20th Annual Springsong – A Celebration of Birds and Birding – May 8, Virtually!!
THE SPRINGSONG/PIBO 2021 ONLINE GALA SpringSong2021
A Joint fundraising Gala in support of the Pelee Island Heritage Centreand the Pelee Island Bird Observatory
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.
We are thrilled to announce our guest author for Springsong Banquet 2021 – Louise Penny
PLUS
Musical Entertainment by
Molly Johnson
Karen Kain
Joshua Hopkins
Trevor Strong of The Arrogant Worms
and the inimitable Rubber Chicken Choir
Buy Tickets
Watch for free—or support the Pelee Island Heritage Centre and the Pelee Island Bird Observatory by purchasing a ticket.
Ticket price of $85 includes—
- Chance to win dozens of fabulous door prizes
- Free download of The Birdwatchers Banquet: Recipes from Birders and Worders, featuring dishes from the 2020 and 2021 Springsong Gala—and more! (value $15)
- The warm and fuzzy feeling you get by donating to two great organizations!
Auction
Auction coming soon!
More than 70 items, $100 to $50,000 including:
- Art by Robert Bateman, Wallace Edwards, and other artists
- Birding tours on Pelee Island and across Canada
- Dinner and Conversations with Margaret Atwood
- Tour of the mighty St. Lawrence with Adventure Canada
- A week’s stay at a Medieval castle in the Tuscan Hills
Self-Catered Dinner
Menu coming soon!
Recipes for a luscious self-catered meal, including—
- Drinks Tray
- Appetizers
- Bread Basket with Soups and Salads
- Mains for every taste
- Dessert!
- Plus our popular BirdFeed Contest!
Dear Friends & Supporters:
As you may imagine, in this continuing time of COVID19, we at both the Pelee Island Heritage Centre and PIBO have had to cancel our spring fundraising dinners again. In the case of the Heritage Centre, it’s Springsong, and in the case of PIBO, the dinner in Windsor, traditionally held the Wednesday before Springsong. Of course our friends from the USA are still unable to come, as is anyone planning to join us from far away. And we still cannot have large gatherings.So again….here we are…virtually. Last year’s online gala was a great success and much fun was had by all.
This year’s 20th Anniversary Springsong gala will take place on Saturday, May 8th, from 7:00pm to 8.30pm EST, with platform details to be announced.
Paul Vasey will be our Host, as usual, with assists from Kim Gardner and Ron Tiessen from Pelee Island. Margaret Atwood will do her usual introductions, from her kitchen in Toronto (or some other part of the house, depending on bandwidth). She will also conduct The Rubber Chicken Choir, as usual, singing their two hit songs, Old MacDonald Had a Farm and Bye Bye Blackbird. The rubber chickens do the choruses. If you have your own rubber chicken, bring it and sing along! And post a video of yourself on your own Facebook page, to share the joy.
The Green Bird Race and the Conventional Bird Race will take place as usual from Friday, May 7th at 12:00 noon to Saturday May 8th at noon, though not necessarily on Pelee Island – at whatever time zone you are in. Birders from afar will be encouraged to join in. It will be the honour system: go birding in a safe space, and count how many species you can find in the 24 hour period. We’ll have a spot where your results may be posted online, after noon on May 8. Though we can’t bird together physically, at least we will be doing so in spirit.
There will be door prizes, silly and not, for ticket numbers drawn as usual by Kim. There will be a silent auction, available for viewing and bidding both before the event and for a set time afterwards. Site and times of the silent auction will be posted on the PIBO website.
Our honorary writer this year is award-winning author Louise Penny, coming to us from Montreal. Our honorary birder is David Lindo, also known as The Urban Birder. Books will be sold online by Biblioasis, signed by the authors via specially-designed bookplate. There will be an online audience question element, following the gala.
As for the dinner itself, we are creating a multiple-choice menu, with many options: chicken, fish, vegetarian and vegan, with starters, mains, and deserts in each. The recipes will be from our staff, friends, volunteers, and past authors, and the recipes and photos of each item will be posted online a week in advance, so you can cook along at home and eat with us at our virtual table. Merilyn Simonds is coordinating that part of the event.
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
peleeislandhc@gmail.com
THANK YOU TO ALL FOR YOUR SUPPORT FOR OUR ONLINE GALA!! YOUR GENEROSITY WILL HELP FUND THE HERITAGE CENTRE.
