We’ve been starting to get responses to our summer issue. Some of them are so interesting that I hope we’ll have room to publish them on our letters page.

     As for other reactions, we’ve had praise for the centre photo spread, as we always do, and Mike enjoys bragging that he’s sleeping with his centrefold model. She’s cute and has a great tail, but is very hairy, with a wet black nose and four paws, in case you’re wondering.

     We’ve heard from people whose gardens we featured. “Look at my garden!” one of them told Mike. “It doesn’t look that way now.” Well, we know how gardens change from week to week. And the gardener was seen proudly showing other people her photo. An aquaintance of mine emailed that she wants to be in the garden on the cover. Someone stopped us on the street to say to Mike “You take photos underwater now too?” A Chamber of Commerce in the Georgian Bay area of the Niagara Escarpment told us that it’s a wonderful magazine and they’re proud to display it.

     One of our advertisers wrote “Wow!” and that she loved the variety of articles. When she makes up “goodie bags,” she includes copies of Escarpment Views. What a great idea!

     Other people have reported that copies are “flying” out of their locations. I’ve heard that readers are planning to go to some of the places that have been advertised in our magazine, because they’ve only learned about them from their ads with us. Mike had someone tell him that after seeing a restaurant ad in our issue, the man remembered “That’s a great place. Excellent fish and chips.”

     But we’re already getting busy with our Autumn issue. We’d love to get your events for our calendar covering Sept. 1 to Dec. 1. Send them to us for free listings in print, on this website, or both.

     And if you want to advertise your business, festival, event or service in our Autumn issue, get back to us or your local sales rep. Our ad space reservations will close July 25. You’ll have until Aug. 1 for the final artwork. Be part of our great Autumn issue and you can share in the interest our next issue will generate!

Do you have anything to share about what you liked or didn’t like about our summer issue?
If you’d like to get your own free copy, pick one up from one of our advertisers near you, or contact us for your free trial issue.

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Here’s an update on the American Kestrel that needed a name, that we blogged about earlier.

     Conservation Halton (CH) says they’re thrilled to announce that their young American Kestrel finally has a name to call his own: Bean!

     Bean was one of the most popular submissions received during the contest to name CH’s new American Kestrel. The Mountsberg Raptor Centre team wants to thank everyone who made a submission to the contest through the Mountsberg Raptor Centre Facebook page , via email or in person.

     The Mountsberg Raptor Centre staff agree that the name Bean, which is short, sweet, and cute, suits this little bird’s personality perfectly. Additionally, since the United Nations proclaimed 2010 to be the International Year of Biodiversity, and with the Biodiversity Education and Awareness Network (BEAN) supporting the naming suggestions, it was a perfect fit!

     There were many other submissions that deserve recognition, which were touching, humorous, or otherwise very fitting. Notable Honourable Mentions were:

·         Captain Jack Sparrow – another popular suggestion, with key points being the American Kestrel’s colloquial name of ‘sparrow-hawk’, the association between pirates and being blind in one eye, and the dark eye markings around the eyes being reminiscent of Johnny Depp’s character in Pirates of the Caribbean,

·         Hathaway – after a classic shirt advertisement with a man wearing an eyepatch,

·         and Horus – after the Egyptian falcon-god. 

     Staff Choice Awards include Polyphemus (both a Cyclops in Greek mythology and a beautiful moth), Amadeus (From Falco’s hit “Rock Me Amadeus” and tied in with the kestrel’s Latin name “Falco sparverius”), Hawkeye (after Alan Alda’s character in M*A*S*H) and Fortinbras (from Shakespeare’s Hamlet).

       Bean is blind in his left eye due to impact trauma sustained in an accident when young. American Kestrels are North America’s smallest falcon. They’re active, agile predators that can snatch a sparrow right out of the air! They also feed on large insects and small rodents. American Kestrels have black “malar” stripes under their eyes to protect them from the glare of the sun, just like football players.

About the Mountsberg Raptor Centre

Tucked within Mountsberg Conservation Area, the Mountsberg Raptor Centre is currently home to 14 different species of native birds of prey. Many of the Raptor Centre’s resident birds of prey have permanent injuries that have left them incapable of surviving on their own in the wild. In many cases, these injuries were caused by human activity. With the help of these feathered ambassadors, the Mountsberg Raptor Centre teaches the community about the native birds of prey that share our environment and how to reduce the negative impact we can have on them.

     Mountsberg Conservation Area is located on Milburough Line, five km west of Campbellville, between Hwy 6 south and the Guelph Line. 

     What do you think of the name Bean? Does it work for you? Do you prefer one of the other names mentioned?

     If you’re interested in nature, check out our feature article on the Eastern Massassauga Rattlesnake. And why not subscribe to keep articles like these coming your way? Or ask us for a free sample issue. We’d love to have you join our community!

