THE NEXT GENERAL MEETING: THURSDAY DECEMBER 5TH, 7:30 PM, AT THE CLUB HOUSE, LINCOLN PARK ROAD, IN DERBY TOWNSHIP. 

New Members!! 

Allan Varday Adult 
David Fidler Senior 
Ted Thompson Senior 

December General Meeting 

Once again our December meeting theme is "Nibble Night" with members bringing in contributions of favourite fish and game recipes caught or shot throughout the year. Just like the last two years, we have an authentic International Chef coming from Grosvenor's Restaurant in Southampton to judge the quality of the dishes presented. 

Grosvenor's of Southampton Chef de Cuisine Bill Hodgkins presented Carol Cowtan with the Sydenham Sportsmen's Association Nibble Night Best Dish Award last year at the SSA clubhouse for her Swedish Chili. Chef Hodgkins also selected Linda Smith's Honker & Stuffing followed by Cliff Springer's moose liver and sausage as the most notable among a series of fine dishes and difficult choices. Approximately 105 people enjoyed the wide variety of dishes at the annual event. 

The bar will be open for refreshment again this year and as a special treat, keen hunter Craig Selby who is also the District Manager of the MNR's Guelph office, will be on hand as a guest speaker. Craig and his two son's hunt in the Port Elgin and Southampton area for gobblers every spring, usually with remarkable success. 

DATES TO REMEMBER!
 

It is with regret that we inform our members of the passing of two of our fellow members, Gordon T Maher and George McCoy 

The following is the eulogy delivered at Gord's funeral by Fred Geberdt 

"Ode to Gordy" 

Family members and friends of Gord, I'm sure we all possess our own special memories of Gord, which we're all reflecting on today. 

For me, my memories of Gord span only over a fifteen year period and all evolved around his interest and love of fishing, hunting and a strong desire to put back into the resources of nature. 

I first met Gord when he used to drive up from Drayton to fish in Owen Sound. Those were the days when we had splake stocking in Georgian Bay and often I would see Gord and his friends with their limit of these tasty hybrids. 

Shortly after that, Gord moved to Owen sound with his wife Donna and son Rob. His outdoor interests led him into membership with the Sydenham Sportsmen's Association. It was at this point that I really started to get to know Gordy. Often during shared time working at Club conservation projects, I would listen to him talk about his experiences he had as a truck driver and his many excursions he had traveling south of the border. I also listened to him talk about his love of raising Beagles. Not just typical house pet Beagles, but highly trained competitive trail and trial Beagles and how he traveled around the Province in his efforts to produce a champion competitive Beagle. 

I can clearly remember some of his pet expressions. Like when you were talking, he would often respond with a loud--- "WHAT !!", or when he agreed with you, he would respond with an equally loud ---"EXACTLY !!" and when he liked something he could be heard expressing the phrase ---"ALL RIGHT !!". This is not to say that Gordy didn't possess the ability to rhyme off a string of expressive adjectives, which I really can't repeat here and we always knew when Gordy had taken too many of his pills, because his eyes would get as big as saucers. 

I watched when Gord got his teenaged son Rob, involved in the Sydenham Sportsmen's Junior program. At that time, I thought Gordy would be involved for only a few short years, like many of our parents do, but I was really wrong, because it was here that Gord really found his niche. Gord took over the leadership role of the S.S.A. Junior program and motivated many hundreds of young people into conservation work. Many of them, through his leadership, went on to win conservation awards, including his own son Rob. At one of the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters Annual conferences in Ottawa, Gord put on an excellent presentation on how to organize and run a successful Junior conservation program. 

His techniques of blending work and fun were eventually incorporated into the present O.F.A.H. provincially operated, "GET OUTDOORS" program, which is now steering thousands of youngsters into the love of our great outdoors and engaging them in meaningful conservation projects across the Province. Several times Gord himself won the O.F.A.H. Larry Wallace Provincial Award for conservation leadership with our youth. 

