Approach

Soar: Issue 9, September 2022

A Crafter’s Christmas Silent Auction

Calling all artists, hobbyists, crafters, or makers! DUC is hosting a silent auction to highlight the talents of volunteers, supporters, and staff.

Do you know someone who is multi-talented? Maybe by day they sit at an office chair, but in the evening they are carving decoys, painting, drawing or maybe they’re wood burning or sewing. The possibilities are endless, and we want to showcase your talents while raising money for conservation.

Please consider donating to our silent auction.

For the donation, each artisan will have their items showcased on the auction, a bio of the artisan with information or links provided for supporters to contact the artist directly if they are interested in supporting their business.

DUC can also provide a donation receipt for materials used for the items donated. Tax receipts will be issued for materials that are valued at $100 or more.

For more information or to donate an item, please contact Lacey Schroeder at l_schroeder@ducks.ca or Jamie Young at j_young@ducks.ca.

You’ve seen us before, now get to know us more

Noreen Pearsell – Volunteer and Corporate Fundraising Coordinator

Greetings everyone! For those who don’t know me, my name is Noreen Pearsell and I am a Volunteer and Corporate Fundraising Coordinator who joined DUC 17 years ago, where does the time go? It’s truly amazing being able to work with such supportive volunteers and staff. I enjoy the outdoors, hiking, and kayaking. My favorite month is April, why you ask? I love to turkey hunt. I also get out from time to time to duck/goose hunt as well. One thing I do miss is our in-person volunteer appreciation events, having fun sharing ideas and seeing the volunteers face to face. To all volunteers, I would like to express my deep gratitude for all your hard work and passion for conservation, its truly inspiring!

Manda Hanson – Volunteer and Corporate Fundraising Coordinator

Hello everyone! My name is Manda Hanson, and I joined DUC as a staff member and volunteer over 20 years ago. My current position is Volunteer and Corporate Fundraising Coordinator for BC, and I also co-chair the Kamloops Sportsman volunteer committee with my husband, Kim. When I look back on the years, I feel so honored to have met so many wonderful, amazing volunteers and staff members. I’m really blessed to call many of you friends. Summer is my favourite time of year. Kim and I spend a great deal of time at our trailer at North Barriere Lake. We enjoy socializing with our friends, going for walks with our Golden Retriever Zoey, spending time on the beach, and fishing from time to time. I just want to take this opportunity to thank you, our volunteers, for your dedication and passion. One of the best things about working and volunteering for DUC is being able to work alongside volunteers like you. I look forward to in-person events and seeing you all again.

Elke DuBois – Manager of Volunteer and Corporate Fundraising

My name is Elke DuBois and I’ve recently been promoted to the Volunteer & Corporate Fundraising Coordinator for Alberta. I started working with the DUC fundraising team and volunteers 7 years ago. I remember how much fun I had at my first banquet here in Calgary with the Chinook Drakes Committee. Seeing how excited and dedicated all our Alberta Volunteers were, and how great it felt to become part of it! I spend my spare time with my dog “Ellie”, hanging out with my daughter Sarah and summer weekends at my camper in BC with my friends.

Looking forward to continuing working with all of our hardworking, existing and new volunteers after the past couple of quiet years!

British Columbia

In BC we are excited to announce the return to in-person events after a 2-year hiatus due to the pandemic. Our volunteers are hard at work hosting, planning, and organizing events for the fall:

Oceanside Chapter, led by Chair Darin Brown, held their Marsh Day Event supported by Cascade Recovery on September 10^th at the Nanoose Bay Marsh/Estuary on Vancouver Island. Many volunteers from DUC and Cascade Recovery participated in this annual event. Great work is completed annually; removing invasive species, beaver dam debris and conducting general clean up to the area and trail followed by a post-work meeting and gathering. All work (and songbird survey) is documented in detail and captured with photos – Great job Darin and to the rest of the amazing volunteers who attended!

Our Chapter Chair, Cara Kells, and hard-working volunteers have been busy organizing the Vanderhoof Banquet scheduled to take place on Sept 24, 2022 at the Community Event Centre. Cara and team invite you, your family and friends to join them in celebrating their 35^th annual event with an evening of raffles, live and silent auction, and FUN!

