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Celebrating 60 Years of FOCA

We're ready to celebrate FOCA's 60th anniversary on the afternoon of Saturday September 23rd, 2023 in Peterborough at the Market Hall.

We're looking forward to a fun gathering with friends, the FOCA Board of Directors (current and past), music, memories, and more. The theme of the event is "Connections": to community, to each other, and to the water!

Come for the full experience including a cocktail reception with the Board, or join just in time to participate in the silent auction in support of the next 60 years of FOCA's work! We're looking forward to celebrating with you.

Registration is now open, and space is limited: https://foca.on.ca/60-years/#event

FireSmart ... at the Cottage

Check out the new FireSmart Home Ignition Zone Poster (PDF, 1 page). By taking simple actions around the cottage, you can significantly reduce the risk of wildland fires impacting structures on your property. Start in the 'Immediate Zone' and work out to the 'Extended Zone'.

MORE TIPS:

• read the 'Fire Season' and 'Flood & Wildfire-ready Property' articles in the 2023 Ontario Lake Stewards Magazine (PDF, 32 pages).
• download the FireSmart Begins at Home App on your digital device, to walk you through a home and structure assessment.
• consult the FireSmart Begins at Home Guide (PDF, 21 pages)
• for more resources & FireSmart info visit FireSmartCanada.ca
• for Ontario wildland fire info & updates visit Ontario.ca/forestfire.

FOCA Cottage Succession Seminars

FOCA is thrilled to be on the road again with estate lawyer Peter Lillico, helping families plan for the intergenerational transfer of the cottage! We've already hosted five events this year. You can still register to join us at one of our remaining 2023 digital events:

• Wed. Sept. 6th - "Cottage Succession A to Z" hosted by the Big Basswood Lake Property Owners’ Association
• Thurs. Sept. 14th - "Cottage Succession A to Z" hosted by the Four Mile Lake Association
• Wed. October 18th - "It's All About the Kids" deeper dive session for all FOCA Members
• Wed. October 25th - "Cottage Succession A to Z" hosted by the Lake Weslemkoon Conservation Association

Each session runs from 7:00 to 8:30pm by Zoom webinar and includes Q&A with the speaker. Bring your questions! These events are FREE to FOCA members; remember to indicate your FOCA affiliation when you register to be confirmed for an event.

Learn more, get registration links, or purchase access to a digital recording of a previous session, on our webpage: https://foca.on.ca/cottage-succession/

Towing Safety for Boaters

If you are a boater who kids or adults for waterskiing, tubing or other on-water activities, we encourage you to review a boat safety e-learning video created by Scott Ferguson and circulated previously by our member group, the Muskoka Lakes Association. Watch the video here: https://pcelearning.com/Towing%20Human%20Beings/

Be #WakeAware

Did you know? Boat wake can cause shoreline erosion, damage docks and moored boats, topple inexperienced swimmers or smaller craft including canoes, and drown nesting birds and loon chicks. Please learn more, and pledge to Be #WakeAware.

Asian Carps Awareness

Cottage country folks along the Great Lakes: although Asian carps are not established in Canadian waters, please be on the look-out for them! There are four species of Asian carps that are invasive to North America: Silver Carp, Bighead Carp, Black Carp and Grass Carp. All four have a short dorsal fin and no barbels (whisker-like appendages at the corners of their mouths). Learn how to ID them and what to do if you spot one, from FOCA’s infographic (PDF, 2 pages), and then share the news with others.

Lake Partner Program

Ever wonder what's involved in volunteering with the Lake Partner Program? Read first-hand accounts from FOCA's water samplers about what motivates them to participate each year, and what they get out of it! See page 24 of the new 2023 Ontario Lake Stewards Magazine for their stories.

A note for our 2023 water samplers: Please have a friend snap a picture of you "on the job" and send the images to FOCA. We might use your image in a future Elert! Thank you volunteers.

Fireflies & Night Light

As recently reported in the Toronto Star, fireflies are facing threats from climate change and light pollution. FOCA first wrote about light pollution in our 2009 publication, Take the Plunge. We also included an updated article in our 2021 Lake Stewards Newsletter. Get links to the recent news, and the earlier articles on FOCA's Light Pollution webpage.

