9. KID'S FRIDAY ACTIVITY CORNER - "IN THE PARK WORDSEARCH"

 

MYSTERY "GREEN CANOE" FINALLY REMOVED FROM WETLAND POND

For many years the crew at Alan Roy’s annual Sam Smith Park clean-up day have looked at the bow end of a “green canoe” sticking up from the water in the North Creek Wetland pond off the east point of the island and mused about one day removing the unsightly object once and for all.

  

Well, that day came today.

Alan Roy, Terry Smith, Bruce Wilkinson and Alan’s heroic son Alec, plus, of course, Alan’s dog Koa removed the object.  

It turned out not to be a canoe at all but a deflated tetrahedron, marker buoy from a sailboat race that must have come adrift during a storm and floated in to the pond from the lake through the culvert. 

Roped off, wearing chest waders and a life-jacket, the intrepid Alec, under the watchful eye of his dad and dog, ventured out on to the ice from the island and secured a line to the object.  

Then, using an axe, Alec cut a channel through the ice for the shore crew to haul it ashore while they marked the timing of each heave on the line by, of course, singing sea shanties.

As the buoy was dragged back along the shoreline for disposal, a lot of very sleepy looking crayfish tumbled out of it and were tossed back in to the water.

Done, finally! 

A very good day.

8. KID'S FRIDAY ACTIVITY CORNER - "SWAN ORIGAMI"

 

"JOURNEY OF COOPER'S HAWKS" - A FOSS presentation from Irene Cholewka

"A SAM SMITH OWL SPEAKS"

 

7. KID'S FRIDAY ACTIVITY CORNER - "PINECONE BIRD FEEDER"

 

6. KID'S FRIDAY ACTIVITY CORNER - "ORIGAMI RABBIT"

 

FOSS ONLINE WINTER PHOTO CONTEST STARTED NEW YEAR'S DAY! HERE ARE THE DIRECTIONS FOR SUBMITTING ENTRIES

The winter photo contest should showcase the diversity of wildlife and the beauty of the natural landscape in Sam Smith Park during this or any previous winter season (images taken outside the park will be removed from the photo album).

Entry submission period – January 1st until February 28th 2021.

Anyone who has experienced the beauty of the park and is a FOSS Facebook group member is eligible to enter.  Judging will be done by the FOSS Facebook community through “likes”.  FOSS steering committee members will not be eligible to enter but can “like”. The photos must respect privacy – any discernible photos of people will be also removed from the photo album.  

In order to stay consistent with FOSS policies about not posting owl images from the park, any owl images will be removed from the contest album.

 

Post all submissions directly to the Winter Photo Contest album on the FOSS Facebook page. The album can be found under the heading “Media – Albums”.  A title and the photographer’s name may be added in the description box under the image if desired.  Please make sure that you have submitted no more than five images by the end of the submission period – Sunday, February 28th 2021.  It is understood that any image entered in the contest may be used by Friends of Sam Smith Park for promotional purposes only (e.g. slideshow).

Judging will be based on the number of “likes” an image receives from Facebook group members and can be posted any time during the submission period.  Any ties will be decided by coin toss. Facebook allows one like per group member per image.  A previous like can be easily removed and reallocated as the two month submission period unfolds by simply re-clicking “like” under the image to remove it. 

First prize will be a gift certificate to the value of $100, second prize $60, and third prize $40.  Winners will be privately messaged for contact information so that they can receive their prizes.  Winners’ names will be announced on our Facebook page and blog as soon as possible after contest ends.

5. KID'S FRIDAY ACTIVITY CORNER - "BIRD SEED COOKIES"