Don Bourassa, Chapter Chair of Dawson Creek and volunteers are excited to return to in-person events, hosting a banquet on October 22, 2022 at the George Dawson Inn. In addition to connecting with the community and a great meal, there will be fun, interactive activities; both live and silent auctions as well as raffles with high-quality items contributed by generous local businesses, manufacturers, and retailers, along with our always popular, Ducks Unlimited items!

Kamloops Banquet November 18, 2022- Glenn Dreger, Chair and team are diligently working on organizing their 39^th annual fall banquet event. Plans are well underway with the committee meeting regularly to finalize all the details and busy securing donations for the event. The banquet is taking place at the Colombo Lodge and they are expecting 250 attendees!

Committee Chair, Stewart Forrest and Fort St. John volunteer committee members are excited to announce their banquet on November 26, 2022 at the Northern Grand Hotel. Planning is in the preliminary stages and the event is sure to bring community members from near and far together!

For details on these and other upcoming DUC events, please go to Attend an Event — Ducks Unlimited Canada

A special thank you goes out to all of our hard-working volunteers in B.C. who help support wetland conservation, we wouldn’t be successful without you!

Ed Iskierski

Manager of Volunteers & Corporate Fundraising

Alberta

Just in case you’ve missed the news, our Raffles are back in Alberta! Some restrictions are still in effect, but we can now run raffles up to $20,000. Please reach out to Elke DuBois (e_dubois@ducks.ca) for more information and to confirm we are staying within the guidelines.

There were a couple of events that happened in the past few months:

Coronation Banquet – June 10th, 2022. Raised $26,000. This event sold out at 220 tickets and everyone had a fantastic time!
Grimshaw Golf Tournament – July 9^th. Raised $5,000. A successful golf tournament hosted by the Grimshaw committee!

Looking forward to our upcoming fall event in Edmonton, hosted by the Edmonton Ladies on November 5, 2022. This will be their first “Co-Ed” event and the theme will be “Mask”erade.

Elke DuBois

Manager of Volunteer and Corporate Fundraising

Saskatchewan

Wow! What a summer it has been for heat and fun! We are gearing up for more fun and the heat is on for in-person events again in Saskatchewan this fall.

We have 12 events across the province that are planned between September 10 and the end of November. Please check out ducks.ca/events for an event near you. Tickets for all events are available to buy online.

We are also ready to distribute the fourth edition of the Saskatchewan Provincial Council Firearm Calendar. We are printing just 3,000 this year and the cost is still just $50 per calendar. Calendars will be distributed across the province again, but you can also buy online as well. We are giving away a gun a week again and $1,000 every month. Thank you for your continued support for this fundraising initiative, and thank you to our sponsors, Lorne Scott, Candace Franke, Alumarine Boats Manufacturing, Extreme Range Outfitters, Busy Bee Enterprises in Regina and Heinemann Design Inc. in Indian Head.

We are also anticipating doing a boat raffle as well, either starting this fall or early next year. Thank you to Alumarine Boat Manufacturing for donating a complete boat package to DUC.

Don’t hesitate to reach out to Travis Behning at t_behning@ducks.ca in Saskatoon with any questions you have about helping raise money in Saskatchewan whether it’s in your local community or through a corporate partnership.

Go Ducks! See you at the next event.

Travis Behning

Manager of Volunteers & Corporate Fundraising

Manitoba

Grassroots fundraising, banquets and events in Manitoba are back in action!

Thanks to the Minister’s Dinner, Gilbert Plains, Brandon Sporting Clays, West Wpg & Tourond Creek and SE Manitoba chapters and their volunteers for getting 2022 going with a bang.

The fun didn’t stop there as the Provincial Council, in June, ran an “ARGO Quad” raffle. This was supported by all the volunteers across the province and was a very successful event.

June turned into July, and that was the month of the Canada Life Ride to the Lake! This committee chaired by board members Kevin McFadden, and Pat O’Connor, reached new heights in fundraising, as they along with their corporate sponsors, riders, donors and volunteers raised over $340,000 for Ducks Unlimited Canada! Congratulations to all involved and thank you for your support.