I shared some lighter moments with Gordy as well. As many of you know, Gord was a long time member of the O.F.A.H.. He seldom missed an O.F.A.H. Zone H meeting or an O.F.A.H. Annual Conference. One of my "Gord Experiences", I'll never forget, was at an annual O.F.A.H. conference in Sudbury. The hotel we stayed at had many problems, like a leaky roof, plumbing that didn't work right and a staff that didn't seem to be very well trained or congenial. During the wee hours of the second night there, around 3:00 am, Gord had a hunger attack. Now if you didn't already know it, Gordy loved to eat and when he was hungry --- look out! A few of us followed him as he sniffed out the location of the O.F.A.H. hospitality room, which contained a huge plate of left over sandwiches, now many, many hours old. Well, Gordy ate most of them and I think the slightly green ham sandwiches did him in, because early the next morning, about 7:00 am we got a call saying Gord was really ill. We got to his room and found him lying in bed, shaking and expressing to us that he was violently ill. Well, we immediately called 911 and an ambulance and attendants were soon in Gordy's room. One ambulance attendant (a lady), asked Gord if he was on any medication, of course, Gord said yes and told them his pills were in his small duffle bag. When that gal opened the duffel bag and saw the huge array of pills Gordy possessed, all she could say was an exasperated, " I think we'll take you right to the hospital!". Well things quickly went downhill from then on. Gord said he was going to be sick and one of the ambulance personnel quickly placed a very small brown bag in front of Gord, which he immediately filled and propelled across the room floor. We quickly came to Gord's rescue with a garbage pail. They next place Gord on a wheeled stretcher, which was built for someone about five feet tall. Gord was six foot four and when they stretched him out to wheel him out of his room, one foot of his feet and one foot of his head were hanging over each end of the stretcher. What happened next was really unbelievable. We watched as they pushed him into the elevator, but he didn't fit! His head and shoulders were protruding outside the elevator doors. The ambulance attendants were just noticing this rather major problem when the elevator doors closed and smacked Gordy soundly about his head and shoulders. This happened repeatedly as the elevator doors tried to open and close in a mechanical effort to fix the problem. At this time I was privileged to listen to a reem of Gord's expressive adjectives again. The ambulance folks finally got Gord move diagonally from corner to corner in the elevator and the doors closed. We followed on in the next elevator to make sure everything was okay with our friend Gord and low and behold, on leaving the front entrance of the hotel, we again heard Gord spouting forth another series of expressive adjectives. We looked in amazement at what we saw. The ambulance attendant were both attempting to open the vehicles back doors and had left Gord pushed up against the side of the hotel wall, where a gabled part of the roof was running ice cold water down over his already shivering body. To say we were relieved when the ambulance finally wailed away with Gord to the hospital , is putting it mildly. This was not the climax to this "Gord Experience". Later in the day we attempted to find out which hospital Gord was in and how he was doing. Here's what happened next. After Gord emptied his stomach, all the symptoms of the food poisoning were gone. He phoned the hotel and tried to persuade the lady hotel receptionist to send the shuttle bus to pick him up at the hospital. This she refused to do, because the shuttle bus was only to be used to bring O.F.A.H. members from one hotel to the conference hotel. Try as he might Gord could not convince her to make shuttle bus changes. So Gord checked himself out of the hospital and phoned a taxi. Now this is in February in Sudbury and Gord is only dressed in a white T-shirt, underwear and socks. While standing outside waiting for his taxi, he spots the shuttle bus going by, he waves it down and jumps aboard with the now amazed and somewhat shocked O.F.A.H. delegates heading for the Conference hotel. I'll never forget seeing Gord getting off that shuttle bus and stomping up to the hotels front door in his white T-shirt, underwear and now soaking wet, snow covered socks. I met him at the front door and asked him how I could help. Gord blurted out, " Yes, you can help, get me a diet pop and then help me strangle the dumb blond female hotel receptionist!". What a Gordy!! 

