The Friends of Laurier Woods set aside the third Saturday of August to hold a festival at the Laurier Woods Conservation Area in recognition of an internationally renowned naturalist, author and contributor to the National Audubon Society, who lived in the North Bay area.
The Louise de Kiriline Lawrence Nature Festival is now in its fourth year.
"Louise de Kirline Lawrence was a nurse mid-wife, looking after people in the Bonfield area. She is well known for looking after the Dionne quintuplets in the first year of their life. But we recognize her because of the role she played in nature," explains Fred Pinto, President of the Friends of Laurier Woods.
"She wrote five books on nature and published many papers. She's renowned in fact for her work in nature. So we named this festival after her, also we a plaque that has been installed on Highway 17 close to where she used to live to recognize her."
Saturday's free festival focused on health and nature. Pinto says its an opportunity for people to get out of their regular routine and experience something else North Bay has to offer. Included in the many activities geared towards children and adults, were guided hikes, each focusing on something different.
Brent Turcotte took people on a hike to identify some of the countless varieties of insects found in the woods.
"There are lots of different bug species here because there is a marsh area, and lots of different habitats, so there's going to be lots of different varieties for sure. This morning we found a crane fly. The wing pattern of it was different, I never noticed something that bold before, so I was impressed by that," said Turcotte.
Laurier Woods is a 240-acre preserve, right in the heart of the city. It compares in size to Central Park in New York city. Situated between Lake Nipissing and Trout Lake, its boasts significant wetland, rocky outcrops, and upland forest.
"We wanted to keep a connection, like an island of green, for the animals that migrate through Northern and Southern Ontario, like they've been doing for the past 10,000 years and we want to keep that for the future. We have close to 200 different species of birds that go through here, but we have lots of mammals like deer. We have turtles in the ponds and we have beavers obviously with the ponds that we have out here. So lots of things found in Northern Ontario we have right here," said Pinto.
As a photographer, Kaye Edmonds can't get enough of the scenery, no matter what the season.
"It's just always stunning. It is beautiful to see. Being a photographer, I love it. I go in and do a dragonfly walk to get the photos, and then another day I will do just birds, and then I'll go all through the forest when its mushroom time because the colours are so beautiful."
Whether its serious nature lovers or people who just appreciate walking the 6.5 kilometre trail system, Edmonds says everyone takes something positive away from their experience.
"The exercise alone. The oxygen when you're among all those trees, its the purest oxygen you're going to ever get, so its worth it. It's important to let children explore and discover nature, and teach and encourage our youth to appreciate and protect our natural surroundings, because we're going to need them someday to save our environment and Laurier Woods, before it's too late."
The Friends of Laurier Woods was established in 1989 as a non-profit, charitable organization.
