GBA 2021 - Summer Update

13 www.georgianbay.ca GBA UPDATE Summer 2021 S ince the inception of the Guardians of the Bay program, I knew that my friend Ted Simmonds would be an excellent candidate for recognition. Through his actions, Ted exemplifies the values inherent in the Guardians program: a respect for the Bay, for its environment, and for those who share this treasure. An active board member of the Bayfield-Nares Islanders’ Association (BNIA), Ted has vacationed in Bayfield Inlet for 70 years. Since his retirement as a secondary school English teacher, Ted’s goal – often reached – has been to spend 100 days at the cottage each summer. (Incidentally, it was with some trepidation that I allowed this English teacher to review the draft article.) In 2020, the BNIA had initially planned a cleanup day on the Bay. At Ted’s urging, this morphed into a derelict dock program: locating derelicts, pushing them to the base of Bayfield Inlet, dismantling them, and then trucking the refuse to the Township of the Archipelago’s Site 9 waste facility. With the help of volunteers, Ted removed and disposed of some 25 derelict docks throughout last summer. While removing these eyesores is one thing, far more important is the removal and disposal of the polystyrene foam used for flotation, rather than allowing this to break apart and pollute our waters. Plans are in the works for a similar effort in neighbouring Nares Inlet this, or next, summer. The derelict dock program is just one example of Ted’s energetic efforts, environmental and otherwise. After joining the board in the late ’80s, he became BNIA’s environment chair and helped instigate a septic system review by the Township of the Archipelago. Ted served as BNIA’s long-term secretary and twice as president. (We recycle valuable resources!) And for many years he has acted as the liaison between our local first responders and the BNIA board, helping define their needs and how we might assist. Ted became the team leader of a group of concerned cottagers who took it upon themselves to clean up garbage along 529A, the road access to Bayfield and Nares inlets and marinas. This spawned another of Ted’s excellent initiatives, the collection of bottles and cans found along the roadside, and later from the local dump on 529A. Sorting them on his own, Ted takes bottles and cans to the Beer Store in Parry Sound, while other aluminum cans go to a recycler near his home. Proceeds initially went to the Pointe au Baril Nursing Station. Ted’s program has expanded to include support for other causes, including a local resident in need of medical assistance, and the annual Arts on the Bay festival. It gives me great pleasure to introduce to you Ted Simmonds, the nominal chair of the Bayfield Beautification Committee, a dock buster par excellence, and a veritable Guardian of the Bay. GUARDIAN OF THE BAY Actions Speak Volumes By John McMullen, BNIA President, GBA Past President Ted corrals one of the abandoned docks in Bayfield Inlet in summer 2020.