Good job, William, Liam and Matthew!
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Sunday, September 9, 2012
A new season begins.. yippee!
Junior Forest Wardens is about to begin... and already there are lots of great events on the plan!
Come see us at the Community Registration Night Tuesday Sept 11th at Gateway school.
Talk to members, sign up, buy a t-shirt, get excited!
Have a look at this new video that explains what we're all about:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANP9UpdO3ZY
Our first meeting will be Tuesday evening, Sept 18th, 6PM at our outdoor meeting area, 6th St E & 8th Ave (by the Community Garden)
See you there!
Come see us at the Community Registration Night Tuesday Sept 11th at Gateway school.
Talk to members, sign up, buy a t-shirt, get excited!
Have a look at this new video that explains what we're all about:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANP9UpdO3ZY
Our first meeting will be Tuesday evening, Sept 18th, 6PM at our outdoor meeting area, 6th St E & 8th Ave (by the Community Garden)
See you there!
Monday, July 2, 2012
Junior Forest Wardens wind up another great year
The
Meadow Lake “Woodlanders” Junior Forest Wardens annual windup
meeting was held June 13th
at Pagan Lake. Club executive, leaders and key events are all in
place for September and we are looking forward to another year of
hands-on outdoor learning. Here are some highlights of the year
just ended:
June
2011
saw about 650 JFW members from BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan and
Newfoundland gather at Hinton for a week-long National Camp. This
event is held every 3 or 4 years and features a huge variety of
instructional sessions on anything you can imagine to do with
wilderness skills, leadership, ecology, forestry, wildlife,
traditional crafts, music, canoing, team challenges... the list goes
on! The next one will be in 2014, possibly in Saskatchewan if a
suitable sitecan be found.
September
featured a family camp at Matheson Lake in the Meadow Lake Provincial
Park, which included hikes, canoing and of course lots of good food.
Several new families joined our club this year.
October
featured a series of club meetings focused on Disaster Preparedness.
Given the last summer's events in Slave Lake and other places, there
was keen interest in learning how to be better prepared for all sorts
of possible events. Every year in October, JFW volunteers meet for a
weekend of leader development. This year's event was held at the
Long Lake JFW camp near Athabasca.
November
and December were
difficult weather-wise, but we managed a nature hike at the St Cyr
ski trails, practiced shelter-building and had a Christmas skating &
hayride party.
January
and February 2012
included cross-country ski lessons, our 'Sprucewood Derby' and some
hands-on projects like building tin-can pressure stoves and repairing
Coleman lamps and stoves. Adventurous wardens got to go on a weekend
bush camp and learn winter survival skills. Conservation Officer Dan
Robinson came for an afternoon to challenge everyone's fire-lighting
abilities.
March
saw one of the highlights of the year, our annual winter camp which
was held this year at Camp Oshkidee on Jeanette Lake. There wasn't
much winter, though! All thoughts of skiing and snowshoing were set
aside and we had tons of fun with orienteering, skills challenges and
team-building games. Ken Ness from Saskatchewan Environment gave a
fantastic presentation on the work of conservation officers and
wildland fire investigators.
May's
big event was our annual “Spring Fling” family camp which was
held once again at Matheson Lake. We were joined by JFW members from
Airdrie and Onoway. The weekend program included photography
lessons, sailing lessons, a forest-fire regeneration hike, a huge
potluck supper and entertaining evening campfire program and other
events.
June
gets busy with soccer and other demands on everyone's time, but we
did manage to get in lots of JFW time too. We finished up the
shelter at our in-town club site, which is where we hold many of our
evening meetings in the fall and spring. Our wind-up meeting began
with a work bee: last summer’s storms did considerable damage to
our interpretive trail at Pagan Lake, with tree trunks laying across
the walkway, and information signs lost in the debris or destroyed
altogether. Several hours with chainsaws, pruning sheers and axes
made the path accessible again. Hopefully, over the next few months
we'll get new signs made and installed. We also installed numerous
nesting boxes and finished the evening with campfire supper and
annual general meeting.
Junior
Forest Wardens is an exciting and educational opportunity for young
people and their families to have fun, develop skills, and get
educated in the many and diverse aspects of our natural environment.
For more information about our club or one in your area please visit
www.jfwa.ca.
Interested in starting your own local club in Saskatchewan?
Contact info@woodlandersjfw.org!
Pagan Lake Clean Up
If a tree falls in the forest, does it make a sound?
Well, cleaning them up does!
After last summer’s weather, our walking trail at Pagan Lake was disastrous.
Tree trunks laying across the walkway, information signs were lost in the debris, in some spots---you couldn’t even see the path. Armed with chainsaws, pruning shears, axes and a lot of determination, our volunteers worked hours to make the path accessible. Once again, kids of all ages can enjoy the trail to observe the beautiful wildlife and breath-taking nature.
