods area for ______ years as a  camper  sailor  renter  other: ______________________ When are you at the lake?  Summer Only  Permanent  Part-time year round Your Age Range (check one):  under 21  21-30  31-40  41-60  61-70  over 70

2018 MEMBERSHIP

NEW

$50 $100

$ ________ $ ________

$42 $84

$ ________ $ ________

Seedlings (see right)

$ ________

Gift membership (see right)

$ ________

Donation Environment Fund Taxation Fund

$ ________ $ ________

TOTAL AMOUNT DUE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . $ ________

Online: LOGIN to lowdpoa.com/cpages/renew By Cheque: Please make payable to LOWDPOA.  Mastercard

Name the lake or river (with bay or road if you wish) you would like included with your name in the membership listing (where you own property or where you frequently visit): ___________________________________________

LOWDPOA members planted 10,000 seedlings in 2017 and 300,000 since this program was launched. We’re looking to match 2017’s numbers with your help. 15 seedlings per bundle: # of bundles ____ @ $10 each

$ ________

 Pick-up location (Sat., May 19: 10 am - 12 pm): Clearwater Bay (Firehall) Kenora (The Blue Heron) Minaki (Minaki Marina) Laclu (PUFF Fire Hall) Sioux Narrows (SN Gov’t Dock) Storm Bay Rd. (Firehall)

(New: Pick-ups for Nestor Falls & Morson in Sioux Narrows)

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Please indicate the region in which you spend most of your time in the Lake of the Woods area: Clearwater Bay area Kenora area Minaki area Morson area Sioux Narrows-Nestor Falls area Other_________________________________

RED PINE SEEDLINGS

Full Membership (Magazine Mailed) One Year JAN - DEC 2018 Two Year JAN 2018- DEC 2019 Virtual Membership (Digital Magazine) One Year JAN - DEC 2018 Two Year JAN 2018- DEC 2019

Home Phone ____________________________ Cottage Phone ___________________________ Mobile Phone ___________________________

Amount $ ________(Cdn.)

Card # _____________________________________________ Expiry date (month/year) ___________/ ___________ CVC __ __ __ Name on card _____________________________________________

Address ____________________________________ City ______________________ State/Prov. ______ Country _______________ Postal/Zip __________ Email ______________________________________ Phone _____________________________________ Please send recipient a gift card with message: _________________________________________ _________________________________________

If you have chosen to not renew your membership at this time, we would appreciate hearing from you by email, phone or mail so that we might understand why you made that decision. What you tell us may be valuable information for LOWDPOA going forward. Box 1160, Kenora, ON P9N 3X7 • Tel. (807) 468-8715 • Toll free 1-888-265-9784 linda@lowdpoa.com • www.lowdpoa.com • www.facebook.com/lowdpoa

LakeoftheWoods.net 807-467-2323 or 888-954-2323

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L.O.W. AREA NEWS

EARLY SPRING 2018

News & Notes 21

Lake of the Woods Arts Centre PRO J E C T P R O G R ES S ES

by Lori Nelson

The plan for a new Art Centre in Kenora is taking shape as the Lake of the Woods Museum continues its efforts to raise the funds for its construction. This dynamic art space will house the nationally recognized collection of Lake of the Woods woodcuts and watercolours of Canadian artist Walter J. Phillips, donated by Nicki and Bryce Douglas. In addition it will play host to local, regional, Indigenous and national exhibits. It will be a space that encourages creation, imagination, partnerships and community spirit through public and school programming. Kenora architectural firm, Nelson Architecture, will be designing the Art Centre. Their vision incorporates the re-purposing of the heritage-designated Museum Annex (originally built as a Land Titles office) for studio and programming space, with a 5,700 sq. ft. addition that will house two galleries, public and programming space, and storage. Fundraising efforts by both local and lake residents began in June of 2017 with the launch of The Big Picture Campaign. To date $2 million has been raised towards the $2.5 million private sector goal. An additional $1 million has been raised and directed towards a Legacy Fund for the Centre. In December 2017 application was made to the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation’s Strategic Economic Infrastructure Fund for $1 million. An additional $1 million will be requested from the federal program Cultural Spaces. While funds are being raised, the building design is being refined as the Museum’s Art Centre Committee works with Nelson Architecture and their mechanical, electrical

and structural consultants. Some preparatory work was completed this past year, including a survey of the property and geotechnical testing. If funding goals are achieved as planned, construction will begin in the spring of 2018 with an anticipated opening date for the new Art Centre in July of 2019. For more information about the Art Centre or how you can support it with a financial gift, please contact the Museum Director, Lori Nelson, at the Lake of the Woods Museum at (807) 467-2105 or lnelson@kmts.ca.

L.O.W. AREA NEWS

EARLY SPRING 2018

22 News & Notes Province Moves to Universal Residential PLT Rate by Bob Stewart

It has been a long and winding road, but the end is in sight for Provincial Land Tax reform in Ontario. Provincial Land Tax rates for Northern Ontario’s unincorporated areas will be increasing again next year, and for three years after that.

businesses and industry and neighbouring municipalities who had complained about the low tax levels paid under the PLT in comparison to municipal tax levies for similar core local services.

A Brief History of Provincial Land Taxes in Northern Ontario

Over the next four years the review resulted in four major reports to the public on the consultations along with recommendations for rate changes. As well, a dozen information packages outlining the review results and rate changes were sent to or made available to property owners. A complete collection of the reports and information packages can be found at the government’s website: www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/consultations/landtaxreform

Having been basically unchanged since the 1950s, the province made the first major changes to the system in 1998 when local tax rate setting authority was taken away from district school boards and replaced with provincially set rates. An interim PLT was applied to residential property within school tax areas to offset the average reduction in education taxes resulting in a two-tiered tax rate for residential property. Following a series of consultations in 2003/2004 the Northern Services Boards Act was re-written in 2006, and among other updates, clarified which core services were co-funded through the PLT. In 2008, the PLT assessment system was updated to use current value assessment rather than an adjusted value based on 1942 property values, keeping it in line with the municipal property tax assessment system. In 2013, the province undertook a major review of the overall PLT system, including extensive consultations with residential property owners, service group representatives,

Disparities in Payments to Social Services As of 2013, the 60,000+ PLT area properties were contributing $11 million a year to core social services costs, which cost $90 million to deliver with provincial program co-funding covering about $25 million of that cost. Had the PLT areas been treated in a similar fashion to municipal core service funding, property owners would have been responsible for half or more of the remaining $65 million cost of those services, after allowing for provincial support for municipal tax payers delivered through the Municipal Partnership Fund and Payment-in-Lieu of Taxes (PILT) for public-owned lands and buildings.

Current Updates to PLT Assessment

The phased increases were set out in the province’s annual Fall Economic Statement and address two long-standing issues identified in the PLT reform process begun in 2013. One was the low percentage of property owner support for core services—policing, provincial support for roads and fire protection, social housing and support programs, and public health [see side box 1]; the second was the disparity between what was paid for those services by residential property owners in school tax areas compared to those outside school tax areas [see side box 2]. That disparity began in 1998 when the province reduced school taxes, setting a province-wide rate and as part of that process imposed an interim PLT in addition to the existing PLT on school board area properties in unincorporated areas. The difference was compounded in 2008 when the province moved the PLT system to current value assessment and merged the interim PLT with the standardized province-wide PLT rates. The latest tax rate increases—which span the 2018 to 2021 tax years—will end this disparity, with a universal residential tax rate of $250 per $100,00 of assessed value in 2021. The tax change represents good news and bad. For property owners in school tax areas—the majority of PLT properties provincially and locally—the rate change represents a modest increase of less than two per cent a year, although that will be increased further by individual assessment changes. Properties outside school tax areas will experience a much greater percentage increase—117 per cent. How much that translates into in actual tax dollars paid will depend on the property’s assessment value. In general, non-school tax area properties—due to their more remote location—are valued substantially less than those in school board areas. Overall, the impact locally (where two-thirds of properties are within school tax areas) will result in a typical

L.O.W. AREA NEWS

EARLY SPRING 2018

News & Notes 23 Disparities in Payments Among Classes of PLT Ratepayers

waterfront home, used year-round or seasonally and valued at $400,000, paying $1,000 in PLT by 2021 compared to $928 now. For Lake of the Woods area properties in non-school tax areas, where the average value is $150,000, the PLT will increase from a current $172.50 average to $375.

Since 1998, payments toward PLT revenues differed within the various groups of property owners in unincorporated areas. Residential properties, for instance, were taxed at significantly different rates depending on whether they were inside, or outside school tax areas, while business and industrial properties paid very low rates compared to the highest residential rate. Within municipalities, business and commercial property tax rates were generally higher than residential rates. As well, among non-residential property owners, right-of-ways—railways and privately-owned power lines—paid much lower rates than pipeline corridors.

The adjustments to residential PLT rates for each year are outlined in the table below, adapted from Province of Ontario, Fall 2017 fiscal update, Section B: Strengthening Ontario’s Property tax and Assessment System, Table 5.2.

PLT Annual Residential Rate Changes PER $100,000 ASSESSED VALUE Property Class

2018 Rate Change

2019 Rate Change

2020 Rate Change

2021 Rate Change

Residential: Inside School Board

Residential: Outside School Board

$40

$15

PLT Rate Changes

EXPRESSED AS DOLLARS [ROUNDED] PER $100,000 OF ASSESSMENT

$300 $225 $150 —— Residential (School Area) —— Residential (Non-School)

$75 $0

—— Commercial

2008

2014

2016

PLT Annual Revenue

00,000

00,000 $0

2014

$600

$1200

$995

$750 $500

$440

$300 2017

2020

$900

$11 $11 MILLION MILLION

2008

2019

LAKE OF THE WOODS REGION – SINGLE FAMILY WATERFRONT

$1200

$26 MILLION

00,000

2018

Average PLT Bill

$40 MILLION

0,000

2017

2021

$55

2013

2018

2021

L.O.W. AREA NEWS

EARLY SPRING 2018

Reckoning with the

POWER of the

BIG STORM by Shari Mills

Five years ago, my partner Scott, our kids and I moved from Inglewood, in downtown Calgary, to our cottage on Longbow Lake seeking a deeper connection with family and to nature. This October that connection was strengthened with our extended power outage experience.

but with three kiddos, the necessity of sleep and the great unknown of when the power was to return, we decided against it and opted for sleeping in our own beds with extra sleeping bags and blankets and got creative making our “pioneer experience” a positive and memorable one.

On the morning of Thursday, October 26, the warnings were out that some extreme weather was headed our way. The school buses were cancelled early, before the rain or a snowflake had even hit the ground. The storm really didn’t hit until about 9:30 in the morning, but by noon our power was out and by 1:45 we were trying to figure out how so many trees had already fallen, blocking our laneway. We made the best of it and headed out, in our rubber boots, slush pants and raincoats (this Mama was a bit behind in pulling out the snow gear) to make a snowman and start the chainsaw massacre that was needed to clear space for our vehicle to get out.

The key to this was our eyesore of a wood burning stove that sits in the direct centre of our cottage. Throughout the summer, the woodstove is the place were the favourite toys get put, where we put the beautiful bouquets of dandelions and lilies the kids pick, and where the latest painted rocks get displayed. Throughout the power outage this stove displayed treasurers of a different sort: various pots to melt snow, boil water, and cook food. It allowed us to have water to wash hands and faces, flush toilets and do dishes, as well as create meals that fed a family of five.

It took us a day and a half to cut down and remove the trees needed to get down our laneway and our first venture out after that was a trip to the Kenora Rec Centre for a muchneeded swim and shower. We debated checking into a hotel,

Over the course of the four days we played games and figured out challenging math problems like how many hours the power had been out. We ventured outside to explore and count the number of trees that had fallen. We snuggled in our pyjamas and read books. We learned that having a flashlight for every adult and kid is as important

L.O.W. AREA NEWS

EARLY SPRING 2018

The Mills’ family laneway on the afternoon of the big storm.

as having a lot of extra batteries around and that candles and a two year old are a challenging mix but one that kept a song in the air as he sang happy birthday every time he blew one out. We found a way to keep everyone warm, entertained, happy and fed for 74 hours without the use of heaters, internet, iPads, and toaster ovens. I learned that my husband thinks it is hilarious that every time he said, “Hey, can you grab the lights?” I tried. We also learned that trying to keep the fridges closed and cold with three kids is an impossible feat and we ended up losing all the food we had stored in both the fridge and freezer—on the positive side we have no more mystery meat! This Christmas we were gifted a generator from my parents to help us make it through the next Big One with a little more ease and all of our mystery meat still frozen. We went without “power” for 74 hours but this experience provided us with a deeper respect and awe for the power of Mother Nature, and even more importantly, a profound understanding of the powers that really matter, the power of love and family. AN

The Mills children and the snowman they built following the first big snowfall of the winter.

OF AN

L.O.W. AREA NEWS

EARLY SPRING 2018

UPSIDE OCTOBER THE

BLIZZARD by Susan McLeod

just come out to start organizing their lake dream home, and had not planned to be hunkered down without warm clothes, food, water, lights or bathroom facilities. Thankfully, they were well-stocked with wood so the fireplace kept them toasty warm. The newbies questioned, “Does this happen often here?” Later, after lending out extra winter gear, everyone pulled together to attempt to clear the roads of fallen trees in case of emergency. After more trees fell behind as quickly as they could clear ahead, wisdom prevailed and the crew made a dash for home. Next day after the storm, we were all back at it to the country sounds of chainsaws and generators.

It arrived as it often does, a light dusting of white stuff, on or just before Halloween. But this time, it kept coming, and coming and coming. By 10:30 a.m. the power went out, by 2:00 p.m. the heavy, wet snow made driving treacherous and by 3:00 p.m. falling trees made the roads in our area impassable. In just a few hours a tease before winter changed to the real thing: cold, wet and potentially dangerous.

To thank us for our help, the new neighbours dropped in with a couple of bottles of wine (love them already) and the afternoon became evening as we got to know one another around the fireplace by candlelight. Knowing they had no cooking facilities next door (and were probably tired of sandwiches), we cooked up a huge batch of pasta on our gas stove and proceeded to have a great evening. Who would have imagined cooking dinner for nine in the dark?!

