President's Message
the year ahead
September, 2008
Now that the Summer is over, sorry to say so but it is, I thought I would take the opportunity to bring you all up to date on some of the activities with which we will be involved over the next few months.
Before I get to this however I would be remiss not to comment on the passing of Doug Sadler. As many of you will know, Doug died recently at the age of 92. His was a remarkable life. Born in London England, he served in the British Army in the Second World War, spent time as a prisoner of war and emigrated to Canada in 1950. Over the next half century and more he had an enormous impact on nature study and conservation in the Peterborough area. He published six books, contributed to many others, and most extraordinarily, wrote over 2300 articles on natural history topics for the Peterborough examiner. He served as President of both the PFN and of what is now Ontario Nature. He was relentlessly curious, generous with his time and a gifted communicator and teacher. He will be missed by many. The Committee will be discussing appropriate ways in which to commemorate his achievements at our upcoming meeting.
I am pleased to report that the Club has been successful in obtaining monies from Parks Canada for the construction of four Chimney Swift towers along the Trent Severn Waterway. These need to be in place by the end of October so the next few weeks will be busy ones. I am still looking for members who are prepared to help in any way. If you think you might be interested do not hesitate to contact me as we would all appreciate the help.
We are currently in the last stages of negotiations with the Federal Government for a grant to continue the work of the Large Woodland Conservation Cooperative. I am hopeful we will have a contract in place in a few weeks. I will keep you up to date in future issues of the Orchid.
Other than the above we have a full Fall program of events. Roger Jones has organised an interesting group of speakers for our monthly meetings and Laura Kucey a great set of bird walks and other excursions. I encourage you all to participate. Attendance at monthly meetings fell off last year for some reason. We would love to see you more often.
Best wishes for the Fall and here’s hoping it’s long and warm,
John Bottomley
President, Peterborough Field Naturalists.
Updated 09/03/08