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The summer issue of Escarpment Views is available for free pick up now from many of our advertisers. Drop in on one in your neighbourhood and tell them you came for a copy.
     This issue is our gardens galore spectacular, with features on growing mighty delphiniums, and some of the lovely private gardens that were on horticultural tours in Niagara-on-the-Lake and Georgetown last year.
     As well, Mike takes you underwater off the Bruce Peninsula to some of the shallow shipwrecks you can see from kayak or by snorkelling. His photographs are unusual views you certainly don’t see frequently. As I’ve said before, he will do almost anything and go almost anywhere to get compelling photos.
     We present a ferry ride on the Chi-Cheemaun with an interview with Captain Adams and photographs of the bridge, the ship and what you see while sailing between Tobermory and South Baymouth.
     Our featured centre photograph is a stone beach, on the north shore of Manitoulin Island, where the Niagara Escarpment reappears in Lake Huron. This is one of the properties protected by the Escarpment Biosphere Conservancy. We hear that some people are collecting, framing & hanging up these centre photos! I have to admit that my own office walls are getting covered with them.
     We also celebrate the local freshness available at farmers’ markets, especially Georgetown Farmers’ Market and Ottawa Street Farmers’ Market in Hamilton.
     What looks interesting to you in this issue?

     Of course, instead of having to go out and pick up a copy, you can subscribe and get Escarpment Views coming to you! 
     If you missed the spring issue, some of the articles are available here, or you can contact us to order a copy that we’ll mail to you for $5.25 until July 1. Then it’ll cost $5.65 because of the HST.

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Mike and I attended MagNet last week, a national conference for the Canadian magazine industry. On one day we sat in on sessions about the Canada Periodical Fund and about Canada Post, but we didn’t learn much that was new or helpful to us. That’s partly thanks to the Independent Publishers’ Association of Ontario, which we are part of, and which had a meeting recently about the changes to the federal periodical fund.
     I think there’s value in attending a professional development seminar even when you don’t learn anything new, if only so that you get confirmation that your knowledge is current.
     The next day we attended sessions that were jam-packed with new ideas and information. I went to “Circulation Solutions on a Small Budget” by Faith Drinnan, Mike attended “The Fundamentals of Advertising Sales” by Gwen Dunant and we both heard “Small Magazine Creative Marketing Solutions” discussed by three panellists.
     While we scribbled down plenty of notes from these sessions, a strong sense that remains is that people seem to be impressed by Escarpment Views. Thanks to Mike’s fearlessness in handing out copies of our summer issue, lots of people talked to us about the magazine. An editor I’ve known for a long time said she envies us for starting our own magazine that’s a success! One of the panellists even held up a copy saying that we’re doing a lot of neat things, and then used it as an example of ways to try to get advertisers to take bigger spaces. The fact that we have already tried the techniques he mentioned was not as important as the promotion and recognition he gave us. He wouldn’t have used Escarpment Views as an example if it was poor.
     I was exhausted by two solid days of meeting people and taking in information but MagNet was definitely worth going to. Now the challenge is to actually implement the many good ideas we were given.
     What conferences have you found helpful and why?

If you liked this post you may want to read “Celebrating Two Years of Publishing Escarpment Views!” 

Don’t forget to subscribe before July 1 to beat the HST!

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Here’s some news about our theatre columnist, Seana McKenna:

     Seana McKenna was awarded an honourary Master of Fine Arts degree in Acting from the American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) in San Francisco on May 18. Seana played the title role in the Stratford Shakespeare Festival’s 2009 production of Phèdre, which was co-produced with A.C.T. and directed by A.C.T.’s Artistic Director, Carey Perloff. The production played in San Francisco in January.

     Seana has been a leading player at Stratford for 19 seasons with feature roles ranging from Medea to Juliet, Amanda Wingfield to Amanda Prynne and Andromache to Anne Hathaway. This season she will thrill audiences once again with her performances as La Marquise de Merteuil in Dangerous Liaisons and Paulina in The Winter’s Tale.

     “Seana McKenna is a remarkable talent, and I’ve been her loyal fan since she was in theatre school and I got to work with her here at Stratford in my first Festival production. It was abundantly clear that she was destined for great things,” says Artistic Director Des McAnuff. “Her commitment to every part and the authenticity she brings to each role are quite extraordinary. She is most deserving of this honourary degree.”

     When I saw this news release, I was reminded of the days before Seana’s acting career began, when she was in fact considering whether to try and enter the field of acting at all. I first met Seana in residence in our first year of university at Trinity College, University of Toronto. She was doing exceedingly well academically as a student of English literature, and we sometimes talked about our essay assignments. Then one day she approached a group of her friends after dinner and asked us if we would be her audience while she tried out her audition piece for the National Theatre School in Montreal.

     We took our coffee and tea cups and joined her in Cartwright Hall, the theatre for St. Hilda’s College, our residence building. We were prepared to be supportive and encouraging. Dressed in a long black skirt, holding a big umbrella, she gave a monologue from The Lady of Shallot. Coffee and tea grew cold in our cups. Some of us were frozen, cups held halfway to our lips, our mouths open. From her first words she had us enraptured, unable to move. When she said “That’s it,” and relaxed her posture, our hands shook with haste to put down our cups and applaud.

     That was her audition piece for the National Theatre School, and of course she was accepted, and that is where she went for the next few years, and she has worked as an acclaimed actor ever since. She didn’t get a degree from U. of T. with the rest of us, but now she has an honourary MFA from the U.S.

     Which of her performances have impressed you? Do you have early memories of Seana’s acting? Misty, Kim, Julia, I’m hoping you’ll share yours!

     If you’re interested in Seana McKenna, you may like to read one of her columns for Escarpment Views: “Seana’s View: Backstage at Stratford.” She’s written several other columns for us as well.

     If you like this website, you may like our magazine even more. Subscribe today and beat the HST!

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