20 - Southpoint Sun
Wednesday, December 15, 2021
Hillman Marsh restoration helps critical habitat LEAMINGTON – The future of Hillman Marsh is bright and noisy with birdsong thanks to weeks of restoration work to se-
cure the habitat from high water levels and heavy wave action on Lake Erie. Record-high water levels on Lake Erie com-
bined with severe storms in recent years to wash away the sand ridge that had sheltered the marsh habitat.
A completed section of Hillman Marsh restoration. Submitted photo
ANNOUNCEMENT
Surprise! Happy 86th Birthday Mom!
SEASONS GREETINGS From our home in BC to yours in Ontario, Happy Holidays to our family and friends. Stay safe and healthy. Remembering our loved ones in heaven. From The Hoppers
Love your daughter Karen, Rick , Kiley & Scott
Alice, Lowell, Jason, Muriel and Kern
Happy 80 Birthday Bob Stephens! th
~ December 20 ~
Love from Your Family
In 2020, inspections of the water-management infrastructure were carried out by Ducks Unlimited Canada’s (DUC) engineering staff which confirmed that the lake had begun to breach the protective system of earthen dikes that contains the marsh. The containment structures retain water in the marsh at levels that are essential to functional coastal wetland habitats. Funding from the Province of Ontario secured the future of the rare and critically important coastal wetland this year. Extensive repairs and reinforcements took place over several weeks this autumn, increasing the resiliency of the containment diking system to
withstand the new-normal climate effects that are affecting shorelines with extreme and enduring high-water events on Lake Erie. The rehabilitation of Hillman Marsh prevents the loss of a hotspot for both birds and birders, while supporting a landscape where wetland loss has been very high in Essex County. Hillman Marsh is in the traditional territory of the Three Fires Confederacy and is part of the Hillman Marsh Conservation Area and near Point Pelee National Park. The two protected areas were once part of the same large wetland complex, now separated by land that has been largely drained and converted to homes
CARD OF THANKS
Happy 70th Birthday Dad!
Thank You!
Thank you to my relatives, friends and neighbours for your get well cards and wishes while I was in the hospital recovering from surgery this summer. Thank you also for your expressions of sympathy when Jerry passed away in July 2021.
~December 14~
Dan Bailey is turning the Big “70”
Love, your kids and grandkids!
Jean Brodie
If you’d like to place an announcement ad over the holidays, please note that the deadine for the December 29 paper is Wednesday, December 22 at noon. The office will be closed from December 23-Jan. 3
and fields. The restoration project was supported by the Ontario Wetlands Conservation Partner Program, a $30 million, five-year program focusing on enhancing and restoring wetlands in the Great Lakes watersheds, supporting municipal stormwater management and building climate change resiliency. The project was implemented by Ducks Unlimited Canada in cooperation with the landowner, Essex Region Conservation Authority. To learn more about the project go to https:// www.ducks.ca/stories/ landowners/restorationrenews-hillman-marshon-the-shores-of-lakeerie/
IN MEMORIAM In Loving Memory of
Joseph Raffoul December 16 2018
To hear your voice, to see your smile, To sit with you and talk awhile, To be together in the same old way, Would be our greatest wish today. So please God take a message, To our precious Husband, Dad and Jido above, Tell him that we miss him, And give him all our love.
Love Nancy, Joey, Bunny, Troy, Shawna, Jacob, Danny, Lana, Dana, DJ
