10th Anniversary Regional Camp June 20-22nd

June 20th is fast approaching, and so is our year-end Regional Camp in the Meadow Lake Provincial Park.

2008 marks 10 years of JFW in Meadow Lake, and we're going to have a celebration! We're inviting Wardens from all over, our own club's past members and numerous 'friends of JFW' to come & share a fantastic weekend with us, and help us celebrate our club's 10th birthday.

Read more about it, and get registration forms, here.

See you there!

Bears for Charity

Our Pathfinders have been making special stuffed bears that will be sent to a hospital in South Africa for the children there. This could become a rewarding, ongoing project for our club. Good job, Pathfinders! Special thanks to Sandra Dufour.

Sleighride at MacCuish's

Longtime JFW leader and club supporter Howard MacCuish took time out for a sleigh ride a few weeks ago. He's training a new team and was happy for the extra 'ballast'.
It was a beautiful day, and lots to see. Have a look at some photos.
Thanks, Howard!

Casey's Newfoundland Heritage Fair Project

Hi my name is Casey Hunter and this year for heritage fair I did the province of Newfoundland. I chose this project because I went there last summer and I really enjoyed myself there. I only got up to the second round in the competition.

(Casey was one of the Wardens who went on the '2007 Newfoundland Adventure' last summer, to visit the Junior Forest Wardens of that province.)

Good job, Casey!

2008 Winter Camp

Winter Camping! What a great weekend we had! Sixteen adventurous souls trekked into the deep woods on Zacharias' farm, built shelters, cooked food, slept in the outdoors and had lots of fun. Have a look at our photos from the weekend.

Shelter-building takes a lot of time, if you intend to be comfortable for the night. Some of ours were so comfy it was a shame to use them only once! Quinzees, as we re-discovered, are a LOT of work, but there's something very cool about sleeping in a snow shelter (no pun intended). The big challenge is to keep it from overheating and getting wet inside. Lean-to's can take a variety of forms, and ours ranged from the simple to the 'experimental', as the photos show. Everyone built their own, in teams of two or three, and everyone got some sleep.

The night sky was clear, moonless & perfect for a stargazing hike. We also had some fun with Eric's bear bangers.

The food was great, and the Wardens prepared it all. They even made some excellent ice cream (which is great on the porridge in the morning, by the way).

Winter camping was a completely new experience for one participant. Misaki Kubo, 16, hails from Saga in southern Japan. She was a good sport and pitched in with the work and the fun.

Special thanks to Bruce & Judy Zacharias for the use of their land. Thanks also to Bruce, Eldon and the Wardens who went out the prior weekend to get a few things prepared.

In the words of one Warden, "This was the most fun I've had at a camp in a long time!'

Megan's Speech

The following is a speech composed by Megan Z. for a school public speaking competition:

"Hello Judges, ladies and gentlemen, and fellow students.

How many of you know of a youth organization that encourages you to carry knives and play with fire? I am in that group, and it is called Junior Forest Wardens.

In this club I have had many fun experiences. We go camping lots and do many outdoor activities.

Once when we were hiking in the St Cyr Hills, one kid pretended to have a sprained ankle, and we had to pretend to treat it. Our leader asked us what to look for when somebody gets injured, and the leader's son said you have to watch for 'eternal bleeding'.

Every year we go camping at Matheson Lake. One year, one of our leaders thought he'd be really cool and drive right up onto the beach. So he turned his boat towards the beach going really fast. Instead of driving right up onto the beach, he hit a sandbar about two feet off the beach. The boat stopped, but him and his son didn't. They both went flying onto the front of the boat. Neither of them were hurt, but the son was kind of mad at his dad.

That same campout we went hiking and canoing. The Junior Forest Warden group was split into two groups. One group canoed across the lake and another group hiked around it. Both groups met at the other side of the lake. Since the group I was in walked around the lake, we got to canoe back. But I think we would have been smarter to walk back around because the canoes were docked on a beach of lumpy loathsome loon droppings. It was almost like quicksand in some places because it would just grab your feet and try to drag you down. One camper got stuck up to his waist and he lost one of his shoes. He sure didn't try to get it back, though.

