Celebrating 4 Years of Sharing
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Fisgard Lighthouse with Dogwood Flowers
Photo by Neil Dickie, with permission.
This photo won an award for scenic photography in the 2021 annual photography contest of British Columbia Magazine
Pacific Dogwoods have a long and ancient history. Fossils of plants similar to our present dogwood plant have been found that are over 75 million years old.
In BC, well preserved fossil fruit from the genus Cornus (dogwood) have been found in late Cretaceous deposits on Vancouver Island. From this evidence we know that the dogwood was around at the time of the dinosaurs as the Cretaceous period spanned 145 to 66 million years ago and ended with the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs.
So…why did the dogwood survive and the dinosaurs didn’t? The answer lies in the ability of the dogwood’s seeds to remain dormant, and in the strength of its roots and underground structure. As well, these dogwood ancestors underwent genome duplication. This process allowed one gene to do its original job while the duplicate was free to mutate and evolve.
Here is a link to our new page. We hope you enjoy reading about:
Pacific Dogwood
(Cornus Nuttallii)
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Lakeview!
There’s something personal about a lake.
Oceans offer their vast expanse, beckoning the heart outward and reminding the viewer that they are but a small piece of something much, much bigger. Rivers are nice but doubtless have their own agenda, a self-determination lurking just upstream that mere mortals are powerless against.
But lakes - and particularly Hotel Lake in Pender Harbour, British Columbia; lakes free the heart to look inward to seek answers from the soul to questions from the heart. You can learn who you are by sitting by a lake… and who you want to be there with. Brad McCannell
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New In Our Library
Our Library has been growing for some time and can be accessed via the main menu. We continue to add documents and here is just one recent addition that we are very proud of: Hotel Lake 2024 Year One Report published by BC Lake Stewardship Society; just go to our library to take a look.​​​ This is what local volunteers have been gathering data for and in a few years a final report will be published that will describe our lake in greater detail.
Plankton in Hotel Lake - February 2026
ALERT - March 2026
Bat-Killing Fungus Detected Near the Sunshine Coast:
About Us
We are committed to gathering and sharing information. We hope that information will help us all to slow the process of eutrophication, to protect Hotel Lake's water quality, the surrounding watershed, the underlying aquifer and the wildlife and plant life that live here.
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We acknowledge with gratitude the time and effort of volunteers and the outstanding results achieved by our lapsed predecessor, Area ‘A’ Quality Water Association (AAQWA). Realizing the benefits of that organization, we have established a new association to carry on.
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Our association is presently comprised of a small group of volunteers. This website has been developed by our webmaster Brian Croft and contributors include Bob and Carole Stickley, Brian and Sharon Croft, Ron Knight, Tarren McKay, Tony & Kelly Pownall, Dr. Bob Vroom, Dr. Sharon Johnson, Jenn Blancard, Brad McCannell, Joe Harrison, Dr. John Field, Trevor Andrews, Chris Hegele, Theresa McNicholl, Rod Brown, Jim Little, Debra Huffaker, Reni Ducich, Frank Jensen, Peter Boyer, and Twyla Dawn Disney.
Our hope is that anyone who comes to this website will leave it knowing a little more about the Hotel Lake environment and the wildlife and plant life that, live here. We are confident that, in the long term, greater knowledge and understanding will enable better decision making.
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​This website is available to all and we have enjoyed very positive responses. Anyone may ask to be on our mailing list and will recieve our monthly newsletter.
This association is fuelled by volunteerism and our modest operating costs are less than $400 per year. We hope that those who find value in this work will consider becoming contributing supporters. An annual contribution of $20 per family is suggested. All contributions will be used to offset the modest annual costs of administering this website.
If you would like to recieve our monthly newsletter,
please Email Us Here and we will add you to our mailing list
We gather information and share it.