After a four year hiatus during the pandemic, Scout Island Nature Centre will again hold its annual spring banquet on April 21, 2023.
The banquet has long been an important fundraiser to help support nature education and outdoor programs at the Nature Centre and to celebrate the presence of such a special place in our community.
The Nature Centre offers outdoor education for more than 250 school classes each year.
In a world of too much screen time, this is a way for children to get outside safely and experience the simple joys of learning about and being among the plants and animals and the land.
The banquet is also an opportunity for us to renew friendships and learn about nature from an expert and entertaining featured speaker.
The featured speaker this year will be Frank Ritcey, the “Outdoor Guy” on CBC’s North by Northwest.
He will tell lots of stories and show some of the many videos of wildlife he has made over his many years of stepping into the world of nature.
His fascination with wildlife was evident even in his childhood, living near Clearwater, B.C.
Now, in semi-retirement in the heart of the Nicola Valley grasslands, he spends many of his days and evenings watching and recording the birds, mammals, reptiles, insects, arachnids, plants, clouds and landscapes of B.C.
He has followed a variety of career paths, from horse-logger to publisher to most recently, managing the WildSafeBC program, but throughout his life he always made time to get into natural places.
Frank’s passion for wildlife and for the out-of-doors has led him throughout the province as he has built his library of images and video clips of all animals, “great and small.”
Over this time, he has developed a unique and personal understanding of his relationship with nature.
As a presenter of wildlife videos, Frank’s talks are less of a lecture and more of a chance for people to sit around, listen to stories, see some unique videos, ask questions and to celebrate the richness of our natural world.
Join Frank Ritcey, CBC’s Outdoor Guy, and professional wildlife videographer, for an evening of stories, video clips, and a discussion around being a “Compleat Naturalist.”
The banquet will be at St. Andrews United Church starting at 6:15 p.m. with dinner at 6:45 p.m. Tickets are $50 for adults and $20 for those 16 or younger.
They are available at the Open Book, at Scout Island Nature Centre, or from a Williams Lake Field Naturalist director. Please get your ticket at least five days before the banquet so that caterers will know numbers. The great dinner will be catered by St Andrews United Church.
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