The migration in Manitoba is starting and along with that comes fall event season. The premier “Birds and Beer Flights” tasting event held in support of the education programing at Oak Hammock Marsh and the Wetland discovery Center sold out. Mark your calendars for the first Thursday in Sept. next year, its sure to be another great sold-out event.

We have a full complement of events being planned across the province. Great big thank you to the following chapters for jumping back into the fall swing of things: Selkirk, Dauphin, The Pas, Beausejour & Area, Winnipegosis, Tourond Creek, Pembina Triangle, Souris/Hartney and Interlake Harlequins. Special mention to the folks up in the Riverton/Arborg area as they are organizing the first NE Interlake Chapter event in a very long time. Congratulations and welcome back!

Watch for our launch of the 2023 Manitoba Conservation Calendar, coming to MB volunteers very soon! As always, follow us, like and share @ducmanitobafundraising

Cheers,

Brad Porath

Manager of Volunteers & Corporate Fundraising

Ontario

Northern Ontario

After a spring of “getting their post-Covid feet wet” with some very successful events, late summer and fall are warming up to almost normal for Northern Ontario DUC dinners! The 39^th annual Sudbury dinner (August 25^th) surpassed their last event in 2019 (congrats!) while the upcoming Matheson, Kirkland Lake, and Thunder Bay Dinners are on track to do the same – a BIG thank you to our northern volunteers for shaking the dust off their ducks and moving forward.

A question many are asking: “Are we doing calendars this year?” To which we answer is a resounding, YES! Unfortunately, due to some supply issues their printing has been delayed, but we hope to have them out to our volunteers before the end of September.

A special shout-out to two 30-year award recipients: Ray Pellatt and Jim Cook from the Sudbury Chapter. Thank you both for your many years of hard work and dedication.

Robert Watson

Manager of Volunteers & Corporate Fundraising

South-central Ontario

Our busy fall event season is around the corner and chapters already planning their events. Volunteers are so excited to be back in action so people can once again support the conservation movement!

The Kingston Golf Tournament held in July was once again a sold-out event. I would like to say thank you to each volunteer who made this such a successful event.

This fall, we need to highlight a few upcoming events:

Haliburton Banquet on Oct 28 – which sold out in two weeks!
Frontenac Banquet on October 22
Wolfe Island on Oct 21
Brockville on Oct 29

Don’t miss out on these amazing events, visit ducks.ca/events to register for an event near you.

The amount of dedication and determination I have seen has been very inspirational. All our volunteers need to be commended for their hard work supporting conservation. For that, a big thank you.

Southwestern Ontario

Traditionally, the summer months are a quiet time for out volunteers and event program in SW Ontario while everyone enjoys some much-needed rest and relaxation on vacation. However, this summer proved to be the very opposite as volunteers and supporters alike were eager to get back to packed halls and Ducks comradery.

Many firsts took place through out the month of August this year. The inaugural SW Ontario Ride for Conservation was a huge success as motorcycle riders from all over came to ride with the Ducks for conservation.

The Brock Sportsmen were back in fine form after a 2-year hiatus and packed the Sunderland arena with over 300 attendees for the best wild game dinner you could ever try. It was great to see so many familiar faces and new ones alike back for one of the most entertaining events of the summer.

The Grimsby chapter tried something new and exciting this summer that we knew would be an instant success from the first evening’s planning session. The inaugural Outdoor Festival was a huge success with over 300 people in attendance visiting our 30 vendors, retriever demos, seminars, and duck/goose calling contests. Make sure to mark your calendars for August 19^th of 2023, as this event is coming back even bigger and better!

We wrapped up our summer tour in SW Ontario with the enthusiastic crowd in the Sarnia-Lambton area. Coming fresh off the heels of their most successful events in recent times pre-pandemic. The Sarnia-Lambton committee were very excited to fill their hall and host an amazing event once again. Seeing so many happy faces in that sold out crowd, sure was a refreshing way to end an eventful summer!

