Annual General Meeting 2021
Our 2021 AGM took place on Thursday, September 16 at 6 pm via Zoom. Our guest speaker will be Lauren Chu, creator of The Ridgeline Report, who will discuss diversity, inclusion, and representation in the outdoors. We'll also chat about our projects – past, present and future! Everyone is welcome to attend, and only official members will be able to participate in items requiring a vote.
Membership is open to everyone: friendsoflsp.org/membership.
Thank you to everyone who joined us!
Artist in Residence
Our inaugural Artist in Residence (AiR) for 2021 was painter Marta Stares:
We were grateful and excited to receive 20 applications to our inaugural AiR program. We received a wide range of submissions from painters, weavers, multimedia artists, film makers and photographers. Many artists applied from northern Ontario. Thank you to all the artists who applied as well as the artists, curators and board members who helped us design our program and participated in the selection process.
Stay tuned for announcements about our 2022 AiR!
Scientific research bursary
We provided a $2,500 bursary for graduate students Rémi Boisvert and Deanna Holt-Schmitt from the Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, who are conducting research on the effects of Lake Superior’s climatic gradient on the microhabitats of bryophyte and lichen communities in Lake Superior Provincial Park. This bursary is supported by a donation from the estate of Jack and Phyllis Chisvin, who were supporters of educational initiatives for young adults, and environmental causes. More to come on this exciting research!
Kelsey Family Backcountry student bursary
Christine and Chris Kelsey are the parents of Evelyn Kelsey, who was a Backcountry
Ranger at LSPP. They generously donated $1,000 to a bursary fund honouring
Evelyn’s memory, with the Friends of LSP contributing another $1,000 for a total of $2,000.
The bursary was awarded to Connor Sziklasi, a staff member from LSPP’s Backcountry crew, given his leadership in the following areas:
supporting peers by demonstrating commitment to psychological health and safety in the workplace
actively working to improve mental health awareness in the workplace
demonstrating commitment to their own wellbeing and that of their peers by encouraging exploration of LSPP’s natural spaces
demonstrating commitment to wellbeing by supporting fellow employees through challenging workplace situations and/or personal adversity
going above and beyond to build positive community within LSPP
Congrats, Connor!
Gear and equipment purchases
We made the following purchases for the park's Backcountry program.
We also purchased these books requested by Discovery program (education) staff for their library.
Friends of LSP member merchandise
We expanded our merchandise options available to members. Now available in the park store are toques, totes, Friends of LSP t-shirts and baseball tees, a baseball tee with a design by Evelyn Kelsey (proceeds will be directed to mental health initiatives), and of course our popular patches, magnets, and stickers. Patches, magnets, and stickers are also available in our online membership store.
Event: Bat Talk by University of Winnipeg research lab
Tuesday, October 26 at 7:00 pm Eastern Time
Just in time for Halloween, we’ve got a fun webinar in the works! In partnership with the Willis Bat Lab at the University of Winnipeg, we'll host a Bat Talk on Tuesday, October 26 at 7:00 pm Eastern Time via Zoom. The talk will focus on threats facing bats in Ontario such as White-nose Syndrome, and the research their lab does to better understand and protect bats.
Sign-up details will be announced in the fall – stay tuned! 🎃🦇👻
Ideas for upcoming online gatherings
Feel free to weigh in on our 1-question survey about future online presentation topics you'd be interested in: friendsoflsp.org/events
Til next time...
A sincere thank you to all our donors, members, and subscribers. We couldn't do this work without our dedicated community of supporters. Thanks for all you do to spread the word about us! If you don't already, you can follow us on Instagram and Facebook (links below).