So what could possibly be the upside to that? Turns out this was also ‘possession week’ for our new next-door neighbours, something we’d been aware of with admittedly a wee bit of trepidation after having the same family beside us for almost 20 years.

The upside to the winter storm of October 2017? We were reminded of why we love our rural life and how neighbours care and pull together to help one another when needed. And none of us will forget the weekend we met the new family next door—who could have quit, packed up and made a run for the city—but didn’t. Welcome to our shared corner of paradise at the lake. AN

The day started with introductions as I sheepishly returned a pair of nice new gloves my puppy picked up from their yard and kindly brought to our door. The poor folks had

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of RBC Dominion Securities 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. ® / ™ Trademark(s) of Royal Bank of Canada. Used under licence. ©2018 RBC Dominion Securities Inc. All rights reserved. 18_90783_N4D_001

Safeway in Kenora:

A part of the community for almost 90 years by John Dahl, with special thanks to Susan McLeod

Circa 1962, the Kenora Lakeside Safeway storefront with its gull wing roofline.

The Origins of Safeway Walk into the Kenora Safeway store today and look above the Customer Service desk. You will see 'Serving Kenora since 1929', proving its long and strong history in our city. Safeway originated in the United States through a partnership between two successful, independent grocers: Sam Seelig, who began with a single store in Los Angles in 1912 and Marion Skagg who also started with a single store in American Falls, Idaho in 1915. When Seelig left the partnership in 1924 there was a contest to find a new name for the stores. The name Safeway was part of a larger slogan used at the time: Drive the Safe Way; Buy the Safe Way. It refers to the fact that the store did not offer credit, something very different for the times. Buying the ‘Safe Way’ meant not using credit and avoiding the possibility of going into debt as a result. In 1929 Safeway moved into Canada, and by the end of that year there were 16 stores in Winnipeg, and one in Kenora, located in what is now McTaggart’s on Main Street.

Typical of all Safeway stores in that era, the most distinctive architectural feature was the roof line, finished in a Spanish terra-cotta style and bookmarked by two decorative peaks displaying the Safeway shield. All the stores looked similar and were 1,000 square feet in size. Customers only purchased a few days’ worth of food at a time, as quick-melting ice blocks were the standard source of home refrigeration. Safeway employee Norm Therrien remembered when he worked in the Kenora store in the mid-fifties. He talked about how small and crowded the store was even though it had been recently remodelled and expanded to what was then a huge 4,000 square feet. Laddie Fedyck and Charlie White were store managers at that time. Norm remembers having to cut bananas off their stalk for customers using a curved banana knife. He also remembers wheeling dollies loaded with products along Main Street to the airplane docks to be flown up to different tourist camps. Julie Szajewski, another long-time Safeway employee remembers walking to the Main Street store every day to buy a couple of slices of ham for her dad’s sandwiches.

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Kenora’s history is not just made up of the people, but of the businesses that have contributed to the community over the years. Our Safeway store on the water is an icon that has its own rich history. John Dahl is a well-known member of the Kenora community, having been Assistant Manager of the store for seven years (1979-1986) under Steve Borden, and then store Manager for 18 years (1993-2011). After his retirement in 2011, John took the time to research how our Safeway came to be, and how it’s grown to be so much a part of our landscape. He shared the story at the 2017 Common Ground storytelling event, and was kind enough to let us publish it in our Lake of the Woods Area News.

Safeway Store #658 Opens in Lakeside As times changed so did the demand for larger stores with more refrigeration and freezers, more shelf space and more parking. Grocery stores were growing into something called supermarkets. In 1955 Safeway purchased land in Kenora’s Lakeside area on Laurenson’s Creek from the Western Lumber Company, and opened their second Safeway store the following year.

The bigger and better Safeway allowed the company to both expand their food-related sections, and to have more non-food products on the shelves. The most unusual items to me were the Sherwood hockey sticks and Cooey single shell shot guns and ammunition—hard to believe, but after all, Kenora was a hockey and hunting town. I suspect these items were not available at all Safeway stores.

The Kenora Daily Miner and News headline for the new Safeway’s grand opening read 'New Supermarket Backs Belief in Kenora’s Bright Future.' This clearly said the Town of Kenora was growing, and that there were opportunities for businesses to expand and succeed here.

I’m sure that some of us remember that during the 1950s and 1960s five-and-dime stores like Woolworth’s and other retailers had busy lunch counters. (Other readers will ask, “What’s a five-and-dime store?”) Our Kenora Safeway also had a lunch counter with about 10 stools—anything to make shopping more convenient for the customers. I remember employees talking about the great chili and soup that Kathy Hall made, and that a lot of city workers would stop by to have their lunch or coffee there.

On June 28, 1956 the new Lakeside Safeway store opened for business. The Miner and News covered the big event: 'Mayor Joseph V. Fregeau cut the ribbon, then everyone quickly followed his wife Eleanor into the store to see all the new features.' You might find it interesting Mayor Joseph Fregeau is the grandfather to the Fregeaus of Kenora today who have always been connected to the store, both as customers and former employees. Mayor Fregeau later became a magistrate in Kenora and was known as ‘Hanging Joe’ or ‘Maximum Joe’. I suspect nobody wanted to appear before him in court. By today’s standards the new Safeway did not look like much from the outside. It was box-like with no windows, and just two doors facing the lake. In those days this was a state of the art supermarket that covered 14,700 square feet. New inside were self-serve meat counters, 70 feet of freezers and dairy cases, and a 75-foot produce counter. What was both unique and forward thinking for the time were the 34 docking slips built in addition to the parking for 130 cars. The $400,000 spent to build the Kenora store meant that Canada Safeway was planning a strong and bright future in Kenora. The new store was the largest of the Winnipeg Division and described as the most ultra-modern store in northwestern Ontario. Charlie White, who had managed the original Main Street store with Laddie Fedyck, was transferred to run the brand new Safeway #658 in Lakeside. Laddie remained at the helm on Main Street.

Former Safeway employee Ken Sandstrom remembers the Lakeside store not being as busy as the company had hoped at the outset. One of the things I noticed in all the Safeway ads for this period was that they promoted the large number of available parking spots, and the fact that mooring for boats was available. A promotion at the beginning offered to pay 25 cents towards taking a taxi home from the store. I am not sure how well this promo went, but this would have been at a time where most families only had one car, so anything that helped get folks shopping was a good idea. So many things have changed. In 1957 the union contract that existed was only four pages long—very simple and basic when you compare it to contracts today. Male employees started at a wage of $0.95/hr rising to $1.26 after two years. Female staff got 13 cents less per hour at 82 cents, and got to the $1.10 rate after two years, again 16 cents less than the men. At the time cashiers were all women, grocery clerks all men—that’s how it was for the next 25 years. In 1958 Steve Borden and his family were transferred from the Portage La Prairie Safeway to take over the operation of the big store in Kenora. Many area residents, both seasonal and permanent, will remember him. Mr. Borden was highly regarded within the Safeway organization and worked tirelessly to build the business. I definitely consider him one of my important mentors, and learned much during my years as his Assistant Manager.

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Safeway has always been a progressive company and that continued through the years. In 1962 the Kenora Lakeside Safeway storefront was remodelled in what was referred to as a Marina Style or gull wing style due to the shape of the roofline. Along with a curved roofline, there was glass right across the front. On each side was stone or mosaic, and there was the huge Safeway red and white 'S' we all know. This would have been about the time the original Safeway store was finally closed on Main Street as it no longer made financial sense to operate two stores in Kenora. McTaggart’s, with one store in Fort Frances, expanded their operation to Kenora and quickly took advantage of the prime location now available on Main Street. They remain there to this day and if you look closely at McTaggart’s store, you can still see the terra cotta roof line and the Safeway shield.

about his parents’ house. It seems that Safeway wanted the property to make room for additional parking. Safeway did buy the house and made plans to tear it down for the parking spaces. Doug wrote a letter offering to buy back the house for a single dollar and then remove the entire building. Safeway agreed, and a Steinbach company was hired to move the house off the site. Doug remembers there was quite a crowd of onlookers as it was moved right over the Safeway hill to its new location on Pump Avenue, just behind where Olson Honda is now located.

The Safeway Docks: Unique in North America Our Kenora store is the only Safeway in North America that has docking facilities and it became well known for that reason. When I started with the company, our Kenora store was featured on the cover of the training handbook used right across Canada. CJ Edwards Company of Kenora first installed the docks in 1956, built with cedar posts and rocks for the cribbing. These docks remained until the mid to late 60s when the wooden 2x6s were replaced with concrete slabs, and the wooden piles were replaced with metal piles—built to last.

The original 4,000 sq. ft. Kenora Safeway location on Main Street.

At the back of Lakeside Safeway an incinerator was used to burn all the empty wooden and cardboard shipping crates. Mr. Borden talked about the problems this created for the housewives up the hill. Depending on wind direction, ashes often drifted onto the clean laundry drying on the lines upwind of the fire. This obviously caused problems on laundry day and would regularly initiate an angry visit to the store manager. The incinerator was finally removed during a later remodel. Across the street from Safeway in 1963 a wharf and show room was built by the Lake of the Woods Marina (Texaco Marina) that sold boat gas and repaired boat motors. Texaco Marina was also the dealer for Honda motorcycles. Former Safeway Produce Manager Ken Sandstrom said he bought his first CB 350 Honda there. Years later the building was converted into a laundromat to serve lake customers. In the early 60s, there was a small bungalow and garage beside Safeway, the home of local businessman Felix (Phil) and Beatrice Dufresne. They owned Phil’s Esso on Second Street where Tagg’s Source for Sports is now located, and were the parents of Doug Dufresne (Dufresne Furniture). Doug never lived there, but told me an interesting story

The docks have always been a big advantage to Safeway over the competition for customers on the lake. Men would join their wives simply because it gave them another excuse to go for a boat ride. Whether they came inside or not really didn’t matter as it was just fun to enjoy the sunshine and watch the boat traffic and people. If there were guests at their camp, they’d also come along for the ride. When was the last time a guest wanted to come grocery shopping with you? It normally just would not happen, but coming by boat would be an adventure, and something new to add to their memories from ‘the lake’. Visitors would line up on the First Avenue Bridge to take pictures and people would stand in the parking lot to watch the boats. When the store first opened, boats were narrower so two could fit into each slip. During busy periods you would see them cruising slowly back and forth waiting for a slip to open up. As boats got bigger, faster and wider there is now room for one per slip. Today you’ll also see personal watercraft, kayaks and even stand-up paddle boards at the Safeway docks. Kids still fish off the docks, husbands still come shopping by boat. The docks have not always been fun and games—they present special problems. Carts full of groceries would roll into the lake. People would roll in too. Funny, yes, but not at the time. You may remember manager Stan Pundy, a guy from the prairies. Strangely enough, he was the one that came up with a milestone idea: He installed 2x4s around the edges of the docks so carts (and people) did not roll into the creek as often anymore. All those years (and lake folks), and Stan from the prairies figured it out in two minutes!

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he’d be able to salvage everything. When researching the Safeway story I found that many people collected lumber from this old store and used it to build their summer camps. I’m not sure where everyone was parking during this time with the old store in front of the new store, but somehow it all worked. Today you can still see small depressions in the asphalt of the existing parking lot, all that’s left of the foundation of the former #658 Safeway store.

The original Kenora Lakeside Safeway docks were installed in 1956 by C.J. Edwards Company, using cedar posts and rock cribbing. These docks were replaced by concrete and steel docks in the 1960s.

Safeway Store #671: A New Chapter In 1975 business was booming and a new Safeway store (#671) with a modern look was built behind the original gull wing store. It was clear that more retail space and parking space was needed. The lunch counter disappeared and an in-store bakery was added. Once the new store was up and running, the old one in front was torn down. Poole Construction removed store #658 at a cost of $5,000 on February 12, 1975, just after the new store opened on February 10. Local contractor Nick Serduletz stated it would take his company two weeks to dismantle the store, and

In the last 25 years the store has continued to evolve with remodels squeezing out more retail space and making shopping more convenient. The most unique project was when the building was expanded over Laurenson’s Creek around 2005. The existing store now stands at almost 38,000 square feet, a giant leap from the first Main Street store of just 4,000 square feet. While it is still small by today's Safeway standards, the Kenora store remains a flagship within the organization. In closing, our local Safeway has always been an important part of Kenora’s history both economically and socially. Safeway, a part of the Sobey’s chain as of 2013, contributes by paying taxes, supporting many local events and organizations, and by keeping people employed; as of 2017, the store is one of Kenora’s largest private employers, with a staff of 120. Our Safeway is like the general stores of old: a meeting place where customers visit with neighbours and friends. It’s the first to see returning snowbirds and summer residents. You’ll meet people you’ve not seen in a while, and get caught up on news. Working in the store, I would see groups standing in an aisle for a half hour or more, catching up. Many people to this day shop daily, not because they need more groceries, but simply because it gets them out to bump into friends and talk to the staff at Safeway. A 1956 Miner and News headline read 'New Supermarket Backs Belief in Kenora’s Bright Future. It’s Modern… you can come by Car or Boat'. That headline holds true today. AN

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32 Basin News

Lake of the Woods Water Sustainability Foundation Watershed Forum – program expands

The International Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Forum will take place March 7-8 in International Falls, Minnesota. The forum is expanding to a full two-day schedule to accommodate the tremendous number of research papers submitted for presentation. There will be 27 oral and seven poster presentations reporting on water quality and ecological research in the Rainy-Lake of the Woods watershed. Highlights this year will include sessions on: • Fish & Fisheries: Major updates from Ontario and Minnesota on the status of fish stocks on Lake of the Woods, Rainy River and Rainy Lake. • Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Science Plan for Lake of the Woods: Updates and preliminary results of its research into nutrients, harmful algal blooms, satellite tracking of algae and lake water quality modeling. • Minnesota’s research and monitoring programs that will identify nutrient reduction targets for the Rainy River and Lake of the Woods, and the State’s initiatives to develop an integrated “One watershed, One Plan” approach for Lake of the Woods. • Summarizing what has been learned about Lake of the Woods water quality, algae, ecology and climate from 15 years of studies of the historical record entombed in the lake bottom sediments. This session will include the Battigelli Memorial Presentation on research into lake trout habitat conditions on Lake of the Woods. • Moving from science to action: A discussion session on what might be needed from governments in terms of policy and agreements to ensure that science leads to action and outcomes for our lake. As in past years, many other groups will be holding meetings and workshops in and around our forum program, including the IJC Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Board and its committees, the International Multi-Agency Arrangement, Minnesota’s nutrient study (TMDL) Technical Advisory Committee and several subject-specific collaborative research groups. The foundation leads a team of volunteers from government agencies and universities to organize and run the forum every year. Although the forum is primarily a technical event, interested members of the public are welcome.