(image: AP-Knoxville News Sentinel-Adam Lau / THE CANADIAN PRESS; Toronto Start article 2023)

Watershed Report Cards

Ontario’s 36 Conservation Authorities (CAs) track conditions across watersheds. For World Water Day earlier this year, CAs unveiled updated Watershed Report Cards. Find your local CA website where you can view or download 2023 Watershed Report Cards, tracking and reporting on surface and groundwater quality, as well as the conditions of our forests: https://watershedcheckup.ca/find-your-report-card/

Bigwind Provincial Park ERO posting

Property owners in the area around Bigwind Provincial Park (near Baysville) should note there are plans to convert the Park to an operating park that may have as many as 250 campsites, 25 backcountry campsites, 25 cabins or yurts, recreational trails, access roads, comfort stations, water and waste treatment facilities and maintenance facilities. It would be the first new full-service operating provinical park created in 40 years. The Province has posted the plans to the Environmental Registry of Ontario (ERO), and recently extended the deadline for public comment to September 4, 2023.

(image: OntarioParks.com)

Participating in Local AGMs

FOCA has been busy and on the road for much of the summer, participating in Annual General Meetings (AGMs) of our member associtions, as well as regional events.

It's a joy to be back "in person" for many of these gatherings!

Since June, FOCA has attended the Lake of the Woods District Stewardship Association AGM, Muskoka Lakes Association AGM (pictured at top right), Lake of Bays Association AGM, Kahshe Lake Ratepayers Association AGM, Kawarthas Alliance annual meeting, Menominee Lake Association AGM (pictured at the side), and Greater Bobs & Crowe Lake AGM (pictured at bottom right), as well as events in Apsley, Ottawa, Maynooth and Lakefield, among others.

We're looking forward to connecting with more of you across Ontario this August!

Even if we can't be at your local meeting in person, we can still send you some materials and a FOCA update to share with your fellow members. Read more on that option, below.

ASSOCIATION TIP: Give a Report About FOCA at your AGM

Help your fellow members understand the work that FOCA does year-round on their behalf, and the benefits they have access to because of your Association's annual membership in FOCA. Contact the office to ask for a short set of slides: "About FOCA" and/or a script you can use to explain in 5 minutes why your annual contribution is money well spent!

Members' Corner: "Borrow" this Great Youth Engagement Idea

We enjoyed this Facebook post from our member group, the Severn River Association of Property Owners (SRAPO), who put a new twist on a kids' scavenger hunt event: find all the items on the list, and then make them into a work of art. BONUS POINTS: they got a local marina to donate ice cream prizes as an incentive! Yum.

webinar recaps: Nonprofit Governance & Recordkeeping

Community Legal Education Ontario (CLEO) held two July webinars that may be of interest, especially to our incorporated member associations:

• Introduction to Nonprofit Governance, exploring the rights, duties and liabilities of members, directors and officers of a nonprofit organization, including different ways to structure membership and boards.
• Introduction to Privacy Law & Recordkeeping for Nonprofits: what records are nonprofit corporations required to keep, and who has a right to access them? Plus, an overview of privacy law.

Member Association representatives can access links to these recordings and additional goverance resources on FOCA's Association Best Practices webpage. If you don't have, or can't recall, your login contact us for assistance during business hours.

Apply for the 2023 FOCA Achievement Award

We've been reading your Association newsletters and following your social media posts, and we KNOW you've been busy doing great things this year!

Be sure to apply on behalf of your Association for the 2023 FOCA Achievement Award. Nominations can be submitted now! The award recipient will be announced in the early new year, with the award presentation at the next FOCA Annual General Meeting (save the date: Saturday, March 2, 2024 in Toronto and by webinar).

For inspiring stories of past recipients, the nomination form, and more information, visit our webpage:

https://foca.on.ca/award

Ian White

FOCA was saddened to hear of the recent passing of former Board Director Ian White, a member of the Lake of Bays Association (LOBA). Soon after arriving on Lake of Bays in the early 2000s, Ian volunteered to be an Area Steward for LOBA, joined their Board of Directors in 2010, and FOCA's in 2015. Our condolences go out to his family, friends and lake association peers. You will be missed, Ian.

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FOCA Office Hours:

Please note the FOCA office will be closed Monday, August 7th, 2023

for the statutory holiday.