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23nd Annual Springsong Weekend– A Celebration of Birds and Birding 

May 10-12, 2024 

 

SOLD OUT!   STAY TUNED FOR 2025 DETAILS – TICKETS SALES WILL GO ONLINE BEGINNING JANUARY

 

 Springsong Weekend will be LIVE and IN PERSON again!!!!! I look forward to welcoming you back as well as meeting new guests!!

THIS EVENT IS A MAJOR FUNDRAISER FOR THE HERITAGE CENTRE THUS TICKETS WILL BE NON REFUNDABLE UNLESS GOVERNMENT RESTRICTIONS PREVENT THE  EVENT FROM HAPPENING. SHOULD YOU CANCEL YOU WILL RECEIVE A CHARITABLE TAX RECEIPT FOR THE FULL AMOUNT OF THE TICKET.

Thank you!

Sincerely, Kim

A  MAJOR fundraising in support of the Pelee Island Heritage Centre

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Springsong Weekend – Traditionally held on Mother’s Day Weekend. It is a weekend of celebration involving books and birds. This event was started seventeen years ago as a fundraiser for The Heritage Centre with the help of Pelee Island Bird Observatory and Margaret Atwood. There is a 24 hour green “bird race” competing for the coveted Botham Cup. Margaret Atwood continues the tradition of bringing award winning authors to our island where they are introduced by her at our traditionally sold out banquet.

 

GUEST AUTHOR – Helen Humphreys

HELEN HUMPHREYS is an acclaimed and award-winning author of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. She has won the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, a Lambda Literary Award for Fiction and the Toronto Book Award. She has also been a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction, the Trillium Book Award and CBC’s Canada Reads. Her most recent work includes the novel Rabbit Foot Bill and the memoir And a Dog Called Fig. The recipient of the Harbourfront Festival Prize for literary excellence, Helen Humphreys lives in Kingston, Ontario. 

                                     

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CELEBRITY BIRDER  –  Rodrigo López

Rodrigo is a tireless promoter of birding, birdwatching tourism, conservation, and environmental education. For over a decade, he has designed and explored routes for birding in Mexico. In 2020, he founded the Central West Mexico Birding Society to create a forum for communication and collaboration between bird scientists and conservationists. He has served on the Board of Directors of Sociedad Audubon de México for the past nine years and his one of the minds behind Audubon’s “Ninos y Naturaleza” and “Save a Tree” programs. He is PIBO’s partner in Mexico for the Graeme Gibson Prismáticos Project, which distributes donated birding optics to field workers, conservation groups, and classrooms in  the central Mexican state of Guanajuato. Rodrigo will kick off the Baillie Birdathon and be on hand to deliver the results at the Springsong dinner.
Don’t miss the Pelee Wings PIBO Bird Talk on Sunday, May 12, Meet Rodrigo for Coffee & Carbs at 9:00 am at the Winery, and stay for his talk on the Rose-bellied bunting, a beautiful bird that inhabits a small area in the isthmus of Mexico, where it is threatened by development and climate climate change. This bird represents the threats to millions of migrating birds that pass through pinch-points such as the Isthmus and Pelee Island. Read more [https://pibo.ca/en/pelee-wings-pibo-bird-talk-mexicos-iconic-bird/].

 