Registration deadline is March 1. Please register at the foundation’s website: lowwsf.com/register. For more information including program details and presentation abstracts, please visit the foundation’s website: lowwsf.com/watershed-forum .

Battigelli Memorial Award: Clare Nelligan

Clare Nelligan is the recipient of the 2018 Deborah Battigelli Memorial Award. Presented by the foundation, this award provides financial assistance to graduate students to present their research at the annual International Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Forum. Clare Nelligan, PhD candidate, Queen’s University, will present the Deborah Battigelli Memorial presentation at the Forum “Longterm trends in dissolved oxygen, nutrients and primary production in embayments of Lake of the Woods that support lake trout”

Nelligan is a PhD candidate at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. She is using historical cores of the lake bottom sediments and monitoring data to identify how conditions for lake trout have changed over time in Lake of the Woods and other Ontario lakes. Her work is determining what may be driving changes in lake trout habitat, such as nutrients, regional warming and other factors. Nelligan will deliver the Deborah Battigelli Memorial presentation at the forum with a talk titled “Long-term trends in dissolved oxygen, nutrients and primary production in embayments of Lake of the Woods that support lake trout”. The Deborah Battigelli Memorial Fund was established at the Lake of the Woods Water Sustainability Foundation by Deborah’s family to honour her love of life at the lake and her interest to preserve the lake area for future generations. The purpose is to assist the up-and-coming generation of scientists with their research on our lakes to ensure future capacity for protecting the water quality and ecological health of our lake area for generations to come. For more information about the Deborah Battigelli Memorial Fund or to contribute visit: lowwsf.com/battigelli-fund.

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Basin News 33

Put a plan in place. Ensure there's enough science and management expertise. Unite and coordinate actions binationally—communities, researchers, policy makers. That’s our vision. We’re getting close. Lake of the Woods science special issue: get your copy You have until March 15 to download some of the seminal research that is unlocking the mystery of what is causing algae blooms on Lake of the Woods.

Lake of the Woods special issue of Lake and Reservoir Management available for free public download until March 15.

Our science partners working on Lake of the Woods have put together a special issue of the Journal of Lake and Reservoir Management (Volume 33, Issue 4) devoted entirely to Lake of the Woods. They also have negotiated a 60-day free public access and download period for this, normally paidsubscription, peer-reviewed scientific journal. Download the individual research papers until March 15 from the special issue at: tandfonline.com/toc/ulrm20/33/4. The special issue presents 11 papers with results of key science studies on Lake of the Woods, some of which were supported by the foundation. Of particular interest to foundation supporters and Area News readers may be: • An introduction to Lake of the Woods— from science to governance in an international waterbody (J. Anderson et al.)

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• Paleolimnology of the Lake of the Woods southern basin: continued water quality degradation despite lower nutrient influx (E. Reavie et al.) • Historical phosphorus dynamics in Lake of the Woods (USA–Canada) — does legacy phosphorus still affect the southern basin? (M. Edlund et al.) A big shout-out of thanks to the researchers who contributed to this special issue and particularly to Andrew Paterson (Ontario Ministry of Environment and Climate Change) and Jesse Anderson (Minnesota Pollution Control Agency) for organizing the special issue and for negotiating the open access period.

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EARLY SPRING 2018

34 Basin News

New satellite sensors promise better algae information

The view from space is compelling with blue green algae blooms covering most of the lake in late summer and fall as can be seen in this European Space Agency (ESA) Sentinel satellite image from October.

ESA’s Sentinel-2A satellite image, capturing algal blooms on Lake of the Woods October 20, 2017 (courtesy of Caren Binding, Environment and Climate Change Canada)

A new generation of satellite sensors on board the ESA Sentinel satellites came online this year—delivering high resolution detection and tracking of algae blooms. This technology is being harnessed by Dr. Caren Binding at Environment and Climate Change Canada to develop near real time assessment and tracking of algae blooms and measures of severity. Dr. Binding will present a preliminary report on this work at the Watershed Forum in March.

The lake-wide context and perspective will provide important insights for evaluating the lake’s health, developing objectives for different parts of the lake, and assessing response to potential nutrient reduction targets. The high resolution (both in time and space) of the imagery may also improve our understanding of how blooms develop and progress through the lake and may provide some near-real time early warning of risks of blooms and algae toxins.

Thanks to our supporters

A big "thank you" to all who have invested in the future of Lake of the Woods by donating to the Lake of the Woods Water Sustainability Foundation or by helping us at public meetings. Your gifts and support are helping to develop a sustainability plan for our lake. A key element will be standards and reduction targets for phosphorus, responsible for the algae blooms. Support of lake families and firms has been instrumental to success for Lake of the Woods—it has really made a difference. Lake of the Woods is now an international priority and the building blocks of a sustainability plan are being put in place with: • An international water quality board established through the International Joint Commission • Research nearing completion required to solve the phosphorus and algae problems • An action plan to address phosphorus loading to combat algae blooms coming this spring from Minnesota. As science nears completion, it is time to put a plan in place to move from science to action. Over the coming year, we will continue efforts to ensure that scientific knowledge leads to bi-nationally coordinated policy and management actions, including international water quality objectives and nutrient targets and an ongoing oversight role for the International Joint Commission.

How you can help

Your continued help will ensure that we maintain the momentum for our lake. Sign up at the foundation’s website to show your support and receive our email updates. Please consider making a donation to the foundation. Canadian donors: www.lowwsf.com/donate/Canada American donors: www.lowwsf.com/donate/USA Your gift will help make sure that Lake of the Woods is a priority with governments, that research is completed and a sustainability plan is developed and implemented to restore and protect the water quality of Lake of the Woods. AN

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Basin News 35

Gaanawendagoziwinaan

Planning for 7 Generations: A Conference on Climate and Water by Lucas King, Water Resources Specialist, Grand Council Treaty #3 On November 22 and 23, the Territorial Planning Unit (TPU) of Grand Council Treaty #3 hosted Gaanawendagoziwinaan [Planning for 7 Generations: A Conference on Climate and Water] at Seven Generations Education Institute in Kenora, Ontario. Gaanawendagoziwinaan was attended by many, (70 participants on day one, over 90 on day two) representing 20 Treaty #3 First Nations and locals from Kenora, Fort Frances and Dryden, as well participants from as far as British Columbia and Quebec. A diverse group of organizations and individuals participated throughout the two-day event to discuss and learn about current issues and challenges related to water and climate change in a rapidly changing environment. A strong emphasis was placed on the work being done to develop and create solutions that help First Nations adapt to our ever-changing environment while simultaneously creating strong, resilient communities with the guidance of Manito Aki Inakonigaawin (Anishinaabe Resource Law). Gaanawendagoziwinaan brought together First Nations members and local organizations from Treaty #3 and surrounding Treaty areas, as well as other interested members of government, academia, and non-governmental organizations. Gaanawendagoziwinaan created a forum for all to share and learn from these organizations and the Anishinaabe Nation of Treaty #3. Agenda features included: • Academics: Aimee Craft, Professor, University of Ottawa; Debora McGregor, Professor, York University; Mark Hanson, Associate Professor, University of Manitoba. • Non-governmental organizations: Steve DeRoy, Firelight Group; Shaun Loney, Aki Energy; Vince Palace, IISD-Experimental Lakes Area. • Medicine Pouch Making and Traditional Medicine Teachings. • Evening screening of Fractured Land (a documentary following an Indigenous activist through law school, navigating fracking and Indigenous law) featuring Caleb Behn, Executive Director of Keepers of the Water. • Treaty #3 Elders Panel. • Workshops: Creating social enterprises and their importance in creating solutions to societal issues of health, climate and economics (Shaun Loney); Using Google Earth, a mapping workshop emphasizing the importance of traditional land use mapping in protecting land and water for future generations (The Firelight Group).

Grand Council Treaty #3 is the Traditional Government of the Anishinaabe Nation of Treaty #3. Grand Council protects the future of the Anishinaabe people by ensuring the preservation and enhancement of Treaty and Aboriginal rights. The Treaty #3 Territory spans over 55,000 sq./m and is comprised of 28 Anishinaabe communities, with a population of 25,000 people. The Territorial Planning Unit (TPU) works with the leadership of Grand Council to protect the lands, waters, and resources within the Treaty #3 Territory for future generations. Initiatives from the TPU include: watershed planning, climate change adaptation, co-management and engagement with governments, academics, non-governmental organizations and resource developers. While recognizing the significance of connection to the land, all undertakings are guided by Manito Aki Inakonigaawin, the sacred resource law.

As part of the TPU’s vision to develop capacity in Treaty #3 and support youth in pursuing careers in Natural Resources, donations were graciously accepted in lieu of registration. All donations received went towards a scholarship for a Treaty #3 member pursuing an education in the Natural Resources field. Over $650 was raised through participant donations and Shaun Loney’s generous contribution of a portion of the event sales of his latest book. Grand Council Treaty #3 would like to thank all participants who attended Gaanawendagoziwinaan, the outstanding presenters, as well as Seven Generations Education Institute and the TPU staff who made the event possible. Miigwech! AN

Gaanawendagoziwinaan at Seven Generations Education Institute

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36 Cottage How-To

Harry the Handyman Harry Salmijarvi

Members ask our staff all sorts of common ‘how to’ and ‘do-it-yourself’ questions. We do our best to provide answers and more often than not, our go-to expert is Harry Salmijarvi. Coincidentally, he happens to be the husband of LOWDPOA’s President, Nancy Salmijarvi, but what is most relevant here is his knowledge and experience. While not a professional handyman, Harry has built, repaired and manufactured more things than he and Nancy can recall. Harry comes by his DIY skills honestly as his dad was the handiest guy around and could build and create most things, and fix items that most people would probably throw away. He taught Harry well! Harry is a retired air traffic controller and commercial pilot whose interests have always been centered around his shop. He’s learned skills like carpentry, drywall, electrical, plumbing, tiling, welding and more, and he has used that knowledge to build everything from a cedar strip canoe to an entire home. Engine repair and heavy equipment operation fall into his repertoire as well. There’s not much he isn't willing to try, and it seems no project is too big! He has built a beautiful home at least once, can run and maintain heavy equipment, built a plane (that he flies) and even a houseboat from the floats up. He has first hand experience with a huge range of issues you may encounter at your cottage, so he can speak from experience! Send us your questions; we will endeavour to help with common issues and maybe save you some time, money and headaches! Email info@lowdpoa.com or call 807-468-8715.

Complications (read: possible disasters) on spending a winter weekend at the cottage 30 years ago we bought our place on the lake. It was accessible only by water but still serviced with electricity and we were extremely excited as we looked forward to spending weekends at the lake throughout the winter months. Such a romantic notion: sitting by the fire with a favourite beverage, long walks on the ice road, or maybe even some time ice fishing! The reality was a bit less romantic, that is, until we figured out a winter “camping” routine that worked for us. If you’re planning a weekend or perhaps even spending the March break at your cottage you might find our ‘lessons learned’ helpful, especially if you are a novice winter cottager. Hopefully, my suggested fixes for issues we encountered might even help you to avoid some problems altogether. Once you've shovelled your way in, you will want to get some heat on and start warming up. You’ll probably want to try to turn your tap on for water to make a warm drink. But, the water is off for the season, and it’s still winter. Unless you have a fully winterized place that is heated consistently, you’ll have to make a few adjustments to your water and sewer usage. If you have a drain-back water system with heat trace on the line, it’s a simple process. Turn the heat trace on and you’ll probably have running water within an hour or so. If you have heat trace on a sewer line, ensure that is on too; if your sewage lines are not buried deeply enough, they will probably freeze so it’s best not to use them or it can get ugly. If you still have no water after running the heat trace for a while, ensure your pump is on and running. Start at the pump and follow the water line checking for leaks or visible frost. Leaks may require a plumber depending on your plumbing skill, but visible frost can possibly be thawed using a hair dryer or heat gun. Be careful doing this step: if the water line breaks, and the pump is on, you may be dealing with a flood. Remember at the end of your visit to drain the system again and shut everything off before you leave for home.

