On May 1, 2005, over 1,200 people came together to celebrate Spring and the return of the Wood Ducks at the 6th Annual Ruby Lake Lagoon Wood Duck and Wilderness Festival. The fun-filled day included music, dancing, arts and crafts, artisans, children’s activities, guest speakers, and exhibits by conservation and community groups. Many people took advantage of the opportunity to tour the new Iris Griffith Interpretive Centre, currently under construction and scheduled to open in July 2005.

The Board of Directors of the Ruby Lake Lagoon Nature Reserve Society wishes to thank all of the people who contributed their time and energy to making the event such a great success, including:

• The tireless staff at Ruby Lake Resort who hosted the event and looked after and fed us all
• Scott Macy of Sunshine Coast Circle Tours who provided shuttle bus rides to and from the Iris Griffith Centre
• Karen and Jeremy Hunt who worked so hard with chair and table pick up and delivery
• John Dafoe, Jim Ross and Suzan Essiembre who led tours of the Iris Griffith Interpretive Centre
• Marion and Daniel Prochnau who assisted with face painting and bird box building all day
• Chris and Jenny Yeske from A Different Point of View who took some wonderful aerial photos of the site
• June Malaka who baked goodies and sold raffle tickets
• Tony Greenfield who led the popular morning bird hike
• Will Tyers who helped cut bird boxes
• Dave Marchand who helped with stage and setting up
• Dean Shultz who helped with signage
• Denise and Roger Lagasse and their children Miska and Joel who dedicated themselves to the kids craft table all day
• Solveigh Harrison for helping with the Baked Goods and Raffle tables
• All of the talented local musicians who provided great entertainment including Joe Stanton and the Precious Littles, Patrick Haavesto, Gaetan, Drumheads - West African style, Myth Makers, Mad Park Band, Sokole, Soup Bean Katie & the Corn Pones, Randesh, Judy Osiowy, Savanagh Swaisiland, Spanish Dancers featuring Alet, John Thompson, Jean Pierre and African Dancers, and Marimba Band
• Dave Stiles who held the fort at the Lagoon Society booth
• Carole Logtenberg who manned the raffle booth
• Keith Thirkell our wonderful MC
• All the artisans, conservation and community booth holders who attended and contributed their table fees to the Lagoon Society
• All the generous donors of prizes for the raffle including the FCBN and Young Naturalist Club
• Peter Lietz our excellent sound man
• Jeremy Williams who videoed the event for the Society
• Jeff and Mary Muckle - car park attendants
• Annette Clarke who presented the stunning slide show
• Pauline at The Local for helping us to publicize the event
• Gewls Hobbs and the roofing crew who kept working throughout and missed all the fun
• Everyone who displayed a poster advertising the festival
• Press and photographers who attended
• All entrants to the Bird Call Competition - the best event of the festival!
• Everyone else who contributed and attended and made the day so enjoyable
  
  

  

  The Lagoon Society is very grateful to the generous contributions of the many private individuals, businesses, foundations, community groups, corporations, and government agencies that make up our many sponsors. We gratefully acknowledge the financial assistance of the Province of British Columbia.

Ruby Lake Lagoon Nature Reserve Society
RR#1 Site 20 C16
Madeira Park, BC, V0N 2H0
Phone/Fax: 604-883-9893
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it