The Friends of Topsail Beach invite families to an old -fashioned wiener and marshmallow roast. “Fireside entertainers” such as Terry Rielly, The Teddy Bear Man, will also be on hand to spin a good yarn or play a short tune.  Bring an instrument or a tall tale and join in!

Food and refreshments are provided by the Town of C.B.S.

The event will take place on Thursday, July 9, from 7-9pm.

The Town of Conception Bay South is organizing their annual 3 Hour Community Challenge Clean Up on Saturday June 6, 2009 from 9 am to 12 pm. Meet on Topsail Beach to do your part!

On Saturday April 25, 2009, the Friends of Topsail Beach and Ocean Net will be holding a Spring Clean Up for Earth Day.

On Thursday, July 10th, 7-9pm, the Friends of Topsail Beach invite families to an old-fashioned wiener and marshmallow roast. “Fireside entertainers” — including Terry Rielly, the professional singer/songwriter better known as the “Teddy Bear Man” — will also be on hand to spin a good yarn or play a short tune. Bring an instrument or a tall tale and join in! (Food and refreshments are provided by the Town of C.B.S.)

For more information, call 781-1708 or e-mail coordinator@greenconceptionbay.org.
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The complete Kelligrews Soiree Events Calender is available at www.conceptionbaysouth.ca/tour_soiree.asp

On Saturday we joined Ocean Net as it celebrated Earth Day by cleaning up local beaches.  It was a terribly cold and rainy day but 12 hardy souls braved the weather to come out. The group included local citizens, Town Councillor Ken George, Avalon Northeast Rotary representative Tim Bell and Friends of Topsail Beach. We focused on the beach area and collected half a dozen bags of garbage as well larger pieces of garbage and buckets of glass. Thank you everyone for this fine effort!

Thanks also to Dave Tibbo and the Town of C.B.S. for donating gloves, garbage bags, and six town t-shirt “door prizes.”

Talk of another clean up has already begun: the Town has encouraged us to participate as a group in the “Pride in Your Community 3-Hour Challenge” (Saturday, June 7, from 9am to noon, with a rally at the CBS stadium from 12:30-2pm). This sounds like a great moment for another beach, trail and surrounding area clean up. More news is coming soon.

***So please mark June 7, 9am-2pm, on your calenders!***

In late March, the Friends of Topsail Beach board sent a letter to Dave Tibbo, the Director of Recreation & Leisure Services for the Town of Conception Bay South on Recommendations for Municipal Action Priorities at Topsail Beach Rotary Park.

You can read a copy of the letter by clicking here.

Please leave a comment below to voice your opinion on the content of the letter. The more feedback we get, the more weight this letter will have.

The Friends of Topsail Beach have recently formed a board to better coordinate actions and plan long-term strategies for the beach.

If you would like to join the board, please email Angela.

Here are the current board members:

• Angela Carter (coordinator@greenconceptionbay.org)
• Elaine Carter
• Florence Carter
• Justin Dearing (Representing Ocean Net) (jgdearing@oceannet.ca)
• Agnes Fekete
• Fred Greening
• Mary Grouchy
• Vivian Healey
• Jan Negrijn
• Roy Noel (Representing Northeast Avalon Rotary)
• Jean-Philippe Ranger (jphranger@greenconceptionbay.org)

On November 5th, “Guy Fawkes Night” or “bonfire night,” please keep a watch out on the beach for people burning toxic materials or lighting fires too close to the woods. 

Here’s a message on this issue from Ocean Net:

With the annual “Guy Fawkes Night” bonfires taking place this Monday, November 5th, 2007, Ocean Net wants to remind you of the importance of burning safe materials.  Thousands of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians will enjoy the festivities of the night, but it is critical to ensure the impact on the environment is minimal.

Tire burning in this province is banned under the “Environmental Protection Act Air Pollution Control Regulations 2004, Schedule E”  In fact, of the top 20 “Materials Prohibited from Burning in a Fire” listed in that Act, tire burning is top on the list and fines could reach $100,000!  This is obviously not common knowledge throughout this province as is evidenced by the rash of “tire fires” which take place in our communities, especially on the annual “Bonfire Night”.  This practice must stop!

A review of documentation on the web related to health and environmental threats associated with tire burning, shows that emissions have been found to contain dioxins and other emissions which cause cancer, severe respiratory problems in humans, and also affect the immune system.  Immune systems are also compromised in wildlife, including birds, fish, shellfish and mammals.

For more information, please contact Ocean Net: (T)753.3680  (F) 753.4679  (E) info@oceannet.ca  (W) www.oceannet.ca

The clean up and celebration were a great success.  Thank you to everyone who joined us, a group of approximately 50 people from local communities, Ocean Net, the Town of C.B.S. and the Avalon Northeast Rotary Club. 

We cleaned up a lot of garbage and several large fire pits (there is still a lot of work to be done on the latter but we have made a good start).  After a barbeque and mussel boil, Dr. Bill Montevecchi from MUN’s biology department told us about the local seabird populations and the negative impacts of oil on them.  Then The Petty Rogues and their friends entertained us with folk music.

By the way, the winner of our ticket draw on Rod Hand’s donated print of ”Set Sail, Topsail” was Kay Coxworthy from Bell Island, a long time Ocean Net supporter.

Thanks again to everyone who contributed to the event.  We look forward to seeing you next year.   

  

UPDATE: Given the rain pouring down now and continuing all day, we are moving the event to tomorrow, Sunday.  There might be some drizzle tomorrow morning but it will be clearing off and warmer, too.

The event is happening SUNDAY, NO MATTER WHAT!  So please come out.  

The plan of the day will still be:

11:00am – Meet at the Topsail Beach parking lot
11:30pm – Clean Up & Ocean Net’s Great Pumpkin Carving Contest
12:30pm – Mussel Boil & Beach Barbeque
1:30pm – Dr. Bill Montevecchi’s Environmental Presentation
2:00pm – Live folk music by The Petty Rogues (and Friends)
Plus face painting and much more!

Also, please let us know if you can volunteer as a clean up team leader or for other tasks that day.  We need the help!

Click here for all the details: poster-topsail-beach-clean-up-oct-13-2007.pdf