Sponsored By: Got Back Up
In this Harbour Beat Issue…
Active commuting hits the trails for a fifth summer
A low-cost spay & neuter clinic is back in Thunder Bay
Need a hand with your new garbage cart? The city can help
Indigenous Community Feature: a new Medicine Garden takes root
Recipe of the Month: Wild Blueberry Buckle
Thunder Bay Events
Your week ahead in and around Thunder Bay:
Tuesday, June 9
Indigenous Organ Health Summit — 12–4 p.m. · Valhalla Inn · free, lunch included
Astronomy Club Meeting — 7 p.m. · Fort William Historical Park · free
Tai Chi in the Park — 7 p.m. · Marina Park · free
Wednesday, June 10
Thunder City Speedway Race Night — 6:30 p.m. · 3250 Hwy 130
Westfort Prosvita Catch the Ace — 7 p.m. · Westfort Prosvita Hall · weekly community draw
Diva's Trivia Night: Queer Pop Culture — 8 p.m. · Lakehead Beer Co. · free
Thursday, June 11
Tai Chi in the Park — 7:30 a.m. · Marina Park · free
Beyond The Last Page: Living a Life of Legacy — 7 p.m. · free · take home a seedling
LIVE Open Mic Comedy Thursdays — 7 p.m. · Campfire Comedy Club · $5, students free
Friday, June 12
Thunder Bay Rock N' Gem Show — 10 a.m.–8 p.m. · CLE Coliseum · $3 single, $7 family
Descendants: The Musical — 7 p.m. · Magnus Theatre
BOOM: A Tribute to the Psychedelic 60s — 9 p.m. · Black Pirates Pub · $10
Saturday, June 13
Mamaweh Neebweedoah – Let's Stand Together Powwow — 10:30 a.m.–4 p.m. · Bingwi Neyaashi Anishinaabek Family Centre · Grand Entry noon, feast 4 p.m. · free
June Classic 5K & 10K — 10 a.m. · Boulevard Lake
Thunder Bay Mining Day — 10 a.m. · family-friendly
HARBOUR BEAT WEATHER
Tuesday stays mainly cloudy with a 60 per cent chance of showers early in the morning before things ease off — high of 21°C, feeling like 26 with the humidex, and a high UV index of 7, so keep the sunglasses handy if the sun breaks through. Clouds linger into the evening with an overnight low near 10°C. Full forecast from Environment Canada.
Active commuting hits the trails for a fifth summer
Thunder Bay's Active Commute Challenge is back for a fifth year, nudging workplace teams to swap solo car trips for biking, walking, carpooling or transit all month long. With nearly half of the city's rush-hour trips under five kilometres, organizers at the Thunder Bay District Health Unit say even a short ride or walk adds up — for your health, your wallet and the planet.
A low-cost spay & neuter clinic is back in Thunder Bay
After more than two years on pause, the Ontario SPCA and Humane Society's Northwest Animal Centre has reopened its low-cost spay and neuter clinic with a new veterinarian, Dr. Cheryl Chooljian. Thirty appointment spots open every Monday at 6 p.m. — a real lifeline in a region facing a serious shortage of vets, with subsidies available for families who need them.
Need a hand with your new garbage cart? The city can help
Struggling to roll the new automated garbage cart to the curb? The city's solid waste department offers a free set-out service for residents who are physically unable to manage it on their own. A short application plus a note from a doctor, home-care nurse or physiotherapist is all it takes, and city staff will set the cart out on collection day.
Indigenous Community Feature
A new Medicine Garden takes root along the Neebing-McIntyre Floodway
Around 20 residents joined the Lakehead Region Conservation Authority on June 5 to plant roughly 1,000 native plants for the opening of a new Indigenous Community Medicine Garden along the Neebing-McIntyre Floodway, next to the Hope & Memory Garden. Raised from locally collected seed, the garden includes the four sacred medicines — sage, cedar, sweetgrass and tobacco.
Elder Cindy Crowe, a lodgekeeper and owner of Niibing Tribal Tours in Neebing, called the space vital — a chance for “reconciliation with the land” as well as with one another. She hopes it becomes a welcoming place for the community to reflect, leave offerings and reconnect with the land, and would love to see more gardens like it across the city.
Recipe of the Month: Wild Blueberry Buckle
Nothing says Northwestern Ontario summer like wild blueberries. This old-fashioned buckle — a tender cinnamon-streusel cake studded with berries — comes together in one bowl and works with fresh-picked or frozen wild blueberries, so you can make it year-round.
Ingredients
Cake
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
⅓ cup butter, softened
¾ cup sugar
1 egg
½ cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups wild blueberries (fresh or frozen)
Streusel
⅓ cup sugar
¼ cup flour
½ tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp cold butter
Steps
Heat oven to 375°F and grease an 8-inch square pan.
Whisk flour, baking powder and salt.
Cream butter and sugar, then beat in egg, milk and vanilla.
Stir in the dry ingredients just until combined, fold in the blueberries, and spread into the pan.
Rub the streusel ingredients into coarse crumbs and scatter over the batter.
Bake 40–45 minutes until golden and a toothpick comes out clean; cool slightly and serve warm.
Tip: if using frozen berries, toss them in a spoonful of flour first so they don't sink or bleed.
Got a family recipe you'd love to see featured? Just reply and send it our way.
Meme of the Day
The first 21°C Tuesday of June: half of Thunder Bay is already in shorts asking if the lake’s warm enough to swim — the other half packed a sweater, just in case.