The interpretive trail was established in 2000 by the JFWs with assistance of Meadow Lake Wildlife Federation. The signs give information on various animals, birds and plants common to the area.
Every spring, the Meadow Lake Junior Forest Wardens clean up the Pagan Lake campground area. ML JFW club officially adopted the Pagan Lake Recreation Area in 1998, with an official agreement with Sask Parks. The site was to be closed due to constant vandalism, our involvement (including large signs, annual events, and litter cleanup) has helped curb the problems and the site has remained open for many to enjoy.
This year we had approximately 40 helpers; over half under 16. Forestry and ecology are two of the pillars of our family outdoor club. Activities in the outdoors which help the environment are one of the favourite pursuits of the kids!
Over the years we have installed numerous nesting boxes (mainly duck boxes) around the lake, some supplied by Ducks Unlimited, some built by us. At this event, we added another 15 JFW made bird houses to the habitat.
We would like to thank EcoFriendly Saskatchewan for sponsoring our campground cleanup. We share a love of nature. Our JFW pledge is “As one who believes in the aim of the Junior Forest Wardens, I pledge myself and my services to the appreciation and responsible use of our forests, wildlife and natural heritages.”
Well, cleaning them up does!
After last summer’s weather, our walking trail at Pagan Lake was disastrous.
Tree trunks laying across the walkway, information signs were lost in the debris, in some spots---you couldn’t even see the path. Armed with chainsaws, pruning shears, axes and a lot of determination, our volunteers worked hours to make the path accessible. Once again, kids of all ages can enjoy the trail to observe the beautiful wildlife and breath-taking nature.
The interpretive trail was established in 2000 by the JFWs with assistance of Meadow Lake Wildlife Federation. The signs give information on various animals, birds and plants common to the area.
Every spring, the Meadow Lake Junior Forest Wardens clean up the Pagan Lake campground area. ML JFW club officially adopted the Pagan Lake Recreation Area in 1998, with an official agreement with Sask Parks. The site was to be closed due to constant vandalism, our involvement (including large signs, annual events, and litter cleanup) has helped curb the problems and the site has remained open for many to enjoy.
This year we had approximately 40 helpers; over half under 16. Forestry and ecology are two of the pillars of our family outdoor club. Activities in the outdoors which help the environment are one of the favourite pursuits of the kids!
Over the years we have installed numerous nesting boxes (mainly duck boxes) around the lake, some supplied by Ducks Unlimited, some built by us. At this event, we added another 15 JFW made bird houses to the habitat.
We would like to thank EcoFriendly Saskatchewan for sponsoring our campground cleanup. We share a love of nature. Our JFW pledge is “As one who believes in the aim of the Junior Forest Wardens, I pledge myself and my services to the appreciation and responsible use of our forests, wildlife and natural heritages.”
Saturday, May 19, 2012
"North East Spring Fling in the North West!"
Yes, this year's Northeast Region Spring Camp will be held in Northwest Saskatchewan, at lovely Matheson Lake in the Meadow Lake Provincial Park. See the map for how to get there.
Our program is set, guests are coming and we've put in a good word for sunny weather.
If you have any questions, please contact us by phone or email: 236-2166, 236-7729, info@woodlandersjfw.org.
See you there!
Sunday, April 17, 2011
"Last Blast of Winter" Family Camp
Twenty JFW Families converged on Jeannette Lake in the Meadow Lake
Provincial Park for an unforgettable weekend March 18-20th 2011. It
really doesn't get any better; Great facilities, super food, agreeable
weather, beautiful scenery, really excellent instructors and, above
all, lots of highly enthusiastic wardens!
dark winter trails) and cooking instruction
Provincial Park for an unforgettable weekend March 18-20th 2011. It
really doesn't get any better; Great facilities, super food, agreeable
weather, beautiful scenery, really excellent instructors and, above
all, lots of highly enthusiastic wardens!
Camp Oshkidee is a first-rate camp with many amenities. This is the
first time that the Woodlanders have been able to afford such a nice
facility, thanks entirely to our hard-working parents and volunteers
who have put in many hours at bingos! The comfort and convenience
made it possible for all of our families to take in the entire three
days.
Challenger leader Richard Dabels was in charge of the camp's
well-equipped kitchen, and with numerous helpers made sure that
everyone ate like royalty. Wardens took their turns in the kitchen,
too.
Instructors and special guests gave freely of their time, and in some
cases traveled a long way to contribute their knowledge and skills.
In order of appearance:
Tony Vandenberg - knife sharpening instruction, up-and-coming knapping
instructor, as well as a handy guy with a snowplow!
Brenda Larocque-Hill & Robert Hill - Project Wild games & icebreakers
(Brenda is our Bingo Queen!)
