Greenwater Report for June 19, 2000

Greenwater Report for June 19, 2000

Greenwater Provincial Park - June 19, 2000 - By: Gerald Crawford

lots of sun
June 18th, 2000: I'm cheating a bit I'm writing this on Saturday as we will be away on Sunday. Anyway, we had a pretty decent day today, lots of sun, some wind but not too cool. The forecast looks good for the rest of the weekend, too.

Herman Duerksen Participaction Bike Ride
Nancy Howse phoned last week it‚s time to set a date for our annual Herman Duerksen Participaction Bike Ride (we've got to find a shorter name!), and came up with July 16th as least likely to conflict with other activities. Every July, as soon as possible after the long weekend, a bunch of us meet at the Park Hall and bike to either Chelan or Perigord and back. Robert (Bicycle Bob) and Nancy sort of oversee the affair, making sure nobody is lagging too far behind or getting into any problems, and we have a service vehicle with water and cookies. It‚s a very casual affair, definitely not a race, and anyone can come. I used to ride until I got too fat, and now I drive the service truck. I keep promising myself that next year....... People are encouraged to ride only as long as they are enjoying it, and not to be shy about asking for a ride if they get tired.

two and a half inches of rain
We got home from our little holiday to find almost two and a half inches of rain in the gauge. It must have been a fairly gentle rain, too, as there are no signs of washing either here or at the cottage. We noticed water standing in the fields in places, and Sheryl had told us of a four inch fall in some places. At least some of our newly-seeded grass is sprouting, also some of our sunflowers.

tent caterpillars
Everything is lush and green. We can see some thinning at the tops of some trees, which we assume is caused by tent caterpillars. We haven't seen any on the road, though, so either they are not moving yet or there aren't many of them. Sure hope that spraying controlled them.

caterpillars
have damaged the trees
I wrote the preceding paragraph on Wednesday. By Friday evening there was plenty of caterpillar damage visible, especially on the west side of the highway, and lots of them crossing the road. So far, they haven't bothered our yard, but there are a few creeping around. When we drive down to the Park, we can look over the forest to the west and north, and see how badly the caterpillars have damaged the trees. We have no way, though, of looking over the east side of the highway, so can‚t judge the damage in the areas that were sprayed.

suckers
Donna and Garland Berg are spending the summer in their trailer at Almi Campground, and every day they like to go for a walk. Friday morning, they walked past the creek at the marina and were surprised to see suckers trying to make their way upstream. Merv said someone had cut open a sucker, and it was full of eggs. They didn't get a chance to go upstream to spawn in the spring, so maybe the recent rains have got them thinking about it again. Hope we get enough rain that they can get back to the lake again. Sometimes they get stranded, leaving a smelly mess for the Park staff to clean up.

golf course
Burl Adams took me for a tour of the golf course this morning. The new nine holes are in use, and look great. The old nine are being completely overhauled, and will include a spring-fed creek and a pond with a fountain. They had some greens and tee-offs ready for seeding, but the heavy rain washed them, and they had to rebuild some of them. Burl says when completed, the course will be one of the five best in Saskatchewan, and in the top 100 courses in Canada. I believe it. Every time I go out there, I get the urge to try golfing again. It really looks exciting!

Visitor Center
The Park's Visitor Center keeps progressing. Right now, they are working on the curved driveway and parking space with grader, packer and Bobcat. Once that equipment is out of the way, I will take another photo. The other evening, they had all the outside lights on and it was quite impressive!

Gerald B. Crawford
Box 100, Chelan, SK S0E 0N0 (306) 278-3423
Check out my Webpage: http://www3.sk.sympatico.ca/crawg

Greenwater Report for June 19, 2000

Greenwater Provincial Park - June 19, 2000 - By: Gerald Crawford

lots of sun	June 18th, 2000: I'm cheating a bit I'm writing this on Saturday as we will be away on Sunday. Anyway, we had a pretty decent day today, lots of sun, some wind but not too cool. The forecast looks good for the rest of the weekend, too.

Herman Duerksen Participaction Bike Ride	Nancy Howse phoned last week it‚s time to set a date for our annual Herman Duerksen Participaction Bike Ride (we've got to find a shorter name!), and came up with July 16th as least likely to conflict with other activities. Every July, as soon as possible after the long weekend, a bunch of us meet at the Park Hall and bike to either Chelan or Perigord and back. Robert (Bicycle Bob) and Nancy sort of oversee the affair, making sure nobody is lagging too far behind or getting into any problems, and we have a service vehicle with water and cookies. It‚s a very casual affair, definitely not a race, and anyone can come. I used to ride until I got too fat, and now I drive the service truck. I keep promising myself that next year....... People are encouraged to ride only as long as they are enjoying it, and not to be shy about asking for a ride if they get tired.

two and a half inches of rain	We got home from our little holiday to find almost two and a half inches of rain in the gauge. It must have been a fairly gentle rain, too, as there are no signs of washing either here or at the cottage. We noticed water standing in the fields in places, and Sheryl had told us of a four inch fall in some places. At least some of our newly-seeded grass is sprouting, also some of our sunflowers.

tent caterpillars	Everything is lush and green. We can see some thinning at the tops of some trees, which we assume is caused by tent caterpillars. We haven't seen any on the road, though, so either they are not moving yet or there aren't many of them. Sure hope that spraying controlled them.

caterpillars have damaged the trees	I wrote the preceding paragraph on Wednesday. By Friday evening there was plenty of caterpillar damage visible, especially on the west side of the highway, and lots of them crossing the road. So far, they haven't bothered our yard, but there are a few creeping around. When we drive down to the Park, we can look over the forest to the west and north, and see how badly the caterpillars have damaged the trees. We have no way, though, of looking over the east side of the highway, so can‚t judge the damage in the areas that were sprayed.

suckers	Donna and Garland Berg are spending the summer in their trailer at Almi Campground, and every day they like to go for a walk. Friday morning, they walked past the creek at the marina and were surprised to see suckers trying to make their way upstream. Merv said someone had cut open a sucker, and it was full of eggs. They didn't get a chance to go upstream to spawn in the spring, so maybe the recent rains have got them thinking about it again. Hope we get enough rain that they can get back to the lake again. Sometimes they get stranded, leaving a smelly mess for the Park staff to clean up.

golf course	Burl Adams took me for a tour of the golf course this morning. The new nine holes are in use, and look great. The old nine are being completely overhauled, and will include a spring-fed creek and a pond with a fountain. They had some greens and tee-offs ready for seeding, but the heavy rain washed them, and they had to rebuild some of them. Burl says when completed, the course will be one of the five best in Saskatchewan, and in the top 100 courses in Canada. I believe it. Every time I go out there, I get the urge to try golfing again. It really looks exciting!

Visitor Center	The Park's Visitor Center keeps progressing. Right now, they are working on the curved driveway and parking space with grader, packer and Bobcat. Once that equipment is out of the way, I will take another photo. The other evening, they had all the outside lights on and it was quite impressive!

	Gerald B. Crawford Box 100, Chelan, SK S0E 0N0 (306) 278-3423 Check out my Webpage: http://www3.sk.sympatico.ca/crawg