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PAST AUTHORS

                               Author                                 Celebrity Birder 

2002                           Margaret Atwood                  Kevin Seymour

2003                           Farley Mowat                         Unveiling Stone Road Plaque

2004                           Alistair MacLeod                    Orlando Garrido & Arturo Kirkconnell (Cuba)

2005                           Jane Urquhart                         Bill Lishman

2006                           Alice Munro                            Peter Matthiessen

2007                           David Suzuki                           Fred Bodsworth

2008                           Vincent Lamb                         Bridget Strutchbury

2009                           Joseph Boyden                       Mystery Birder

2010                           Brian Brett                              Robert & Birgit Freybe Bateman

2011                           Nino Ricci                                Trevor Herriot

2012                           Wayne Grady &                      Ian Davidson Merilyn Simonds

2013                           Elizabeth Hay                          TBA

2014                           Linden MacIntyre                   TBA

2015                           Lawrence Hill                          Trevor Herriot

2016                           Miriam Toews                        Graeme Gibson the Younger

2017                           Michael Crummey                 Wayne Grady

2018                           Madeleine Thien                    Sean Dooley

2019                          Steve Burrows                        Danny Catt

2020                          Lorna Crozier                        Trevor Herriot

2021                          Louise Penny                        David Lindo

2022                          Lorna Crozier                        David Lindo

2023                         Randy Boyagoda                   Ian Davidson

2024                         Helen Humphreys                Rodrigo López              

peleeislandhc@gmail.com

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!

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Botham Cup Bird Race

– Take part in the 24 hour “green” bird race and rally for the coveted Botham Cup. The official gong is sounded at the Heritage Centre, Friday at noon. Your team will have 24 hours to spot as many of the 314 species of birds that visit our island. Finish the day at Springsong Banquet where Margaret Atwood will give out the famous rubber chicken awards!

2024 RESULTS
GREEN TEAMS
FIRST PLACE – CARDINAL CINS –   115 species –   WINNERS OF THE BOTHAM CUP                                                                                                                                                                                                Jack Stenger, Kate Ball, Andy Dickerson, Ann Oliver  
 
SECOND PLACE 

Doctors Without Birders’ – 112 species

David Eisenstein, Daniel Clyde, Megan Eisenstein Ferguson 

 NON GREEN TEAMS

Sumiko Feathers – 68 species

 

A TOTAL OF 157 SPECIES WERE SPOTTED!!! WELL DONE!
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL TEAMS AND THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING IN THE BOTHAM CUP BIRD RACE!!

THANK YOU TO ALL WHO ATTENDED AND TO ALL PARTICIPATING TEAMS!!!

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13th Annual Chili Cookoff  –  Saturday, August 17,2024 @ Pelee Island Wine Pavilion

 

2023 CHILI COOKOFF JUDGE’S RESULTS ARE:

1ST PLACE – SPICEY STEINGART’S – Shirley & Josh Steingart

2nd PLACE –   TRAILER PARK BOYS – Matty

 3rd PLACE –   CHILL OUT – Wolfgang & Aurella

PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD

STONEMAN’S CHILI – BRIDGETTE ROMAN, CHUCHIE & MICHELE HAUBIEL AND MOM HAUBIEL
THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR PARTICIPATING TEAMS!!!!

Chili Cookoff – Now in the 12TH year, it is a great community gathering where teams compete for great prizes the Official Chili Cup and the People’s Choice Award. A great fundraiser for the Heritage Centre; it is drawing competitors from outside our country making the Pelee Island Southernmost Chili Cookoff a truly international event. To sign up as a contestant please contact the Heritage Centre at 519-724-2291.

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14th Annual Heritage Weekend  – Saturday, September 7, 2024

 Unique Places & Spaces on Pelee Island

 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN TO SEE POSTER

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14th Annual Harvest Dinner –  Saturday, September 14, 2024

Join us at the Pelee Island Wine Pavilion for a scrumptious end of the season banquet! And don’t forget – Island Pie for dessert! Tickets are limited and are non-refundable. In the event that you cannot attend, please contact the Heritage Centre and every effort will be made to re-sell your ticket. Our last Harvest Dinner was a sold out event so save the date as this will no doubt be a very memorable evening!

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  • HELL ON HEELS – PELEE ISLAND OCTOBER 19, 2024

  • STAY TUNED FOR 2023 TIMES/DATE

  • REGISTER BY PHONE/EMAIL TO HERITAGE CENTRE 

    519-724-2291 OR PELEEISLANDHC@GMAIL.COM

    DIG OUT YOUR HEELS & SEE YOU AT THE REGISTRATION TABLE @WESTVIEW ON RACE DAY!!!

  • THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!!!!