Gord was undoubtedly a unique individual. During the last few years he worked hard to transform an old hayfield into a place of natural beauty. He was the kind of person who could recognize the beauty in a huge, thorny Scotch Thistle and how the wild finches loved to eat the thistle seeds and how another so called noxious weed was the life blood of a Monarch Butterfly. He spent countless hours working in the S.S.A.'s Conservation Center, (we call it the white house), building bird houses, toad boxes, wasp boxes and butterfly boxes with his fiend Dave Arnold and seldom if ever did Gord miss a trade show where hands on conservation projects were demonstrated to those in attendance. 
Gord worked with me for two years at running the S.S.A. hatchery, he organized S.S.A. bus trips, he kept records on club members selling fund raising tickets. Gord was an active member of the Salmon Spectacular Committee, he served for many years on the S.S.A. Executive Committee, he was a member of the S.S.A. Fish Advisory Committee and also a member of the S.S.A. Wildlife Advisory Committee. He was at one time the Property Chairman for the S.S.A. and Gord served for six years on the Owen Sound O.F.A.H. Conservation Dinner Committee and was prepared to become Chairman for this years event. Gord was also the alternate director of O.F.A.H. Zone H Executive Committee and this past year Gord had agreed to take care of all the S.S.A. owned equipment. You know he loved to tinker with mechanical things. Every time I saw him with another family vehicle, it would soon be filled with tools and various materials for future conservation projects and even if his vehicle had a tiny two litre engine, Gord would soon have it outfitted with a trailer hitch, so he could pull around the S.S.A. utility trailer. I seem to remember Gord being always in a state of repairing this or that on his vehicle, some he even fixed up with duct tape. I do believe Red Green was a hero of his. 

He loved to read books on many topics, but his favorites of course were tales relating to the out-of-doors. I vividly remember interesting discussions with Gord about the writings of Patrick McManus, Greg Clark, Charles Waterman, Hal Sharp and others. 

We're going to miss Gordy and his long lists of things to do that he always brought to the S.S.A. Executive meetings. 

His family will miss Gord, his friends will miss him and the kids will miss him. 

Fred Geberdt 

Thank You note from Donna Maher 

I'd like to thank everyone for the kindness that was shown to Gord and I the many weeks we were in London during his illness and since I came home. Your cards, phone calls, prayers and generous donations were all very much appreciated. I would also like to say thank you to the S.S.A. for the memorials that are going to be done in Gord's memory. Your thoughtfulness and generosity will never be forgotten. 

Donna Maher 

From The President's Desk 

As we all know, the late Gord Maher was a dedicated individual who worked tirelessly on behalf of the Sydenham Sportsmen's Association's many programs and projects, including our conservation objectives. As such the Directors, in order to preserve Gord's memory and dedication, will be undertaking the following: 

1. The white house will now be known as The Gord Maher Memorial Centre. A suitable plaque will be placed on the outside of this building to acknowledge this. 
2. A memorial tree will be planted on the Sydenham Foundation property in Gord's memory. 
3. A Junior trophy will be renamed "The Gord Maher Memorial Trophy" The Junior's will recommend to the Directors which trophy. 
4. A gazebo, in a natural condition, will be built in the wildlife demonstration field near the large rock pile, so that persons can sit and observe the wild flowers etc. Gord was wanting to build a structure like this for a many years. 

Richard Manley, President 

2003 Executive Nominations Open 

The members of the Sydenham Sportsmen are invited to nominate fellow members or themselves for the 2003 SSA Board of Directors. Nominations will be accepted at the December and January General Meetings. If you are unable to attend either of these meetings and wish to let your name stand for election, please provide written authorization to a club member to present on your behalf. An election will take place during the January 2003 meeting with the top five vote recipients to serve for a two year term. Please consider providing your volunteer time to assist in the management of your club. 

Mark your calendar for 2003 SSA General Meetings 

The SSA Executive has set the calendar for the 2003 General Meetings of the SSA. Please mark these dates on your personal calendar and plan to attend. January 9, 2003 (moved one week due to the holidays) is our first general meeting of the new year with the Election of Directors. February 6th, March 6th, April 3rd, May 1st, and June 5th round out the first part of the year. We take a break from meetings for the summer months but not other club activities. Be sure to check the newsletter and talk to your fellow members on how you can participate in our many activities. We commence our fall meeting schedule on Sept. 11th (moved one week due to fishing derby burnout) followed by meetings in October on the 2nd and November 13th (moved one week to accommodate the deer hunters in the club). 2003 General Meetings round out with our Annual Nibble Night on December 4th. All meeting are scheduled for the SSA Clubhouse starting at 7:30 PM. Please join your fellow members and guests in fellowship and informative guest speakers. 

FORESTS & WILDLIFE ADVISORY COMMITTEE 

Grouse populations are low, and turkey populations are high. Why is this? Is it because turkeys hatch out later, when the weather is warmer and drier? 