We also have winter campouts, which are just great if you're a polar bear. The first winter campout I went to it was -22C, although it felt like -222C. There were 5 big snow piles and we hollowed them out to make quinzees. Imagine sleeping (or attempting to) on a pile of frozen square bales. It sure gives you a new meaning of cool! Of the ten people who tried sleeping in a quinzee only five made the night outside. The other five went to the nearby cabin where all the sane people spent the night.

We don't just camp. We also learn carving, knot tying, orienteering, first aid and outdoor cooking. I have had many good experiences with junior Forest Wardens.

Join us .... if you dare!

Thank you for listening to my speech"

And thank you, Megan, for letting us post it!

Wilderness First Aid

Several Junior Forest Wardens, leaders and parents got to take a Wilderness First Aid course in February near Meadow Lake. Instructor Steve Pollock provided a top-notch course, with many examples from his years in EMS and the military. Thanks, Steve, for a good course and a weekend well spent.

Special thanks to Mr & Mrs Buxton, whose hunting lodge we stayed in. We also appreciated the good food provided by the participants (or their parents!)

We learned some new skills, some new ideas about being prepared for emergencies large or small, and some new ways of thinking about being safe in the outdoors. We also had a lot of fun. Have a look at the photos!

Westlock Whitetails Ski Weekend

January 26-27th, 2008 - Westlock Whitetails Junior Forest Wardens hosted their second annual Adventurer/Challenger Ski Weekend. Wardens aged 12 & older traveled from all over the Northeast Region to participate in two days of skiing, tobogganing, hayriding and cameraderie.

Five members of Meadow Lake Woodlanders made the trip - Eric, Robert, Adam, Casey, Charlie and our tireless driver/chaperone, Brenda.

By all accounts, the weekend was a success in spite of some cold weather and a blizzard on the way home. We're glad our group was able to go, and very glad they got home safe!

Our sincere thanks to Lori Latreille and the Westlock club for hosting this event - the second of many, we hope!

Have a look at some photos of the trip.

Photos Wanted!

Hey there Wardens, Alumni & friends! Do you have some photos that you would like to share, to show the rest of the world the fun we have in Junior Forest Wardens, at local outings, national camps, trips and conferences?

Here's an easy way to go about it:

1. Sign up for a free online photo gallery (such as Google's Picassa Web Albums)
2. Upload your photos, organize them & add captions
3. Make the album 'public' and 'share' it with us (email the link to meadowlakejfw@gmail.com)

That's it! You could also simply email us the photos, send a CD, or even lend us prints. Any way you do it, we'll be glad to have them.

A new web presence for Junior Forest Wardens!

Humble beginnings, but a start nonetheless! This is the start of what will hopefully become a really useful and informative resource for JFW members, leaders and interested members of the public.
Check back for regular updates, and by all means leave comments & suggestions!

Forestry Demonstration Plot at Meadow Lake OSB

On August 11th, 2007 Allan Bell (Woodlands Manager) and a group of local Junior Forest Wardens began a forestry education project by planting approximately 200 seedling trees on the Meadow Lake OSB mill site. The Wardens will conduct yearly growth studies and learn about silviculture and forestry practices, under the direction of Woodlands staff. The white spruce seedlings are planted in three adjacent 10 meter by 10 meter plots, with spacings of 1 meter (10,000 trees/ha), 1.5 meter (4,449 trees/ha) and 2 meter (2,500 trees/ha). Next spring, the Wardens will check survival rates and do any necessary replanting. In the years following, they will measure and record a variety of data as the trees grow and mature including diameter growth, limbiness, height and volume. Forestry is a major component of the Junior Forest Warden program, and these test plots will be an excellent teaching tool for years to come. Many thanks to Allan Bell and Meadow Lake OSB for making this project possible!