2008 YEAR IN REVIEW Although we were active this year with numerous successful events that raised our visibility amongst governments, industry and the general public, we had to deal with a management crisis that could have ended the Friends of the Spanish River. After reorganizing the Board of Directors and re-establishing our charitable, non-profit status, we are back on track and ready to produce more important environmental projects in 2009. The crisis reminded us of how fragile an organization can be. It is important to have dedicated volunteers carry out the important work that in the case of the Friends of the Spanish River is spelled out clearly in our mandate: ‘To Restore, Preserve and Celebrate the Spanish River'!
HIGHLIGHTS: Our website was extensively expanded by our web master, Bill Leeney and Bill McKenna. It was decided that an expanded website was more useful and versatile than the creation of a new film on the Spanish River that was originally suggested. Here are the new features we added:
The ‘Miss Waggles Road Show', (complete with new signage, banner and bookmarks) was a big hit throughout Northern Ontario. Our 54” long taxidermied Muskellunge mascot gave us great exposure and helped us get the good news story out that the Spanish River is now healthy. Here are the locations where she ‘stole the show':
Miss Waggles went on permanent display September 22 at the Spanish Four Seasons Complex and Marina and is a constant reminder that our beautiful Spanish River is once again healthy!
Our 32' long, bright red pointer boat made numerous appearances this year to drive the point home that the early logging days in Northern Ontario were dramatic and not for the faint of heart. Although we have had our pointer boat completely rebuilt and we were planning a trip down the Spanish River from Espanola to Spanish this year, a member's illness has postponed our trip until 2009.
For the seventh year in a row, we have participated in the TD Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup Program. We were pleased to have volunteers from the Espanola branch of the TD Bank and the LaCloche Hiking Association help us remove garbage from the shores of the Spanish River at the Espanola boat launch area.
We continue to support the Sagamok Anishnabek First Nation community near Massey, Ontario. On November 25, 2008, we attended the grand opening of Sagamok Becker Enterprise's Research & Development Centre located in their community. This new partnership is dedicated to new projects such as solar and wind power and innovative building design utilizing natural materials in construction. Their new research & development centre built to resemble a very large tee pee is a dramatic example of what they are hoping to achieve.
A big ‘Welcome Aboard' to Roz Raby who became our Secretary/Treasurer in January and who was largely responsible for re-establishing our charitable status.
A big thank you to Kirby Houle who also came on board to help us with our charter status, taxation and accounting.
Our annual membership drive resulted in a record number of members including the entire grade three class of St. Mary's School in Massey, Ontario.
Our members will be sporting new colourful Polo shirts embroidered with our logo at environmental events next year. You can order these stylish Polo shirts at O.J. Graphix Inc. in the new industrial park in Espanola for $30.50 including tax. They make a great gift and with your purchase, you would be helping us ‘spread the word' that it's ‘smart to be green'.
PLANS FOR 2009
We intend to produce a ‘Fish Art Contest' for the school children along the Spanish River to draw attention to the ongoing need to protect all the creatures that live in, on and around the Spanish River.
We have agreed to include the Anishnabek Fish Culture historical data on our website to further educate the general public of the hard work and successes that these dedicated scientists have achieved throughout the Spanish River watershed.
We intend to host a Spanish River boat tour using our 32' pointer boat. The trip from Espanola to Spanish will be run in relays with volunteer rowers from the general public over two or three weekends. Eight volunteers will be needed per ‘leg' so, if you want to be part of the fun, contact any member of the Friends of the Spanish River to sign up. Click on the ‘Who Are We' heading in our main menu for contact information.
The increased incidences of blue algae in North Eastern Ontario waters is a concern especially with all the new Spanish riverfront residential development taking place. We are considering utilizing some of the environmental protection models used by the now famous ‘River Keepers' organization to address the blue algae and other local environmental issues.
We will be exploring the possibility of a ‘Spanish River Nature Conservancy Interpretive Centre' at the Four Seasons Complex and Marina in Spanish, Ontario.
We will continue to perform those activities that we have done in the past such as the annual TD Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup Program, support local events such as Earth Day in Sudbury, Canada Day in Espanola and the annual Massey Fall Fair.
We encourage you to go Green! Come ‘On Board' with the ‘Friends of the Spanish River! Just click on ‘Membership' in our main menu.
Your ‘Friend',
Bill McKenna
Volunteer member of the Friends of the Spanish River