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Cottage How-To 37 If you don't have this type of water system, then you’re either bringing water with you or you’re drilling a hole in the ice and filling pails to bring to the cabin. That’s the human powered version of “running” water, and it requires a slightly more labour-intensive approach to managing sewage. We used a simple water system that involved removing the trap from under the kitchen sink and placing a 5-gallon pail under the sink to catch wastewater. If you do this, just don't forget it’s there or you’ll have wet toes before the dishes are done! Dishpans and washbasins make things easier for this function too. For the bathroom, a small “porta potty” was in place for overnight visits and, of course, the trusty outhouse was put to good use. Comfort tip: remember to use a nice piece of blue styrofoam with a hole cut out for the seat. If your heat is on but you’re still feeling a cool breeze from those older windows or ill-fitting doors, that’s something you might be able to temporarily address with some old towels or blankets placed over the draft. Of course, if you decide you really enjoy the winter cottage experience, the best solution would be to pre-plan a bit in the fall and use either window kits that can be installed with a hairdryer or a product like a temporary caulking or a gap filler. Proper caulking and a door sweep can go a long way to stopping air leaks without too much cost. Another way to ensure a cozy

night is to bring along an electric blanket or even an oldfashioned heating pad. Getting some heat on the mattress helps to defrost it so you don't feel like you’re sleeping on a block of ice. Once things are organized inside, it’s time to check on the exterior. A lot of snow on the roof can lead to ice dams, especially if you’re heating up your place and there’s not a lot of insulation in the attic. The best remedy is to rid the roof of as much snow as you can, especially if it has a low pitch. Using a roof rake will remove the snow with the least amount of shingle damage. Going up on the roof to shovel is not recommended, not only because it’s dangerous, but shovelling can easily remove shingles. Shovel or use a snowblower to clear the pathways to the outbuildings (outhouse) you’ll need to use, and spread a bit of sand to avoid falls. Once your chores are done and your place is comfortable, get out and enjoy. A winter visit to the lake can be great fun. AN

WE DELIVER

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L.O.W. AREA NEWS

EARLY SPRING 2018

38 Cottage How-To

When the Power

GOES OUT Last fall, when a heavy snowfall took out power to hundreds of Hydro One customers in our area for several days, generators flew off the store shelves as the cottage and homeowners rushed to restore power. Installing a backup power system during a power outage is a type of impulse buying. You often don’t get the best value for your dollar. “Planning is the key. Don’t wait for those times when the power goes out,” said Ray Pambrun of Raysolar Inc. in Kenora. “To get a system that cost effectively meets your needs, you need to consider your situation and understand your options,” he said. To choose the right setup for your cottage or home, you need to consider questions like: What is your greatest fear during a power outage? Are you worried about the house or cottage freezing in the winter or the food in your freezer thawing in the summer? Are you preparing for an outage that lasts a few hours or for a few days? Do you need the power to come on automatically or will you start a generator manually? What is your fuel source? What is your budget? “Load determines the budget,” said Pambrun.

Electrical load is the power needed to run that equipment you need and want. To keep the budget down, priorities need to be set.

To start, look at your circuit panels and make a list of equipment you need to run to protect your property and yourself. Then think of what you want beyond those basic needs. If you have to go for several days, how rough do you want to live?

With winterized cottages, with cell phones and computers, with electronic heating, cooling and security systems, with water and sewage pumps, we tend not to live without electricity as easily as our grandparents or parents could. The less you need, the smaller the power backup system you need, and the less your backup power will cost. However, you also must be realistic. A generator can get overloaded quickly as people add more and more to its demand. The key to reliability and efficient operation of your backup power system is in the planning of the generator size and installation.

by Elsie Neufeld

Systems Available

There are four approaches to backup power: a portable generator with an extension cord, a transfer switch subpanel that allows a permanent standby generator to be wired to the house breaker box, a connection collar to which a portable generator can be connected to the house, and deep-cycle batteries charged using solar panels or a generator.

PORTABLE GENERATOR A small portable construction-grade generator and an extension cord might run your fridge or freezer, but it might cause you an expensive repair. “Every appliance now has a circuit board. Circuit boards need clean power,” explained Pambrun. Clean power is power at a consistent frequency of 60 Hz. The portable generators often used on construction sites do not provide clean power. “With heavy loads, the output and frequency of a construction generator will vary. Sensitive electronics don’t tolerate these changes,” said Pambrun. As we all know, electronics are everywhere in our lives; computers, cell phones, TVs, DVD players, security systems, heating systems, and modern kitchen appliances. To protect and to ensure efficiency of these devices, an inverted generator is best suited as it will provide electricity of a consistent quality, similar to what is provide by the electricity grid.

TRANSFER SWITCH SUBPANEL Still using a portable generator but avoiding extension cords, an electrician can install a generator subpanel off the main breaker box. A portable generator can then be connected to run entire circuits instead of individual appliances or equipment. GenerLink, a connection installed between the power meter and the breaker box, serves the same purpose, but serves the main panel. The homeowner then activates the breaker to the equipment or circuit needed.

L.O.W. AREA NEWS

EARLY SPRING 2018

Cottage How-To 39 When the power goes out, our houses go very, very quiet. No fridges hum; no heat and ventilation fans whir, and, if you aren’t on city water, no toilets splash. The only sound is the whoosh of our contentment flying out the window.

This device is an approved and safe method of connecting a portable generator to your house. It requires a 120/240 V input that is normally found in generators over 4000 watts. In December, Pambrun said this product, which is relatively new to the market and has only one manufacturer, was back ordered 8 to 10 weeks. This is one of the reasons planning is essential. The product and qualified personnel may not necessarily available when you need them.

DEEP-CYCLE BATTERIES AND SOLAR One of Raysolar’s customers only wanted to keep his pellet stove working during a power outage. This load could be handled with solar panels, a simple pure sine wave inverter and deep-cycle batteries. Sizing the system properly is key to its reliability. Most of us are familiar with deep-cycle batteries because they are used in marine applications such as trolling motors and in UPS systems for our computers. When the power goes off, the batteries supply power and solar panels and/or a generator will charge the batteries as they are depleted.

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L.O.W. AREA NEWS

EARLY SPRING 2018

40 Cottage How-To WANT IT ALL?

A 13KW fully automated generator, useful in the event of power failure at a cottage.

Perhaps you don’t want to give anything up and want a fully automated system. That is possible, but you will need deep, and maybe even deeper, pockets. “Typically a 20 kW generator will run a house,” Pambrun said. A fully automatic standby system running on propane or natural gas will cost about $13,000 installed assuming you already have propane or natural gas. If you want the 24/7 service of a diesel generator, it will cost you even more.

Safety, Comfort and Legalities

A 13KW model generator for use at a cottage. In this installation, there is no on-site hydro so this generator is being used for continuous power and is automated to turn on when a load (like a water pump) is activated.

People have died from carbon monoxide poisoning while running a generator inside, or even near, their houses. Relationships with neighbours have been strained when generators run all night next door. Linemen have been electrocuted because a DIYer installed his own connection between a generator and the house without considering back feed to the grid. Pambrun told of a DIY generator installation that caused a fire and burned down half the home. Be aware of the dangers of generators and electricity. Be aware that there are rules and regulations that govern the installation and operation of generators. A qualified electrical contractor is needed to install a backup power supply connected to a house’s electrical circuits. That applies to subpanels and GenerLink. Building code, electrical code and municipal bylaws need to be met when installing backup power systems.

Maintenance A propane tank for fuelling a propane generator. Propane tanks need to be at least 10 feet distant from the generator.

Backup power systems will need routine maintenance. Generators need oil and filter changes. An automatic standby generator should be tested and run each week. Your portable generator will need to be in working order when you need it. If you haven’t used your portable generator for a year, maybe it won’t work when you need it. Pambrun said that the number one issue that comes up with backup power systems is dead batteries. Any automatic or push start generator needs a charged battery or batteries to start. As trees grow and tower over our power lines, as our electrical grid ages, as we get more dependent on electricity, a backup power system might get to be more and more important to you. You might want to plan today to keep your house humming and whirring during the next power outage. AN

A 17KW fully automated generator, useful in the event of power failure at a cottage.

Shelley Torrie

Shelley Torrie Broker of Record

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807.468.1120 Joey Katz Broker

807.466.2770

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Many more properties available. Please call.

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Live and work the dream! Moore Bay portfolio is a generational opportunity to own a luxury 4 season log home, a well maintained ﬁshing lodge & 5 subdivided lots on approx. 53+ acres of diverse land with frontage on two protected bays & Crown land as a neighbour. Owner will consider purchase of individual assets.

490 Coney Island – LOTW $435,000 ($353,268 US)

85 Worona Road – Black Sturgeon $775,000 ($629,386 US)

5 bed, 3 bath, year-round home/cottage, beautiful views, large gazebo, detached 2 stall garage, full walkout lower level, dock, woodshed, storage shed, green space privacy buffer abutting.

One owner, 3+ bedroom, year-round home/cottage with Canexel siding, newer roof, double stall boathouse with lift & separate workshop. Low proﬁle lot. 2 minutes to Kenora by boat. Turnkey!

Exclusive Ranch-Style waterfront retreat offering 900’ of water frontage, panoramic views and miles and miles of waterways to explore/ﬁsh!

47 Snow Drive – Black Sturgeon $539,900 ($438,459 US)

448 East Melick Rd. – Black Sturgeon $695,000 ($564,417 US)

68 Lily Pad Bay – LOTW $875,000 ($710,597 US)

Approx. 2200 sq. ft. 4 bed, 2 1/2 bath year round back split home/cottage with built-in 2 car garage and many upgrades. Approx. 1900 sq. ft. of decks and docks. Meticulously maintained!

4+ bed, 3 bath year round home/cottage w/ full walkout lower level, 2 stall garage, 1200 ft. of water frontage & 4.35 acres with the possibility to sever. Recently reassessed—reduced property taxes!

5 bed, 4 bath year-round home/cottage with cathedral ceiling, granite, ﬂoor to ceiling windows, 3 season sunroom and 30’ x 30’ garage with sleeping accommodations.

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22 Coward Rd. – Sandy Lake $325,000 ($263,936 US)

With many recent upgrades, this 3-season cottage could easily be converted to your all season home! Offering quality waterfront, this property could be yours to enjoy for years to come! USD as of January 26, 2018.

Shingwak Rd. – Sioux Narrows – LOTW $1,499,000 ($1,217,353 US)

3+ acre private peninsula with over 1000’ of frontage on Snake Bay. Rustic 3 season guest cottage & newer 4 season home/cottage with full basement. Multiple out buildings, garages & docks.

Norman Heights Condos $241k - $345k

Nine quality-constructed, 2 bedroom condos including private balconies with garage parking. Nestled in the woods, walking distance to Winnipeg River and LOTW. 50+ yrs.

L.O.W. AREA NEWS

EARLY SPRING 2018

42 Recreation

Sunset Trail Riders

by Kerri Holder

Sunset Trail Riders trail damage in October 2017, on the NWOSTA Wilderness Tourism Loop

Sunset Trail Rider members can be seen giving sleigh rides to kids during Kenora's winter carnival each March. It’s not all fun and games when it comes to snowmobiling, however. Before that fun winter event, the local snowmobile club is focused on ensuring its members have exceptional trails during the winter riding season. In 1989 a group of snowmobilers met at the Pellatt United Fire Fighters Fire Hall in Laclu, coming together to form the Sunset Trails Riders (STR). These local snowmobilers (sledders) worked to create a network of snowmobile trails in the Kenora area and were originally part of SnoMan, Manitoba's snowmobile governing body, for liability insurance purposes. In 1991 STR snowmobile club joined the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs (OFSC) to be included in the development of a Trans Ontario Provincial Trail and promotion of snowmobiling as winter recreation and winter tourism across the Province of Ontario.

Today there are over 600 members of STR snowmobile club with 45% of the membership coming in from Manitoba. These members purchase the required permit to ride prescribed OFSC trails knowing the fees are collected to maintain the excellent trail conditions the area has come to expect.

A dedicated group of volunteers take on all the work of trail maintenance—cutting and clearing trails, placing over 4,000 trail marker stakes and signs in the fall, removing them in the spring, and even operating one of three full-size groomers. Volunteers begin working on the trails each October using all their own chainsaws, 4-wheelers, snowmobiles and other equipment. Some trails are not accessible until January when the thickness of good, blue ice has reached six inches, and up to the 16 inches required for groomers. The readiness of the ice is important for the safety of the volunteers and the use of groomers across frozen swamps and waterways. Our first major snowstorm in October 2017 brought wind, snow and rain, which devastated most of the trails. Tree branches coated with heavy, wet snow hung low and crisscrossed the trails and sizable trees had fallen across the trails, blocking access. Since that storm, volunteers have been actively clearing the brush and fallen trees. As of January 1, 2018 volunteers have logged over 2,000 hours to improve the conditions, making most of the trails passable for the rest of the riding season. Given the impact Mother Nature can deliver, the condition of the trails may change from day to day and week to week, and they require regular monitoring and constant maintenance. The club is always looking for volunteers to keep trails in exceptional riding conditions for all members to enjoy. The STR board meets regularly and welcomes new members who may have some time to work on trails or organize riding events.

L.O.W. AREA NEWS

EARLY SPRING 2018

Recreation 43

WHERE WE MAINTAIN AND RIDE

PERMIT FEE COLLECTED COVERS

• 600 km of maintained trails: 250 km land trails and 350 km lake trails

• Costs of trail maintenance (clearing, signing, staking)

• Trails connecting from Manitoba border to the rest of Ontario and the USA

• Operation of three groomers

• Trails reaching out from Kenora to Whiteshell Provincial Park in Manitoba, Redditt, Sioux Narrows, Vermilion Bay and all the way down to the Northwest Angle on Lake of the Woods

VOLUNTEERS MAKE IT POSSIBLE TO RIDE • 4,000 hours of trail maintenance

• Upkeep of five warm-up shelters • Club liability insurance • Mandatory membership in OFSC

PERMIT PURCHASE • Online only at ofsc.ca • Seasonal, classic sled and two-day passes available • STR Club Membership included!

• 700 hours of groomer operation

To find out more about current trail conditions and volunteer opportunities, visit sunsettrailriders.ca.

CLUB INFORMATION • Regular meetings in Kenora from October through April, every Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. in the STR Shop on Rabbit Lake or Super 8 meeting room • New members welcome and volunteers always needed

"If you don't know, don't go"

Stay on marked trails. Always respect private property. AN

• Will Wilcox, President; Jake McKie, VP; Bob Thomson, Secretary; Chris Viinikka, Treasurer; 15 board members

Legal Services for Cottagers RAYMOND P. OAKES

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Call: (204) 957-1717 If outside Manitoba call Toll Free: 1-800-204-4080

L.O.W. AREA NEWS

EARLY SPRING 2018

44 Recreation

Snowmobiling at Lake of the Woods

by Gerry Brennenstuhl

Snow, ice, the smell of wood smoke from the fireplace. These are all signals of winter, one of my favourite times of the year at the lake for our family.

