Annabel Slaight co-founded Owl Magazine, Books and Television which nurture children and instill in them a love of reading and learning about themselves and the world around them.
One day while canoeing on Lake Simcoe, Annabel and her friend Jane Meredith were appalled by the sludge that prevented them from moving any further. They began a crusade and Ladies of the Lake was launched. Their door-to-door campaign awoke cottagers to the importance of shoreline protection and the fact that phosphorous in fertilizers contributes to weed proliferation. An action plan was drawn up and events were staged in the region to raise awareness. Their 2006 and 2009 calendars of naked Ladies of the Lake raised over $400,000. This grassroots movement grew from 40 friends to a high-profile lobby group. Politicians started listening. As a result, the federal government pledged $30 million in funding to clean up the lake, and the Ontario government passed the Lake Simcoe Protection Act.
Today Ladies of the Lake is a group of over 100 women championing a healthy Lake Simcoe and its Watershed with a mandate of: Swim it. Fish it. Drink it. Love it.
“ The fish were crying for help for heavens sakes, the cold-water fish, lake trout could no longer breed in Lake Simcoe anymore because there wasn’t enough oxygen, so everyone was crying for help except the people.”
• Photography courtesy of Jim Panou/Panimages Inc. and Neil Kinnear & Lesley Chung
• Music by Donna Britton
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keep up the great work!
Great stuff Annabelle, you rock, a pleasure to be a part of this great organization of women, and thank you for taking the initiative to save our lake, C...