The Ingersoll District Nature Club is very proud to announce the success of Oxford County Pollination Awareness Week, which took place on November 25-27, held to raise awareness of the importance of pollinators to our community and the danger that neonicotinoids present to our environment.

Thanks to a generous donation from the Ingersoll Community Fund, the Club organized this event as an educational and community engagement opportunity, bringing in noted pollination experts George Scott of the Niagara Beeway and Patty Moss of the Niagara Park Butterfly Conservatory to lead educational sessions for local students and town halls for the community as a whole.

The Education Sessions, which included a PowerPoint presentation, Question & Answer period and gave students hands-on experience in creating wildflower seed balls and planting pollination gardens, took place at:

• Laurie Hawkins Public School in Ingersoll and Glendale High School in Tillsonburg on November 25
• Algonquin Public School, Springbank Public School and College Avenue Secondary School in Woodstock on November 26
• Roch Carrier French Immersion Public School in Woodstock on November 27

The Town Halls, which included a multi-media presentation and Question & Answer period, took place at:

• the Woodstock Unifor Hall on November 25 (7 pm)
• the Ingersoll Unifor Hall on November 26 (7 pm)

We would like to thank members of the local media for their coverage of the events, including:

The Woodstock Sentinel-Review: http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/2014/11/26/researcher-explains-dangers-of-neonicotinoids-to-bees

Heart FM: http://www.1047.ca/news/local-news/pollination-awareness-week/

Check out this article in the London Free Press: http://www.lfpress.com/2014/11/25/ontario-plans-to-cut-neonicotinoid-use-by-80

We’d like to thank Heart FM for their great article and all the coverage they gave to the Oxford County Pollination Awareness Week event that is happening this week.

You can read the article, quoting Dave Baird, at: http://www.1047.ca/news/local-news/pollination-awareness-week/

As you may have noticed, the Ingersoll District Nature Club’s blog has a new “header photo”. We have chosen Graceyn Thompson’s photo that was submitted as part of our recent photo contest. You can view the entire photo below:

The venue of the event has been changed and Moonlight & Mistletoe will now take place at the Colombo Hall in Beachville. Limited tickets and tables are still available. Contact Rick today at 519-532-8307 or via email at compassevents2014@gmail.com

Download the flyer: 2014 11 04 Pollination Awareness Flyer Ver2

David Suzuki is reporting that neonicotinoids may not be the only danger facing bees and other important pollinators. Read more about it on David Suzuki’s website: http://action2.davidsuzuki.org/bees to learn more about the new “F-Word”: flupyradifurone.