In the winter of 1965, my dad Otto Brennenstuhl, bought an acre of land on Rush Bay. I'm pretty sure that when he made the decision to buy some property on the lake, he never thought this place would come to mean so much to his soon-to-be wife and three sons, let alone four grandchildren. I’m Gerry Brennenstuhl, and along with my wife Sharon and our two sons Jack (15) and Max (13), we make the weekly commute from our home in Winnipeg to the cabin yearround, enjoying all that lake life can offer. Several years ago, we committed to spending time at the lake during winter. When the boys were four and six-years old, we realized we needed to decide whether to pursue winter

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L.O.W. AREA NEWS

EARLY SPRING 2018

Recreation 45

sports in the city or spend time as a family down at the lake. Our boys resoundingly said, "We want to go to the lake!"

For the last 15 years our group, of up to 14 or 15 riders, has followed the OSFC trails to many adventures and many great lunch spots. Some days we have ridden in Ontario, Minnesota and Manitoba all in the same day. Snowmobiling is really quite a remarkable way to see and access so much of this region.

Our family activity of choice in the winter is snowmobiling. The kids have grown up riding snow machines on the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs (OFSC) groomed trails throughout the Lake of the Woods area. The boys have experienced it all Max & Jake Brennenstuhl with us, from small jaunts to our local warm-up shack on Rush Bay when they were little, to overnight excursions to Sioux Lookout or Baudette involving hotel stays (with pools!) Now that they are older, the boys each have their own snowmobile—no more doubling! We are proud of how they handle themselves on the trails, with courtesy and care. Not only do they respect the work that has gone in maintaining and grooming the trails, they are actively contributing to keeping the trails in top condition. They go out and help the Rush Bay trail bosses clear brush, stake the trail and take down the trail at the end of the year. We love the solitude of the lake in the winter, yet by no means does the relative quiet mean loneliness. As a family, we enjoy weekly snowmobiling trips that often include two other families, the Scharfs and the Arklies. On a typical weekend in the winter, our group goes on a long trail ride Saturday while we spend Sundays closer to home, skating on our lake rink or ice fishing at one of the many spots on the lake accessible by snowmobile trails.

Over the last ten years our Rush Bay group of families have been "grooming" the next generation to hopefully take over our commitment to the Sunset Trail Riders, a local chapter of snowmobilers who maintain and use the OSFC trails. We have enjoyed and made good use of the OFSC trail system over the years and we appreciate all the volunteer work of every person who has been involved in making our snowmobiling season safe and full of adventure. AN

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L.O.W. AREA NEWS

EARLY SPRING 2018

46 Invasive Species

Lean Green Eating

MACHINES In spite of its diminutive size, the invasive Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis) is a massive concern. Currently, it is spreading across North America at an alarming rate, with a 4-6 year gap between initial infestation and the first noticeable signs of its presence. It leaves a trail of dead and dying ash trees in its wake, leaving private homeowners and municipalities to foot the clean up bill. Emerald Ash Borer is a wood boring beetle belonging to a family called “jewel beetles” due to the shiny green metallic colour of its body. Measuring only about 8.5 mm long, it easily goes undetected to the naked eye. Native to northeastern Asia, it was first confirmed in Canada in the Windsor area around 2002, but is believed to have been present since the 1990s without being detected. It was likely introduced through untreated wood packing crates shipped from Asia. Since that time, it has been spreading across North America, mostly through human activity such as the movement of nursery stock and firewood.

by Hayley Anderson

ash trees. The trees in North America, having not evolved alongside this beetle, have little to no defense, and outside of its native range, the beetles have very few natural predators in the newly invaded areas. This has already resulted in widespread ash tree die-off throughout the invaded range. In Michigan, for example, it is estimated that 30 million ash trees died between 2003 and 2013 as a result of infestation from the Emerald Ash Borer.

How Do Emerald Ash Borers Harm Ash Trees? In order to understand the impact of Emerald Ash Borer on our trees, it is important to understand how trees grow. There are five layers that make up a tree and from outside to inside these are the bark, phloem, cambium, sapwood and heartwood. The bark provides protection for the inner layers. Next is the phloem, which is a highway for nutrients to travel within the tree, and the cambium is the growing tissue of the tree. Inside the cambium layers are the sapwood and the heartwood. Sapwood is new wood and it surrounds the heartwood, which is the very center of the tree.

In northwestern Ontario, it was initially found in Thunder Bay in 2016. In 2017, Emerald Ash Borer was confirmed in Winnipeg. One of the difficulties in tracking the spread of Emerald Ash Borer is that it can be present Heartwood for a number of years before the trees start declining Nonfunctional Xylem or dying. As it has been found on either side of Kenora/Lake of the Woods (including in Minnesota), it could easily be present here already.

Outer Bark Inner Bark (phloem)

Sapwood When it was first found in Canada, very little was Functional Xylem known about Emerald Ash Borer even in its native Vascular range. As so little information was initially available, Cambium researchers had to learn about its life cycle and biology to understand what impact it might have on The female Emerald Ash Borer beetles lay her eggs in the local ecosystems. Then they would be able to extend their crevices of ash tree bark. About two weeks after the eggs understanding of how to introduce appropriate control are laid, they hatch and the larvae chew through the bark measures to slow its spread. Through the research on and in to the phloem of the tree. The young larvae tunnel as the initial invasive populations in Canada and the United they feed, creating serpentine galleries of tunnels under the States, it was discovered that the impact was quite dire for bark. The result of this feeding pattern is that these tunnels

L.O.W. AREA NEWS

EARLY SPRING 2018

Invasive Species 47 eventually cut off the flow of nutrients, effectively girdling1 the tree from the inside, and the trees begin to die. In the spring, the adult beetles exit the tree, leaving a noticeable and easily identifiable “D” shaped hole in the bark. After they emerge, the adults feed on the leaves of the ash trees for about seven days before they begin to mate. Females live as adults for about six weeks, and in that time they can lay anywhere between 40-200 eggs. Males live for approximately one month as adults. Females fly at most about 3 km from their host tree to lay eggs, but most stay relatively close to where they initially hatched. In forests, Emerald Ash Borers colonize new trees by first laying their eggs on the upper trunks and limbs of larger trees. As the upper limbs weaken, they move down the tree to the main trunk. Once they reach the main trunk and create their feeding tunnels, this results in the death of the tree. This process from start to finish usually occurs in about five years, but also depends on the health of the tree prior to infestation and the number of beetles per tree. Currently, in North America, the ash tree mortality rate once an infestation occurs is around 99 per cent. In order to help your trees, it is important keep watch for signs of tree decline. These signs include a thinning crown, yellowing leaves, epicormic shoots (also called suckers), splits in the bark and those telltale D shaped exit holes. All species of ash (White, Green, Blue, Black and Pumpkin) and their cultivars are susceptible. European Mountain-Ash is not a true ash tree, and as such is not susceptible to Emerald Ash Borer attack. Unfortunately, ash trees were widely planted after Dutch elm disease wiped out most of the elm trees in North America, so they make up a substantial percentage of the urban tree canopy. The City of Winnipeg expects to lose all of their ash trees or about 30 per cent of the existing tree canopy, over 10 years, resulting in a total cost of about 100 million dollars in dead tree removal and re-planting efforts. Their plan for managing the infestation is to try to slow the spread and to prolong the lives of the trees, reducing immediate costs and spreading the cost out over a longer term.

Many people are alarmed by the idea of biological control, but this fear often reflects a lack of understanding of how these controls work. In reality, it is often the last and best defence against invasive species. Biological control occurs when scientists identify species-specific predators and diseases in the invasive species’ native range, then test them against genetically similar species native to the invaded area. Once species have been identified that have very little to no impact on other species besides the invasive being targeted, they are tested for efficacy in controlling the invader. If successful, they are released in limited quarantine areas before being widely released. The biological control of purple loosestrife using Galerucella beetles2 is the most famous example, and has knocked back the populations enough that other plants can now grow alongside it, without the beetles becoming problematic themselves. For Emerald Ash Borer control, parasitoid wasps released in southern Ontario and Michigan have yielded promising results. These wasps lay their eggs in Emerald Ash Borer larvae. As the wasp larvae hatch, they feed on the host larvae, killing the latter. These wasps are small and harmless (except to Emerald Ash Borer) and do not sting humans. This predation on Emerald Ash Borer larvae helps to control the populations and prevent them from reaching the high population numbers that result in tree death. Southern Ontario and Michigan were the first areas in North America to be infested. During surveys here for native predators of Emerald Ash Borer, it was identified that woodpeckers were following the path of the infestation to eat the larvae. While they weren’t feeding enough to prevent full-scale invasion, they did knock back the Emerald Ash Borer populations. Increased woodpecker activity is also a telltale sign that a tree is sick or dying and may be an indication of Emerald Ash Borer presence. TreeAzin is a systemic insecticide, and is, so far, the most effective product for Emerald Ash Borer control and extending the life of ash trees. This insecticide is made from LOWDPOA is currently involved in a Purple Loosestrife Galerucella beetle control program on Laurenson Lake in Kenora. See Area News Vol. 47 No. 5, November 2017, page 63, for a recent update on this project. 2

Managing Emerald Ash Borers It may never be possible to eradicate Emerald Ash Borer, but there are management options that may help in reducing its impact to our trees. For example, researchers have identified and released parasitoid wasps experimentally as a biological control. Woodpeckers in the initially infested areas have been documented feeding on Emerald Ash Borer, and an insecticide called TreeAzin, made from neem seed oil, has shown promise. Girdling is the process of removing a ring of bark all the way around a tree, thus interrupting the phloem and cambium layers and leading to the tree being starved for nutrients. 1

W. Randall F. Seller, B.A., LL.B

Stephen R. Lundin, B.A., LL.B

Cheryl C. M. Siran, B.A. (ADV), LL.B

Beth Allison White, B.H.Ec., LL.B

Reid E. Thompson, B.A., LL.B

Kimberly P. Mejia, B.B.A., LL.B

RSeller@HSLlaw.ca

SLundin@HSLlaw.ca

CSiran@HSLlaw.ca

BWhite@HSLlaw.ca

RThompson@HSLlaw.ca

Ph.: (807) 468-9831

KMejia@HSLlaw.ca

•

Fax: (807) 468-8384

Suite 204, Bannister Centre, 301 First Ave. S., Kenora, ON P9N 1W2

www.HSLlaw.ca

PROVIDING SERVICES IN RECREATIONAL, RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE

L.O.W. AREA NEWS

EARLY SPRING 2018

48 Invasive Species neem tree seed extract. Neem is an evergreen tree native to India and Southern Asia. The oil made from the pressed seeds contains high quantities of a chemical called azadirachin. When ingested, azadirachin causes insects to reduce or stop eating, prevents insect larvae from maturing and reduces or interrupts mating behaviour. When applied properly, TreeAzin kills more than 95 per cent of Emerald Ash Borer larvae and can significantly reduce the number and viability of eggs. It is safe for humans, and most other insects like bees and butterflies. It provides control for up to two years but it needs to be applied regularly until the initial wave of invasion passes through (between six and ten years). When I worked in the invasive species world, the Experimental Farms in Ottawa were using this product to try to save their valuable ash trees, some of which were more than 80 years old and showcase specimens in their arboretum.

How to Identify Ash Trees

If you are not sure if you have ash trees on your property, there are a few things you can look for to help identify them. 1. Opposite branches: All true ash species have branches that are directly across from each other. 2. Compound Leaves: Every ash “leaf” is actually made up of several leaflets in a bunch. This is called a compound leaf. Ash trees have between five and 11 leaflets per leaf depending on the species.

If you suspect you have Emerald Ash Borer on your property, your first move should be to contact an expert such as an arborist, a local forester or the local Natural Resources agency to confirm its presence. Then you can determine the best course of action for your tree, either by cutting it down or treating it with an insecticide to try to save it.

3. Seeds: Some ash trees may not have seeds at all but the ones that do have seeds that look like single wings and grow in clusters.

To prevent the further spread of Emerald Ash Borer and to reduce the impacts on your trees:

4. Bark: When the trees are young the bark is smooth, but as they age the bark takes on a very distinctive diamond like pattern to the ridges.

• Don't move firewood or dead trees • Burn firewood where it is • Plant a variety of tree species on your property • Learn how to identify ash trees • Learn how to identify the signs of emerald ash borer. AN

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L.O.W. AREA NEWS

EARLY SPRING 2018

50 Food & Drink

E AT ING WELL AT THE L AKE :

The Challenge of the Perfect, Simple Roast Chicken "I was 32 when I started cooking; up until then, I just ate." ~ Julia Child

by Mort Goss I, too, was in my early thirties when I took over the kitchen at home. Television cooking shows guided me and I quickly developed a passion for simple food with good ingredients, prepared properly. My new heroes were Julia Child, James Beard and Jeff Smith, the Frugal Gourmet, whose PBS cooking shows became favourites at the Gossienda, our little house in the bush. A library of recipes began to accumulate on the bookshelves. I enjoy learning about cooking methods and the science of food and cooking. I collect recipes and techniques, and scour the internet for new ideas. The bookmarks folder on my laptop has thousands of links to recipes and techniques, and several shelves of our library are dedicated to cookbooks. My Christmas and birthday presents from family are often kitchen related so I’ve assembled an arsenal of functional cooking gear for both indoor and outdoor use. A three-burner outdoor cooktop, a gas BBQ and a Weber charcoal BBQ all get regular use. A few years ago we built a wood-fired oven in the back yard. Since then, I have cooked many big meals in its spacious firebrick interior. Two years ago, we planned a special feast of roast goose for our holiday dinner. When the geese were delivered we discovered that they were too large for our oven and we needed a quick solution. The woodstove was fired up early Christmas morning and the geese went in the oven mid-afternoon. It was a memorable meal delivered under trying conditions.

