Events | Pelee Island Heritage Centre

The Pelee Buzz 2022 – Your Island Passport to Nature

Follow the link to download your digital copy of event listings!!!

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21st Annual Springsong Weekend– A Celebration of Birds and Birding

May 6 – 8, 2022 – In person!!

January 1, 2022

Each year tickets are available beginning January 1st and many of you who are our loyal repeat guests are first in line to purchase these tickets….which we are very grateful for! This year, we have decided to wait until the March 1st to open ticket sales if we have a definitive answer – do we get to actually SEE you here…fingers crossed!!!!

March 1, 2022

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

PLEASE NOTE: PROOF OF VACCINATION WILL BE REQUIRED TO ATTEND THE BANQUET.

THIS EVENT IS A MAJOR FUNDRAISER FOR THE HERITAGE CENTRE THUS THIS YEAR 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

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 – LORNA CROZIER

An Officer of the Order of Canada, Lorna Crozier has been acknowledged for her contributions to Canadian literature, her teaching and her mentoring with five honourary doctorates, most recently from McGill and Simon Fraser Universities. Her books have received numerous national awards, including the Governor-General’s Award for Poetry. The Globe and Mail declared The Book of Marvels: A Compendium of Everyday Things one of its Top 100 Books of the Year, and Amazon chose her memoir as one of the 100 books you should read in your lifetime. A Professor Emerita at the University of Victoria, she has performed for Queen Elizabeth II and has read her poetry, which has been translated into several languages, on every continent except Antarctica. Her book, What the Soul Doesn’t Want, was nominated for the 2017 Governor General’s Award for Poetry. In 2018, Lorna Crozier received the George Woodcock Lifetime Achievement Award. Steven Price called Through the Garden: A Love Story (with Cats), her latest nonfiction book, “one of the great love stories of our time.” Lorna Crozier lives on Vancouver Island.

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CELEBRITY BIRDER – DAVID LINDO

“The Urban Birder” naturalist, photographer, birding advocate, and author of How To Be an Urban Birder.

David Lindo is The Urban Birder – broadcaster, writer, speaker, tour leader and educator. His mission is to engage city folk around the world with the environment through the medium of birds.

He is the author of The Urban Birder, Tales From Concrete Jungles, #Urban Birding and How To Be An Urban Birder.

In 2020, David was shortlisted for the Professional Publishers Association (PPA) Columnist of the Year Award.

He is also on the 2021 judging panel of the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year and the Bird Photographer of the Year.

He has regular columns in Nature’s Home (RSPB), Bird Watching Magazine (UK) and recently, Bird Watchers Digest (US). Plus, he has written countless articles on urban birds, urban conservation and wildlife in general for many websites, publications and magazines and plus, the forewards to several books. He is a regular television and radio presenter and has been featured on the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 in the UK as well as other TV and radio channels around the world including CBS in the United States.

David was recently named as the 7^th most influential person in wildlife by BBC Wildlife Magazine.

PLEASE BRING OLD BINOCULARS AND SCOPES FOR DONATION TO THE BANQUET ON PELEE!!
THANK YOU!!!

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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

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 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!

2019 RESULTS

GREEN TEAMS

Empty Nesters (Anne Bell & Jerry DeMarco) 124 species WINNERS OF THE BOTHAM CUP

– only team to see the Greater Scaup, Bufflehead, Peregrine Falcon, Least Sandpiper, and Blue winged Warbler

NC C-Birds(Jill Crossthwaite, Mhairi McFarlane, Noor Cheema) 102 species

– highlights – American Kestrel, Pine Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler

Guelph Gliders(Stan Kozak, Leanne Johns, John Ambrose) 99 species

– only team with Sharp-shinned Hawk, Marsh Wren, Eastern Meadowlark

NON GREEN TEAMS

Pelee Island Bird Brigade(Paul Jones, Jodie Van Dieen, Peter Simpson) 121 species

– spotted Sora, Caspien Tern, Canvasback, Northern Mockingbird

Harried Coots(Judith King and Vivianne Hebert) 102 species

– only team to record a Common Merganzer, Greater Yellowlegs, Winter Wren, Tufted Titmouse

No Egrets Emily Sinclair, Ian Sinclair, Paul Hevenor, Josh Hevenor 78 species

A TOTAL OF 156 SPECIES WERE SPOTTED!!! WELL DONE!

Overall: the teams recorded 25 species of Warblers, 6 species of vireo, and 10 species of sparrows.

Highlights of the race were White-winged Dove, Canvasback, Cattle Egret, and Yellow-throated warbler.

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!!!

$20 per team, max 4 members

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UPCOMING EVENTS FOR 2022 – *******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

8TH ANNUAL

ISLAND UNPLUGGED MUSIC FESTIVAL

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:

The 8^th Annual Island Unplugged Music Festival on Pelee Island that was originally planned for 2022 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 2022 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 2023.

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

www.theislandunplugged.org

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10th Annual Chili Cookoff – Sunday, August 14,2022 @ Pelee Island Wine Pavilion

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE 10TH ANNUAL CHILI COOKOFF IS TENTATIVE…FINGERS CROSSED!!!!

THANK YOU TO ALL WHO SUPPORT OUR FUNDRAISING EVENT AND HOPE TO SEE YOU BACK THIS 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.

Chili Registration Form2019

Official Rules and Regulations2019

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13th Annual Heritage Weekend – Friday, September 9 & 10, 2022

TO BE ANNOUNCED

Heritage Weekend 2019

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12th Annual Harvest Dinner – Saturday, September 17, 2022

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE 12TH ANNUAL HARVEST DINNER IS TENTATIVE AT THIS POINT DUE TO OUR ONGOING PANDEMIC REGULATIONS. PLEASE STAY TUNED AND WE HOPE WE WILL BE ABLE TO HOST YOU AT THIS END OF THE YEAR BANQUET!!!!

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!!!