Again this year the annual Xmas Bird Count tally will be held at Mandaumin United Church hall on Saturday Dec.14th and everyone is invited to stop by to view the results, enjoy some refreshments, see some wildlife photographs and just generally schmooze. There will be sandwiches etc. for the birders who participated in the count.

The hall will be opened at noon although little will be happening before about 3pm.

Indoor Chair George Sunaitis is requesting assistance in the form of snacks such as cookies, bars, cheese and crackers, cheese balls, or other light snacks. Also a couple of volunteers to help out in the hall preparing sandwiches and serving. Finally donations for door prizes are requested, either from local businesses or from individuals.

Lambton Wildlife has provided an annual scholarship of $500 to a high school graduate who is following an environmental course of study in a college or university. The investment to provide these funds were donated to LWI in a bequest from an estate a number of years ago.

At present there is just enough capital to provide this annual scholarship. A request has come from the Lambton-Kent school board to provide two scholarships for the Grade 12 and 13 classes graduating in June 2003. Rather than splitting our $500, our Board has decided to try and raise an additional $500 from one time donations to the scholarship fund. Therefore we are opening up an opportunity for you to donate any tax-deductible amount for this purpose.

This would be a great way to honour or memorialize a family member. Lets show that we care about our local graduates. Next spring (around annual general meeting time) we will publish the list of donors and in whose memory it is given. Any surplus funds will be used to build up the scholarship bequest capital fund for future use.

Please mark on your donation "scholarship fund". If you have any questions contact our president, Diane (542-2826) or myself (336-6568). Thank you for your consideration.

Don Smith
Past President .

Early this year some members of the LWI Board encouraged me to nominate Peter Banks for a 2002 Ontario Volunteer Service Award for his thirty-five years contribution to Lambton Wildlife Inc. Our nomination was accepted and Peter was presented with his award on September 19, 2002 at the Imperial Oil Centre for the Perfoming Arts by The Honourable Carl DeFaria, Minister of Citizenship.

The Province placed an importance on the longevity of one's service, for anyone nominated with fifty years or more was given a Golden Jubilee Medal in honour of Queen Elizabeth's fifty years reign as Queen. There were only seven that qualified out of over 200 recipients, but Peter was among the few who qualified with thirty years or more. He received a Volunteer Service Award pin and certificate for his long service.

Congratulations and thank you from all the LWI membership. There is no one more deserving.

Don Smith
Past President

It was brought to our attention that the signing in Mandaumin Woods had fallen into disrepair.

In the Spring, John Teasell and I inspected the trail. We removed the worst signs and decided to replace the Michael's Trail signs. This summer John built two new signs of very sturdy quality and we installed them this month.

The trail was named in memory of a deceased son of Arthur and Jean Smithen who contributed significantly to the purchase of the reserve. Special thanks go out to John Teasell, the warden of Mandaumin Woods, for building and installing these signs.

Don Smith
Past President

Don't Forget

Our sympathies are with member Betty Shaw and family on the recent death of Bill, engineer, musician, gardener, vintner and good friend to man and beast.

Peter Banks

On Wednesday, October 16th about a dozen members of the Tent Toters & Trail Trotters, a local RV group, assembled at the home of one of their members near O'Brien Side Road to do some clean-up on the Howard Watson Nature Trail

While the weather was gray and cool they were an enthusiastic group and very much enjoyed working together to clean the trail from O'Brien to the end of the trail near Camlachie. On behalf of LWI and the HWNT Committee I want to express appreciation to this group for their efforts, and especially to Ed Kearney and Lorne Longley for organizing the work party.

Gord Catterson

The September issue outdoor program list carried a wrong date for Alf's Kettle Point outing resulting in confusion for some people. It showed the date as the 20th rather than the 26th. My apologies for the error.

Ed

Join the International Joint Commission on September 19-20, 2003 in Ann Arbor, Michigan for the 2003 IJC Biennial Meeting on Great Lakes Water Quality.

Mark your calendars now!

The IJC's Biennial Meeting has long been a forum for the Great Lakes and the people who care about their future. Our goal is to educate the Great Lakes basin community and energize its citizens to work together, along with governments at all levels, to carry out the purpose of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. At the meeting, basin residents will come together to celebrate progress, assess and comment on current action, share strategies for restoring the Areas of Concern and discuss new and emerging issues regarding the cleanup and restoration of the greatest body of fresh water on Earth.

For more information contact: DayJ@windsor.ijc.org