It would be fair to suggest that I have developed an obsession with the preparation and delivery of satisfying meals. I find satisfaction in cooking, keep pushing my boundaries, and my research/testing continues. In reading her biography, I came across this quote from Julia Child, speaking of her food memories; the sentiment rang true for me and so began my quest for perfection:

“My favourite remained the basic roast chicken. What a deceptively simple dish. I had come to believe that one can judge the quality of a cook by his or her roast chicken. Above all, it should taste like chicken: it should be so good that even a perfectly simple, buttery roast should be a delight.” It is no exaggeration to suggest that thousands of chickens have been eaten at the Gossienda over several decades. We regularly feed large groups of family and friends. Many touring musicians have found their place at our dinner table and it is longstanding practice that we have room for a ‘holiday orphan’ or two. Most often, chicken became the meal of choice, and I was up for the challenge to do my best every time. I was seeking the perfectly roasted bird: skin fully crisped, dark and breast meat equally moist and dense, with intense flavour that stands on its own, without need for extra seasoning. I was being fussy about what I wanted and kept trying new methods to get that result. I came to prefer larger free-range birds, like the ones you find at a farmer’s market. The meat is denser, fattier, and has better texture with much more flavour than the massproduced supermarket options. Whenever I find quality birds I stock up and keep several in the freezer and begin thawing Friday for Sunday’s family meal.

L.O.W. AREA NEWS

EARLY SPRING 2018

Food & Drink 51

How To Roast the Perfect Chicken There were many techniques attempted, many memorable meals were served, but for a long time, the perfect chicken still proved elusive. Roasting in a hot wood-oven was a method that delivered a great skin, but the meat didn’t cook evenly; the breast meat was dry by the time the thighs were ready. To get past the dryness of the breast meat, I tried roasting with compound butters inserted under the skin. While this was flavourful and relatively moist, the taste was more of the herbs than purely chicken—good but not good enough, close but no cigar. The standard method, using a roasting pan in a 350°F electric or gas oven, worked fairly well but the balance between dark and white meet was not there, the skin on the back and legs did not cook to the same degree and needed more cooking time. Rotisserie cooking over indirect heat in my Weber BBQ delivered an acceptable result but still not up to the standard I was pursuing. So I tried wet brining, chasing the elusive balance between flavour and moisture; the result was good, but still not quite right. Although the meat was moist and ‘juicy’, it came across as watered down rather than concentrated. The taste didn’t meet my expectations and I returned to more basic methods. Recently I have been using a new method and this may be the apex, my holy grail of poultry meals, for a 6-8 pound chicken. The process is a bit complicated and takes some worthwhile extra work and effort. There are four critical elements to this method:

1. For dry brining: Combine one tablespoon of baking powder with 6 tablespoons of kosher salt. The baking powder, enabling a breakdown of skin protein, will add the extra crisp we’re looking for. The salt helps retain the natural moisture, and intensely enhances is flavour without any liquid. Pat the bird dry with paper towel and sprinkle brine generously over the entire bird, covering it evenly front to back. 2. Prepare the chicken for roasting. Put your chicken on the v-shaped rack on a tray, covered loosely with cheesecloth. Leave in the fridge for 18-24 hours, then remove it and let it sit a few hours before placing it in the oven. It’s much more difficult to properly cook a still-cold bird, so the warm-up period is important. Don’t remove excess brine or truss the chicken. You want the heat to penetrate evenly, so you don’t want stuffing either. 3. Pre-heat the oven to 500°F for at least 45 minutes with the pizza stone on the middle rack to let it get nice and hot. This thermal mass will provide great bottom heat. Place your untrussed chicken in the v-rack on the sheet pan directly on the hot stone. Keep the oven heat at 500°F for 10 minutes, then turn down to 300°F; the baking stone will continue to radiate heat up into the back of the bird—the breast meat will cook slowly and the skin will continue to crisp until it’s done. 4. Cooking time will run about 90 minutes. Remove when you get an internal temp of 160°F. Tent the chicken loosely for at least 20 minutes before carving and serving with your usual side dishes. Bon appetit! AN

1. Overnight dry brine; 2. V-shaped roasting rack to elevate the chicken above the pan; 3. A rimmed sheet pan with low sides to allow direct and even heat and, most importantly; 4. A pre-heated pizza stone or baking steel. This final touch—the pre-heated pizza stone—is very important to the process: the radiant mass allows constant, even bottom heat that will radiate upwards for the rest of the cooking time, assuring even cooking and that otherwise elusive crispy skin. Resting in the v-rack the chicken is elevated enough to pick up heat over its entire surface, especially the thighs.

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L.O.W. AREA NEWS

EARLY SPRING 2018

52 Food & Drink

Beef Fillet (Tenderloin) Wrapped in Prosciutto by Andrea Derungs, Thompson Island

Andrea Derungs and her family enjoy a meal in the veranda of their Thompson Island cottage.

My father’s job took us from Winnipeg to Rome when I was one, but we still travelled back to our beloved Lake of the Woods in the summers. An abiding memory is of visiting our somewhat eccentric great aunt at her camp for supper every week, always for roast beef. It was delicious, but what I remember most is having to wear shoes at the table, sit up straight and use the silver (yes!) cutlery properly. Those were more formal times, of course. These days, my partner Simon and our own family come to the lake from just as far away, and this is our take on roast beef. Although we tend to reserve this dish more for special occasions, being at the lake is a special occasion, and it tastes even better there. And we don’t have to wear shoes at the table. AN

Beef Fillet Wrapped in Prosciutto Ingredients

• Fillet of beef (tenderloin) – you want to use very high-quality meat, enough for at least one or two 2 - 3 cm slices each, depending on your appetite. • Prosciutto slices • Whole grain mustard • Cooking string • Olive oil • Salt & pepper 1. Trim the fillet of any fat or sinew. Cut into it lengthways, about ¾ of the way through. Open it up, spread some wholegrain mustard generously on the inside and close. 2. Wrap a slice of prosciutto around one end of the closed fillet so the ends are underneath, then continue with more ham slices, overlapping each until the entire fillet is wrapped. 3. Tie the whole thing with string to hold it together, tying the meat every 3 cm, knotting it underneath, until it’s all secured. 4. Rub a little olive oil over and place on a baking tray. 5. Heat oven to 180°C (350°F) and cook for 25 minutes maximum, although to play safe, you should check it after 20 mins. This will give you extremely rare (i.e. blue) beef, so obviously leave in another few minutes for medium. Take it out, cover with foil and let it rest for 10 minutes. Remember that it continues cooking after you take it out of the oven, so what may seem too underdone usually turns out perfectly. 6. Remove the string and cut the fillet into slices. Serve with roast potatoes and anything else you fancy, maybe something green, like peas.

Prepared prosciuttowrapped beef tenderloin, ready to go in the oven.

Recipes from LOWDPOA Members Our fondest memories at the cottage are often made from a recipe of great food, family and friends. We all know that meal times bring us together to share stories, laugh, cry and simply enjoy each other’s company. We're happy to share these member stories partnered with lake time recipes, some of which can be found in our LOWDPOA cookbook published in 2013. We're also happy to hear our members are still 'Cooking up Great Food and Good Times at the Lake'! If you've got a recipe and a short story that goes with it, we'd love to hear from you. Contact diane@lowdpoa.com.

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54 LOWDKids!

lowdkids.ca

I have four very close friends that I talk with during the warmer weather. They are Barry the black bear, Theresa the tree frog, Sally the snake, and Harry the snowshoe hare.

I thought about this and said, “You know what, Jake? I don’t think Harry the hare goes to sleep all winter.”

Winter is one of my four most favourite seasons, but there are two problems. It can get so cold that it is not fun to go outside for very long. In fact the old cat that lives next door told me that sometimes it gets so cold that her nose stops running. And that’s really cold!

The My human parents let me out into our fenced yard the day and I started barking. Just then, a huge re other raven landed in a pine tree nearby. His name is tree frog the sa

Old Jake.

“Why are you barking, Kat?” he asked. I explained about my friends and I told him I was calling them.

“Rawk, rawk,” laughed the raven. “I know Theresa the tree frog and she hasn’t gone anywhere. She’s hiding.”

“Why is she hiding?” I asked. The raven explained that the tree frog, like a lot of other creatures living around here, hide from winter. She digs into the ground a little ways and goes to sleep.

“What about Barry the bear? Does he freeze too?”

Barry the

Jake told me that unlike most animals, Theresa can freeze solid but as long as the temperature doesn’t go too low, she can thaw out and hop away when good weather comes.

“Won’t she freeze?” I asked.

r b ea

“Aha,” said Jake, “you are correct, Kat. Harry could be on the other side of your fence right now and we would never see him.” “Why not?” I asked. “Does he hide under the snow?”

r y t he s n ow

The other problem with winter is that a lot of my friends are gone and I really miss them by the time February comes around. Some of them said goodbye before they left in the fall but most of them just disappeared.

Jake croaked again. “No, he won’t freeze but he sure sleeps a lot. It’s called hibernation. He’ll wake up when the weather warms up. And he doesn’t have to eat because he’s so fat. Your friend Sally the snake spends the winter sleeping with other snakes among rocks, holes or burrows in the ground that other animals make. When they are sleeping so deeply they don’t need to eat food at all. And it’s a good thing because there isn’t much food around in the winter.”

oe sh

hare

Ha r

My name is Kat The Dog and I love nature. I am not a cat because cats spell their name with a ‘C’. I spell mine with a ‘K’. I live with my human mom and dad in the Lake of Woods area.

y t he s n Sall ak e

Kat the Nature Dog

“No,” answered Old Jake, “he grows a coat for winter that is as white as the snow and that makes him almost impossible to see. When an animal looks like its background so it can hide, it’s called camouflage. The only dark marks on him are his eyes and the tips of his ears. And in the springtime he grows a brown coat. Maybe he is out there right now looking at us.” I looked into the snow-covered yard. “Well, I guess he could be out there. He’s very shy. I wonder when I’ll see him again.” Old Jake said, “I think you’ll see him and the rest of your friends when the snow has melted.” “Thanks for telling me this, Jake,” I said. I’m glad my friends have ways to handle winter. But I sure miss them.” Photos by Phil Burke

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L.O.W. AREA NEWS Early Spring 2018

LOWDKids! 55

My name is Kat The Dog and I am an eleven year-old labradoodle. My human parents are retired teachers who love kids and nature. My dad helps me write this column because it is impossible to type with paws, and he has been writing nature columns for grown-ups for more than twenty years. I love living in the Lake of the Woods area because it gives me a chance to meet the plants and animals that share our lives. And I am thrilled to have you accompany me on my nature adventures.

Jake looked at a flock of pine grosbeaks visiting the sunflower seed feeder on the deck railing. “Your summer friends may be gone but it looks like you still have lots of winter friends.” The old raven spread his wings and flew away making a swooshing sound with each wing beat. I love that sound. Kat was becoming a little cold and wandered back to the house. She said hello to the grosbeaks as she climbed to the deck and they said hello back to her. But then they ignored her because they were too busy talking about important bird things. Poor Theresa the tree frog was able to get through winter by freezing solid and Sally the garter snake had to sleep in a burrow or among rocks. Kat slept in her warm bed in the house and if she became cold she jumped onto the big bed with her mom and dad. Barry the black bear spent all summer and fall eating so he would be fat enough to sleep through the really cold weather under a blanket of snow. Kat ate any time she wanted all year long by going to her bowl that was always full. And then there was Harry the snowshoe hare who got a new white coat for winter and when spring came his white coat fell out and he was brown again. Kat had her own fur coat but when it got really cold she wore a red one trimmed with white that her folks bought for her. When Kat went to bed that night she thought of her friends and wished them well. While Kat had her human mom and dad to take care of her, all her wildlife friends had Mom Nature to take care of them. And Mom Nature does a pretty good job. AN

Did You Know?

Kat the Dog’s Nature Quiz Animals mainly handle winter in 4 different ways. 1. They sleep (hibernate). 2. They travel to places that are warmer where more food is available. 3. They stay active and ‘tough it out’. 4. The adults die off but the young ones live through winter as eggs or cocoons. Beside the animals listed below, write the number 1 to 4 that explains the way they handle winter in the Lake of the Woods Area. __________

a. red squirrel

__________

b. downy woodpecker

__________

c. mouse

__________

d. grasshopper

__________

e. forest tent caterpillar (armyworm)

__________

f. chipmunk

__________

g. robin

__________

h. fox

Old Jake the raven is a naturalist, which

is a nice word for someone who studies

nature. Jake told Kat that if a creature can

Nature Questions for Kat

then it is called an animal. That means mosquitoes,

If you have a nature question, why not ask

people, and so many more are animals. Animals

next issue of Kat The Nature Dog. You may

breathe, feed itself and move around by itself,

spiders, turtles, cows, robins, fish, crayfish, earthworms,

Kat? She will try to answer them in the

include a lot more than just the furry ones like bears,

email her at natacq2010@gmail.com.

dogs, squirrels, foxes, and moose.

L.O.W. AREA NEWS Early Spring 2018

56 LOWDKids!

lowdkids.ca

GET OUTSIDE

Activities to help you and your family enjoy the gifts of late winter and early spring It is a cold late winter’s day. A delicate layer of frost edges the corner of each window and snow still covers the landscape. Birds are huddled under eaves, fluffing their feathers, reminding you that winter is here for a while yet. Meanwhile, the kids are busy playing video games, and you are thinking, "I’ve got to figure out some way to get these guys outside!" We all know that if want to raise resilient children who care about the environment, we need to give them plenty of opportunities to engage with nature. In doing so, we’ll help the next generation recognize, as naturalist John Muir once said, that if we “tug at a single thing in nature, we’ll find it connected to the rest of the world.” Late winter can be a magical time to explore the natural world. The sun is now higher, brighter and warmer; we have daylight from 6:00 a.m. until early evening; and, all around us, the natural world is slowly waking up from s winter rest. So grab your hat, mitts, warm boots and winter jacket and don’t forget the kids! Here are a few outdoor winter activities for you and your children to enjoy.

ENGAGE YOUR SENSES Winter can be a wonderful time to 'plug in' to nature through our senses. This is our green conduit—a powerful way to connect children to nature. Here are some ways to engage all of your senses with the winter landscape.

Parmelia lichen (Drew Monkman)

• Rainbow Colors: Cut up a variety of paint color samples—especially greys, browns, yellows, oranges and greens—into smaller pieces. Hand out 5-10 pieces to each child. Ask them to try to find natural objects (e.g., grasses, rocks, buds, lichens, bark) that exactly match the colour of each paint sample. Once you start looking closely, you will be amazed at how many colours there are in winter.