Richard Dabels - tin can candle lanterns (very effective lights for
first time that the Woodlanders have been able to afford such a nice
facility, thanks entirely to our hard-working parents and volunteers
who have put in many hours at bingos! The comfort and convenience
made it possible for all of our families to take in the entire three
days.
Challenger leader Richard Dabels was in charge of the camp's
well-equipped kitchen, and with numerous helpers made sure that
everyone ate like royalty. Wardens took their turns in the kitchen,
too.
Instructors and special guests gave freely of their time, and in some
cases traveled a long way to contribute their knowledge and skills.
In order of appearance:
Tony Vandenberg - knife sharpening instruction, up-and-coming knapping
instructor, as well as a handy guy with a snowplow!
Brenda Larocque-Hill & Robert Hill - Project Wild games & icebreakers
(Brenda is our Bingo Queen!)
Richard Dabels - tin can candle lanterns (very effective lights for
- Hide quoted text -
Nancy Carberry & Shawn Perry - Storytelling, survival pack, shelter
building & survival demonstrations, endlessly helpful and very
knowledgeable
Rhys Beaulieu - Interpretive nature hike, skiing lessons, maker of
custom curling 'rocks'
Kirt Bennett - Animal ID, Talent Night facilitator, Magician, and a
real talent for keeping a large crowd organised!
Mark Dallyn - Spoke to us over lunch about his wildlife rehabilitation
operation. We want a tour!
Michelle Vandenberg - Introducing a project to turn 12 years of JFW
photos into some impressive scrapbooks!
Doug Allen & Norm Arcand - Flint knapping. Kept a large group of
people enthralled with making arrowheads, arrows & flinty necklaces.
SImply awesome!
Tim & Angela Jeske - A local family who had lived in the high arctic
for 5 years, and brought us an after-supper presentation of their
experiences there. (When JFW gets going in Nunavut it will be known
as Junior Frozen Wardens)
Garry and Larry Nelson - Sunday morning team competitions, campfire
stories & adding to the fun at every turn
Also travelling a long way to to join us were JFW families from Cold
Lake, Ardmore, and Edmonton. The best part of JFW gatherings is
getting together with people from other clubs, swapping ideas and
sharing experiences. Thanks for risking those Saskatchewan roads to
be with us!
Other weekend highlights included curling, skating, tobogganing &
snowball fights on the lake, fire lighting & log sawing challenges,
some 'trapping knowledge', zipline, moonlit night hike, coyotes
howling, late night campfires, a Bronze Badge award, and some really
great adult visiting time.
Club Coordninator Carmen Dabels (in addition to lots of
behind-the-scenes organizing) put together a web-based evaluation,
which elicited many insightful comments in the week since the camp.
The main 'complaint' was that the weekend wasn't long enough!
Many thanks to everyone who helped in any way, and especially to
everyone for being there!
- Your winter camp organising committee
building & survival demonstrations, endlessly helpful and very
knowledgeable
Rhys Beaulieu - Interpretive nature hike, skiing lessons, maker of
custom curling 'rocks'
Kirt Bennett - Animal ID, Talent Night facilitator, Magician, and a
real talent for keeping a large crowd organised!
Mark Dallyn - Spoke to us over lunch about his wildlife rehabilitation
operation. We want a tour!
Michelle Vandenberg - Introducing a project to turn 12 years of JFW
photos into some impressive scrapbooks!
Doug Allen & Norm Arcand - Flint knapping. Kept a large group of
people enthralled with making arrowheads, arrows & flinty necklaces.
SImply awesome!
Tim & Angela Jeske - A local family who had lived in the high arctic
for 5 years, and brought us an after-supper presentation of their
experiences there. (When JFW gets going in Nunavut it will be known
as Junior Frozen Wardens)
Garry and Larry Nelson - Sunday morning team competitions, campfire
stories & adding to the fun at every turn
Also travelling a long way to to join us were JFW families from Cold
Lake, Ardmore, and Edmonton. The best part of JFW gatherings is
getting together with people from other clubs, swapping ideas and
sharing experiences. Thanks for risking those Saskatchewan roads to
be with us!
Other weekend highlights included curling, skating, tobogganing &
snowball fights on the lake, fire lighting & log sawing challenges,
some 'trapping knowledge', zipline, moonlit night hike, coyotes
howling, late night campfires, a Bronze Badge award, and some really
great adult visiting time.
Club Coordninator Carmen Dabels (in addition to lots of
behind-the-scenes organizing) put together a web-based evaluation,
which elicited many insightful comments in the week since the camp.
The main 'complaint' was that the weekend wasn't long enough!
Many thanks to everyone who helped in any way, and especially to
everyone for being there!
- Your winter camp organising committee
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