Harvest Moon Society Newsletter
Fall 2023

What a summer! An excellent summer staff ran some inspiring programming and kept the Harvest Moon grounds in beautiful condition.

Summer Recap

Garden Luncheon

On June 22, we held our Garden Luncheon. Heather and Gary Gardiner once again serenaded our guests with some tunes after they’d eaten a lunch made of local ingredients. A big thank-you goes out to the STAFF? WORKERS? from Parkview Lodge in Crystal City for bringing some residents down to join us. Looks like we’re going to have to make this an annual event!

Summer Youth Programming

New Moon Kids Camp

There was major demand for our New Moon Kids Camp this year. We squeezed in as many kids as we could and we have Jamie Treble and Sidney Potter to thank for that. Thanks for the help, ladies!

They helped us pack three days in July full of experiential learning activities including fort building, critter dipping, and rock painting. The kids ate healthy snacks and lunches, made crafts, played games, and had so much fun!

Outdoor Adventures

Our Outdoor Adventures day was a one-day event in August full of all sorts of stuff that we could do outside. Activities included obstacle courses, “Capture the First Aid Kit”, making first aid kits, and hiking the trail (with a bit of critter dipping, of course).

New Moon Youth Nights

Every Wednesday evening through the summer we open our doors to youth ages 12-18 to come to the Learning Centre to relax with friends, make a healthy meal, and learn new skills. We have been lucky to welcome back participants year after year, and grown and learn alongside them!

Other Summer Programming

We also tried out some new programming this year. We held a Clearwater Kids Craft Day, a Kids in the Kitchen event where we partnered with Louise Recreation, and a couple of days of canning, processing, and preserving

Super Summer Staff

Our awesome summer in Clearwater would not have been remotely possible without our amazing summer staff. Our Land Based Learning Interpreter Lauren Treble and our Green Teamers Logan Cairns and Mya Treble were all-stars when it came to planning and carrying out our programming and keeping the grounds and greenhouse and Secret Garden and chicken moat and “Lessons From the Land” trail in tip-top shape. Funding for these positions was provided by Canada Summer Jobs, Youth Employment and Skills Program (YESP), and Urban/Hometown Green Team Manitoba.

We were also excited to welcome a new Caretaker to our team. Keilah Bergen has been looking after the Harvest Moon Learning Center for a few weeks now and is doing a great job. Welcome to the team, Keilah!

Rentals

Our summer saw the Harvest Moon Learning Center rented out for a few different occasions. Pictured below is former HMS board member Colin McInnes who hosted a Wooden Gate Cider Tasting Party here as part of his 40th birthday celebrations.

We also had Elder David Scott and his Youth Environmental Group from Swan Lake First Nation campon the grounds while touring farms in the area and Covers and Co who held a Soil Health Field Day at the HMLC in July.

Other rentals included builders from Sun Certified Builders Cooperative staying in the dorms while they finished construction on a High Performance Home in the area and the Kehler Family for their annual get-together.

Looking Forward

22nd Perennial
Harvest Moon Festival

The Harvest Moon Festival is almost upon us and we’re just about ready for all of you to descend upon Clearwater!

In the lead up to the Festival we’re expanding our Artist Residency program to include a Festival stream. We’re excited to invite Natalie Bohrn and Eric Roberts from Slow Spirit to come stay at the Harvest Moon Learning Center for a couple weeks in early September. They’ll share knowledge with HMS’s network of land stewards and regenerative farmers and then they’ll present a workshop and perform at the Festival!

The day before the Festival kicks off we’ll utilize some Festival volunteers to help us host our annual EcoChallenge for grade 7&8 students from Prairie Spirit School Division. This year we’re expecting over 120 students from Thomas Greenway Middle School (Crystal City), Glenboro School, Nellie McClung Collegiate (Manitou), St. Claude School, and Prairie Mountain Elementary School (Swan Lake). Students will attend workshops in the morning and then spend the afternoon testing their knowledge at trail stops on our “Lessons From the Land" trail. HMS solicits sponsorships and partnerships to reduce bussing costs for the schools and it’s a wonderful way to kick off the Festival. A big thank you goes out to Pembina Valley Watershed District and the Border Agricultural Stewardship Association for helping make this event possible!

The HMS Education Committee organizes the educational workshops for the Festival and we couldn’t be more excited with the lineup we’ve put together this year. See our blog post here for more info on these workshops.

If you’re unable to attend this year, or just want to watch from the comfort of your couch, we’ll be streaming the Festival online again! We’ll do it on a pay-what-you-can model and if you’re looking to contribute you can send an etransfer to info@harvestmoonsociety.org and we’ll send you a tax deductible donation receipt. It worked really well last year and StormTheCastle Media will be back again to stream the mainstage Friday night and Saturday. If you’re interested, last year’s stream is still available: almost 8 hours on Friday and 12 hours on Saturday.

CSRF Grant

The Harvest Moon Society was excited to learn that our application to the Community Services Recovery Fund (CSRF) was approved. The CSRF is an initiative from the Government of Canada to support charities and non-profits as they focus on how to adapt their organizations for pandemic recovery and HMS applied to host a series of Board Training and Development workshops over the course of the winter and spring.

The first workshop will be held in-person and is for HMS board members only, but the rest of the workshops will be held over Zoom and we expect to have room for folks from other organizations to join in the learning. If you would be interested in participating, please reach out to info@harvestmoonsociety.org.

Roles & Responsibilities of a Non-Profit Board 

Saturday, October 28, 2023 - 12pm-3pm

Financial Responsibilities of a Non-Profit Board

Wednesday, November 8, 2023 - 6pm-9pm

Board Succession Planning

Wednesday, December 6, 2023 - 6pm-9pm

Meeting Management and Minute Taking

Wednesday, January 10, 2024 - 6pm-9pm

The 3 Rs of Volunteer Engagement: Recruitment, Recognition and Retention

Tuesday, February 6, 2024 - 6pm-9pm

How to do Board Evaluation 

Wednesday, March 6, 2024 - 6pm-9pm

Effective Proposal Writing

Wednesday, April 3, 2024 - 6pm-9pm

Strategic Planning for Non-Profit Boards

Wednesday, May 8, 2024 - 6pm-9pm

Do you want to get involved with the Harvest Moon Society?

Our Education and Facilities Committees are looking for interested members? Education Committee will be meeting shortly to discuss the Festival Workshop lineup. Let us know if you’d like to get in on the conversation. Committees usually meet quarterly via Zoom and are welcoming and accepting places. These committees are a great entry point to get involved in our Harvest Moon community.