• Smell Cocktail: You will need some Dixie cups and small twigs. As you hike, encourage everyone to selectively harvest tiny “bits” of the forest and place them in the cup: a bud, some conifer needles, a flake of bark, some pine gum, etc. When you have four or five items, stir them with a twig. This is your smell cocktail! Give each creation a name— perhaps “wintertopia” and let everyone smell each other's concoction. Can you identify the smells? • Focused Hearing: Squeeze your fingers together, take your two hands and cup them behind your ears. At the same

time, gently, push your ears forward. This simple procedure can increase your hearing by up to 10 times. In a way, your ears have become “deer ears”—large parabolic dishes that capture sound waves. • Touch Bag: Give each child a small paper bag. Ask them to find five or so familiar objects (e.g. different conifer needles, bark, moss, etc.) and to place them in the bag. Taking turns and using only their sense of touch, challenge the kids to identify the objects in each other's bags. • Forest Tea: As you walk, harvest a handful of pine, spruce or fir needles. The younger needles at the end of the twigs are best. Over a campfire or when you get home, toss the needles into boiling water and let steep for about 10 minutes. Serve. The resulting tea will be bitter but refreshing, and your tongue will dance with the evocative taste of the winter forest!

BE A BIRD MAGNET Wouldn’t it be wonderful, if just like the Pied Piper, you could call birds like chickadees and nuthatches to come to you—maybe as close as a 4 or 5 feet away? Here's how you do it. Whenever you hear chickadees or other small birds calling—even in your own backyard—position yourself near some trees and begin to make loud “pishing” noises. Pishing consists of taking a deep breath and making the sound “shhhh” but adding a “p” in front of it. You simply repeat “pshhhh” nine or ten times in a series (i.e., pshhhh, pshhhh, pshhhh, Chickadee (Jeff Keller} pshhhh…), stop to catch your breath and then do it again. Be patient, because you may need to keep it up for a minute or two before you get a response. You may also want to try increasing or decreasing the volume of your pishing. Continue pishing until all of the different species that may be present have time to make their way towards you. Chickadees, nuthatches and woodpeckers are especially receptive to these sounds, but other species may show up as well, especially if you are patient. Biologists think that birds respond to pishing because it sounds similar to the scold calls that chickadees make when there is a potential threat in the area such as an owl. They are therefore curious about the nature of the potential threat. Don’t be

lowdkids.ca

surprised if you end up with a dozen or more chickadees, nuthatches and woodpeckers almost at arm's length. And that is something to pish about! To see and hear pishing in action, go to YouTube and search "Pishing in Black-capped Chickadees in Peterborough, Ontario"

A WINTER WILDFLOWER BOUQUET The grey, brittle remains of last summer’s field and roadside flowers have a beauty and grace all their own, especially if you take time to look at them closely. When you are out for a walk, why not snip off a few and make your own winter floral arrangement? Some of the most attractive are the dry stalks and seedpods of milkweed, Queen Anne’s lace (wild carrot), evening primrose, mullein, burdock and the numerous types of grass. Try adding some of the fruit that often still lingers on shrubs and vines in late winter (e.g., mountain-ash, highbush cranberry) for a splash of colour.

A HEAD START ON SPRING Can’t wait for the greenery and blossoms of spring? Try cutting some 8-12 inch twigs for forcing indoors. Many shrubs and trees (e.g., forsythia, willow, dogwood, cherry, apple) are just waiting for warm weather to leaf out or even burst into bloom. Just put them in a vase of water and set them in a sunny window. Within a few days, you should see leaves and sometimes flowers emerging. Be sure to watch closely to see what comes out of each bud—a leaf? A flower? Both? You might even want to track their emergence from day to day with a camera.

TRACKING SPRING’S PROGRESS

L.O.W. AREA NEWS Early Spring 2018

LOWDKids! 57

The Big Book of Nature Activities is a comprehensive guide for parents and educators to help youth of all ages explore, appreciate and connect with the natural world. This rich, fully illustrated compendium features: • Nature-based skills and activities such as species identification, photography, journaling and the judicious use of digital technology • Ideas, games and activities grounded in what's happening in nature each season • Core concepts that promote environmental literacy, such as climate change and the mechanisms and wonder of evolution, explained using a childfriendly, engaging approach • Lists of key species and happenings to observe throughout the year across most of North America.

Perfect for families, educators, and youth leaders, The Big Book of Nature Activities is packed with crafts, stories, information and inspiration to make outdoor learning fun! Drew Monkman is a retired French immersion teacher, naturalist and writer. He traces his interest in nature back to summers spent at the family cottage on Clear Lake, near his home in Peterborough, Ontario. Drew writes a weekly nature column in the Peterborough Examiner. He is the author of Nature’s Year: Changing Seasons in Central and Eastern Ontario (2012) and, with Jacob Rodenburg, co-author of The Big Book of Nature Activities: A year-round guide to outdoor learning (2016). The book is a comprehensive guide for parents, grandparents and educators to help children—as well as adults—develop a greater appreciation for the natural world. Visit drewmonkman.com to read his past columns, wildlife sightings and nature Tweets.

Jacob Rodenburg has taught in the field of Outdoor Education for almost 30 years. He is currently the Executive Director of Camp Kawartha, a summer camp and outdoor education centre near Peterborough, Ontario, and he teaches environmental education at Trent University. Jacob received the Award for Leadership in Environmental Education by the Ontario Society of Environmental Educators, and the Richards Education • The two or three-note whistled song of the chickadee Award for excellence in Natural History Education from on calm, sunny mornings. Go to allaboutbirds.org to Ontario Nature. He has published a number of articles on learn the songs. children, nature and the environment, including The Big Book of Nature Activities, which won a gold medal from • Returning ducks (e.g., common merganser, hooded merganser, the Green Book Festival, a double gold from Nautilus common goldeneye) as the ice retreats on Book Awards, a silver medal from Moonbeam lakes and rivers. Children’s Award and was a finalist for the Indie • Returning robins, red-winged blackbirds, common grackles, song (Independent) Book Awards. sparrows and turkey vultures .

A great on-going activity is to keep track of the signs of winter's retreat and the arrival of spring. This can be done in your own backyard or as a focus for family walks. On a large sheet of paper or cardboard, make a “signs of spring” nature chart. Make a list of events to watch for, including those listed below. Add your own, too. Include a column for the date the event was observed and who first noticed it. Here are some "firsts" that signal the change of season.

L.O.W. AREA NEWS Early Spring 2018

58 LOWDKids!

lowdkids.ca

• The smell of a skunk on a mild, damp, late winter evening. Male skunks are on the prowl looking for females. • Your backyard chipmunks emerging from their cozy dens. • Frogs calling in the very early spring. Learn the calls of early calling species like spring peepers, leopard frogs and chorus frogs. A great resource can be found at naturenorth.com/spring/sound/shfrsnd.html. • Active insects such as honey bees, mourning cloak butterflies and woolly bear caterpillars. • The furry catkins of pussy willows and their cousins, the poplars, as they poke through bud scales. Also, watch for tiny reddish flowers emerging on red maples.

Male Common Goldeneye (Karl Egressy)

• Crocuses and snow drops blooming in your garden. • The dates at which the ice goes out on local lakes and rivers. Get cracking, get tracking: Right now is a great time to study animal tracks. When you encounter tracks, hunker down and look closely at the pattern. Can you figure out which way the animal was going? Was it walking or running? Follow the tracks for a while. Do they disappear up a tree? Do they go into a bush, under the snow? Can you identify which species made them? A great online resource can be found at bear-tracker.com. AN

Spring Peeper (John Urquhart)

Answers to Kat’s Nature Quiz a. (3) The red squirrel may be seen all winter. It uses its bushy tail to help keep its back warm.

e. (4) Forest tent caterpillars (armyworms) also spend the winter in the egg stage.

b. (3) The downy woodpecker eats suet (fat) from feeders and hunts for insects in tree bark.

f. (1) Chipmunks sleep but wake up to eat food they have stored away.

c. (3) Mice remain active usually at ground level under the snow or living in your house.

g. (2) Robins fly away (migrate) to warmer places.

d. (4) Grasshoppers spend the winter in the egg stage.

h. (3) Foxes hunt for whatever they can find (hares, squirrels, mice, etc.).

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A family business serving Lake of the Woods cottagers for over 30 years

Middle Lake Enterprises Inc. Construction

David S. Longe 807-466-8202 mle.longe@gmail.com Site 8, Box 50, RR #1 Keewatin, ON P0X 1C0 Like us on Facebook

MAY 19

Bob’s

ElEctric

ELECTRICAL CONTRACTING

• new construction/renovations/cottages

Owned/Operated by

• lake Work ready 24/7

rick Brignall

• acP contractor ESa/Ecra #7008852 • call anytime for a FrEE EStiMatE

Order Your Seedlings! Pick-up day is Saturday, May 19, 2018

807.468.5915 rBrignall@yahOO.ca

ORDERING DEADLINE MAY 5

PICK-UP AVAILABLE AT EIGHT LOCATIONS THROUGHOUT THE REGION.

You can also order online. Visit lowdpoa.com/cpages/seedlings For more information contact us at (807) 468-8715 or email info@lowdpoa.com.

L.O.W. AREA NEWS

Classified ads are a free service for LOWDPOA members.

EARLY SPRING 2018

Classifieds 61

All classified ads are posted online at lowdpoa.com. Note that they are posted within a couple days of submission and not subject to magazine deadlines.

How to Submit Classifieds Email: diane@lowdpoa.com Mail: LOWDPOA, Box 1160, Kenora, ON P9N 3X7 Next submission deadline: March 16, 2018 Please try to keep your listing to 35 words or less.

For Rent Lakefront 2 bedroom cottage. 45 km E. of Kenora. All modern with satellite T.V., dishwasher, washer/dryer. Large deck and screened-in porch. Nice sand beach, dock on crystal clear lake. $1,000 /week, pictures available. 715-835-4903 or tsolberg1@gmail.com. Lake of the Woods road access, near Kenora (south down McKenzie Portage Rd.) Cottage is fully modern—septic system/washer/dryer/dishwasher etc.—two bedrooms, screened porch. Only 1 week left for 2018 summer: August 10 -17, 2018. $825.00/ week. For detailed information and pictures contact lowcottage@hotmail.com. LOW Storm Bay Rd. 9. Large house with 9 bedrooms, hot tub, multi level decks, granite kitchen, boathouse, sauna, WiFi, fireplace, washer and dryer, dishwasher. Kayak and boat are a possibility. $2500-$3800 weekly. Available now and discounts available in the fall. Email mail@markmcgregor.ch. Island rental, Storm Bay Rd near the rollers, two log homes, new mattresses, one king, a double and a single. Two kayaks, and a boat can be included. $200$250 /night, email kaitlyn.mcgregor@gmail.com. Private Cottage in Bulman Bay, LOTW. Minutes from the Yacht Club. Near Keewatin, 10 minutes down McKenzie Portage Rd. Lakefront with large dock and great swimming. 4 bdrm, full bath with washer & dryer, good size kitchen with dishwasher, wood burning fireplace & satellite TV. Screened porch, large deck and firepit. Lots of parking. Recently renovated. Available January through December. Minimum 2 week stay. $2800/week Email inquiries to hklapman@mwgapparel.com. Lakefront Island Property Brule Point. Boat access only, 16 miles from Kenora. Sand beach, dual docking facilities (with plugs), fully equipped and has full service hydro and water. 3 bedrooms—ideal for families and in ideal fishing area. Weekly rental rate: $1160. Contact Donna Bell by phone 204-736-4555 or email taketwo@taketwoinc.com. Exceptional location on Coney Island… minutes from Kenora/Keewatin with western exposure. Newer, open concept cottage with 4 large bdrms and three bathrooms. Separate master suite with bathroom and private deck. Amenities include full kitchen with all appliances, dishwasher, microwave, washer/dryer, large island, separate dining area, wood burning fireplace and satellite TV. Screened porch with large wrap around decks overlook the lake, outdoor shower and built-in gas barbecue. Large main dock with two floaters that provide deep water docking and great swimming. Minimum 2 week stay. Email enquiries to bill.ralph@shaw.ca.

Welcome Channel, LOTW. Suite in family cottage with private access & bathroom and access to main cottage. Beautiful rooms, right on water, beach, boathouse roof top deck, all the amenities. Daily rates available mid-May until mid-September. Email John if you have questions or want to secure a spot: bemidji@telus.net Lake front 3 bedroom cottage. 30 mins from Kenora, a short drive off Trans-Canada Hwy. On a beautiful quiet lake with lots of bays and clear, clean water—perfect for swimming, kayaking, canoeing, paddle-boarding, fishing, boating, blueberry picking, hiking & biking. The cottage is great—comfy, very clean and well equipped with a GREAT 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. Contact (204) 941-0475 or LakeforU@mymts.net. Lakefront Cabin on Trout Lake 20km north of Kenora. 2 or 3 bedroom cabin available for rent weekends or weekly in May and June. Full kitchen & bathroom, TV/ DVD player, BBQ. Comes with a canoe, kayaks & 12ft aluminum boat. Chairs on deck off front of cabin & on private deck at the water’s edge with your own sand beach. Trout Lake is a spring fed lake with crystal clear water and beautiful natural sand beaches. For more details email huffgear@hotmail.com. Beautiful lakefront cottage on LOTW. Rush Bay Rd off main highway, west of Kenora. Large 2 storey cottage—4 bedrooms, 3 baths, plus bunk room that sleeps 6. Full kitchen with dishwasher, oven, microwave. Laundry, full washer and dryer, second refrigerator. Dining room, living room, enclosed sun porch. No A/C but has attic fan. Furnished outside deck with grill overlooking lake. Great for fishing, swimming, water sports. Available June, early July, August. $2500/wk. Contact Alan: 214-629-6006 or alanhull@sbcglobal.net. Lakefront Cottage on Lake of the Woods, near Kenora, road access. Includes 3 bedrooms, full kitchen, bath. Two acres, private bay, sandy beach, floating dock and good fishing! Available June, July, August. $5,000/mo. Call (204) 951-5812.

