Victoria Day Weekend Camping Special

We are offering a weekend special to get the 2011 camping season off to a great start.

Stay with us Friday, May 20 and Saturday, May 21 and stay Sunday May 22nd for free.

To book your site call (902) 644-2654 or email info@lahaverivercampground.ca

Look forward to seeing you!

www.lahaverivercampground.ca

RV Show 2011

The RV Show was January 27th to 30th this year. Luc and I had a great time. There were a lot of people that went through that were looking for new places to camp, looking for someplace to go seasonal, and some people came in just to say hello.

We had a draw for a $50 gift certificate to be used for site fees, lot fees or hut rental. Our winner was W. O'Regan from Eastern Passage.

RV Show - Jan 27th to 30th 2011

We will be at the RV show again this year at Exhibition Park.

Come out and see us.

Here is a $1.00 off coupon for admission too.

We hope to see lots of people out this year.

Happy Holidays

I've been neglectful this year with the blog.

We've been updating our facebook page all the time, so that's probably where you should look to find us.

You don't have to have an account to view our page. But it would be nice if you did.

www.facebook.com/lahaverivercampground

But in any event we want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/ri5hBuaFUx1qQLrZ?cmpid=jj_fb_self_holidays

Keji has been named a night sky preserve

Well, I'm just a posting wizard this week. I have another post. It's about Kejimkujik National Park.

Keji is about and hour and a half from us. In the Caledonia, Maitland Bridge area.

I camped there a couple of times as a kid. One of my favorite memories from those camping trips was going on the sky watch tours. It was spectacular. It is probably where my interest in stars and the night sky started. Our campground has a pretty good sky view up by the playground, but I can honestly say it doesn't come close to Keji.

Anyway, this week The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada has designated part of the park as a night sky preserve. What that means is that the park has to be kept free of artificial light so that astronomy can be promoted.

Here is the cbc.ca article about the new designation.

Kejimkujik National Park in southwestern Nova Scotia is now officially a dark sky preserve where people will be able to observe the heavens without the nuisance of light pollution.

The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada recently approved the park's application — the first such designation in Nova Scotia.

David Chapman, with the Halifax chapter of the astronomical society, said the park didn't have to do much to win the designation.

"In fact, the lighting situation in Keji was very close to ideal when we first visited the park just about a year ago. They just had to basically define a zone in the park that would be kept free of light," he said.

"They've had to make some small adjustments to some of the lights around the park, but the camping experience is practically identical to the way it's been all along."

Traditional light fixtures will be replaced by ones that curb glare in that zone of the park.

According to the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, a dark sky preserve is a site with "very dark skies and virtually no sky glow on the horizon." There are at least 10 such designated sites in Canada, including two in New Brunswick.

Chapman said dark sky preserves must also be places where people are welcome to come and observe the night sky.

The designation won't affect what people can do in the park, he said. Rather, it will enhance their nature experience while camping and canoeing.

"It's important for a couple of reasons. One, it's a way that we can educate people about the night sky and also the importance of proper lighting," he said.

People want to 'experience the sky'

"It's also important because people do want to experience the sky, and they know that they need to get out of the city. This is going to be a welcoming place."

This summer there will be public astronomy programming, light-pollution controls and an interpretation program that will explore the significance of the night sky in Mi'kmaq culture and history.

Chapman said observing the stars and the Milky Way against the inky blackness of the sky at Keji is an "indescribable, wonderful " experience.

"We have now a place that is guaranteed in the future. Regardless of what happens in the cities, there is a place that you can go to see that," he said.

The park will be the site of a party in early August to celebrate the designation.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2010/07/07/ns-dark-sky-preserve-kejimkujik.html#ixzz0t27KdQHg

Fireflies

I was just talking about fireflies and thought it would make a great blog post. What are they? What do they look like? What makes them glow? I don't know, so I thought I'd look it up.

I know the campground has TONS of them. If you look up towards the playground, or around the bowling lane at night you can see them dancing and playing around.

This is what the little fellas look like. (The picture is from sciencecheerleader.com) Now that I see them in the light, I'm pretty sure I've seen them around.

They are extremely harmless. Well to humans anyway. They don't bite, they don't pinch, they aren't poisonous. When they are attacked they do release a "blood" type stuff that doesn't taste very good to their predators.

The fireflies that are flying around blinking are the males. The females blink from a perch, either the ground or a shrub. If the female like the strength and length of the male's blink, she will blink back to let the male know where she is.

There are three different species of firelies, and they each have there own way of flashing. They are different in color, length, the number of blinks and the time of night when they come out to play.

In their belly's there are special cells. These cells combine oxygen and three chemicals to produce the light. Luciferin, ATP and Luciferase.

The chemicals Luciferin and Luciferase are used in medical research to treat cancer, multiple scleroses and heart disease.

And now you know what I know about fireflies.

Happy Canada Day!

I hope everyone has a great Canada Day. There's lots of stuff going on tomorrow in the different communities.

New Germany is holding it's annual Canada Day Parade. They will also have a breakfast, an Ox pull, a bean and salad supper at the Legion Hall and fireworks.

Lunenburg will be holding it's Canada Day celebrations at the Community Centre.

Baker Settlement will be holding a Strawberry Supper.

I thought there was a big do in Bridgewater, but I can't find a single speck of information on the net about it.

The weather is supposed to be awesome, no matter what you have planned so enjoy your day.

On Saturday night the campground will be holding a potluck supper. There's some pretty good cooks in the campground so bring a dish and come and join us. Everyone is welcome.