Marco Cunha

Manager of Volunteers & Corporate Fundraising

Quebec

On September 16, cyclists from the province of Quebec will join together to cycle a beautiful scenic route in Montreal, Quebec. The participants have been raising funds through a peer-to-peer fundraising platform hosted by Ducks Unlimited Canada. Thanks to their efforts and support from family, friends, and co-workers the cyclists have raised $18,135 to date! This is the second year for the Tour pour la Conservation and once again a very successful event that takes a new approach to raising funds outside of the traditional event fundraising for DUC.

New Addition for Ontario & Quebec

Please join me in welcoming Mr. Jean Joanette to the DUC family!

Jean joins the Volunteer Fundraising team as a Manager Volunteer and Corporate Fundraising (MVCF) in South Eastern Ontario and Quebec. In this role, Jean will be instrumental in building relationships with our Volunteers, supporting the transition back to in-person events, peer to peer events and other innovative ways of raising funds for DUC. He will also focus on raising important unrestricted revenue through corporate sponsorships and philanthropic donations.

Residing in Alexandria, Ontario on the Ontario and Quebec border, his passion for the outdoors and its wildlife began at a very young age eventually leading to post-secondary studies at Sir Sandford Fleming College where he graduated with a diploma in Fish and Wildlife Technician program.

Although his career path never led to working in his chosen field of study, Jean pursued his passion for wildlife and the outdoors in his spare time and through various types of recreational activities. Through his collegiate education and decades of experience in the outdoors, he realized the importance of conservation, especially that of wetland ecosystems. With an ever-growing desire to get involved with DUC and help towards its mission statement, Jean joined DUC as a volunteer in 2010, founding and chairing the North Glengarry chapter of DUC in his hometown of Alexandria. Since then, he’s developed a true passion for fundraising (and event planning) and is very proud of his committee’s continued success in hosting its annual fundraising dinner and auction.

In his spare time, Jean can be found exploring the great outdoors year-round mostly throughout Ontario and Quebec. With a love for road trips, adventure and a “try everything once” mindset, his repertoire of activities has become quite broad over the years and include mountain biking, trail running, hiking, hunting, fishing, backcountry camping, canoe & kayaking, swimming, skiing & snowshoeing and ATVing among other things.

Jean is very excited to join our team and to use his past experience in corporate sales, public relations and management towards achieving goals within his new role as Manager Volunteer and Corporate Fundraising.

Please join us in welcoming Jean. His official start date was September 19.

Atlantic provinces

Atlantic Canada has seen the return of many events this this summer and we have a great lineup this fall!

I would like to share a big thank you and congratulations to the Hampton committee who held their sold-out event on August 20, this was their largest event to date and they had amazing sponsors and prizes! We had a lot of fun and had a successful event! Thank you, Hampton volunteers!

On August 27, the Fredericton committee held the first ever Ride for Conservation in Atlantic Canada and had a great day supporting DUC with a new and exciting initiative. Thank you to the volunteers on the Fredericton committee for hosting this ride and BBQ afterwards at the Fredericton Conservation Centre.

On September 10 the Montague committee hosted a sold-out event with 200 in attendance. They had 40 youth under 16 come to enjoy the evening and had a prize for each one. The committee saw their best event in 17 years. Congratulations to the Montague volunteers.

The Truro Committee is working on their event and are pleased to have The Kilted Chef and Jimmy Flynn attending again this year. Tickets are $65 per person and this will be a great night of laughs along with raffles, auctions and a culinary experience. If you are interested in tickets let me know.

Burin Peninsula, Saturday, September 17 – Newfoundland
Charlottetown, PEI – September 22
Shelburne Comedy night, Thursday, September 29 – Nova Scotia
Harvey, Saturday October 16 – New Brunswick
Truro, Saturday October 15 – Nova Scotia
Corner Brook, Friday, October 21 – Newfoundland
Antigonish, Saturday, November 6 – Nova Scotia
Memramcook, Saturday, November 12 – New Brunswick
Goose Bay, Saturday, November 19 – Labrador
Kent County, Saturday, December 3 – New Brunswick

We are booking many events for this spring, if your committee is looking at a spring event, please let us know and we will get the date set up.

Thank you to all of our volunteers, it is so great being able to see you in person again! I look forward to working with you all this fall!

Jamie Young

Manager of Volunteer & Corporate Fundraising