For Sale Superior location, south side Coney Island. Custom built by Ernie Whiting, clear cedar walls and hardwood maple flooring throughout. Totally winterized cottage plus 3 cabins—7 bedrooms. Large three season veranda, extensive docking with sauna, dock house and a 4-person lift from dock to cottage. Approx. 400ft lake frontage on 4 acres. Very well maintained by original owners. Contact gerrywilson@kmts.ca. 2 pre-owned, gently used, floating docks on Lake of the Woods, Kenora area (Safety Bay). Wired for electricity; 12ft x 40ft each, with 4ft x 20ft arched wooden access bridge. Also a steel turning plate, which allows the bridge to move on the dock to accommodate for fluctuating water conditions. Docks ready to be towed on the water to your location on Lake of the Woods. Will consider selling components separately or as a complete floating dock package. Contact Peter Z. peterzaj@mymts.net for more info & prices.

LOTW, Echo Bay. Building lot for sale—all services in and ready to hook up to a new building. $750,000. Road access, 1.19 acres, 148.29 frontage, 66 reserve owned, wood shed and older garage, double stall boathouse with electric lifts, underground electrical. Email bandre@mymts.net for further information.

Want to Rent Former owner, retired, quiet and private. NS and nonpartier. Seeks modest (senior budget), drive-up cabin for reflection, reading and writing—canoe and good swimming spot in 20 minute radius of Kenora (WiFi and TV would be ideal). No kids, no pets. Flex dates May - Sept 2018 (3-4 mos). Clean, responsible and excellent references. murrace@mymts.net.

Want to Buy 2-person sailboat with jib sail. Needs to be in great shape. Call or text 306-807-1437 or email househ57@gmail.com. Retired couple looking for building lot on LOTW. Contact Richard at kaletzke@mymts.net.

Boats & Motors For Sale 2005 GREW 184 4.3l. MERCRUISER BOWRIDER Excellent condition. Low hours. One owner. Stored in LOTW covered boat lift—no trailer. Full convertible cover with windows. Bow cover. Travel cover. Depth sounder. Swim ladder. Windshield wiper. Bilge pump. Stereo. $13,900 Email: brucemcc@mts.net. Spindrift 13 sailboat. Centreboard dinghy built by Vandestadt & McGruer. Fully equipped with mast, boom, centreboard, rudder, tiller, mainsail and jib. Needs some fibreglass patching. Great fun for just $350.00. Call Bob at 204-474-0976.

Miscellaneous LOVE DOGS? It's A Dog's Life needs foster and forever homes for their rescue dogs. Cottagers can help with short or long term fostering or adopting. Website: adogslife.cc or call 807-467-3647

Boating Safety Course Dates: Nuttall Boating Safety BASIC Course: A six and a half hour course and exam. Winnipeg – Windsor Park, Arts & Tech April 22 or 29 (Sun) TBC | 9:30 am to 4:30 pm Winnipeg - Sturgeon Heights Collegiate April 24 & May1 (Tue) | 6:30 pm – 9:45 pm, Winnipeg - River Heights, Grant Park HS May 16 & 23 (Wed) | 6:30 pm – 9:45 pm Please register in advance. Contact Nuttall Boating at 204-889-3000 or 1-877-783-3368, or email info@nuttallboatingsafety.com. Check nuttallboatingsafety.com for changes and additional dates.

L.O.W. AREA NEWS

EARLY SPRING 2018

62 Real Estate Listings

Winnipeg River Estates

Approx 2 acres with 160+ ft frontage. Bright southern exposure. Rugged terrain. Good water depth at the rocky shores. River does not freeze in front of these lots.

$79,900 - $89,900

Duncan Carmichael Real Estate 807-467-2323 / lakeofthewoods.net

Spruce Lake

Tenants in Common cottage includes 3 bedrooms, 1 bath with an amazing view. This rustic gem won't disappoint. Dock space right out the front door along with an amazing view.

$99,900

Cabin Country Realty

807-468-3541 / cabincountry.com

Corkscrew Island - LOTW

Nestor Falls Marine

$154,900

$349,000 + inventory.

Lower profile vacant lot in Clearwater Bay. Approx 0.95 acres with 150 feet of rocky shoreline. Eastern views; nice tree cover; located outside the Clearwater Bay Development Area.

Duncan Carmichael Real Estate 807-467-2323 / lakeofthewoods.net

Storm Bay Road - LOTW

This 5 bedroom, 3 bathroom year round getaway is a must see. The cottage includes 3,794 sq. ft. of living space, a walk out lower level with attached decks and great decks.

$869,000

Cabin Country Realty

807-468-3541 / cabincountry.com

40x120 ft. shop w/ large merchandising front room. Open & private offices. Large pull through shop + 1000 sq.ft. of deck. 3.19 acres & 2 entrances along 473 ft of hwy frontage.

Northwoods Realty

Lougheed Drive – Winnipeg River Two 5.52 acres road access and hydro to each lot line.

$139,000 - $219,000 + HST ($113,615 - $177,85 + HST USD)

Shelley Torrie Home & Cottage Realty 807-547-4020 / kenora-realestate.com

Belle Ave - LOTW

4 beds, 2 bath home/cottage. 2,000+ square feet of living space. 17’ vaulted ceilings. Minutes to town by boat or car.

$499,900 ($405,974 USD)

Shelley Torrie Home & Cottage Realty 807-547-4020 / kenora-realestate.com

807-226-1024 / northwoodsrealtyltd.com

Andrew Bay - LOTW

Own half an island - 1.6 acres, 4-level cottage, pagoda-style gazebo and magnificent sand beach.

$1,450,000 ($1,177,560 USD)

Shelley Torrie Home & Cottage Realty 807-547-4020 / kenora-realestate.com

McCallum Point Road - LOTW

Exquisite lake front home on Clearwater Bay. Fully developed for your enjoyment. Triple car garage, large boat port, and landscaping that blends with the environment.

$1,950,000

Cabin Country Realty

807-468-3541 / cabincountry.com

L.O.W. AREA NEWS

EARLY SPRING 2018

Advertisers’ Directory 63 Arts 58 Melissa Jean Art melissajeanart.com

Building Materials 48 McMunn & Yates 1666 Highway 17 W, Keewatin 807-547-3366 37 Star Building Materials 16 Speers Road, Winnipeg 204-233-8687 starbuilding.ca/winnipeg

Community & Philanthropy 00 City of Kenora Inside Back 1 Main Street South, Kenora Cover 807-467-2000 kenora.ca 44 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 6 DTL Carpentry 204-979-4055 dtlcarpentry.ca 31 Legacy Originals 431 Turenne Street, Winnipeg 204-233-4219 legacyoriginals.com 60 Middle Lake Enterprises Keewatin 807-466-8202 60 Postech Screw Piles 57-075 Symington Rd E, Winnipeg 1-855-4-PILING manitobascrewpiles.ca 5 REMR Roofing 2053 Highway 17 East, Kenora 807-548-2811 remrroofing.com

Docks

Legal

49 Docks & Lifts Ltd. 1940 Highway 17 East, Kenora 807-547-4444 docksandlifts.ca

43 Booth Dennehy LLP, Raymond Oakes 387 Broadway Avenue, Winnipeg 204-957-1717 boothdennehy.com

34 Frank Hickling Sales 15 Chimo Place, Springfield 204-222-3301 fhsales.ca

47 Hook Seller Lundin LLP 203-301 First Avenue South, Kenora 807-468-9831 hsllawyers.com

Electrical 60 Bob’s Electric 225 Main Street North, Kenora 807-468-5915 rbrignall@yahoo.ca

Financial Planning

51 Shewchuk, Ormiston, Richardt & Johnson LLP 214 Main Street South, Kenora 807-468-5559 kenoralaw.com

Marine

Back Woodlake Marine 27 The Darcy Zaporzan Wealth Management Cover 1956 Highway 17 West, Kenora Group of RBC Dominion Securities Inc. 807-468-2628 3100-201 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg woodlakemarine.com 204-982-2635 53 WSL Sport & Leisure dzwmg.com 832 Lakeview Drive, Kenora 59 Richardson GMP Limited 807-468-5253 1 Lombard Place, Winnipeg lotwsport.com 204-943-5263 richardsongmp.com

Personal Services

Fireplaces 39 Flame & Comfort 318 Logan Avenue, Winnipeg 204-943-5263 flameandcomfort.com

Home & Cottage Maintenance

45 Lisa Reid Audiology 412 Marion Street, Winnipeg 204-977-6867

Real Estate Inside Cabin Country Realty Cover 138 Main Street South, Kenora 807-468-3541 cabincountry.com

60 Denver’s Window Cleaning Services 30 Deerfield Trail, Steinbach 204-320-1935 denverswindowcleaning.com

20 Duncan Carmichael Real Estate 625 Lakeview Drive, Kenora 807-467-2323 lakeofthewoods.net

60 Keystone Security Solutions 1221 Highway 17 W, Keewatin 807-468-7878 keystonelock.ca

33 Northwoods Realty 5701A Highway 71, Sioux Narrows 807-226-1024 northwoodsrealtyltd.com

Insurance 60 Garriock Insurance 390 York Avenue, Winnipeg 800-773-7157 garriock.ca 17 The Standard Insurance Brokers 319 Second Street South, Kenora 807-468-3333 thestandardonline.com

41 Shelley Torrie Home & Cottage Realty 721 Beach Road, Kenora 807-547-4020 kenora-realestate.com

Restaurant & Brewery 21 LOW Brewing Company 350 Second Street South, Kenora 807-468-2337 lowbrewco.com

L.O.W. AREA NEWS

EARLY SPRING 2018

64 History

Tramping Through the Bush by Lori Nelson “We are still skating and snowshoeing. I guess they do those things all year here,” wrote Flossie Auckland, a young school teacher working her first year in Keewatin, in a letter home dated March 24, 1916. While the thought of an endless winter crossed the mind of our Miss Auckland, her letters home to her family in Talbotville, Ontario clearly indicate that she embraced the winter adventures of her new home, including snowshoeing. Flossie wrote of her first tramp in February 1916: Well I have been on my first snowshoeing tramp. We went Saturday afternoon, a whole bunch around by the edge of the lake and up through the bush. It was funny. I felt like a duck waddling and fell. I was in the snow most of the time. But after a while I began to feel right at home on them and enjoyed the walk fine. We climbed hills, slid down them and had great sport. But of course, I froze my nose. The history of snowshoeing in Canada had its origins with the Indigenous people who, for purely practical reasons, created a wooden and webbed “shoe”. The broad base, which distributed the wearer’s weight so that they wouldn’t sink in the snow, facilitated winter travel and hunting. Early settlers, recognizing the ingenious design, also adopted snowshoes for winter walking in the bush.

Eventually the novelty of walking atop the snow led to enjoyable tramps in the woods and by the late 19th century recreational snowshoeing had hit its stride. Snowshoe clubs were formed in communities across the country. Kenora was no different. The YMCA started the first snowshoe club in town in 1910 and with an initial membership of 50 people, it was off to a healthy start. The club sponsored weekly tramps and there was no shortage of destinations. They would tramp to Rabbit Lake, north of the tracks to the Rideout area, along the Winnipeg River, west to Norman, or across to Coney Island. More often than not, the evening ended back at one of the local hotels for a hearty feed of oysters. Exercise, camaraderie, fresh air, beautiful surroundings and food were all part of a tramp through the bush. Flossie wrote of her second outing: We had a great snowshoeing tramp the other night, about 20 of us tramped two or 3 miles through the bush, up hills and down. One of the boys went ahead and got a fire started then we had lunch provided – pork and beans, bacon, coffee, toast – and… tramped home. The night was just fine, not a bit too cold, but it was rather too soft underneath. When we got home, our feet and shoes were soaking. I don’t think our moccasins are dry yet. As recreational snowshoeing experiences a resurgence of interest, there is with it a sense of history and a sense of connection. The joys then are the joys now and we are reminded of that by young Flossie Auckland. We had another snowshoeing tramp on Monday night. We went out about 3 miles across the lake to Hansen’s shack. There were about 25 of us. We started about 7:30 and got there about 9. This time the boys provided lunch and it was much easier getting it ready as we had a stove. We got home about 11:30, rather late for schoolteachers, but still I think it is a great sport and am anxious to go again whenever a crowd is ready. You can’t go very fast on snowshoes but it’s faster than walking in the snow, because the shoes are so wide they hold you up. And we can be thankful that skates and snowshoes are not practical year-round footwear here on Lake of the Woods. AN

The Kenora Golf Course was a popular place to snowshoe in the 1920s. Here a group of enthusiasts take a break at Curly’s Shack on the former 3rd hole of the course. (Lake of the Woods Museum Collection)

Snow Sculptures Matiowski Winter Farmers’ Market Great Canadian Canoe Race Evening Entertainment

Free Skating under the Whitecap Pavilion Fireworks and much more! *Events subject to change

4 2 c h Mar018 2 Free entertainment for the entire family! Visit our website often for updated event listings and registration details!

kenorawintercarnival.ca

165 Classic Sport Mercury 60 CT Eagle

185 Competitor Sport Mercury 115 Eagle

185 Trophy Mercury 150 Eagle

195 T-Pro Verado 175 Eagle

1825 Falcon Mercury 90 EZ Loader

2025 Escape HT Verado 200 L4 EZ Loader

150 Super Sport Mercury 60 CT Karavan

230 Vantage Verado 350

1850 Reata LS Mercury 150 Ranger

620 Fisherman Verado 250 Pro Ranger

190 SPO Mercury 150 Karavan

230 SLX Wake V-Drive 6.2L Custom Trailer

— SPECIAL SHOW PRICING — Mid-Canada Boat Show • March 1-4, 2018 • RBC Convention Centre ON-SITE FINANCING

Visit our display—north end, third floor! www.woodlakemarine.com

1-866-460-2628 TOLL FREE

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