The Grey County Forest Management Plan is almost ready for county signature. OFAH fish and wildlife concerns (conservation and access in particular, as well as forest management in general) will be well- represented. In this vein, we have been advised that the Saugeen Valley Authority's forest management plan is just getting under way. The 
General Manager is going to check to see if sportsmen are represented on the advisory committee. 

As hunters and fishermen, our interests naturally fall around those species for which we fish and hunt. All too frequently, non-anglers and hunters accuse us of performing conservation activities only in order to produce creatures that we can take for our personal use. Of course, we do it for those reasons...but we do it for other reasons as 'well. We have to get it across to the general public that we are indeed interested in conservation, as stated in our OFAH pledge. We do need to impress on the population-at-large that our members promote and encourage conservation and enhancement of all our natural resources for the enjoyment of all the people, both now and in the future. 

Case in point...we have included a news release concerning bat structures at Issac Lake. Think about it. When was the last time you heard of a bat season? We hardly do this for our own use. We do it for our own enjoyment, and for the benefit of the bats, for and of themselves. There are all kinds of projects you can do and publicize to help keep the general public on our side. 

ISSAC LAKE BAT STRUCTURES 

The Rankin Resource Group was aided recently by Arntelecom Communications staff and their heavy equipment, in the erection of large bat houses on the abandoned Ministry of Natural Resources Fire Centre site at Issac Lake. 

Until recently, there was a huge bat colony in the old barn at the Fire Centre. When the MNR burned the barn in 2001, the bats were away for the winter. 

The Rankin Resource Group, with the help of Arntelecom Communications (formerly the Taylor Telephone Co.) put up trial bat dwellings, to see if the returning bats would use alternate housing. It was hoped that a nucleus could be saved, and a new colony rebuilt. The experiment was extremely successful. Dusk observations showed continuous streams of bats leaving the large nursery structure. As well, fecal matter under the smaller structures indicated significant bat use. The excellent response by these flying mammals called for more housing, as well as provision of structural and location variety, to compensate for temperature variables and social requirements. 

The Rankin Resource Group is composed of local organizations and individuals prepared to assist the MNR in the management of the magnificent Rankin wetland system, and, within this group, the Sydenham Sportsmen's Association has undertaken the bat program. SSA members Lloyd Jackson and Lorne Smith have developed a real interest in bats, and have been leaders in the local effort to protect and enhance our greatly misunderstood bat populations. They engage in bat-oriented public relation efforts, and also promote alternate housing projects when people bat-proof or destroy the bats' normal residences. 

Lloyd and Lorne are aware that many people wonder why anyone could possibly be concerned about bats. They realize that bats are very much apart of our natural ecosystem. They know that bats consume incredible numbers of flies and mosquitoes. They are also quite aware that many in our society are influenced by old European taboos and prejudices that cause revulsion at the mere mention of bats. They are amused by the fact that many women are deathly afraid that bats swooping near their heads are trying to land in their hair. They know that these "near misses" are the result of bats attempting to take mosquitoes which are attracted to body odors rising from humans. As usual, they know that extremely effective "bat radar" rules out entanglement in the hair of humans, Jackson says "people who run shrieking from swooping bats could solve the problems by taking more frequent showers". 

Jackson and Smith are very appreciative of the invaluable assistance from Arnteleco Communications. They know that the Issac Lake program is a major step in bat protection, as well as the overall enhancement of biodiversity in the Grey/Bruce countryside. 

Blake Smith, Co Chairperson 
Forest and Wildlife Advisory Committee 

Fisheries Advisory Committee 

We are experiencing some problems with losses in our salmon eggs. There is a presence of a cold water bacteria that attaches itself to the egg sack which is then transferred to the emerging fry. Fortunately this can be treated with chemicals we have used before, Cloramine T. Since our hatchery workers identified this bacteria in its early stages and have promptly started to cleanse the eggs our losses should be minimal. 

The City of Owen Sound has commissioned an historical plaque to be placed at the Mill Dam. Throughout the text and pictures the contributions of the S.S.A. will be made apparent. The plaque is still in the planning stages at present. 

Nothing has been finalized with regards to a new agreement with the Weaver family and our hatchery. These processes take time to provide a mutual satisfaction for both parties. 

Catches of rainbow trout in the harbour have been reported to be good. Lets hope for a good ice fishing season. 

Mike Prevost 
Co-Chair F.A.C.