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 311 species of birds that visit our island. Finish the day at Springsong Banquet where Margaret Atwood will give out the famous rubber chicken awards!
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Empty Nesters (Anne Bell & Jerry DeMarco) 124 species WINNERS OF THE BOTHAM CUP
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NC C-Birds(Jill Crossthwaite, Mhairi McFarlane, Noor Cheema) 102 species
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Guelph Gliders(Stan Kozak, Leanne Johns, John Ambrose) 99 species
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Pelee Island Bird Brigade(Paul Jones, Jodie Van Dieen, Peter Simpson) 121 species
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Harried Coots(Judith King and Vivianne Hebert) 102 species
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No Egrets Emily Sinclair, Ian Sinclair, Paul Hevenor, Josh Hevenor 78 species
THANK YOU TO ALL WHO ATTENDED AND TO ALL PARTICIPATING TEAMS!!!
| $20 per team, max 4 members |
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UPCOMING EVENTS FOR 2021 – *******PLEASE NOTE THAT EVENTS TAKING PLACE IN APRIL HAVE BEEN POSTPONED*****
NATURE ON PELEE ISLAND –THE SECRET IS OUT!
A group of islanders has been working to break the secret ! With the help of a Gosling Foundation grant, a program of nature events was developed. In March we had a Salamander night walk to see the unique to Canada Small Mouth and Blue Spotted complex salamanders returning to their breeding ponds and hear about ongoing research. The Pelee Island Bird Observatory will soon begin monitoring spring migration, visitors welcome. Every month through to December is packed with events, see the full program here: PELEE BUZZ.
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CANCELLED
7TH ANNUAL
ISLAND UNPLUGGED MUSIC FESTIVAL
FRIDAY, AUGUST 14 & SUNDAY, AUGUST 15, 2020
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:
The 7th Annual Island Unplugged Music Festival on Pelee Island that was originally planned for Aug 14 + 15, 2020 has been cancelled. Our festival relies heavily on ticket sales, tourism industry partners, food and beverage sponsors, as well as provincial and federal funding to come to life every year. In these uncertain times, the board unanimously agrees that it would be prudent to cancel the 2020 event at this time.
We have considered the safety of our artists, vendors, volunteers, and festival goers, the best interest of the island, and finally the financial health of our organization while coming to this decision. We hope that by making this tough decision now, we will be able to return in 2021.
As CoVid19 continues to have a profound impact on our artists, we humbly ask that you continue to support artists by buying their music. Watch our facebook page for regular artist links with some of our favourite music to purchase.
We also ask that you support our sponsors where you can. These local businesses have given year over year to support this event. Please do your part to #supportlocal.
We wish all of you peace and good health.
Stay safe, festies!
Love from the island…
Cathy, Kim & Amanda
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10th Annual Chili Cookoff – Sunday, August 16,2020 @ Pelee Island Wine Pavilion
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE 10TH ANNUAL CHILI COOKOFF IS CANCELLED THIS SEASON. THANK YOU TO ALL WHO SUPPORT OUR FUNDRAISING EVENT AND HOPE TO SEE YOU BACK NEXT YEAR!!
2019 CHILI COOKOFF JUDGE’S RESULTS ARE:
1ST PLACE – Chili Chili Bang Bang – Dave & Clark 2nd PLACE – Spicy Steingart’s – Josh and Shirley 3rd PLACE – Chili Vanilli – Mel & Mugsy
PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD
CHILL OUT – Wolfgang Moritz – 4th YEAR IN A ROW!!!
THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR PARTICIPATING TEAMS!!!!
Chili Cookoff – Now in the 10TH 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.
Official Rules and Regulations2019
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13th Annual Heritage Weekend – Friday, September 11 & 12, 2020
TO BE ANNOUNCED
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12th Annual Harvest Dinner – Saturday, September 19, 2020
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE 12TH ANNUAL HARVEST DINNER WILL BE CANCELLED THIS YEAR. OUR FUNDRAISING EVENTS ARE CRUCIAL IN HELPING FUND THE HERITAGE CENTRE. PLEASE JOIN US NEXT YEAR FOR THIS WONDERFUL END OF THE SEASON DINNER!!
THANK YOU!!
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!
Harvest Dinner is part of the new Pelee Fall Flight Weekend – an event from the new PELEE BUZZ!!!
